Information and sales stands for 2016

Our provisional programme for 2016

For your interest, I have put together a provisional programme of events that PROJECT 27 will be attending with either a slaes stand, information stand, display, open event or a combination of these!
The list is, at present, a forcast of expected attendances, although we are aiming to have some attendance at all of them, this cannot be guaranteed.

March 10th	U3A Haywards Heath	The SECR during their time in Boulogne with emphasis on the P class locos (and the restoration of 27)	A talk by Clive Emsley (More info on U3A Website)
March 19th/20th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Branch Line Weekend	Sales – Information – Display
April 2nd	Wealden Railway Group Steyning	Personal Model Railway Exhibition (more info on Wealden Railway Group website)	Sales – Information – Display of models
April16 th/17th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Diesel Gala	Sales – Information – Display
May 14th/15th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Southern at War	Sales – Information – Display
May 21st	Bluebell Railway Burgess Hill	Annual General Meeting (BRPS Members ONLY)	Information, small sales stand – Raffle
June 11th/12th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Atlantic House Open Weekend	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration
June 25th/26th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Model Railway Weekend	Sales – Information – Display of models
August 13th/14th	Bluebell Railway Horsted Keynes	Vintage Transport Weekend	Sales – Information
October 22nd /23rd	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	100th anniversary of the repatriation of 27 and 753 from Boulogne	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration
October 29th/30th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Giants of Steam weekend	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration

More information (and a conformation of attendance) will be published as each event draws near.
The volunteers and committee of Project 27 would be pleased to aee you and chat about our work at any of these events, or we can be accosted at any time (if you are quick enough to catch us) at the Railway!

Apologies

I must appologise for the lack of an update this week, I have not been to Sheffield Park for a couple of weeks and I have not hads any reports of the work carried out.

I will be at the Railway on Saturday afternoon and should be able to post a new blog on Monday of next week.  In the meanwhilst, I will update you should a report arrive.

Thanks for your continued interest and support

Clive

We were working over the Christmas period!

Frame repairs

The previously seen picture of the poor quality weld (all pictures by Clive Emsley)

The weld on the right hand side of the frames was ground out in December so that we could ensure the quality of the repair administered by either the Southern or British Railways in a previous overhaul.  As previously reported, the weld was found to be of less than top quality with a large amount of slag in the weld. Discussions with experts have now been concluded and it has been decided that a patch will be welded into the frames thus giving control over the repair and not just covering up what is there currently.

A cutting guide ring tacked to the frames prior to cutting

A ring has been tack welded to the frame around the old repair to act as a guide for cutting out the old weld.  This enabled Stuart to create a suitable hole for a patch to be located in over the Christmas period.  Preparation of the hole will be continued very shortly. 
  

The patch manufacture has begun, though this has been slightly more work than expected! It appears that steel of the correct quality is only available as ³/₄” or 1” plate, the thickness of the existing frames is ⁷/₈”.  The result is that a piece of inch thick plate has had to be machined down by ¹/₈” to match the existing material.  

Once the hole is prepared the final machining of the patch will take place and it will be precision fitted to the hole before welding takes place.  The repair should be carried out before too long, depending on the weather and other external factors.

Wheel sets

Wheel sets at Sheffield Park

It has been agreed that the wheel sets from 27 will definitely go to the South Devon Railway for turning when the wheels from the Standard 4 are moved there this month.  The work to be carried out will include turning the tyres to the correct profile, the turning of the journals to eliminate any "ovality" and as a matter of course the axles will be ultra-sonically tested.  These will stay away until both these and the wheels for the standard 4 are ready to be collected. This will save on the cost of transport for us and the Bluebell.

Other items

During the break from his "day job" Ian Furguson has been busy helping us with his machining skills and has manufactured the 24 fitted bolts needed to hold the new cylinders in place on the loco.  The work that Ian has carried out on our behalf is much appreciated and has kept a lid on the cost of manufacturing these parts.  All we need now is a set of cylinders!

The cylinder drawings are complete and the checking process virtually done, so once the funding has been raised we can proceed with ordering a 3d printed pattern to be 

constructed and a casting made.

