A different train of thought .

[Chuffer]

I find it interesting to 'conjure' where 'we' would all be with steam power if diesels engines and electric technology hadn't effectively taken over. Also given the current drive to reduce emissions.......could coal have been replaced with something else.
I've noticed that many of the engine classes, and individual engines are named after the designer or chief engineer responsible for producing the loco.........questions I have relating to that........what is really (as with Sir William Stanier) totally 'his' design........or the results of a whole team of engineers designing the engines and the Chief Engineer heading-up the deparment taking all the credit. Were people (like Sir William Stainier) awarded a knighthood because of their efforts (or team efforts) relating to the engine design........or was it simply (much as today) the 'old school tie brigade' taking the plum jobs and all the credit for the teams work.
I'd like to think that engineers, whatever their background only recieved recognition (such as knighthoods) due to individual efforts...........

Interesting points raised Ross. Firstly regarding " where would we be with steam power " , the railways in Britain were lagging far behind other countries in terms of modernisation to diesel and electric traction . The country was financially `broke` after WW2 and the railways had been run into the ground during the demands of the war . There was no money to invest in electrification so steam locos soldiered on with new `Standard ` designs masterminded by Robert Riddles who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer for the newly formed nationalised British Railways in 1948 . He had come up the hard way through the ranks and had studied under Stanier at the London Midland & Scottish Railway ( LMS). His vision was for a long programme of building modern and efficient locos through to the 1970`s but the last of his designs was built at Swindon in 1960 . By then the Government had embarked on a Modernisation Plan to do away with steam power and and a hastey and ill conceived diesel loco building plan was rushed through by inviting private companies to present their own designs for building . This resulted in steam locos only 5 to 10 years old being scrapped , a criminal waste of tax payers money . Numerous diesel locos were rapidly built in the late 1950`s and 1960`s and many proved unreliable due to lack of development . Some even earned a reputation for regularly catching fire !! Some classes of diesel were withdrawn and scrapped within a few years of service . More money wasted !! In the late 1950`s and early 60`s it was a matter of routine that steam locos were sent to rescue trains hauled by diesels that had failed . In fact on some rural branch lines where steam power had been eradicated by Diesel Multiple Units ( Rail Cars ) , steam power was re introduced until reliability issues were resolved with the modern traction.
With regard to Stanier , he was a `dyed in the wool` railwayman from the get go . Born in Swindon in 1876 , his father worked for the Great Western Railway ( GWR) as nearly everyone in Swindon did . Stanier started as Office Boy , then a 5 year apprenticeship in the loco workshops and then became a draughtsman ( just like me ! ) He steadily gained promotion until head hunted in 1932 by the LMS to become Chief Mechanical Engineer to resolve the LMS`s `small engine` policy they had inherited from the old Midland Railway that the LMS had absorbed with the resultant clash in personalities and old style attitudes . I think Stanier banged a few heads together and with a hand picked team embarked on a prodigious building plan of larger , more modern for the time , loco designs amounting to 11 different classes for various types of duties . This meant a standardisation of lots of components allowing efficiency of manufacture , maintenance and operation by the crews . All this came from his time learning his trade with the GWR. Yes he did have a team of very good engineers working under his watchful eye but the fundamental designs were all his . During WW2 he was selected as a consultant to the Ministry of Supply and was knighted in on retirement in 1943 in recognition of all his services . He was also made Fellow of the Royal Society ( FRS ) and President of Institute of Mechanical Engineers . As is the way of things , the Head Man` gets the gong but at least it meant something in those days rather than handing out Knighthoods willy nilly to pop stars and the like with no more meaning than sweets to a child !!!
Staniers ultimate design was his awesomely powerful Duchess Class express locos , the last built being named in his honour ` Sir William A Stanier FRS `.

 

[Roscobbc]

Mike........like others I'm seething that Sadiq Khan, London Mayor who has been seen to fail in most of the things he has been measured-on is likely to be knighted........several million Londoners and others working and travelling in London would have plenty to say...........jobs for the 'boys' (and useless tossers too!)

