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The December 2023 Working Party
A good turnout again for this working party, much as is the norm as we approach completion, with plenty of different areas being worked on as a result. One area that wasn't worked on this time however, was the tender as that is currently out of the way in another shed so all the focus was on the loco itself.
Starting at the front, we made and fitted the final piece of running plate that had been missing from just in front of the smoke-box door. Also at the front end, the NG15s have a drain in the bottom of the smoke-box for clearing it of condensate and char and so one job was to manufacture a new drain. This was duly made and fitted.
On top of the smoke-box, the loco's front lamp was refitted. This is following the fitting of its 'main beam' LED spotlight, the side number illuminating lamp and the necessary battery and charger modules. All this was done as a homework project and so with the loco lamp complete, the tender's lamp was taken away for the same 'homework project' treatment.
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The loco's now functioning
front headlight (left - photo: David Oates),
and
the new Smoke-box drain decending from the underside of the smoke-box (
right - photo: Erle Ford).
Down the fireman's side the lubrication for the cylinders and side-bars was continued. Slow progress with the actual pipework as a number of brackets had to me made as well as drilling the running plate supports to mount some splitters.
Worth noting here is that all the pins for the motion have been taken out and have been sent away for hardening.
The boiler barrel had some of the final pieces of insulation added, however there are some small pieces at the firebox corners that will need to be added as the cladding is fitted. The cladding itself is in the cleaner environment of the Goods Shed where it received another coat of paint over the weekend. We've had some new stay covers made and these have been cleaned and some of them given a coat of paint.
Down the side of the firebox we started to complete the running plate up to where it meets the cab floor. This involved making and fitting the support brackets for each side. We will be needing some new chequer plate for the running plate itself so we'll need to continue this later.
Inside the firebox the ashpan drench was finished and the pipework checked for leaks. With this work complete the grate was then refitted. Whilst discussing the firebox it's worth mentioning that the molds for making the firebox arch bricks were completed this weekend.
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Inside the firebox showing the ashpan drench.
A few other small 'bits 'n bobs' were also tackled so in all it produced a very successful weekend.
The November Working Party and General Update
Steady progress continues to be made on the № 134 throughout November with numerous days being spent working on the loco leading up to the main working party.
The most obvious area of work here being that of the cab. All the panels are at Dinas and have been individually checked for their fit onto the loco, however, the main moment of truth would come once they were all assembled.
Before they were assembled however, various brackets had to be made and fitted then all the sheets could be bolted together. This was the state of play at the end of the main working party, however a couple of the guys were there on the Monday to complete the assembly and to trial lift it into place. There are some adjustments to be made as can be expected for such a large new structure, however, no 'show-stoppers'. Once the fit is acceptable then the panels will be sent away for shot blasting prior to painting.
With the panels available the opportunity was taken to mark out the best place for the cab side plates. As the dimensions are different to the original cab some adjustment of the plate's location will be needed.
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The assembled cab ready to
be lifted onto the loco for a trial fit (left),
and
with the rings fitted to the piston it was duly inserted into it's
cylinder. (right). (Both:
Andrew Cole)
In the week(end)s leading up to the November working party the two pistons and rings had been fitted into their respective cylinders. The lubrication pipework was continued with that for the front pony truck from the fireman's side lubricator completed. The next job is that for the steam oil for the cylinders and slide bars etc.
The various days and weekends leading up to the main working party saw the tacking together of the stainless steel molds for casting the brick arch sections completed.
On the tender the body was lifted again so as work could be continued on the brake rigging, so much as is the trend for this year, work continues apace on many areas of the loco.
The October Working Party
The October working party was more of a normal affair after the one of September's that was the same weekend as the Society's members weekend and where we were manning our sales stall and offering visits to see progress on the loco.
Plenty achieved with progress on a number of work fronts. This included lifting cab sections into place to check their fit and attachment. Whilst in place things like the alignment of the spindle plate and vacuum ejector were checked. Some machining was also done on components for plumbing in the injectors beneath the cab.
