Introduction 

In January 2009 during the dismantling of the loco and the assessment of what refurbishment work was going to be needed on the various components it became apparent that the rear frame stretcher was quite wasted in places. This stretcher sits in quite a vulnerable and corrosive environment under the firebox ashpan. This together with the nature of its design leads to a number of places where water can collect especially following the damping down of the ashpan at the end of a day's service.

A plan was therefore drawn up to remove the stretcher and to have it refurbished at Brunswick Ironworks in Caernarfon. They were fortunate to have effort available at the right time, and this fitted nicely in with work work being carried out on the rest of the loco. 

Brunswick's built a jig in which to hold the unit whilst the wastage was repaired. It was hoped this would minimise the distortion of the casting during the repair. 

Progress to January 2011

Once the stretcher was removed from the jig it was apparent some distortion had unfortunately taken place and this was visible when the stretcher was returned from Brunswick's for a trial fitting. 

Once the distortion was assessed the stretcher was returned to Brunswicks for further attention and building up, especially on the faces that that mate with the frames, with the intention that these will be machined to the correct angles again.

Progress to November 2011

Following final work at Brunswick Engineering the stretcher was sent to Boston Lodge for machining. This included the faces to the frame and the hole for the Krauss-Helmholtz truck pivot pin.

The rear frame stretcher in the machine shop at Boston Lodge.

Once this is complete it was in a position to be refitted to the frames and then the rear drag-box can be removed for replacement.

In January 2012 the frame stretcher was temporally bolted back into the loco's frames with just a few bolts on each side. During the January 2012 working party all the temporary bolts were fitted and it will stay like this whilst the rear drag-box is removed and replaced. Once the latter is complete then both it and the stretcher will have their holes reamed out and then have 'fitted' bolts inserted. 

The rear frame stretcher in its final resting place although yet to be fastened with the fully fitted bolts.

Once fitted the stretcher was immediately painted in primer in order to keep rust at bay. 

The rear frame stretcher having fitted bolts attached left and a view of the newly machined bolts right.

In May 2013 the rear frame stretcher was finally secured in place by Andy Bird from Boston Lodge using special 'fitted' bolts. The holes were first reamed out so as to be square and of an accurate diameter. The bolts were then machined in the workshop to a very fine tolerance so as to be very fine fit into the holes. Once bolted in place they will be just as effective as the original rivets. 

By the June 2013 working party all the fitted bolts were in place and the job deemed complete