 

[Chuffer]

Me too Ross , I issued a few expletives when I found out that little git was getting knighted . He should be neutered not knighted !!!

 

[Chuffer]

A bit more progress was made on `Sir Lamiel`s boiler on Friday as we took advantage of dry day as the boiler by necessity is permanently outdoors . I was assisting one of our small team of volunteers Dave , a spritely 83 year old retired boilersmith who is currently fabricating a new smoke box rim . The existing rim had completely corroded away by the effects of years intense heat and the corrosive effects of the red hot `char` that is drawn threw the boiler tubes by the exhaust blast up the chimney and collects in the bottom of the smoke box against the smoke box door . The corroded rim was cut away with a disc cutter and a new steel rim made and rolled in two semi circular sections to be welded in place round the full circumference the smoke box . This will then compress a new heavy duty fabric gasket that sits in a corresponding circular channel on the inside edge of the smoke box door . This ensures an airtight seal when the door is closed and screwed up tight . It is vital to have an airtight seal to maintain the negative pressure in the smoke box caused by the exhaust draft up the chimney when the loco is in motion as any leak will have an adverse effect on the steaming and hence performance of the loco .
The previous week the Boiler Inspector made another visit to inspect the condition of the Fire Box roof stays . These stays form just part of the total 1500 stays that support the outer steel firebox from the inner copper firebox . The space in between being the water ` jacket` surrounding the Fire Box that contains water and is the primary steam producing part of the boiler . These stays are a complex arrangement known as `Sling Stays ` that are peculiar to round topped boilers as favoured by R.E.L. Maunsell , the designer of the` King Arthur` Class locos such as `Sir Lamiel`and Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway . I have included diagrams to demonstrate the difference between round topped fireboxes and ` Belpaire ` design flat topped fireboxes more commonly used in later loco designs . As can be seen , the inner firebox ` roof` is flat in both cases which necessitates the roof stays being longer and splayed at a slight angle to allow for curvature of the outer firebox . Although cheaper to manufacture than `Belpaire fireboxes and inherently stronger being circular , round topped fireboxes mean the angled stays are prone to flexing due to the massive forces imposed them and a `sling` arrangement was designed to allow the stays to pivot slightly where bolted to the underside of the outer steal firebox . The Belpaire arrangement had the advantage of a larger heating area for the water than a round topped `box .
Fortunately it would appear in the inspection that only a few `sling stays` need replacing and being internally threaded can be withdrawn from inside the firebox and are identified in the photo by the oblong chalk marks seen on the second , third and fifth rows from the right . I suspect that this may well prove a tad more challenging than removing a Corvette`s exhaust manifold bolts !!
The good news is with this type of stay , we will not have to cut access holes in the thick steel outer firebox roof to replace and weld patches back in afterwards at considerable cost and time . Added to latest years inspection of all the side and back head stays resulting in only 150 copper stays needing replacing at £50 a pop for the copper materials alone ( we CNC machined them in house - see photo of new stays ) . If most or all of the 1500 stays needed replacing the cost would have been horrendous !
With no need to cut holes in the outer firebox anymore I could also crack on with rust removal and heat resistant painting of the firebox in the same manner the boiler barrel has been finished so re tubing the boiler should not be too far off and will be a big step forward . Oh ! I forgot to mention the big crack in the chimney casting rendering said component scrap but at least we have a new in our store ready to replace it .

