The LMS Patriot Project has released an update on the construction of new build steam locomotive ‘The Unknown Warrior'.
Frame Assembly
Work has continued in a number of locations.
Work has restarted at the Llangollen Railway, not at the speed they would like, but work is now progressing once more.
The project is working with Llangollen Engineering to complete a work schedule to see the completion of the locomotive chassis.
Chassis
Work has restarted on the chassis over the past few weeks. Parts are continuing to arrive at Llangollen for fitment in the future.
The clothing bands around the cylinder relief valve mountings are now being trimmed before the holes are drilled and tapped into the cylinder castings.
Sand pipes from the sandboxes down to the guns by the driving wheels have all been formed to the chape and have been fitted to the chassis and painted.
The locomotive splashers over the trailing bogie wheel have been fitted to the frame and the underside of the lower slidebar.
Inside the cab, the first coat of the correct red has been applied below waist height. The group is now working to obtain the correct wood grain for the section above.
The seat bases for the driver and fireman, along with the pivots, have been delivered and painted.
Designs for the injector water cock operating levers and brackets have now been completed. These will be cast in the near future.
The coal slacking cock is also underway.
The inside front inside cylinder cover is now being prepared for fitting to the locomotive.
Pistons, Valves, and Motion
Work is progressing with the refurbishment of the legacy motion, which has been obtained for use on the locomotive. This also includes the replacement of the bushes (where needed).
The new inside combination lever has been made to the design of the original drawings for the Royal Scot class. Most of the moving parts are the same as the Royal Scot, Patriot and Jubilee classes.
Once the new part was delivered to the Llangollen Railway and compared to the existing parts, a number of modifications that needed to be made in the locomotives lift time became clear. Firstly, this was apparent for the lubrication arrangements of the bronze bushes. The original design has just a plain bronze bush pressed into a steel rod.
The legacy part showed a later design. This is where the rods are counterbored around the bush. Additional bronze oil rings are then added. The additional rings provide an additional side thrust bearing area. The new inside combination lever is now being modified to incorporate these oil rings.
The inside big end is now being prepared for the final fitting to the crank axle. The oil caps and wells are now being finished on the leading end of the outside eccentric rods.
Outside Radius Rods have now had the lifting arm slots checked and measured. This now allows the drawings to be produced for the die blocks.
The little and big end bushes and now being machines and white metaled. The white metal forms an actual bearing surface against the crank pin.
The replacement reverser shaft castings have all been delivered and are now being machined.
The cab reverser unit is now almost complete and ready for final assembly. The nut and leadscrew are being machined.
Return cranks have been trial fitted to the crank pins. This has shown up an issue with the keyways on the crank pins. The project is in discussions with South Devon Railway Engineering regarding what work is required.
Castings for the piston rod glands have been delivered and are away for machining. Drawings for the cast iron gland packings, springs, covers and squab boxes have been completed. Quotes have now been obtained for casting and machining.
Boiler
Boiler construction is progressing well at Heritage Boiler Steam Services.
Work has recently progressed on the outer firebox with the doorplate and throatplate being trial fitted to the wrapper. Rivet holes have also been drilled in both. The wrapper has now also had all the stay positions marked and pilot drilled, around 1000 of them.
The foundation ring rivet holes have been drilled as well.
The next stage of construction has seen the doorplate riveted to the wrapper.
The inner firebox and foundation ring have been trial fitted into the outer wrapper and doorplate.
Heritage Boiler Steam Services is currently in the process of moving from West Shed to their own premises in the North West, the larger workshop allows more flexibility for boiler work.
The next milestone will come when the chassis and boiler come together this Autumn to establish alignments and allow the barrel to be fitted to the firebox.
Brake and Lubrication System
Work is progressing on installing the lubrication system pipework. Work is currently focusing around the inside cylinder and installing the pipe which runs from the oil boxes.
The project has contracted the completion of the lubrication system to Nigel Day. Nigel has recently overseen the complete rebuild of ‘River Esk' at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.
All parts for the brake cylinder are now at Llangollen for final assembly. Once this is complete, the cylinder can be mounted underneath the drag box.
The refurbishment of the 9″ tender brake cylinder from No.48518 is progressing at Harco Engineering.
Drain Cock Gear, Cylinder Relief Valves & Sanding Gear
The replacement castings for the cylinder relief valves have been delivered and now being machined. Once this is complete, they will be delivered to the Valve Company in Gloucester for final assembly and testing. Then they will be delivered to Llangollen for fitting to the cylinders.
The replacement casing castings for the Cylinder Relief Valves have been delivered and are being machined. Once complete they will be delivered to the Valve company in Gloucester for assembly and testing, before delivery of the completed valves to Llangollen for fitting to the Cylinders.
When this is complete, the remaining drain cock operating gear can be assembled and tested.
Fittings
The team is currently awaiting the delivery of the steam heating valves from Tyseley. Once delivered, the mounting brackets can be designed and manufactured.
Tender
Tender work is progressing with holes being sunk in preparation for the riveting of the chassis. A sequence is being made to determine the order that the parts are attached.
The project is continuing its discussions with various organisations regarding the riveting of the chassis and the completion of the rolling chassis.
The LMS Patriot Project is in discussions with suppliers for the new tender tank.
This is brilliant news to write about, and it is great to see the work progressing on this locomotive. We look forward to seeing more updates in the future.
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