A start has been made on the drawings for the "cut and shut" repair to the rear of the main frames and drag box.  This repair will need to be carried out before the re building of the loco can commence.  Again it is likely that the plate for the repair will need to be either rolled to order, machined to the correct thickness or installed  ¹/₈”  thicker.  The latter course of action may affect the balance of the loco as the rear would be slightly heavier than it should be.  This may not be a problem, but a discussion will need to be had.

New year greetings

Just a quick note to wish all our team and supporters a very happy, healthy and wealthy new year.

Best wishes from Clive and the team.

No restoration Update this week

As I am unlikely to be at the railway for a week or two, there will be limited coverage of any progress on the restoration of the loco.  If anything does happen in the next week or so I am sure that I will be informed and be able to pass it onto you.

In the mean whilst, I thought it a good opportunity to wish all of the PROJECT 27 supporters and helpers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to your continued support and interest in the coming year.

Could I also remind you that without your support and donations the project will not be completed.  Every penny spent on the loco has to be raised from public donations.  If you would like to help us to pay for the restoration we have various methods of collecting funds.  I have outlined these below for your interest.

We are able to accept cash and cheque donations by sending your donation to:
The Fenchurch Fund - Project 27, Sheffield Park Station, East Sussex. TN22 3QL (cheques made payable to "The Bluebell Railway")

If you are able to use Gift Aid you may donate to the fund via the Bluebell Railway Trust.  Please contact The Fenchurch Fund - Project 27, at the above address, for a gift aid form.  It is also possible to use the form to set up a standing order for regular donations.

We also have a "Just Giving" page for donations via the world wide web, the address is :  http://www.justgiving.com/Project27

and finally you can text a donation to: "FENC72 £10" to 70070 to donate £10
- you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10;
- you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
- your operator's standard text charge applies.

And finally if you have any model railway equipment or railway relics you would like to get rid of we can take donations of such items to sell on behalf of the fund.

On behalf of the committee and restoration team, I thank you once again for your continued support and interest in the project.

Regards

Clive D. Emsley,
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

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

http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/

Guard Irons back

The guard irons and struts have been returned to the villa from Horsted Keynes where they were cleaned and a protective coat of paint added.

The four guard irons together with the struts to the left (all pictures by Clive Emsley) 

The guard irons can now be left in store until the weather gets better, and the atmosphere drier, before further painting takes place.

The weld that was carried out during the locos days with either the Southern or BR has been ground out for investigation and it is apparent that there is some work required. The weld was found to be full of weld slag to a fair depth. Currently it is under discussion as to the way forward.  It may be possible to grind out further material and still reweld the repair. The other option will be to cut out around the weld and weld in a patch.  The decision on the course of action will be taken shortly.

The ground out weld repair showing the holes left by the weld slag.

It has been arranged that the wheels will go away on the same lorry as the wheels from 80151 to the South Devon Railway for tyre turning and journal skimming. Whilst it is good news that we can share the cost of the transport, we will need to pay the full cost of the machining of the wheel sets and we will need to make a contribution towards the transport.  The cost of this is not yet confirmed but  if you would like to help us by contributing towards the transport and machining costs we would be greatly pleased.  For further information on how to help please contact us by E Mail at: thefenchurchfund@gmail.com or by post addressed to The Fenchurch Fund - Project 27  via Sheffield Park.

Disappointing News

We had some slightly disappointing news at the weekend when Stuart Marks, the Project Engineer, gauged the profile of the wheel sets.  The leading and trailing wheelsets whilst worn were within tolerance. However, the middle (driving) set was found to be below minimum tolerance.

The result of this discovery is that the wheels will need to be sent away for turning.  This needs to be done before we can start on any reassembly of the loco, which, whilst not imminent is a constraint.  We are negotiating to send them away at the same time as the wheels for 4MT No. 80151. This will reduce the cost of transport, although the full cost of the machining will need to be found!  As we are not in an immediate rush to get the wheels back, they will stay at the workshop until the wheels for 80151 come back next year.  Of course, we will have to make sure that the space that the wheels are currently occupying remains clear!