 

[Chuffer]

Last weekend our volunteer group , the `5305 Locomotive Association ` organised a Working Weekend in an attempt to galvanise more members to get actively involved in the nitty gritty of the overhauls of one of the two diesel locos and the two steam locos we are custodians of . This did in fact produce two new recently joined members from the generation before us `old steam buffs` which is encouraging as that is where the future of Heritage Railways lies . Future Working Weekends have been scheduled for once a month throughout the year to hopefully maintain momentum on the projects over and above what us few regulars do .
As the weather was too damp to work outdoors on applying a second coat of heat resistant paint to `Sir Lamiel`s` boiler and firebox , the the list of jobs inside the workshop was the focus of attention . The total refurbishment of `Sir Lamiel`s` 4 wheel leading tender bogie was finally completed with the fitting up of the brake assembly that is operated by the locomotives hand brake . Once we can gain access to the 25 tonne lifting jacks we can run the bogie under the tender body , connect it up and then remove the trailing bogie and start all over again !
The two new volunteers were gainfully employed sanding down `Sir Lamiel`s` coupling and connecting rods to remove the surface rust on these monsterously heavy components and polishing them to a bright steel finish with fine grade abrasive paper and spraying them with Duck Oil to prevent further corrosion prior to refitting at a later date .
Whilst this was going on I took the opportunity to continue work already started on D6535 our custodian Diesel Electric loco that like `Sir Lamiel` is part of the National Collection of York Railway Museum . This involved needle gunning and linishing the 4 wheeled power bogie frames , cab access steps , sand boxes and the face of the sole bar that runs the entire length of the loco . The sole bar is basically the steel frame that the entire body sits on and the power bogies each house 4 x 3ft 7 inch diameter driving wheels with axle slung Crompton Parkinson electric traction motors , each one producing 305 bhp . These in turn are powered by a Sulzer 8 cylinder pressure charged diesel engine continuously rated at 1,550 bhp at 750 r.p.m.
Large areas of rusted out bodywork has also been cut away and new panels welded in . Fortunately we have a coded welder in our group that can carry out this work to the required standards . The loco was built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in 1960 and the design was a notorious rust bucket with internal rain water drainage channels that block up over the years causing water to run down the inside of the body plus the cab ends are of double skinned steel construction with lots of compound curves that are another restoration nightmare . Only the cab roofs are rust free as they are of GRP construction as a weight saving measure . I must admit I much prefer working on steam locos with their solid , basic construction rather than all the fiddly gubbins on a diesel loco !!

In an ironic twist of fate , both `Sir Lamiel` and D6535 operated over the same routes out of London Waterloo to both Bournemouth / Weymouth and to the West of England via Salisbury hauling express passenger trains of their respective eras . D6535 was constructed 1960 and `Sir Lamiel ` was withdrawn from service on British Railways in 1961 having been built in 1925 . D6535 was withdrawn from service in 1998 and languished in a run down state until taken into the National Collection for preservation in 2005 .
It is interesting to make comparisons between to two very different motive power at the opposite ends of railway technology of their day . `Sir Lamiel` had a tractive effort of 25, 320 lbs at the driving wheels yet D6535 has a massive 45,000 lbs showing the power improvements that diesel electric traction has over steam . However , with its 6 ft 7 inch diameter driving wheels , `Sir Lamiel ` was the faster of the two by a small margin as the entire class of D6535 type locos had a maximum speed of 85 mph but` Sir Lamiel`s `claim to fame was setting a record for its class whilst hauling the `Atlantic Coast Express` up to London via Salisbury . The loco cut 17.25 minutes off the scheduled time of 90 minutes for the 83.5 miles from Salisbury to Waterloo and attaining 90 mph . I am certain the fireman was kept very busy !!!

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Great write up that Chuffers. Thanks

 

[Chuffer]

Great write up that Chuffers. Thanks

Thanks Mr. C . no probs . I just wish we could make faster progress to make things more interesting but we have so many constraints largely beyond our control . That`s resto I guess be it cars or locos .

 

[CaptainK]

Always a good read, thanks Chuffs.

