 
|
|
|
| Back to archived working party reports |
Background information to 2020 and 2021
The two years of 2020 and 2021 saw the UK engulfed with the global Covid-19 pandemic. This brought all our working parties to a halt in early 2020 with only three being held. Thanks to the worldwide effort in preparing and manufacturing suitable vaccines en-mass, civilisation slowly hauled itself out of all the required restrictions that were put in place to prevent the viruses
March 2021 therefore saw our first tentative steps towards returning to on-site working parties with those living locally, and thus with less travel restrictions still in place upon them, attending at Dinas. The following month more from further afield started to join in. By the end of the year we we're in full swing again.
December 2021 Working Parties
Three working parties were held in December - an interim one on Saturday 4th December followed by the main one on the weekend of the the 11th and 12th December. Both these provided continued momentum to the progress on №134. A third working party was held between Christmas and the New Year and more mention of this is covered in the January 2022 report.
The Saturday working party on the 4th December was more to do with looking and checking some of the previous work and planning the next stages forward. Always easier to do when everything is sat in front of you in the 'flesh'! Things like the boiler crinolines were tracked down and brought over to the loco shed and the manifold valves sorted ready for refurbishment. On the work side there were some areas on the tender frames still needing their second coat so this was duly done.
This last main working party however, covered a lot of ground - although still with a bit of 'admin' work thrown in as well. Some of that admin related to the tracking down, and doing a stock-take of the various bit of brake rigging then checking it for condition and bringing it all together ready for painting and reassembly. A time consuming but nevertheless a job that needed doing.
 |
The tender brake rigging set out for inspection.
The crinolines for the boiler were also checked, cleaned and then painted ready for reuse. These had been made during one of the earlier restoration attempts back in the 1990's. Whilst these are unused there is some deterioration after being stored in various places over the years so may need some remedial work, and/or alteration to fit the refurbished boiler.
There were a good few smaller jobs attended to as well. We finished off priming the grease lubrication pipework, and finished checking the grease lubrication for the weighshaft bearings. This is one item that had never been removed from the frames as it was deemed fit for service as is. The bearings for it however, were originally oil lubricated with an oil pot in each bearing casting and a wick down into the bearing. These have been converted to grease probably in South Africa, and one side showed the lubrication was working fine with grease seen oozing out from around the bearing when fed from the grease gun. The fireman's sidehowever, was more stubborn and needed a bit of persuasion before the grease flowed in reassuring quantities to show it was getting to the correct places! It turned out that there was a missing sealing plug into the old wick tube on the fireman's side bearing and grease was instead heading back up and out into the old oil-pot. Once plugged all was well!
One thing we've been wanting to do for a bit was to see how much, or rather how long a sandbox full of sand would last on a Garratt to give us an idea on how large we really need to make our new the sandboxes on our NG15 - remembering that we'll be doing the longest and steepest climb in reverse on the WHR thus the need to fit sanders for reverse running. The nature of the train services this weekend saw an NGG16 coming back on shed mid-afternoon so we were able to do a test when they got back by running the sanders and collecting the sand at one end of the loco for 2 minutes then to measure the volume of sand delivered.
One of the full time staff had welded the big-end clearance cover that was salvaged from the old running plate onto our new plate on the fireman's side. This had received a coat of gray paint so was duly given a second coat this time of black. Just the driver's side to do now.
 |
 |
A new regulator housing and valve machined ready to go to LMS, left, and the fireman's side big-end clearance cover welded in place, right.
Outside of the working party we have received our new regulator valve and casting after these have been machined. These will now go to LMS to be fitted into the boiler.
All told a good December of progress, although we hope to improve on that with another day or twos' work between Christmas and the New Year.
November 2021 Working Party
An excellent turnout (that could have been better except for a couple of illnesses in the team) that enabled plenty of progress to be made over the weekend.
The progress however, started on the Friday as we had a contractor on site to grit-blast the tender frames. These has suffered a bit over the years, and together with the requirement to have clean material to be able to do the necessary changes and repairs need, we decided that completely cleaning the frames was best at this stage. Following the grit-blasting the first big job on the Saturday morning was then to put the frames onto the bogies and move the complete assembly into the goods shed where it would be under cover to allow us to paint it free from the effects of the Welsh weather.