At the front end of the loco, the bracket was attached to take the front lamp and the lamp positioned to check it all looked right. Also at the front, we'd made some wooden mock-ups of the two front sand boxes and so these were tried for fit before we resorted to the fully fabricated steel version. The sandboxes for the forward direction are being repositioned to fit behind the front buffer beam so as we can get sand to all driving wheels for the steeply graded Welsh Highland route. The rear sanders will be fitted in the tender.
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One of the trial wooden
sandbox mock-us in position, (left),
and the state of play with fitting the boiler insulation at the end of
the weekend (right).
Between the two afore mentioned work areas, in the middle of the loco the insulation was being cut and fitted around the barrel section of the boiler. Good progress was made by the end of the weekend. To the rear of that the cladding continues to be fitted around the firebox. This time included the strengthening and joining angles that were fitted to the sheets, as well as the brackets being made to attach the 45° angled section needed round the rear firebox corner in the cab area. The next stage is to send these for sand blasting to remove the mill scale prior to painting.
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The rear driver's side
corner of the firebox cladding showing the corner braces fitted, (left),
and the tender's complete handbrake and column assembly (right).
On the tender, components for the handbrake assembly were being machined and these were all put together for a trial fitting. The lubrication for the tender bogies centre pivots was finished with the fitting and plumbing in of the oil pots for this. Also there was further progress in fitting the vacuum pipe run underneath the tender.
Another job that has been taking place over a number of weeks, and in parallel to all the work on the tender and loco, is the manufacture of the molds for the brick arch. These are being manufactured out of stainless steel and it's a marathon task making all the plethora of sections for the molds.
September 2023 Update
September saw various smaller working parties taking place over a number of weekends during the month. Whilst there was a 'formal' working party over the weekend of the 16th and 17th September this coincided with the Society's members and AGM weekend. This involved there being loco shed tours being given of progress as well as a merchandise stand to be manned and special trains being run.
Over the various weekends the cladding was steadily progressed. This took the form of the painting of the boiler barrel cladding and the shaping of the cladding for the firebox. All this was so as the loco could be in a presentable state for the members to view.
On top of that the work continued on the ashpan drench pipework needed. We also constructed a cardboard version of our sandboxes to check the design before committing it to being made.
Earlier in the month the full time staff had progressed the smokebox pipework so as we would be in a position to conduct a steam test of the boiler in the frames. This was twofold in that it would test steam circuits at the front end and to clear out off the accumulated debris within the pipework and cylinders etc. This duly took place on the 11th September following an engine warm-up the previous day. Nothing untoward was found so we can continue with all the cladding work. This steam test would have no bearing on the boiler's 'ticket' as the the test for that purpose would take place nearer to it entering service.
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No. 134 ready to receive
visitors as part of the Society's Members Day, (left),
and opening the regulator for the first time to clear out all the
accumulated debris (right).
The August 2023 Working Party
So, after various interim working parties attending the loco since the main July working party we finally arrived at the main August weekend. As usual plenty was achieved, though not necessarily visually obvious!
The cladding only saw minor progress as did one or two other jobs. The main change for the weekend was that we swapped the tender and loco around in the Loco Shed so as the tender could be moved to the Goods Shed later in the week. This is to enable the tanks to be prepared for painting. The Goods Shed is a far cleaner environment to do such jobs, and indeed is where the previously sandblasted cladding sheets are currently being painted with a first undercoat applied to the inside of the sheets on the Sunday.
Before we swapped the tender around however, we lifted the tank up to be able to fit the lubrication pipework needed for the bogie centre pivots. This lubrication will be provided by a pair of oil-pots just underneath the tender body on the outside of the frames and so the mounting brackets for these were made ready for fitting next time.
With the tender body raised a small amount was also done on the brake rigging on both the tender and loco, though this still need further work to fully complete. Again with the tender body off the frames it was a good opportunity to review the flange lubrication fabrication that had been made. This will need a tweak to get it a bit better so it will still need fitting at a later date.
On the tender, the vacuum pipework was progressed resulting in one obvious addition, that of the rear vacuum pipe stanchion and dolly. The pipework now runs half way down the tender body to the vacuum cylinder location. All that remains do do now is to connect the vacuum cylinder and then two straight pipe runs to the front ready for the flexible hose connection to the loco.