 

[Chuffer]

Took advantage of the glorious Spring weather today to finally complete the second coat of heat resistant paint on `Sir Lamiel`s` boiler and firebox . It has has been a long and tedious task from the initial power wire brushing and de scaling to get this point but a job well done and crossed off the long list of tasks . Also made a start on die nutting fresh clean threads on the front rows of crown stays that support the inner firebox roof to the outer round topped firebox through the water jacket void between the inner and outer firebox that is the primary source of steam production within the boiler . The protective nuts that cover the threaded section of the stays that would otherwise be exposed to the intense heat of the fire having removed to check for wastage of the stays . Fortunately all were found to be within permitted tolerance so can remain in situ and have new nuts fitted .
Meanwhile , along side us catching the early morning sun was British Railways Standard Class 5 loco No. 73156 built in 1954 and survived in regular service until the end of British Railways steam operations in 1968 after a working life of only 14 years . A scandalous waste of tax payers money in the day !!
Later in the afternoon BR Standard Class 2 No. 78019 which had an equally short working life was alongside Great Western Railway `Hall` Class No. 6990 ` Witherslack Hall ` being` lit up ` in readiness for the weekends service trains . Meanwhile inside the workshop ex London Midland & Scottish Railway Stanier Class 8F heavy freight loco No. 48305 looked superb in its freshly applied black livery having just had new valve and piston liners fitted and awaiting machining in situ to give correct bore diameters for the new valve and piston rings . I have a particular affinity with this loco as it was allocated to the loco depot in my home town of Northampton in the early 1960`s and I would have seen many times in my boyhood ` train spotting ` days . It is even recorded as working regularly along the long closed old Stratford upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway line , that remnants of which are still clearly seen at the bottom of my garden and running along the outskirts of our village .

 

[Chuffer]

This one dropped off the `send `file for some reason !!

 

[Chuffer]

An interesting historical snippet regarding the work being done in the firebox yesterday . The die nut we were using to clean up the stay threads was stamped LNWR . That denotes it was made by the London & North Western Railway that existed from 1848 to 1922 . Just goes to show they made things to last in those days !!

 

[Chuffer]

Reflecting on my recent fireman`s exploits on Bretton Grange that I posted on `What Have You Done Today ` a couple of weeks ago, I was prompted to trawl through my records today and realised that the surprise invitation to have a day firing on the locomotive took me up to my half century of different steam locos either fired , driven or in most cases both . Having stepped down from being an official driver in 2013 I never expected to clock up one more turn of duty on the footplate . Of those 50 locos there where 39 distinct different classes of loco covering all the constituent railway companies designs that ultimately became part of British Railways after nationalisation of the railways in 1948 ranging from the smallest shunting tank engines to the UK`s largest and most powerful express locos . Plus 5 different types of diesel locomotives too . Don`t suppose I will get any more opportunities now though . But never say never !

 

[Chuffer]

A friend who is a member of a group of very accomplished railway photographers recently sent me a Youtube link for an amazing video published by Karl Jauncy entitled ` Landscapes of Steam 2011 to 2024 that is a compilation of past recordings . Between them the group produce so amazing videos and my friend regularly sends me copies of their latest work . Karl Jauncy is a master of his art this 1 hour ans 12 minute compilation shows the majesty of preserved steam locos operating on some of most scenic routes on our national rail network . I met Karl several times during my firing and driving days when he was out filming . The link is https:youtube.b/s4xyEPmyDnE . ` Landscapes of Steam - 2011 to 2024. I hope you enjoy the amazing locations and film work like I did . It certainly brought back great memories of my past forays around the UK on the footplate .

 

[Chuffer]

