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.

Waiting for Machining
04/12/2023
	3 of our parts due to start machining this week. On the right is the new dragbox. The part in the centre is not one of ours. On the left are the pony truck centring pin and the intermediate rubbing block which is bolted to the hind beam. The centring pin will be bolted to the circular plate which you can see on the top of the inverted dragbox. The centring pin engages in a slot in the rear cross frame of the pony truck. Springs within the frame provide the centring force. The job is to drill and ream the bolt holes for the 8 securing bolts. The intermediate rubbing block needs some reduction to the radiused surface as specified in the drawings for the modified dragbox.
Bogie Leaf Springs
27/11/2023
	The bogie leaf springs arrived on site today from Owen Springs in Rotherham. The shiny part at the bottom is the Bearing Spring Cap which locates the central buckle of the spring. This needs to be welded into the central stretcher of the bogie. Here we were trying it out to confirm a correct fit.
Bolt Inspection
27/11/2023
	Our dragbox is currently in the queue in the machine shop. Once that arrives we will be able to complete phase 1 of frame assembly. We will have to go through a check to ensure that all bolts are fitting correctly and nuts tightened up to the correct torque setting. We have created a checklist uniquely identifying every bolt to record the results. Today, John started on the bogie bolster bolts with a large torque wrench.
Dragbox Ready for Machining
20/11/2023
	The dragbox has now completed Non Destructive Testing and has gone through post welding heat treatment. It is now in the queue in the machine shop at CTL Seal. The dragbox is upside down in the photo with the back plate on the left. The circular plate is for mounting the pony truck centring pin.
Bogie Axlebox Liners
20/11/2023
	The bogie axlebox liners are now in a position where the manganese steel liners (about 6mm thick) can be welded to the steel liner. In the photo, the axlebox guide is in the vice and the steel liner is on top. The axlebox guide is a shallow U section top to bottom and the liner is a shallow U section side to side. You can see how they fit together. Manganese liners will be welded to the top surface of the liner and also the side face that you can see in the photo. The bolts are used to clamp the liner to the axlebox guides - the shallow heads mean that they are recessed below the surface of the manganese liner.
Freezing Today!
06/11/2023
	Today we ordered a large container of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) from Premier Welding in Sheffield. Our main task was to fit a cast iron bush into the bogie centre slide. The bush is 6 inches (152 mm and 7.25 inches (184mm) long. Dry ice has a temperature of -78.5 degrees Celsius. The bush was buried in the dry ice early in the morning and by 1400 in the afternoon we were ready to have an attempt at fitting it. First we extracted the bush and measured the diameter before putting it back into the dry ice. This confirmed that the bush had shrunk enough to fit into the centre slide. We then gave it another 30 minutes before we attempted an installation. On with a thick pair of gloves, extract the bush and onto a table so that we could remove any ice adhering to the surface. With a couple of wiggles of the bush into the centre slide, it dropped into into the centre slide - job done! You can see a time lapse video by following this link. We also shrink fitted the 4 pivot pin cups that are installed on the top of the bogie cannon boxes.