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An addition to the rear of
the tender - we now have a vacuum pipe
(left),
and shunting the loco and tender to swap them around
(right).
Back on the loco, there was one other obvious change, but not to be obvious for too long, in that with the cylinder cladding having taken off for painting the opportunity was taken the clean the cylinder casting, clean out all the accumulated debris from within the external nooks and crannies of the casting then giving it a fresh coat of paint.
Another out of sight job was that of progressing the ashpan drench. This is being done in stainless steel and this takes much longer to work with so again still a bit more to do to finish this.
We have a number of laser cut panels for the cab and some of these were trial fitted to see how they fit. Before we can progress the full construction however, the firebox side cladding will need completing.
Alongside the work on the loco and tender, one of the team was continuing fabricating the brick arch molds ready for casting the bricks first arch.
All told a productive weekend - if not all obvious to the photographer!
Summary of interim working parties July/August 2023.
With activity really gearing up in the closing stages of №134's restoration people have been working on the loco most weekends since the July working party. This will hopefully give a summary of that work.
The main activity has been associated with the cladding as being all new crinolines and cladding this takes time a patience to get it fitting correctly. The crinoline strips around and over the firebox have taken quite a bit of work to get them to fit properly with the correct amount of bend in the right place! With this done the cladding sheets themselves were then cut and bent and then fitted to the crinoline supports.
Alongside the cladding the cab components are being cut ready and some of these are being trial fitted.
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The firebox
crown cladding being shaped, (left)
and driver's side valve gear more or less complete.
(right) (Both: Adrian Strachan).
The boiler cladding sheets together with the cylinder covers had been sent off for shot blasting immediately after the July working party and these have now returned. These are being painted in the cleaner atmosphere of the goods shed.
Below the running plate the valve gear is progressing well towards its completion with the driver's side more or less finished.
The next weekend will be the main August working party where all this good progress will be continued.
The July 2023 Working Party
Between the June working party and this one in July, there have been numerous smaller groups working on №134 at various times, mainly concentrating on the cladding and the crinoline supports but also on a few other smaller jobs such as the lubricator supports.
The cladding has been quite time consuming as this really defines the 'looks' of the loco and so great care has been taken to get this correct. We'll admit that it did involve the odd sheet being discarded to have a second attempt, but the finished result was far better. Many of the sheets have quite a few cut-outs for things like the dome, the clack, and hand rail supports so great care was needed to get these in the correct position.
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The Driver's side
lubricator trial fitted and the state of play with the motion,
(left)
and the Fireman's side cladding finished and ready for shot blasting
and painting (right).
This work was continued from the various intermediate working parties during the main July working party with the result that all the cladding covering the boiler barrel itself are now complete. These will be sent off, together with the cylinder cladding, to be sand blasted and then painted in the cleaner environment of the Goods Shed.
Work on the cladding will continue with that around the firebox whilst the boiler barrel sheets are being painted and so o this end the crinoline strip supports around the firebox were finished off during this working party.
On the tender some final tidying up was done around the cab area in line with the new layout arrangement.
Whilst not directly working on the loco one of the team was preparing and tacking together the pieces, the 'kit of parts', needed for the brick arch molds.
The full time staff have been progressing the motion and this is very close to completion.
One
job to be tackled next is that of refitting the running plates then
finishing off the lubrication pipework now the lubricator mounts are
complete.
The June 2023 Working Party
We had the first of hopefully two working parties for June during the weekend of 10th and 11th. This also coincided with the railways annual Rail Ale festival that gave us all the chance to relax and socialise in the evenings - and of course to have a beer or three together. At the end of June is the WHR100 event calibrating the opening of the original Welsh Highland Railway and we're aiming to have a stand at Beddgelert Station as well as having a mini working party at Dinas.
We were a bit lighter on numbers this month as many of the team working on the loco also help run the railway during the operating season. We did however achieve quite a lot, especially as regards the very visible cladding and the less visible but vitally important brake gear.
On the brake gear, Saturday saw progress on the loco's brake and Sunday on the tender. A few new and refurbished parts had arrived and were available for fitting with the loco's brake gear being finally connected to the air brake cylinder.
