News

July 2010

Lots of new parts have been made. Only two items remain to be funded to complete the reverser assembly: the gearbox housing and the hand wheel ('Bacon Slicer') which the driver uses to set the cut off. Four more frame stretchers have been fabricated and machined by Barnshaws of Wolverhampton and are ready to fit. Following the latest appeal to members in the June Newsletter, two of the buffer beam gussets have been sponsored. Once the other two have sponsors these can also be ordered. The present shopping list if you would like to help by sponsoring a part of the frames is as follows;

Front buffer beam gussets x 4 at £550 each (two already sponsored. Thank You),

Frame stretcher at bogie pivot at £2,335,

Bolster pads + centring ball brackets; in store, require machining at £450 each (4 items),

Vertical frame stretcher, at £1,176, this item has now been funded by a member

Combined frame stretcher/brake cylinder support pattern at £2,500,

Frame cross stay at £850.

To carry on with the fitting out of the cab, copper pipe 1 inch O.D. has been bought and placed into store ready for piping up the Drivers Blower Valve and the Sanding Valve to the cab front. The pipe unions are in the process of being made; these unions are fitted through the cab front and are secured by a locking nut. The pipes from the Drivers Blower Valve and Sanding Valve are shaped to go from the drivers brake stand to these unions. Also, we have been seeking prices for the steel pipes and unions for the main train pipe to be put together as far as the cab front.

We have three sponsorship appeals running for other parts of the cab; Sprinkler Valve, Front Cab Windows and Wooden side Windows. The sprinkler valve pattern has been broken down into 6 sponsorship parts, each pattern component works out at £225 each and the casting will cost £99.64. The cab front windows; Fixed Frame, the patterns are handed and will cost £700 each, the castings are £130.69 each. The Front Opening Windows are also Handed; the patterns are £700 each and the castings are also £130.69 each. Please consider sponsoring these important parts. The wooden window frames are subject to a separate quote, from a contractor, who has made these for other Standard Class locomotives.

The project’s re-vamped sales and trading organisation has, so far, had a very successful season. Mike Sedgley has managed the actual information and retail stand at various events with the invaluable help of Geoff Turner, Chris Jones (Sheffield area), David Luff (South London), John Gilligan (Kettering) and new member Michael Newman (Essex). Together they intend to continue to target quality high attendance events close to the M1 corridor, Paul Burns has continued to organise the embroidered Fleece, Base Ball Cap, Polo and Sweat Shirt mail orders in response to the adverts placed in the railway press and order forms picked up from the sales stand at venues.

We have had quantities of second hand model railway items donated to sell on the stand, which have been popular but we need a continuous and steady supply of good quality items. Do you have any second hand model railway items that you could donate to the project to sell? They represent good value to enthusiasts at the venues that we have attended. Please check in your loft, you may have a dismantled or forgotten layout up there, run by spiders and gathering dust, or if you are still a keen modeller but are considering thinning out some of your rolling stock and accessories, please package it up and donate it to 'Hengist', we will turn it into full size locomotive parts. You can bring it along and gift your unwanted items to the sales stand or e-mail to arrange delivery to suit you. Its a way of sponsoring 'Hengist' as all the proceeds generated selling your unwanted model railway items goes towards locomotive 72010.

Proposed Sales and Trading Events for the Remainder of 2010

Sat 14 - Sun 15 Aug GCR Mixed Traffic Event or Wolverton Works open weekend

Sun 05 Sept GCR Quorn Swapmeet

Sat 18 - Sun 19 Sep National Service & Affinity Day GCR Loughborough

Sat 25 - Sun 26 Sept Barrow Hill Roundhouse Model Rail 'LIVE' sponsored by 'Bauer Media' and 'HORNBY'

Date TBC - October Tornado AGM and Steaming at Barrow Hill

Fri 08 - Sun 10 Oct GCR Steam Railway Gala, 'Steam Railway' sponsored event

Sat 13 - Sun 14 Nov Churnet Valley Railway Winter Gala

Sat 20 - Sun 21 Nov GCR Enthusiasts Event

February 2010

The first couple of months of the New Year have been very busy for the project. The sales and project information stand has been visiting various open days and weekends and has received a warm reception from the various railways and customers.

