Latest News

Current news items are listed below. If the Acrobat icon is shown, then click on the icon to read the attachment. If an image is shown, you can click it for a full size image. You can find old news items in the News Archive.

Firebox Support Stretcher
15/04/2024
	After tidying up after Saturday's Open Day, today we worked on the firebox support stretcher; in particular the support bracket bolted to the bottom of the stretcher. In the photo, you can see the top of the pony truck pivot pin under the oil can. The top taper of the pivot pin engages in a taper on the top of the bottom plate of the stretcher. The drill is sitting on the bottom plate. Bolted to the bottom of the the bottom plate is the support bracket; the bottom of which is below the spanner in Geoff's hand. The bottom taper of the pivot pin engages with taper in this bracket. Today, our job was to replace the 6 temporary bolts with fitted bolts. Mike is holding the top of the bolt with the ratchet spanner.
2024 Open Day
14/04/2024
	Our 2024 Open Day was held on Saturday 13 April and CTL's Assembly shop was busy throughout the day. In the 1954 British Railways Building Programme, 15 "Clans" were scheduled. None were built as the order was cancelled. The intention was that the first 5 of the batch were destined for the Southern Region and were allocated names appropriate to the region. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent - you can find more on Wikipedia. For the Open Day, 72010 assumed a Southern Region Identity, complete with 73A Stewarts Lane shed code plate. You can read information about "The Man of Kent" train name at this web site. Thanks to everyone who came to the Open Day
2024 Open Day - Front Bogie
14/04/2024
	For the Open Day, we were able to assemble most of the bogie components. The final stages now are to complete the axlebox guides and liners. We need to drill/ream the bolt holes that fasten the guides to the frames and procure the fitted bolts. Then we can start a major dimension check where we will need to determine how to finish machine the liners so that there is the correct clearance between the faces of the wheelset axleboxes and the axlebox guide liners.
Pony Truck Wheels
11/04/2024
	Our Pony Truck wheels have been cast at Trefoil Steel Co Ltd and machined at L&H Engineering Limited in Worksop. Today, Geoff, John and Harry went to Worksop for final inspection. Both wheels have checked out OK and will be delivered to CTL Seal, tomorrow on Friday 12 April, just in time for the Open Day on Saturday. Final machining will be completed after the wheels have been pressed onto the pony truck axle.
William Cook Cast Products to Cast Six New Driving Wheels
03/04/2024
	William Cook Cast Products (WCCP) will make all six driving wheels, based around two patterns; one for the Centre Driving Wheel and one for the Leading and Trailing Wheels. The patterns will be made using traditional methods, assisted by laser scanning of the wheels on Hengist’s 'big sister' Britannia Pacific 70013 Oliver Cromwell, based at the Great Central Railway’s Loughborough depot. The scan will define any missing details for the finished patterns. From the patterns, the two centre driving wheels and four leading and trailing wheels will be cast. All six cast wheels will then be proof (semi-finished) machined ready for finish machining to suit the axles and tyres. All this work will take between six and twelve months to complete and will be worth over £100,000 to the project. William Cook - Heritage Rail William Cook is a major supporter of steam locomotive new-build and restoration projects inthe UK and Europe. Sir Andrew Cook CBE said of the project….” Britain is now entering the second and most hazardous stage of the heritage rail movement which began some 60 years ago. Preserved locomotives are requiring hugely expensive repairs, including new boilers and the generation of men whose knowledge and enthusiasm preserved them in the first place is dwindling as death takes its inevitable toll. In this context, new build is ever more important if the working steam locomotive is not to become a thing of the past. As both a life-long rail enthusiast and experienced manufacturer of the many kinds of cast parts a steam engine requires, I consider it my duty to our industrial heritage to do what I can to assist. The ‘Clan’ class was a pretty engine, but no example escaped the scrap man’s torch. ‘Hengist’ is a state-of-the art engineering project based in the heart of Sheffield and could even be the last Pacific locomotive built in the UK. Such iconic locomotives are a major part of our history, without which future generations would never experience the sight, sound and even smell of a working steam locomotive.” Andy England, MD of CTL Seal in Sheffield, which is the home of the Locomotive, says “This is a fantastic development for the Locomotive and the project is building a real head of steam now. You can really see the engine taking shape and it’s an exciting challenge for us as we are re-creating the engine using the original 1950s design but employing 21st century engineering techniques to make it greener, cleaner and more efficient.”
Bogie Axlebox Guides and Liners
03/04/2024
	The 8 bogie axlebox guides have been fitted with their manganese steel liners and are now ready for the next stage, which is machining for the 3 fitted bolts that hold each liner to its axlebox guide. Each assembly has been given given a unique identifier, according to its position on the bogie. The unique identifier will stay with it for life and is needed when the liners are taken off for final adjustment to set the axlebox clearances. The X shaped grooves are for the grease that lubricates the bearing faces on the axlebox. Manganese steel is a hard wearing steel, that is fitted to axlebox faces to minimise wear on faces.
Fitting the Dragbox
18/03/2024
	Our job today was to ensure that the dragbox was sitting firmly against the back of the frames. We used 4 ratchet straps to pull the dragbox firmly against the frames and then ran a 0.0015" feeler gauge down the join between the dragbox and the frames. This showed that there was only limited contact. Here you can see that John has applied raddle (as used at Crewe Works) to the dragbox. We have then installed the dragbox and pulled it tight against the frames. After removing the dragbox, you can see how the raddle has transferred to the high spots on the frames. John is working on the frames with a file and a grinding stone. After about 4 repetitions of this process, it was agreed that the fit is satisfactory. As we can't drill the holes for bolts that pass through the gussets, frame plates and dragbox in a single pass (access through the gussets is difficult), we now need to manufacture a drilling jig. We will use the jig to drill the holes in the dragbox and frames as one operation and the gussets as a second operation.