80064 – the journey to running on the WSR
80064: a busy week at Cranmore
A good turnout of volunteers at the Cranmore workshop this week meant progress on many fronts with WSRA’s BR Standard 4 tank 80064. Steve Masters reports, with photographs.
Smokebox
James and Patrick riveted the new self-cleaning smokebox table plates together, and the finished plates are now ready. The old smokebox door has been stripped of all its fittings so they can be reused on the new door.
Axleboxes
James heated the first of the new axlebox crowns ready for tinning and white-metalling. The serrations in the crown were tinned, the white metal poured, and the first crown is now done.
Frames and motion
Alistair made a start cleaning the first coupling rod. Rowan turned the bogie frame back the right way up and gave it a coat of grey undercoat, then painted the driving horn way where the block has been refitted. If you look very closely you can spot Isaac in his hiding place underneath the saddle fabrication, needle-gunning and painting in a very confined space!
Rear bufferbeam
Jeff and Dave removed the rear buffer, which revealed that the loco has obviously had a heavy shunt at some point – the rear bufferbeam is rather bent. The bent gusset plates, gussets and rivets have been removed so the bufferbeam can be straightened and new gussets fitted.
Cylinders and fittings
Both rear cylinder covers have now been removed. Paul has been using the new grit blaster to clean up the fittings – one cylinder cock body now looks like new. Elliot has also made a start machining the new piston head casting on the borer; you can watch a short video of this on the ESR Workshop and Running Shed News Facebook group.
Wheels at Riley’s
All the carrying wheels have had their tyres turned, and the first of the driving wheels has now come off the wheel lathe.
All photographs © Steve Masters.
80064 Restoration Update – Great Progress Despite the Wind
It was a challenging start to the day at Cranmore, with the windy weather causing frequent power cuts. For a while, it wasn’t clear quite how much work would be possible, but thankfully the power returned and stayed on, allowing the team to get on with a very productive day.
There has been some excellent progress on 80064, with several important stages of the overhaul now moving forward.
Smokebox taking shape
The smokebox has now had all the fittings and liner plates riveted into position. This is an important milestone, and the photographs show some particularly impressive rivet work.
Inside the smokebox, you can see the various brackets which will accommodate the self-cleaning screens, table plates and header brackets, together with the liner plates fitted along the bottom of the smokebox.
The new fabricated steam pipe glands for the smokebox have also been completed and are shown in the photographs.
Bearings removed
Another significant piece of work has been completed with all the coupling and connecting rod bearings pressed out. These can now be assessed and either remetalled or renewed as appropriate, ready for the next stages of the locomotive’s mechanical overhaul.
Painting progress
A team of six were on painting duty, making excellent progress on the locomotive’s frames.
Jeff, Jonathan, Ronnie and Toby are shown hard at work on different areas of the frames, while Isaac was working underneath at the front and James was concentrating on the bogie components.
It is particularly encouraging to see so many volunteers contributing to the restoration. Every one of these jobs takes 80064 another step towards returning this important locomotive to steam.
There is still a considerable amount of work ahead, but the steady progress being made is very encouraging. 80064 is continuing to move forward, one job at a time.
Photography: Steve Masters
Photographs Show
- The last of the rivets being fitted into the smokebox.
- Lots of nice rivet heads!
- A view inside the smokebox, showing the brackets for the self-cleaning screens, table plates and header brackets. The liner plates can be seen to the right of the photograph at the bottom of the smokebox.
- All coupling and connecting rod bearings pressed out.
- Jeff painting the frames.
- Jonathan and Ronnie painting from the front.
- Toby painting the left-hand side. Out of sight are Isaac underneath at the front and James working on the bogie components.
- The new fabricated steam pipe glands for the smokebox.
80064 Axlebox Crowns Update
The Axlebox crown is the gunmetal bearing pressed into the top of the Axlebox which sits on the journals of the axles. This crown has a soft white metal lining in the top and forms the bearing face.
The crowns not only take the weight of the loco but also resist the forward and backward forces from the cylinders and so it is important that they are in good order to give long reliable service.
The original crowns were a bit past their best. Either loose in the Axleboxes or oversize and made up with more white metal.
As the journals are currently being skimmed and polished at Riley’s the decision was made to renew all of the crowns to restore the correct limits and fits onto the new journal sizes.
To renew the crowns, six large cored gunmetal billets were ordered and these were then turned down on our vertical borer to give the correct interference fit into the Axleboxes.
A CAD drawing was produced to detail the cut line for the lower dovetails and the serrations. These serrations are there to help the white metal stick and stay in place.
The bearings were then sent to a wire eroding company to cut the dovetails and serrations. This used a wire submerged in water which slowly sparks away at the part following the accurate CAD file.
Once this process is finished, we will white metal them and fettle them to give the correct press fit into the Axleboxes.
This is an example of where modern techniques are now being used. Traditionally this would have been done on a spotting machine with quite a bit of set up time. This method is extremely accurate and provides a quick turn around.
80064 Goes Orange!
More news from Cranmore on 80064
Work continues on 80064 Chassis at Cranmore
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