Our B.R clothing range has been selling well and all funds raised have gone into making parts for the loco. The B.R Green fleeces are proving as popular as hot cakes and we have now ordered the same quality fleece in B.R Black. If you wish to pre – order a Black fleece then please forward your details with a cheque to the Chairman.

To have a part of the loco ready and on display, we have been pushing to finish the cab. One of the major parts of the cab has been the reverser, this has been offered as a sponsorship package, the support has been fantastic and only 3 patterns remain to be sponsored.

1 reversing gear worm gear housing. £1,950

2 reversing wheel operating wheel. £1,150

3 reversing gear indicator drum. £1,200

We engaged the services of a company in Glasgow to produce the shafts, worm gear and gears; these are now finished and await delivery. As soon as they arrive a photo will be put on the web site. The gears and worm drive have been set up and checked to ensure that it will all operate correctly on the shafts when assembled in the reverser body. We are pleased to have helped fellow standard loco group – 76084 with some of the parts we have had made to help replace missing components on their reverser. The benefits of standardisation, since almost all the reverser parts fit most B.R standard classes of loco.

Special thanks go to Scott Forrest, Forrest Precision Engineering, Glasgow for his help in making the reverser parts.

Other new reverser components are being machined, and when these are completed we will assemble as much as we can but do need the last patterns to be made so that we can order the remaining 3 castings required to finish this impressive part of the cab.

We are using the ‘Oilite’ bearings for the indicator shaft as per the drawing. Thanks go to 'ERIKS Sealing Technology UK' for sponsoring the oil seals to be fitted in the main reverser body.

The company still wants to keep the sponsorship for the cab on going, there are still important items such as the front window frames to have made. These will need 4 patterns as the window frames are handed, plus 4 additional castings.

4 wooden side window frames.

Pattern and casting for the cab/tender sprinkler system.

Copper pipe 1” O/D, for the blower valve and sanding valve, has been bought and put into store.

The pipe unions and cones have been ordered and when these arrive we can start to make up these pipes and fit them inside the cab from the brake stand to the front spectacle plate.

Also the steel pipe fittings for the main train pipe are also to be ordered and to make up the pipe runs from the Drivers brake valve to the front spectacle plate.

We still wish to fit the old B.R AWS System to the loco and the supporting pipe work for the AWS brake valve fitted alongside the brake stand will also be made.

If any one or loco group still has parts of the B.R AWS system that are no longer required, please let the Chairman know as we are still looking for the AWS brake valve, siren, battery box and relay box.

January 2010

The project is very pleased to have our sales and information team out and about at various railways. The team led by Mike Sedgley has a full diary for 2010 and please look out for the stand and have a chat.

We are offering a part of the locomotive - cab reversing gear - up for sponsorship. The reversing gear has been broken down into separate parts and is offered here as 18 separate individual sponsorship packages. The more expensive items may be sponsored jointly.

We already have one sponsor for parts of the gear so don’t miss out choose a part to sponsor for 2010.

SL/DE19659 Reversing Gear Worm Gear Housing, Pattern £1,950, Top Body

SL/DE19659 Reversing Gear Worm Gear Housing, Casting £100, SPONSORED Top Body cast iron

SL/DE19660 Reversing Gear Bevel Gear Housing, Pattern £650, Casting £50, BOTH SPONSORED

SL/DE19694 Reversing Gear Details, Item 1, Pattern £230, Casting £35, BOTH SPONSORED

SL/DE19694 Reversing Gear Details, Item 2, Pattern £140, Casting £30, BOTH SPONSORED

SL/DE19694 Reversing Gear Details, Item 3, Pattern £160, Casting £30, BOTH SPONSORED

SL/DE19694 Reversing Gear Details, Item 4, Pattern £150, Casting £30, BOTH SPONSORED

SD/DE19705 Reversing Gear Shaft Housing, Pattern £700, Casting £50, BOTH SPONSORED

SL/DE19716 Reversing Gear Operating Wheel, Pattern £1,150

SL/DE19716 Reversing Gear Operating Wheel, Casting £60, SPONSORED cast iron

SL/DE19725 Reversing Gear Indicator, Drum Pattern £1,200

SL/DE19725 Reversing Gear Indicator, Casting £135, yellow brass SPONSORED

Please don’t be shy, help give our cab the WOW! Factor by helping to produce these important items. In return for your generous support, you will receive a photographic record of the part/s you have chosen to sponsor. When the funding for all the above parts is in place, you, as one of the benefactors, will be sent a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ suitable for framing, naming the part you helped purchase for the locomotive.