Once inside the frames were further inspected with a hammer to check there was no remaining scale firmly attached before a final clean off of any patches of light 'overnight' rust. After this it was set to and paint...... followed on Sunday by, yes, more painting!
 |
 |
The tender frames after being re-united with their bogies, left, and the tender frames being painted, right.
Whilst some of the team were painting in the Goods Shed, in the Loco Shed other work continued. This included a further coat of paint on the inside of the new front coupling assembly and drag-box. We also continued the priming of the grease runs. One of these did involve replacing a short pipe that for some reason was blocked solid with some sort of gunge!
The other large job was fitting the final piece of running plate for the fireman's side. This section is curved up at one end and when originally bent by the suppliers the radius wasn't at 90deg to the plate length. Fortunately following a call for help to our friends at Brunswick Ironworks they were able to collect the piece and re-bend it correctly for us. The section was then duly cut to size and the various cut-outs needed also done. At the end of the weekend it had been fully fitted and a coat of paint applied. The two rear running plates have a cover to give clearance for the main driving rod's grease point and these covers have been left ready for welding into place by the full time staff.
 |
The rear left hand running plate after cutting to shape, although still in need of trimming at the top and then fixing down.
Other smaller jobs included checking that grease was getting to the weighshaft bearings and that these bearings aren't showing signs of being loose with excessive play as this is one item that was never removed from the loco in the earlier stages of the restoration. Fortunately they all looked good, although we need a bit more work on one side to make sure the grease is getting there as it should. We did need to make an adapter to take the grease nipple on one side as whatever was there whilst the loco was in service was now missing.
One last item to mention was checking the cylinder exhaust drains. These no longer had the fittings and drain pipe to take condensation clear of the front saddle casting. We attempted to clean the threads in the exhaust pipe but were unable to locate a suitable tap to clean out the threads so we'll finish this next time.
All told an excellent weekend and really good progress made.
October 2021 Working Party
There were two main areas of work for this working party - together with a bit of hunting for components.
The first job to mention was that of the tender where we were re-wheeling the bogies. One of the team had been at Dinas earlier in the week and had completed the re-wheeling of one bogie with the help of one of the full time staff. This working party saw us re-wheeling the second bogie. Unfortunately this turned out to be a bit tricker than the first. One wheelset went in without any problem and the new brasses we'd had made fitted fine. However when we came to the second wheelset the it looks like one of the axlebox castings is slightly different with regards to the locating lugs for the brass bearing so it wasn't fitting snugly. After some remedial work we're hoping it will fit fine at the next working party.
One of the team also worked on freeing the brake rigging on the bogies. These had become a little stiff after painting so as many of the pins as possible were removed, cleaned and greased.
 |
 |
The tender bogies being re-wheeled, left, and the inside of the front drag box being painted, right.
The second area of work was around the loco frames. Here two tasks were ongoing with the first being the cleaning and painting of the inside of the front dragbox and its new coupling fabrication. For this the loco was moved over the pit to be able to get access to the underside. Saturday we cleaned and primed the underside area and and added undercoat on the Sunday. When the loco was back off the pit we cleaned and primed the areas accessible from the front and top of the loco. Also on the Saturday we added some dummy rivets to the front buffer beam where the rivets had been drilled out to remove the original South African front coupling casting. These were also duly primed and undercoated.
The other job on the main frames was checking and priming the grease lubrication runs for the main axleboxes' hornguides and suspension guides, together with that for the trailing truck and its suspension components. There are still a good number left to check and prime next time.
Finally we did quite a bit of moving around of components, moving those no longer required either through design change or components being remade down to the storage area in our workshop. On the return trips we brought components nearer to the frames that are going to be needed in the next month or two.
September 2021 Working Party
This working party coincided with both the AGM for Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri, the Welsh Highland Railway Society, and the Superpower Gala although this gala was somewhat restricted in its format due to the various Covid restrictions. For the event we were offering guided tours to show progress on the loco as well as having a stand where we were able to sell various items of merchandise to raise funds for the restoration.
