S160s 5197, 6046 and 3278 plus LMS 8F No. 48173 – Steam locomotive update from Batt Holden

Based on the Churnet Valley Railway (CVR), Batt Holden Ltd has released an update on the locomotives they own or working on.

USATC S160 No.5197

Valve Gearing

One issue the team has been able to address is the valve timings, which has not been 100% for a while. The first stage to rectifying this was to design a tool to measure actual valve times produced, which has been done thanks to both staff and volunteers’ combined effort. Further progress on this project will come in due course.

Injectors

Following the need to replace one of the Chinese style lifting injectors, the team have decided to swap them out for a South African type. Unfortunately spares for the Chinese style have run out, and with no detailed drawings in English, producing new parts will be difficult.

Cylinders

Using impregnation fluid, an old repair which had failed has been repaired again. Although not tested with firing the locomotive up, the team are confident that the repair will work.

Tender Tank

Work will resume shortly on building the new tender tank for 5197. So far, the work has been carried out by a contractor until it was shipped to the CVR in late December 2020.

USATC S160 No.6046

An issue with the regulator was noted while in service back in September. After assessing the components, a crack, causing steam to leak, was located in the internal main steam pipe. At the time the engine was due to be busy, so work progressed fast in disassembling the smokebox fittings. With previously planned work cancelled, the pressure was off, just as well as the new pipe was delayed coming from Germany. Steam tests proved successful, and the engine is ready for its next duties.

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USATC S160 No.3278

The long-awaited arrival of 3278 took place in Early December, allowing work to resume on overhauling the engine. Some features the locomotive has will remain, such as Right-Hand Drive.

More information on the arrival of 3278 can be found by reading the RailAdvent article here.

S160 Bogies

Among the large pool of spare parts are bogies for S160s. For the past few years, the company has spent much time gathering information and drawings on the building, fitting, and maintaining the bogies to ensure they are running correctly. Now with a virtually complete drawing, the team examined the two bogies fitted under 5197 and 6046, which showed improvements could be made. These improvements will be first trialled on a spare bogie to paired with either 5197 or 6046 in the future.

48173

Although work has slowed due to other commitments, the new axle ordered from Belgium arrived at Riley & Sons in Late December.

For more information or to support Batt Holden Ltd, please visit their Facebook page.

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