Boscastle Locomotive Limited
15th November 2013
Boscastle's boiler returns to Loughborough
The news we've all been waiting for: our boiler has finally arrived back at Loughborough! The opportunity to move it arose at short notice, when arrangements were made to despatch Witherslack Hall's boiler to Tyseley for major firebox work to be carried out there. Having rested on a well-wagon in the siding at Quorn & Woodhouse since its return from Somerset in May 2011, Boscastle's boiler was brought down to Loughborough on Monday 7th October, and on Tuesday the railway's steam crane lifted it into position on the concrete pad just vacated by Witherslack Hall's.
While this welcome move creates new openings for us, its suddenness surprised many in the shed, and gave us no time for advance planning, since not even a preliminary assessment had been possible without the physical presence of the boiler on site. Witherslack Hall is the subject of a major DCRT fund raising campaign, and according to GCR sources the aim is to have it complete and running by next July!
Clearly, we on Boscastle are working to a longer timescale, but in the short term Andy Morgan aims to share with David Wright (of Locomotive Maintenance Services) the services of his Non-Destructive-Testing Inspector to carry out plate thickness and crack detection tests in mid- to late-November. These will pave the way for Andy to develop a realistic programme of work on the boiler. In the meantime, volunteers have carried out internal cleaning and descaling.
The cab structure
Advantage has been taken of the mild weather this Autumn to press on with work on the cab structure, which is now complete apart from final riveting of the outer plates.
After being painted in green, it will shortly be placed on the rear end of the frames, considerably raising Boscastle's profile within the shed. In related news, we regrettably did not win a restoration award from The Transport Trust.
27th September 2013
Six new small end oil rings have been machined and are ready to fit. These are installed into place either side of the connecting rod small end bushes, providing a renewable wearing face for the end of the rod and also retaining oil in the small holes to aid lubrication.
27th September 2013
Two new die blocks have been finished and trial fitted in the radius rod-ends. A third, original die block, has been re-machined and trial fitted in the middle radius rod. These blocks provide a bearing that slides in the radius rod as the lifting link raises or lowers the rod into forward or reverse gear positions.
8th October 2013
At short notice, the boiler arrived at Loughborough and was craned into a space on the shed front, created by the departure of Witherslack Hall's boiler. The volunteers have made a start de-scaling areas inside the boiler ready for non-destructive crack and thickness testing, and eventual examination by an appointed boiler insurance inspector.
11th October 2013
With the summer behind us, a plan was conceived to move the cab to a temporary position behind the loco, to enable work to be carried out and the cab to be lifted onto the frames when the work was finished. This view shows the cab sat in its new home, having been rolled (by the skin of its teeth) on pallet trucks down the gangway on the far side of the shed.
31st October 2013
This shows the cab sheeting stuck in place with mastic, to seal it, and temporary bolts to hold it in place. The first of the copper rivets on this side can be seen in a line, level with the bottom of the fireman's window.
11th November 2013
The two new big end bearings have been final machined with the left-hand one ready for fitting to the connecting rod. The right-hand bearing requires three felt oil pad holes before it is ready to be fitted.
Images on this page are copyright A.J.Morgan