Click on pdf to open printable Reverser Sponsorship and Gift Aid form, use your back-button to return to this page

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August 09

The company is pleased to announce that we have set up a working partnership with Riley and Son (E) Ltd to build 72010 HENGIST's frames at their Bury workshop. As part of the arrangement, Ian Riley is prepared to consider opening his workshop on special days to allow visitors to view the work in progress on the frames. Please check our web site or railway press for dates (next year). You must remember that the workshop is a working business where strict Health and Safety rules apply, not a Museum, and you will always be turned away except on the advertised dates.

The company sent out an Appeal Letter to all members asking for support towards a £25,000 target for the frames. There has been a huge response and the first £5,000 has been raised. We are now £500 into the next target of £5,000 and as always funds are urgently required to keep the momentum of work progressing on the frames, let's see how quickly the next £5,000 can be raised.

Ian Riley has said that he would like the 3 major frame castings to help hold the frames square during the set up and riveting. All other frame components held in store will soon be moved to Bury. Once the frames are set up and riveted we can place the cab and smoke box on so visitors can see the outline of the loco.

If you would like to support the project, then please contact the company.

The company helped the B.R STD loco 76084 group with castings for the Top/Bottom window runners for their loco cab.

We are expanding our range of Black or Green 'Cycling Lion' polo shirts with the B.R Regional colours, starting with the Eastern Region Dark Blue and the North Eastern Region Orange. These will be of the same make and high quality. Please check our web site and adverts in the railway press, when available for sale.

July 09

The drawings for the Reversing Gear have arrived and the spring for the Balance Gear – reversing gear has been ordered. The company in West Yorkshire have given a 5/6 week delivery date. The free length of the spring is 25 ins. – solid length 8.625 ins. and has 12 coils. The cost of this is £218, would some one like to sponsor this very important part of the reversing gear? If you do please contact the chairman.

The balance spring housing tube, front cover and end cover drawing has been sent to a fabrication company to produce the parts. The balance spring sits snugly inside this tube which has a diameter of 9.625 ins. and a wall thickness of 9/32 ins.

We are still awaiting prices for all of the Timken bearings including the bearing for the reversing screw. Enquires are also being made to have the reversing screw nut and die blocks made, along with the reversing screw.

June 09

The frames are now in the workshop of Riley & Son(E) Ltd, BURY having been moved, at 24 hours notice, in May from Manchester to Bury. Frantic phone calls were made on the Monday for transport and for Ian Riley to accept them.

The company has a 1/3rd of the frame parts in stock and need to begin assembly. With the credit crunch world wide and people being careful with their money, we decided to break the total required into blocks of £5,000. As each block is raised, we can allow further construction of the frames to proceed. Anyone can join the project, the more members, the more money, the more help. Please send donations large or small to the following address, please make all cheques and postal orders out to 'THE STANDARD STEAM LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY LIMITED'.

The Chairman.

The Standard Steam Locomotive Company Limited,

45 Linden Drive,

Bradley Stoke,

BRISTOL.

BS32 8DT

Locomotive Parts

All the remaining reversing gear drawings have now been ordered with the aim of putting out to tender every component required to complete, armed with these quotes the items will be offered for sponsorship or collectively to form the next fund raising target.