On the boiler's cladding, the previously fitted panels on the driver's side that had been temporarily clamped in place were fully secured to the top crinoline bar. Two of these also had cutouts drilled where the handrail support stanchion has to pass through the cladding. One of those jobs where 95% of the time was establishing the position, then checking and double checking the measurements and 5% actually drilling the hole!!
In parallel to this another group was cutting to size the new cladding sheets for the fireman's side then rolling them to shape and finally cutting out the section to clear things like the dome and clack.
Further progress was made on the crinoline strips around the firebox with these getting very close to completion.
A bit of tidying up with the angle grinder was also done around recent welding associated with securing the cab.
All told, good progress again.
The main May Working Party Report
Following on from the earlier smaller smaller groups working in 134 early in the month, the 20th and 21st May saw the main working party take place. One again with a larger group there plenty was achieved.
One visually significant area of work on the loco was starting to roll and fit the baller cladding. This was helped along by some of Adrian's work colleagues joining us on the Sunday. The first few sheets were successfully cut to width and rolled to the correct diameter as seen below.
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134 with some of the new
cladding sheets fitted, (left)
and a section of the ashpan drench pipework trial assembled
(right).
Also on the loco, this was moved over the pit and the main brake rigging was trial fitted. There are a few issues to be ironed out but hopefully this is another large job that can be 'ticked off the list'. The ashpan drench is another job that saw significant progress being made towards completion - but still quite a bit to do though.
On the tender, we fitted the last pieces of the tender tanks water pipework and valves. This then enabled us to do a part filling of the tank to check for leaks associated with the recent work. Fortunately all was well so the tank was duly emptied. Still on the tender one job outstanding was the lubrication pipework needed for the bogie centre pivots. 134's tender had been modified in this area and the pipework fittings removed. We've therefore had to make up a pair of plates to go back to the original arrangement on the drawings. We're awaiting the workshop jacks to be returned from having a fault fixed then be can raise the tender tank and fit the plates and pipework needed.
The
full time
staff are also progressing jobs for us, both on the motion and in
making new steampipes at Dinas together with starting to fabricated the
cab at Boston Lodge.
May Working Party Update
Our next main working party is coming up, however since the last working party at the beginning of April we've not been inactive. There have been a number of weekends and days, and especially some Bank Holiday weekends, where work has continued on 134 with Adrian co-ordinating the activity these.
A good number of jobs were worked on over those various weekends and really this forms more of a summary of activity. On top of this the full time staff have also been active on the loco as can be seen from the valves below. Also to be noted was 134's trip to outside the shed to pose for the passing of the annual The Snowdonian train, a special train covering a return trip over both the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.
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The new valves ready to be
fitted, (left)
and 134 outside the shed ready for the passing of The Snowdonian
special train
(right).
Starting on the loco, the brake gear was assembled although some longer turnbuckles are required and the lubricator mounting brackets have been reworked to suit Wakefield lubricators ( it was intended to use a Chinese lubricator on one side). All crinoline rings for the boiler barrel have been finalised and top ridge fabricated with the firebox crinoline cage also being progressed.
Other jobs included the Firehole door being permanently fitted after it had been prepared during a few of the previous working parries and the connecting rod grease bearings were primed.
One of the big jobs to come is obviously the cab and the that end the driver's side support bracket was fabricated and trial fitted, although some tweaking is still required.
Our next full working party is the weekend of 20th and 21st May and these few extra intermediate days have given the project a good boost ready for that weekend.
The April 2023 Working Party
This will be the first of two working parties, the second one being the weekend after the Easter Holiday. A fair number of jobs were tackled this weekend although some will need finishing off at the second April working party.
One big job was to remove the footplate frame extension fabrication so as we could drill some holes and fit the remaining securing bolts. There were a few other jobs that could be done at the same time so we took the opportunity to do these as the fabrication's removal made them easier.
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The footplate frame
extension removed to allow the remaing fixing bolts to be fitted,
(left)
and showing the rubber buffers for the
tender/loco interface that were
attached whilst the frame extension was removed
(right).