As threatened in my `What have you done today ` post yesterday , here is the latest update on our constantly evolving work schedule on the locos we are custodians of . I am sure I mentioned way back in the early days of this thread that the 5305 Locomotive Association ( 5305 LA) of which I am a member are custodians of two steam locos and two diesel locos . Both diesels ( D6535 & D123 ) and one of the steam locos ( Sir Lamiel ) belong to the National Collection of York Railway Museum due to their historic significance throughout the development of the railways in the UK . Basically we service and maintain these locos and then provide them for active service hauling trains on the Great Central Railway ( GCR ) for which the 5305 LA then earns revenue on a `miles run per year ` agreement with the GCR . Being a not for profit charity we then use that income to help pay for the massive running costs and overhauls . We also provide the Support Crews for main line line operations on the national rail network when Sir Lamiel and Stanier` Black Five ` 5305 have their overhauls complete and are back to hauling main line charter trains again .
The reason for diverting our limited `hands on ` volunteer resources away from the two steam locos major overhaul / rebuild at present is because both diesels are ostensibly in working order and require only body work repairs and cosmetic paintwork . Thus the sooner we get both of them back in service on the GCR the sooner we can generate much needed income and the GCR also gets two valued and popular locos back in their operational fleet . The GCR are particularly keen to have both D123 and D6535 all ship shape and Bristol fashion for their 3 day Diesel Gala event at the end of April , so no pressure then !!
Myself and good friend of some 40 years plus , Alan who is also Chairman of the 5305 LA have been cracking on with descaling and red oxide primer painting of the below body level components of D6535 as previously reported and the light is at the end of the tunnel . This is a fiddly job to say the least owing to the complexity of construction . The buffer beam areas at both ends below what is referred to as A and B driving cab ends being particularly tedious as these particular locos were fitted out for `multiple working` which means that two similar locos could be coupled together and driven by one driver in the leading cab being able to operate power , brakes and all all other ancilliary equipment via interconnecting jumper leads thus doubling the power available to haul very heavy trains . Add to this the fact that the loco is fitted with electric train heating ( ETH ) for carriage heating as well dual braking systems of both vacuum brakes and air brakes to cater for which ever type of brake system the carriages or wagons had , not to mention the fact that it was also adapted in its early life for `push - pull ` working which necessitated even more controls connections at both ends to enable the driver to remotely control the loco and and the brakes from a leading carriage control cab when the loco was propelling a passenger train from the rear thus necessitating two different sets of buffers , the conventional OLEO oil suppressed buffers and a central buffer bar as seen in the photos to provide a more rigid connection when in push - pull mode . This was common practice on the line from Bournemouth to Weymouth where D6535 operated before the line was fully electrified throughout from London Waterloo to Weymouth in 1970 . In short , a heck of lot of gubbins to work round !!
Oh , I forgot to mention taking the eight axle box covers off all four driving wheel axles to repack the SKF roller bearings with grease . Busy busy busy !

Meanwhile the massive bulk of D123 has joined its stable mate inside the workshop for a quick repaint to liven up its rather faded 1960`s era British Railways green livery . This loco was one of a class of the first mass produced diesel electric locos introduced in 1959 as part of British Railways modernisation plan to eventually eradicate steam locomotives . The first ten locos numbered D1 to D10 were named after the highest mountains in England and Wales and earned the nick name `Peaks` which stuck throughout the remainder of the class which totaled 193 in all . At the time they were the largest and most powerful diesel loco operating on British Railways weighing in at 132 tons 2 cwt and 67ft 11inches long . Powered by a Sulzer 12 cylinder intercooled engine rated at 2500 bhp at 750rpm and driving 6 axle hung 305bhp traction motors and geared for 90mph running speeds .They produced a tractive effort of 70,000 lbs which was just over 40,000 lbs more than the most powerful steam locos running in the country .
D123 was built at Crewe Works in 1961 and although not named at the time she gained the name plates ` Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry in year 2000 . This name having been originally carried by sister loco D163 as just a handful of the class had received names of regiments originally carried by the famous Royal Scot class of steam locomotives from the days of the London & Midland & Scottish Railway . This honour was bestowed on D123 due to its association with the county of Leicestershire through which the GCR runs .
Fortunately our over stretched little band of volunteers have made an arrangement with the GCR`s Works Manager that his paid staff will prep and paint the bodywork with us , the 5305 LA providing the paint from our limited financial resources . That means a win win all round as the GCR will get to use it in regular service more quickly and be a crowd puller at their Diesel Gala , we get revenue from the running agreement . In return me and my mate have offered our help free gratis when required on any major operations that requires a sizable gang to bolster their small workforce of just 10 , some of which are apprentices on labour intensive tasks such a boiler fitting , boiler lifting or loco re wheeling .