Two major parts which will have a big impact on the locomotive are the left and right hand motion brackets. These are total steel fabrications and form the back bone of the reversing gear. With these two major items made we can progress to having the expansion links machined which will be the start of the Walschaert's valve gear for 72010. Other major reversing gear parts being quoted on are - the reversing screw, reversing screw end housing covers, reversing screw nut and die block, and the reversing shaft bell crank. The universal joints, splined expansion joint and flanges required for the reversing gear are in stock and were sponsored by the company ‘Drive Line’ which owns the original supplier to B.R., ‘Hardy Spicer’ (they still had these items in stock!). These flanges and joints are already welded to the reversing shaft, all 19 foot of it. Enquires are also being made for the ‘Fisher/Timken' Bearings which sit in the reversing gear housings, and at the same time, date reference numbers and costs for all the roller bearings for the locomotive and tender axles. Costings are also being sought for the slide bars, driving wheel crank pins and locomotive main, front bogie and rear pony truck axles. All these items will be offered for sponsorship. We are preparing a list of components for sponsorship. Our green 'cycling lion' polo shirts are just as popular as the black ones!

April 09 - Updated

The final machining on the frames has been completed and they are now ready to be moved to Ian Riley's workshop at Bury.

More parts ready to fit, now in store, the two brackets for the tubular steel flexible frame stretcher and the AWS protector plate.

Any railway modelers reading this will now know that 'Hornby Railways' have produced a RTR Clan locomotive. This is based on the earlier lot 221, 72000 - 72009. We were approached by 'Hornby Railways' to supply certain drawings for the development of the model, however before releasing the drawings we first had to obtain N.R.M permission which they very kindly gave.

We don't know if 'Hornby Railways' would consider releasing a model of 72010 as a sale item to help raise funds for the locomotive, but there is very little to do as the parts that need changing apart from the rear pony truck are already being produced.

Frames

There is still a delay in finishing these, estimated time is a further 2 working weeks. This hiccup is due to a reorganising of the workshop to incorporate machinery from another branch of the company.

I'm making headway with the unions, nuts and cones for the 0.25 in. o.d. pipe for the grease lubrication, and have spoken to other standard owner groups who have yet to make and fit their lubrication systems. A one man engineering firm, is making a sample nut and cone in steel for appraisal and can then supply as many as we want in the correct material, all he will need to know is how many!

Steve Humby, 75079 group, is going to send the correct drawing for the union that fits into the horn guide and the cone for the pipe.

Steam Brake

I have had further discussion with the group who have the pattern for the steam brake but unfortunately they only have the cylinder barrel. We will need to have the bottom cover pattern made. Once this is done we can have two of each cast, that's a set for the engine and a set for the tender.

The steam brake is made up of 6 parts, the main cylinder, junk ring, piston ring, piston trunk, bottom cylinder cover and a brass bush that is fitted into the cast iron bottom cover. The two rings are cast in brass and the rest of the parts are cast iron. We shall have to have all these patterns made and all these additional parts cast so the the whole job can be machined together for a good fit.

We still need the finance in place to order the pattern, casting and machining of the cast steel frame stretcher that supports the loco's steam brake cylinder.

Castings

I'm awaiting costs for the patterns and castings for the sprinkler and steam brake connections brackets. We have a set, acquired from another group, but we found that they could not be machined as the centre bore was off-set. To correct the machining would have meant the bore looking like a figure 8, which is impossible!

The back of these castings fit onto steel brackets that hang down from the loco's rear buffer or drag beam, where there is another casting, we also require, this is where the steam is fed from the cab down and along to the tender. The steel brackets are already made and held in store.

There is a drain valve fitted to the frame stretcher to the rear of the cylinders which releases steam from the steam operated cylinder drain cock system when the main cock is opened. This is yet another casting that is required, it is small but fairly complicated, I am having the patterns for the several parts that go to make it up costed.

Sales

Again thank you to every one who bought a Black polo/sweat shirt to support the loco, we now have on order, by popular request, B.R. logo polo shirts in B.R. 'Racing' Green and these should be here in the next few days. You can purchase yours in advance if you should wish to do so.

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Polo Shirts and Sweat Shirts

Click on pdf to open printable Polo & Sweat Shirt order form, use your back-button to return to this page

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Paul attended Barrow Hill on Sunday April 5th and had a successful day chatting about the project, handing out membership forms and selling both Sweat shirts and Polo shirts. He also received the finished Ejector elbow which Phil Oldfield arranged to be delivered there.