In terms of work on the loco - the most obvious is that of completing the painting of the tender bogies. In previous working parties we'd cleaned and painted the undersides. This was finished first so as it would allow for re-wheeling at the appropriate time as once the wheels were in place it would restrict access to further painting. However the brasses for the axleboxes had been delayed as we had intended to repair the originals, however they were deemed beyond economic repair so we're currently awaiting new ones being made. So this working party we lifted and turned over the bogies and completed the painting of the topside. These are now in their final top coat gloss.
 |
 |
The tender bogies resplendent in their top coat of black gloss paint, left, and one of the front steps refitted, right.
With the wheels now at Dinas alongside the bogies and we have the new oil seals ready so with the new brasses due we intend to re-wheel at the next working party. Once the wheels are in we also hope to get the bogies under 134's tender frames as well. This will enable its easy moving around site so as the various repairs and modifications will be easier. Far easier to move the wheeled frames to the welding kit than humping the welding kit to the frames out in the yard!
On the loco frames we drilled the various holes in the front running platform to take the steps, the hand pillar and the lamp brackets so these are now all fitted. This was accompanied by finishing painting the coupling - and it's beginning to look like the front of an NG15 again.
Other minor jobs included the slight re-bending/re-routing of some pipework that was in danger of fouling the fly cranks - we knew all too well which would win in that encounter!
All told another enjoyable and successful weekend taking us towards our final goal.
August 2021 Working Party
The first and most important bit of news is that we are now back in the main loco shed at Dinas. Two of the team were available to attend from the middle of the week before the weekend working party and so with the help of some of the full time staff we were able move the loco from the goods shed in the north yard to the loco shed in the south yard. It was not as straightforward as it could have been however, with a few little hindrances put in the way, but the mission was eventually accomplished.
 |
134's main frames on the move to the loco shed.
Being in the loco shed does help the logistics with most of our tools and consumables held there from when we were previously based there before the re-wheeling. It is hoped that we'll be here until the loco is complete. Being on its wheels does provide for better versatility in where the loco can be put in the shed, as well as for us to be able to move it onto the pit to work in it.
The working party turned out to be one of those where we finally got rid of, ie actually did, quite a number of the smaller niggling jobs. We'd been collecting these jobs over the last few months and in some cases since the intended re-wheeling back in March 2020 before the pandemic shut the working parties down. However, there always seemed to be other more important larger jobs, or jobs more critical to the overall timescale, that seemed to get in the way.
One smaller tasks consisted of jobs like finishing off some silver soldering of lubrication pipework. It was originally intended to do this before the originally planned re-wheeling took place as it would have been less restrictive. It was difficult with the wheels in place, however with now having access to the pit in the loco shed we were able to complete the task with the help of Danny one of the full time staff manning the torch to do the soldering.
We then replaced a set of three bolts that were holding a spring safety retaining bracket in place. These were a bit too short and not fully through the nut so longer bolts were fitted.
Moving onto the larger jobs, one of the team who was there to help with the move to the loco shed was able to continue work on the running plates and tis saw another piece completed and fitted. One of the sections that had been rolled for us had not been rolled correctly with the alignment of the bend not at a perfect 90º to the edge. We will need to see if this can be corrected or whether we need to have another piece rolled.
 |
 |
The tender bogies receiving their top coat of black gloss paint, left, and the flycranks now in red, right.
And then there was the painting. The final coat was given to the underside and outside of the tender bogies. This is its final gloss coat so it will enable the wheelsets to be fitted. In preparation for the fitting, we retrieved the new springs from the workshop as well as the cotters that were needed. We're just outstanding some new brasses that are being made at Boston Lodge after it was decided the old ones couldn't be repaired together with some oil seals. We'd received a sample seal and after that was tried we now need order the full set. Once all these arrive it will, hopefully, be a complete 'kit of parts' ready for the assembly. Once the bogies have their wheels in place we'll then paint their top sides.
Whilst we were painting we also painted the flycranks and front buffer beam in red.
All told a very productive weekend.
July 2021 Working Party
Now into the swing of regular working parties the July weekend was once again well attended with plenty achieved, even if it was predominantly continuation of jobs from last time.
The first of those was the attachment of the running plates. The next panel to require attaching is the right hand lower side section to the rear of those already attached on that side. It needed final trimming and finishing to width and as it has a curved end it also required quite a bit of care in attachment to get it to fit snugly. With that one finished all those panels already fitted were removed so as a coat of paint could be applied to the underside. Removal is remarkably quick with the system employed so it didn't take long to do, nor will they take long to reattach.