One job continued, and to be continued is the fitting of the smokebox securing bolts. These attach the boiler to the smokebox saddle casting and this is not easy as the holes in the casting are not as per the drawing so each hole has to be custom fitted, not easy drilling from the inside curve of the smokebox! The Smokebox door baffle plate was also adjusted and made ready for welding into place. This will also involve the lengthening of some of the studs that are a bit too short. gain to be finished next working party.
The crinolines were also progressed, although this was more a case of getting them to fit the boiler better and making sure they were perfectly round, that unfortunately they weren't due to them not being rolled into a perfect curve when they were made as part of an earlier restoration attempt. The boiler was also missing some of thestand-offs for the crinoline strip supports for the firebox cladding. These were duly fitted into place and painted.
Whilst on the boiler, its Diaphragm Plate support was also prepared for welding back into place. This involved preparing it to take, and making the fitted bolts to attach it to the boiler. This will be welded back into place next time. Another job on the boiler was the preparation and trial fitting of the surround for the firehole ready for mounting the doors.
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The boiler's Diaphragm
Plate support was prepared for welding back into place, (left)
and a brake block shown in place
(right).
Another job continued is that of the loco brake rigging. This was fitted and the brake blocks also attached, although there's still some work needed to finish it off.
The March 2023 Working Party
Good progress continued on №134 at the March working party, with plenty of both small and large jobs tackled. The first one to mention is the crinoline supports for the cladding. All the rings are now cut to size and fitted into place. We're using the crinoline bands that had been made at the first aborted restoration session and the standoffs were not to drawing so needed a bit of work to clear rivet heads. We also marked up and started to cut to length some of the crinoline strips needed round the firebox as well as those needed across the top of the boiler to support the joint of the cladding sheets.
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The crinoline bands have
been finished and the position of the strips on the firebox marked out,
(left)
and the steam brake having its rings fitted
(right).
The steam brake had been receiving attention. This had been refurbished and so was re-assembled. This involved the fitting of the piston rings, the machining of a new pin and the piston arm to snugly fit into the crank arm. It was all duly fitted back onto the loco, although a small relief valve still needs to be fitted.
Another singly big job was that of bolting down the front end of the boiler to the smokebox support saddle. This was started last month but we needed the rotabroach drill to continue. With this to hand work continued this time. It involved the tack-welding in place of a small platform to take the magnetic base of the drill so as it aligns correctly with the holes in the smokebox saddle casting. By the end of the weekend we'd fitted the five bolts on the left hand side and have just two remaining to finish off on the right.
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Chequer plate has been
added to the cab steps, (left)
and the bolts holding the smokebox to the saddle casting
(right).
Some of the smaller jobs tackled included the fitting of some chequer plate to the cab steps, the welding in place of a small packing piece under one of the boiler's firebox supports that had been previously fitted and fitting of some of the correct sized bolts holding the cab floor extension in place.
Jobs to be continued next time include continuing to refix the supporting diaphragm plate. Due to subtle dimensional differences with the refurbished boiler this had to be removed, and by looking at it, not for the first time either! We need to make some fitted bolts to attach this to the boiler support then we'll re-weld it back in place. Another one is to continue fitting the smokebox door baffle plate. Some of the stand-offs for theseare a bit short so will need extending.
All told, good progress was made, if not visibly such as with the boiler's arrival!
The February 2023 Working Party
Another month and another working party, or rather much like January two working parties. We had our main weekend working on №134 on the 11th & 12th February, however a smaller group were also working on the loco the weekend before.
This first weekend was more about checking the boiler was seating in the frames correctly as we were aware there were some discrepancies. This involved machining the slippers that the firebox end sits, and sides on as it expands. Also we needed to attach it to the smoke box saddle. The attachment holes in the smoke box weren't front drilled as part of the boilers refurbishment as we realised that the holes in the saddle in the frames weren't as per drawing so the decision was to drill them in-situ. We started this by drilling most of the pilot holes ready and this in turn involved making a guide collar to ensure the hole was in the centre. We now need to drill the holes to full size and this will be done next working party.