March 09

Sales

The sales of the Polo Shirts has been fantastic, a big thank you to all who have supported the project by buying one and in some cases two.

Engineering

All 'Polo shirt' proceeds are going towards the main locomotive steam brake cylinder, as it's been on our 'Wanted List' for some time now. We are very grateful to Steve Humby of 75079 loco group who has been assisting us with this item and the 2" class K, No 10 Water valve. This valve delivers water to the 11mm injector as fitted to the Drivers side of the ash pan. We still need to source the drawing for the 2.1/2" class K, No 11 water valve, for the water feed to the Exhaust Steam Injector which is fitted to the fireman's side of the ash pan; does anybody have this drawing or maybe an actual valve in their shed? If you do please get in touch.

We are still awaiting parts sent away to various engineering firms for machining, when these are returned all ready to fit, we can then send out the next set of parts to be machined.

Frames

At a recent meeting at Copes Engineering questions which had arisen concerning the correct machining sequence were cleared up and the milling operation required to finish the horn guides will be completed over the next three working weeks. On the same day a meeting was held with Ian Riley with regards to his company accepting the frames into his workshop to begin erecting them. As soon as we have a date for 'the move' we will post it on the web site.

We then have to gather up all the parts we have in store, which are needed to set up the frames and take them to Ian Riley's workshop at Bury.

Frame Grease Lubrication System

Small but major parts to do with the frames can now be ordered, one such item is the grease lubrication system. A 130 foot length of of 1/4 inch O.D x 16 S.W.G copper pipe has been delivered. This will form the runs of copper pipe from the grease lubricating blocks mounted on the frames to the horn guides. The grease lubricates the side faces of the axle box between the horn guides, this is one of the many changes that R. Riddles brought to the new design of B.R Standard locomotives, the 'big four' companies used oil to lubricate these parts.

Open Letter from the Chairman

Many of you know and have met me as part of the steam crew for D.B Schenker, based at Bristol Barton Hill. As a steam Driver/Fireman on the main line steam charters, I have always given my best to give all a 'Spirited Run' on each type of steam locomotive that has had the pleasure to come my way over the years I have been involved in main line steam.

I began working on main line steam for R.E.S back in Feb 1996; this was the start of a good working relationship with the late Brian Dudley Ward, who was also based at Barton Hill.

The words of thanks and praise are always welcome at the end of each run, but I'm asking you all to go one step further and show financial support for 72010 'HENGIST'.

We need £150,000 to finish the frames, this is the back bone of any steam locomotive and the costs are for the cylinders, the cast frame stretchers, fabricated motion/reversing brackets, cast motion brackets, remaining fabricated parts and cast exhaust spider. Once we have the frames set up in Ian Riley's workshop we want it to progress in leaps and bounds.

The experts have said that Britain is in the grip of a major credit crunch, I don't expect you to give thousands of pounds, but even if you can spare a £1 it will make all the difference, your £1 will be added to another £1 that someone else has donated and so it starts to build, then before long you have a major part bought. 

This web site has had over 230 thousand requests (pictures with text items viewed, thats over 630 items a day on average) and 35 thousand page hits in the last year! If every one of those hits donated just a £1 just think how much of 72010 would now be built.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported the project and thank you all in anticipation of all your future support.

Kindest Regards

Paul Burns

Chairman

February 09

The sales of sweat shirts have gone very well and stock has had to be re-ordered twice so far. Due to the demand for the sweat shirts, we have now ordered 'Fruits of the Loom' Polo Shirts, also in Black with the B.R cycling lion. You can mail order if you wish, there is a printable pdf order form in our virtual shop.

We have the Polo shirts in all sizes: Small to fit chest 35/37, Medium to fit chest 38/40, Large to fit chest 41/43 and X Large to fit chest 44/46. Cost with Post and Packing is £20, to buy without Postage and Packing are £17.50 each. There will be a small sales stand at the show in Bath on Sunday March 8th, so why not come along and buy a shirt, to see one is to want one! You can have a chat about the project as well.

