A few pictures from Matt

As promised, a few pictures showing what has been going on over the last few weeks.  All of the pictures come from Matt Holloway.


Running repairs were required on Captain Baxter's Left side tank following a leak in service. The repair carried out by the Villa Gang consisted of welding a repair patch into the bottom of the tank and making it watertight.  The loco was returned to service in plenty of time to help launch the Elephant Van play coach at Horsted Keynes.

The extent of the patch on the bottom of the tank

Another view of the work

No.3 Captain Baxter at Horsted Keynes launching the play coach!



The task of removing all of the fitted bolts and rivets from the old frames has started. These are being replaced with blue painted temporary bolts to make sure everything is kept in alignment and to keep all the components together.  This will enable us to use the old frames as a reference when erecting the new frames.

The many useable frame components can easily be transferred between the old and new sets, but more importantly, we will use the old frames for reference when carrying out alignment checks on the new frames.  Once we are satisfied that the frame set up is good, the old frames will be "flat packed" and disposed of in the most cost effective manner.

The blue nuts and bolts temporarily holding the frame componentry together

the removed nuts and bolts can bee seen on the end of the packing.



The wheels have been given a coat of high build primer on the visible spoke and hub sections. this emphasises the low points showing through in green.  These areas will be filled with knifing putty followed by a few more coats of filler primer.  the surfaces will be rubbed down between coats and a final rub down will produce a fine smooth finish.  Following this a start will be made on the under coats and top coats before achieving the final finish.

Wheel sets showing the high build primer

Plenty of low spots here!

 

Another example of low spot detection!

And Finally - The great whistle hunt took Matt to Bristol where he espied the whistle in the picture below whilst on a visit to the SS Great Britain.  Originally fitted to the SS Great Eastern, we feel it may be just slightly too big for the P Class!
If you find your self in Bristol, Do visit the ship, it is a magnificent example of Victorian engineering and opulence!

The whistle from the SS Great Eastern

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the project, hopefully you will see the fruits of everyone’s labours in around 4 years or so.

To donate £10 text "FENC72 £10" to 70070

    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 just by changing the amount in the text massage.
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
thefenchurchfund@gmail.com


www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

The fund raising goes on!

Thank you for your donations

No.27 in the yard at Sheffield Park in the early 1980s (Photo by Dave Colwell)

Firstly a thank-you to those of you who have already donated towards the cost of the new frames and cylinders, especially for the donations of over £50 (plus gift aid!) a great boost to then coffers!   If you would like to join the others who have donated to the restoration of the loco there are various ways to donate listed below.  


Our sales and information stands will be out and about at the Bluebell and elsewhere during the next few months and here we will have quality merchandise as well as our pickles and preserves on sale.  the list of venues can be found on our previous post.


If you are able it would be good to hear from you and we would be grateful for any donations you are able to make, every penny counts towards the restoration costs. Every penny spent on the loco needs to come from our own efforts.


We have a BT my donate page and this can be found at: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27

We can also accept cheques for any value either with or without a gift aid declaration.  If you would like a gift aid declaration form please contact us at the address below and it can be sent to you. If you are not able to allow us to claim back the Gift Aid, please contact us and we will let you know the best way to donate.

For those of you in the modern age, we also have a text donation page for donations as shown below.
To donate £10 text "FENC72 £10" to 70070

    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 just by changing the amount in the text massage.
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the project, hopefully you will see the fruits of everyone’s labours in around 4 years or so.

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Societywww.bluebell-railway.co.uk

August Update

Firstly an apology for not adding anything for a couple of weeks, I have been in Germany looking at the Harz metre gauge system over 120km of railway through glorious scenery including the Brocken Mountain line.



Yours truly after enjoying a stonking run on the 356m climb from
Nornhausen to Drei Annen Honhe over a distance of 46km
(photo by Claire Emsley)

The "fun quest" for an unusual whistle went on, but it is likely that we will find a suitable SE&CR one on Birch Grove!

Forthcoming Sales and Information Stands

As I am early turn in the Signal Box at Sheffield Park on Saturday 9th September, it is likely that there will be a small stand outside the box for the day.  This will not have the full range of stock but if you are about come along and have a chat.  You will also be able to pick up your LBSCR War Service Badge if you have one ordered or even if you haven't done so!


We will be having a larger stand at the following locations:
Sat/Sun 23rd/24th September - Worthing Model Railway Club Exhibition - http://www.worthingmrc.co.uk/mrc/annual-exhibition/
Sat/Sun 7th/8th October - Deltic Anniversary Weekend - Sheffield Park Platform 1
Sat/Sun 14th/15th October - Shareholders weekend - Sheffield Park Platform 1/Loco Yard
Sat/Sun 4th/5th November - West Sussex N Gauge Group Exhibition - http://www.wsng.co.uk/
If you are around why not pop along and say hello?

Recent Activities

The Villas Team have recently been assisting in the repair of the tank on No.3 Baxter so that it was available for the launch of the elephant van at Horsted Keynes recently and also so that it could participate in it's 140th Birthday celebrations on Saturday 19th of August which culminates with a train organised by the Social Sub Committee.


Baxter shunting the elephant van (Picture by Richard Salmon)

Other activities include the usual cleaning of parts and some painting of smaller components.  In addition a start has been made to remove the parts required from the old chassis to put onto the new frame plates when they arrive.  This work involved removing fitted bolts and rivets and replacing them with temporary bolts to preserve the integrity of the chassis.  This is work that will be going o for a few weeks and will accelerate whilst the weather is good, and slow down should there be wet weather in the future!


Hopefully we will be able to add some pictures later.


The manufacture of the frames and cylinders is taking place as I write this and hopefully they will be delivered to Sheffield Park before too much longer.


The total cost of the cylinders and frames is, in round figures £10,000.  On top of this will be the cost of machining the cylinders (expected to be in the region of £7,000 to £8,000).  We are hoping that you may be able to help us by contributing towards the cost of the castings and frame plates.  There are various ways you can donate and these are listed below.

We have a BT my donate page and this can be found at: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27

We can also accept cheques for any value either with or without a gift aid declaration.  If you would like a gift aid declaration form please contact us at the address below and it can be sent to you. If you are not able to allow us to claim back the Gift Aid, please contact us and we will let you know the best way to donate.

For those of you in the modern age, we also have a text donation page for donations as shown below.
To donate £10 text "FENC72 £10" to 70070

    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 just by changing the amount in the text massage.
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the project, hopefully you will see the fruits of everyone’s labours in around 4 years or so.

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Societywww.bluebell-railway.co.uk