The second continuation job is that of painting the tender bogies. Last time we cleaned and painted one bogie on the underside and the other on its topside. This time we cleaned and painted that second one on its underside on the Saturday. On the Sunday we then gave them both a second coat on their underside. This was done as they're both likely to have the axleboxes and wheels refitted in the near future and this would make painting them much more difficult on that side.
These tow jobs kept two groups happy for most of the weekend and a third group was employed cleaning the hard grease off, and sorting the brasses removed from the motion. This is all now ready for the full time Dinas staff to work on ready for fitting to №134.
 |
 |
The tender bogies
receiving their second coat of paint on the underside, left,
and the
new sliding shoe fitted to the bottom of the spring together with the
new axlebox oil pot covers, right.
One 'new' job for this time was to try fitting the new sliding shoes for the pony trucks that have been made. These were returned from hardening last week so were ready for use. When the loco was re-wheeled some temporary shoes were fitted, probably ex NGG16 shoes, as ours hadn't been made at that time. One corner of the loco, the front right, had the weight relieved off the springs and temporary shoe and the new one then fitted. With it fitting fine and with the best method of swapping them established, we'll do the remainder next time.
As will be seen form the photo above we also fitted the new axlebox oil pot covers. These were made to the drawings, however it's turning out that the casings to which they are being fitted are not as per the drawings so they are taking quite a bit of fettling to get them to fit nicely. This is being done as a small 'filler job' as and when there's time so only 3 out of the 8 covers have been fitted so far.
June 2021 Working Party
The June working party turned out to be one of the best attended for some time, and certainly the best since we resumed after Covid 19 brought working parties to a halt.
Saturday we split into three groups. One was continuing work on the running plates at the front of the loco. All of the section above the front drag box was completed and fully secured. This had been started pre Covid but less than a quarter of the fixings had been applied. Also the piece of plate that had been cut out to give easy access to the front drawgear still need fixing in place. All this was completed and a coat of paint given to the top of the platework. Also a coat of paint was applied to the top of the main driver's side sheet. More painting is still needed as well as fixing the plate on each side to the rear of the high level section. One for next time.
A second group was retrieving some motion off 133, complete with the SAR thixotropic hard grease split bearings which we are evaluating for re-use on 134. As our bearings are unfortunately not available for further use a decision will be made as to whether we reuse or manufacture new to SAR design.
The third group was working on the two tender bogies. As previously mentioned these had suffered from their unintended extended stay outdoors due to Covid. We therefore had to clean all the detritus off the bogies and degrease as best we could in preparation for a repaint. Both bogies received the same treatment, however to opposite sides. One bogie had been inverted to be able to work on and refit the axleboxes so the underside of this was cleaned and received two coats of paint whilst the other bogie was cleaned and received just the one coat on it top side. They are quite complex structures being fully assembled so it took an awful lot of effort to clean and paint them. Hopefully next time we can arrange for them both to be the other way up so their opposite sides can receive the same treatment.
 |
 |
The front section of running board after the weekend's activities, left, and a view of the two tender bogies in the Loco shed after cleaning and painting, right.
The tender axleboxes also received attention. The full time staff have been working on these, including having one box sent to Boston Lodge to have a non structural crack repaired. We removed the last badly damaged studs, and remnants thereof, and fitted new studs that had arrived that morning. They were then given two coats of undercoat, together with one side of the keeps that hold them in place.
Other smaller jobs involved checking, or rather doing a stock take on the various grate sections we have and we also start looking at fitting the loco's pony truck axlebox oil pot lids. In the remaining time available one lid was fitted, however the others will need some fettling as the axle boxes themselves are not quiet dimensionally correct to the drawings!
All told a very good weekend with plenty achieved, and helped by the news that our tender wheels have had their flanges tweaked at Boston Lodge as well as some repair work to their axlebox brasses.
 |
The tender wheels after having their flanges reprofiled at Boston Lodge.
May 2021 Working Party
We held the May working party over the weekend of 15th & 16th May, and I think it's true to say that working parties are back in full swing and back to their normal routine of once a month, although we are hoping to have the occasional midweek or even weekend between, especially with local volunteers.