RAILWAY COLLECTORS FAIR - Sunday March 8th, 2009

BATH CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, TWERTON PARK, BATH (Randall's & Charlie's Rooms)

10am to 4pm, Admission Free, Refreshments and Free car parking

Railwayana, Model Trains, Photographs, Society Stands & More, An Auction of Railwayana at 2pm

Loco Parts

The rear frame stay brackets which we had cast last year are now being machined by a firm in Stroud and when they come back will be painted and stored ready for fitting to the frames. There is a forked frame stay that fits between these brackets; this is on the list to be made, possibly in March or April subject to funds being available. The smoke box vacuum ejector elbow and matching screw nut is also being machined this can be fitted to the smoke box along with the blower elbow when their respective seating plates are welded into place. Continuing on with smoke box it has always been the intention to fit the B.R design of spark arrester and the brackets which hold the rods which support the mesh panels are being cast. With these there is a small amount of machining on the radius of the castings so they fit the inside of the smoke-box barrel.

The money raised by the sale of the polo shirts will go towards the purchase of the steam brake cylinder castings; another B.R STD loco group have the patterns. The tender is also fitted with an identical cylinder, so we will budget for two sets of castings. We have the drawings and are aiming to have them both machined as soon as the castings are ready.

The cast steel frame stretcher which supports the loco brake cylinder has yet to be funded, costs are £2,000 for the pattern, £1,000 for the casting - there will be a lot of work involved in its casting hence the cost. The machining will be an additional £1,125. So this is on offer as a 'Sponsor a part for Hengist' scheme.

Next parts for sponsorship are the Front Bogie Bolsters Ball brackets, they need to be machined and the quotes are £420 plus VAT per piece, a total of £483 each. These are the main load bearers for the front of the engine; they mate up with steel cups that sit on Bronze Rubbing plates that are fixed to the Bogie Frame Casting (see 71000 in scrap yard on Family Album 'Sisters' page, look directly between the front bogie wheels on the frames).

Inside of the frames underneath the smoke box saddle there is a fabricated steel frame stretcher, this mates up with the two Bogie Bolster Ball Bracket castings, we would like to complete this area as a finished job. The cost of this stretcher will be £2,550, it is complicated with many bends required in heavy gauge plate to make it up, also it is the fixing point for the Bogie Pivot Pin.

A working party cracked on with the smoke-box over the first week-end in February in the SDR workshops.

Polo shirts and Sweat Shirts are in stock for £20 each (this includes p and p), to order yours send a Cheque or Postal Order made out to:

'THE STANDARD STEAM LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY LTD.'

Write down all your details clearly on a sheet of paper in BLOCK CAPITALS or print out the pdf order form which you can find in our virtual shop.

Include your NAME, ADDRESS, POST CODE, contact e-mail or telephone just in case, and your SIZE - Small (35-37), Medium (38-40), Large (41-43) or Xtra Large (44-46)

Post to; P. Burns, 45 Linden Drive, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 8DT United Kingdom.

Your Polo shirt/s will be shipped as soon as cheque clears or Postal Order arrives. All profits go towards completing the frames.

January 09

Polo shirts in the same style as our sweat shirts will be in stock by mid February, so watch this space as they say! Items held in store relating to the smokebox are being gathered together ready for fitting. One or two of these items require final machining this work is in hand.

December 08

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! There was a last minute festive rush on sweat shirts. Paul and Elaine were notched up into full gear to process and post all your orders; every order which came in has gone out so fingers crossed they all arrived just in time. Look out for our 'Spring Collection' which will feature polo shirts and maybe fleeces in the same style.

Standard 4 tank 80072's boiler has passed its steam test and will be re-united with its frames on Dec 18th 2008. This is a landmark boiler repair being the first riveted standard gauge full cone section replacement, the work was done at Crewe.