This time we also continued with fitting the crinoline bands for the boiler cladding. This was somewhat time consuming as we needed to provide, or rather grind some clearance slots in the stand-off for the rivets on the boiler. Also as mentioned last time the crinoline bands were made during one of the earlier restoration attempts and had been made too big so we needed to reduce the stand-off height and reduce the overall diameter, all turning out to take far for time than expected!
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More crinoline bands being
fitted, (left)
and some mods to the front of the tender after being tidied up with the
angle grinder
(right).
On the tender we continued with the modification to its interface with the cab. Much cutting and welding was done on the 4th February and these areas were tidied up and given a coat of paint.
Again on the tender, work progresses with the vacuum brake pipe, particularly with a new recruit to the team welding all the support brackets in place for the fore to aft pipe run on the underside on the tender tank.
With the ergonomics of the new cab layout now complete, in in view that some previously conducted clearance measuremens done on the Welsh Highland's route we were happy that we could now take the mock up cab off the loco to make it easier to complete the attachment of the cladding crinolines around the firebox. The next cab to be seen on№134 will be the real thing!
The second January 2023 Working Party
Whilst this was the first scheduled working party for 2023 with the delivery of the boiler the previous weekend this was in effect the second working party held this month.
With the boiler's arrival a good proportion of the activity was concentrated with the loco itself although that didn't preclude progressing jobs on the tender. There were some jobs associated with the final seating of the boiler at the front end as well as some minor adjustments to the ashpan to make sure there were no gaps between it and the foundation ring. The fitting of the crinolines was started ready for the boiler insulation and cladding. These had been made new for one of the earlier attempts at returning №134 to service, however, they were oversize and needed some adjustment to get them to fit. Two were finished and fitted by the end of the weekend.
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One of the crinolines in place.
Work did continue on the tender and one job related to the sumps for the water feeds, these having their Valtac valves fitted. The mods to the front of the tender were also progressed with some preparation work ready for some welding.
A bit of time was also spent studying the ergonomics of the new cab layout. A temporary seat was installed together with a temporary fitting of the rear waist-height panels as well as the small plywood 'return' panels inside the cab. All this is to make sure that the new layout is functional before we commit to the expense of real thing!
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A rear view of the cab
with its rear waist-height panel, (left)
and an inside view of the cab and its proposed layout for the driver
(right).
The new window frames found themselves the centre of activity as well. Plenty of holes drilled to join the two halves together. These halves hold the glass in place. Then there's the tedious job of 'finishing' these by the progressive use of finer and finer abrasive material. Ben, our 3D printing expert, had made some patterns for the new hinges for the windows so hopefully it won't be long before we have a complete kit of parts ready for when the 'real' cab is made.
There were many other smaller jobs done or finished off so much progress made in this, the first full working party of the year - long may it continue to get №134 back in service!
The first January 2023 Working Party
We're holding two working parties in January with the first one coinciding with the arrival of the boiler. The second main working party will be the following week.
Some of us arrived at Dinas on the Friday to be there and to help with the arrival of the boiler. The details associated with this are on the Contract Work - Boiler page. With the boiler now in the frames we set to and assembled the plywood mock-up cab prior to moving the loco to the Loco Shed in the South Yard.
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134 outside the goods shed
with with the plywood mock-up cab fitted, (left)
and on the way to the loco shed (right).
The journey was conducted slowly to ensure that the frames, now with the added weight of the boiler on them, negotiated the various track geometries and point in the North Yard. This it successfully did, as it also did passing through the platform. Once in the South Yard we backed the loco in to now be sat next to the tender so as we're now all in one place and can work of both together without all the walking previously needed to get from one to the other when we've used both the loco and goods sheds.
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134 outside and ready to
enter the loco shed, (left)
and now in the loco shed (right).
During this working party and the move of the loco to the Loco Shed we took to opportunity to drop by sister loco №133 & NGG16 №143 for a 'photo shoot'. This involved №134 moving up alongside the unrestored 133 and then bringing №143 alongside.
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No.134 with sister NG15
No.133, (left)
with Nos.134 and 133 now joined by NGG16 No143 (right).
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No.134 with NGG16 No143 .