The weekend was also an 'On Shed with Shane' day at Dinas so there were plenty of other people working around the site on various other jobs. We even had the pleasure of Lilla on various shunting duties, including pulling our tender out of the good shed so as we could give it a clean.
 |
The tender after being pulled out of the goods shed by Lilla.
It was still a bit of an 'admin' weekend with us tracking down various components and moving them into a more logical location ready to go to wherever they're needed to be worked on. This involved getting the tender wheels into a B-wagon ready to be taken to Boston Lodge on the next 'freight' movement between the two sites. The tender wheels whilst having been worked on before still need their flange profiles tweaking a small amount. Also the tender vacuum cylinder is going there as well. It's been some time since it was overhauled, and even though it's not been used it was decided to check it out and give it a brand new sealing ring then we know it'll be OK for a good few years service.
As alluded to above, we had Lilla pull the tender out of the shed so as we could steam clean it on the outside. Whilst it had spent a good few years under cover it was in the carriage shed where unfortunately quiet a few birds nest in the roof space and had duly left their droppings all over the tender body!
We did get going on other jobs and was starting to tidy up our axle boxes for our tender underframe. We're still using 133's underframe and so the intention is to get the tank onto ours as soon as possible. The axle boxes had unfortunately spent an unplanned long period outside due to the pandemic hitting so we have a number of seized nuts on studs to attend to! We've still a few to finish off next time then the axle boxes will be available for the paid staff to refurbish the journals, fit new seals and machine the horns.
All told a good weekend with enough achieved to make the following working parties as productive as they can be.
April 2021 Update - Working parties, 3rd, 17th & 18th April 2021
April saw the restart of work on the loco following the relaxation of restrictions in both Wales and England as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The first day of volunteer activity was spent on the 3rd April by those volunteers local to Dinas who were at that time allowed to travel for such activities. The day was spent working on the tender bogies giving them a bit of TLC - tender loving care that is! They had been put in the yard just before the Covid-19 outbreak and it was not the intention that they would be left there for a long period, especially not 14+ Months it turned out to be! Unfortunately that period had taken its toll on them and they need a good oiling and greasing to prevent further deterioration. They will unfortunately also need a repaint in due course and so that will be done once they are brought under cover. The wheelsets that were with them were also checked over and both wheels and bogies put onto fresh timbers to keep them off the ground.
Our first full weekend working on the loco was subsequently held on the 17th and 18th April once travel restrictions between England and Wales had been eased. Some people could still only provide a day's help as accommodation is still proving a problem and will do for some time to come. However it has to be said, that whilst we'd kept in touch using the Zoom online 'socializing' tool it was extremely pleasing to see everyone 'in the flesh' again, including our NG15!
The Saturday was spent moving the tender and loco into the goods shed at Dinas. We've been given use of the building on a short term basis for the immediate few months. This is nicely positioned between our workshops in the North yard and where a lot of our kit is stored where we used to be in the Loco Shed in the South yard. Both the tender and rolling chassis had been put into the carriage shed, amongst other rolling stock items. It therefore involved and hour and more of shunting to get our two vehicles together in the correct order to go into the goods shed!
So, after a good clear out of the goods shed to give ourselves a bit of room we first moved the tender bogies, wheelsets and axleboxes into the shed so these are now undercover and as mentioned above in the 3rd April notes, these can now be painted at some future opportunity.
 |
The tender (on 133's chassis) and frames in the goods shed behined 134's tender bogie components.
The Sunday was a continuation of the location of components and sorting them ready for use or for being worked on. For example, all the rods and motion were extracted from off broken pallets in our workshop and then sorted and replaced onto two good strong pallets ready for the full time staff to work on them. We'd also discovered that some of our shelves in our workshop had collapsed with the weight of various components stored on them so these were relieved of their weight so as we can repair them next time. Some of those components like the cab floor extension arms were brought to be with the loco.
A good time was had by everyone and by the end of the weekend we'd got to a position where we have room to work and components are sorted ready to be attended to by either ourselves or the full time staff, so a very productive weekend in the end.
We'll finish on a note about the boiler, as this had previously been sent to Locomotive Maintenance Services (LMS) in Loughborough. This is now being worked on. The first stage is for the known areas of wastage to be cut away and the area sandblasted. We will then get a better idea if there are any further concerns about the condition of the boiler over and above the initial inspections and defined areas of repair.