We have taken delivery of all six completely machined, ready to fit to the frames, cast steel brake hanger brackets, two rough brake beam bearing caps castings, yet to be machined (you could sponsor this job if you wanted), you can see the moulding for the grease nipple on one, cast from a pattern we had made (sorry no picture at present), two number-plate orders, one of which is starting to get a bit exciting, and more of our popular sweat shirts as we were running low on some sizes. Those brake hanger castings are big pieces, the numberplates are heavy enough but you wouldn't want to pick up any of those lumps for fun, Paul says they try and pull your arms out of their sockets, the montage is a bit deceptive. Go to the Braking page to find out why they are so big. Watch out for new pages coming soon we are compiling a 'Family Album' which hopefully will eventually have pictures of all the preserved standards, at work on B.R., resting at Barry and at work today.

November 08

South Devon Railway have made progress on the smoke-box.

September 08

We have a new virtual secondhand bookshop page. We receive welcome donations in the guise of good quality interesting railway books and DVDs to sell on to help raise funds.

We have taken delivery of, along with smokebox numberplate order, the large ejector exhaust elbow and its large nut. These items now require machining, then they will be ready to fit to the smokebox. You can compare the finished castings with the patterns on the smokebox page.

We have really smart quality black sweat shirts with embroidered British Railways 'Cycling Lion' emblem now in stock just £20 each including postage and packing, go to our shop for details on how to order yours. All the profits go towards the completion of the frames.

We have complete ready to fit blower elbow from Phil Oldfield. This fits on the smoke box below the large ejector and supplies steam to the blower ring. There is a picture of it on the smokebox page.

August 08

The project is going through a frustrating time with regards to the frames; we are still at the back of the queue with the final machining. We just have to be patient and wait a while longer.

To help speed up the work on the Axle Box Liners, the Chairman has been in touch with the experts with regards to the modern day grade of Manganese Steel. In the days of British Railways, the grade used was classified as BR126. A company in York can supply the correct grade of Manganese Steel for the liners, also for the rubbing plates on the locomotive frame's rear buffer beam; we are just awaiting final prices. All the Manganese Steel plates will be supplied cut to the correct required size, as this type of steel is of a very hard nature and also 'work hardens' (i.e. as a saw cuts into the metal, the metal actually becomes harder) so a mechanical saw blade will soon lose its teeth.

The steel backing plates and fitted bolts are also going to be ordered to complete this part of the frames.

Smoke Box - the workshops on the South Devon Railway are going through a total re-fit and so our smoke-box is on hold. As soon as we can a small working party will carry on with the drilling of the barrel and fitting of the ready made parts held in stock. We have supplied our own smoke box door number plate as the replica ones we have are too small, we supply them to the correct size as per Swindon drawing.

Foundry - the brake hanger brackets have been cast and heat treated and are ready for machining, the foundry director has a contact at a small engineering company that regularly does work for them, he will take a casting and drawing over for a quote to machine all 6 brackets. They can also arrange all the transport, saving the project time and money.

We are still awaiting the smoke box ejector elbow and the large nut, there is some delay on this order as the foundry have just come off their two weeks Summer holiday. Another order has been placed for other parts including a 77xxx smoke box door plate for a customer.

The Chairman has been having talks with the Directors of the foundry, to produce a price list for some of the main castings needed for the frames, by publishing these costs via our web site and adverts in the railway press we hope to attract financial support/sponsorship for these specific items.

Castings that are being quoted for are as follows: Bogie Centre Pivot, Combined Frame Stretcher & Brake Cylinder Support, Combined Frame Stretcher & Spring Bracket (small casting), Combined Frame Stretcher & Spring Bracket (large casting) and Combined Frame Stretcher & Spring Bracket & Brake Shaft Carrier.

These are large castings and have complex patterns to produce them.

On a helpful note, I would like to thank Steve Humby from the 75079 group for his help in supplying the drawing of the 10 1/2 in. steam brake cylinder as fitted to the 'Clans'. There are patterns available to produce the castings, we just have to contact the locomotive group that has them to see if we can use them or be supplied with the castings. One major headache cured.

Also we would like to wish the 'TORNADO' group the very best with the loco and if it comes over to EWS for running on a steam charter from Bristol, I shall give it the once over and look forward to meeting the support crew.

July 08

The brake hanger brackets are now ready for collection, require van hire to move, we will combine with moving remaining smokebox parts to SDR. The two 'Brake Shaft Bearings' SL/DE19648 (also suit classes 9,8,7,6 and 5) have now been ordered.