March 2021 - Update
During March the local Tuesday volunteer engineering gang have been doing some work on the loco, as has Huw, one of the full time staff.
.
One of jobs that has been done is to tidy up the front buffer beam, filling in some of the holes from the old coupling and safety chains then giving it a coat of paint. The gang also had a go at modifying the front cow catcher, however it's still likely that it'll need further enhancement.
The front drawgear has been completed and assembled and is now in place.
It's our intention to re-wheel the loco during at our next working party, so now the drawgear is in place it'll allow the loco to be moved around much more easily. This will not only aid the full time staff as the frames can be moved out of the way to give them more room to work on more pressing service loco matters, but it will also help us in that it can be moved over the pit when we need to.
A full update from Huw can be seen on the group's Facebook page as well as a few photos in the Gallery.
For our next working party, that was due to be in March but due to the ongoing travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak has had to be postponed, we'll need as many pairs of hands as possible to help re-wheel the loco. As soon as more details about when we can resume activity on the loco are known more details will appear on this website.
February 2020 Working Party
It was of a mix for attendees numbers this weekend, although we had moved it back a week as we were likely to have had less of the team on the original date. We started out with just four of us on Saturday, however we had a few more on the Sunday.
The full time staff had been having a comprehensive tidy-up in the shed and so we were asked to have a good clear out round 134, something we did on Saturday morning. We took the opportunity of getting rid of our old chequer plate, although the very original diamond chequer will hopefully be going to a good home to be used on Britomart.
The first job tackled was the simple task of reattaching the cylinder covers after we gave them another coat of paint last time. After this we turned our attention to the Krauss-Helmholtz truck and the new chequer plate.
It's hoped that the re-wheeling of the loco will happen very soon and so we needed to finish off the lubrication on the front Krauss-Helmholtz truck. This was possible as we'd now received all the new splitters required for the loco with one of these needed for the K-H truck. All that was left to do is to silver solder the joins and that will hopefully be done by the full time staff before re-wheeling.
 |
The Krauss-Helmholtz truck with its completed lubrication pipework.
The bulk of the work for the weekend was continuing fitting the new chequer plate. This started with us finishing off fitting the front left hand sheet into place by drilling, tapping and countersinking the various holes required.
After this we moved to the front running plate. This is the curved section above the buffer beam that we'd previously cut to size. We first cut out a section above the front coupling as this is to provide an access hatch to make it easier the change the coupling. Once done we started drilling, tapping and countersinking the various holes needed to hold it in place. We've yet to attach the hatch itself. At the same time as this was happening we were also cutting the front right hand plate to shape around the various valves on top of the cylinder. We used the previously shaped right hand plate as a template for this. All in all this is now starting to make the loco look very smart.
We also just had time to start doing the lubrication pipework for the slidebars before finishing on the Sunday.
At the end of the weekend we reviewed the last few jobs needed before re-wheeling. There are only a small number of outstanding jobs left that hopefully can be tackled very soon thus making the re-wheeling imminent. Watch this space!
January 2020 Working Party
And off we go for 2020................ and a splendid start it was with plenty of progress.
The main tasks we undertook this weekend were that of fitting the new running plates. A task we'd been working on part time for a number of working parties, however this time most of us where involved for a good proportion of the time with one group cutting and shaping the chequer plate and another fixing in place the plates already cut to size. We're using the same technique as recently adopted for the NGG16s where the fastening bolts are countersunk into the plate for a neater appearance. We were doing our best to maintain the alignment of the chequer pattern along the running plate, however all the sheets we've been using have turned out to have different pitches for the chequer pattern, and different in the X and the Y direction as well!!
 |
The left and right hand side main running plates secured in place.
We continued with lubrication pipework, this time that associated with the lubricator for the Krauss-Helmholtz truck and that for the steam oil lubrication for the cylinders and slide bars.
And as always a bit of painting. This time a second coat was added to the cylinder covers as the damp humidity was starting to get the better of the single coat already applied!
All told a very productive and satisfying weekend in which we also welcomed a new volunteer to the team.
Finally it should be added that we have dropped the date of the February working party by one week from that first published at the 2019. It is now the 22nd and 23rd February.
The earlier working party reports going back to 2008 can be found in the Archive