Brake hanger brackets have been cast and are now being heat treated, will be ready for collection soon.

June 08

Frames

There has been a delay on the machining of the horn guides due to waiting for suitable slot for our job to go onto the milling machine. The Manganese steel is being sourced/ordered to form the rubbing surface for the axle boxes.

The Manganese steel has to be ground flat before welding on to a steel back plate, and then the side pieces are also welded to the steel back plate, this whole assembly is then bolted on to the face of the horn guides. We need a total of 12 back plates, 12 Manganese face plates and 12 side pieces.

Smokebox

The go ahead to finish the smoke-box was given at a recent meeting with the engineering staff of the South Devon Railway, we are pleased that they are now in a position to do this work as we are confident that the end result will be superb. The project had looked into the possibility of having the barrel rolled in 'Core 10' - copper steel. This was the original steel spec that B.R. used for the smoke box barrels on all B.R. Standards. However the size of the barrel is 9ft - 2.1/8in  and it is virtually impossible to order a sheet of 'Core 10' to this size, so a high grade steel of comparable spec is being used which will have a minimum life of 30 years.

The smoke box door and ring will be finished first by having the door hinges drilled and riveted to the door. Also, the door will be drilled for fitting of the lamp iron and the shed and self cleaning plates. The brackets for fixing the number plate will be welded on and the company is supplying its own smoke box door number plate which is on order from the foundry. Finally the hand rail, door centring brackets, and inside door protector plates will be fitted.

The door and front ring will be drilled and riveted to the barrel, also to help keep the round shape of the barrel; we are having the rear smoke box ring machined, this joins the smoke box to the boiler barrel. If left unsupported, after a period of time the barrel will sag under its own weight and would be very difficult to return it to a round shape again.

The liner or sacrificial plate, which we have in store, can be fitted, this will also help to support the barrel.

All external brackets and fittings will be fitted. We are short of one casting the stuffing box for the whistle connection. This arrangement includes a stop valve as part of the steam supply to the whistle and to the lance cock. We hold in stock the regulator stuffing box casting, regulator access cover, chime whistle, whistle valve, lance cock, vacuum ejector and their respective brackets.

The vacuum ejector box was obtained some time ago and will need to have the spiders cleaned out and generally serviced. The two drain valves fitted to ejector elbow and ejector box are on order. The last piece to complete this assembly will be the swan necked ejector pipe.

It has also been decided to fit the B.R. type spark arrester system as per the drawing and parts are being ordered. This includes the smoke box arrester bars support bracket patterns and castings, comprised of two pairs of handed castings.

With regards to the Melesco multivalve regulator, we hold the drawings for the class 8 and the class 7 locomotives but can any one help with the drawing for the class 6 type? The class 6 only has 35 superheater elements where as the class 8/7 has 40 superheater elements. 

Finally we will need the steam pipe stuffing box patterns and castings, which will need machining and the steam pipes to complete. Inquiries have been made about having the steam pipes supplied, but the design includes a very tight bend where they come off the header; so far not one company approached is capable of handling such a bend without prohibitively expensive specially made tooling.

All running plate brackets, running plates, smoke deflectors and nameplates held in stock to be fitted and then when suitable to be placed on frames for display.

May 08

We have the bogie bearing pad brackets, require machining

We have the pin jointed cross stay brackets, require machining

The six brake hanger brackets castings have been ordered

The large ejector exhaust elbow casting has been ordered

A pair of brand new firehole doors have been purchased from Railway forgings and Castings

Intermediate boiler support pattern and casting on order

Copes Engineering are completing the final machining on the horn guides

Ian Riley has agreed to erect the frames in his workshop at Bury

We can supply replica B.R. Standard loco smokebox numberplates of your choice through our web shop

South Devon Railway Engineering to progress the smokebox

We have bought a pair of new front cylinder cover castings from Railway forgings and Castings

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How You Can Help Build 'Hengist'

You can make a donation, you can sponsor a part or you can become an active member, for more details email: info@72010-hengist.org or write to the chairman.

'This project is made possible by your support and dedicated hard working volunteers'

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