Working right up until the Christmas break, the team at Darlington Locomotive Works took delivery of and installed the final combined frame stay and spring bracket assembly. All photos by David Elliott.
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Media enquiries should be made to The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust office in Darlington, at or on +44 (0) 1325 460163.
An audience with the Prince of Wales – dates for 2018 announced
The project to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive will be holding a number of roadshows in 2018 with the first at the London Transport Museum on Saturday 13th January 2018, where all attendees will receive complimentary access to the Museum Galleries on the day. Following this presentation, there will be a showing of ‘Tornado – the 100mph steam engine’ and ‘Absolutely Chuffed: The Men Who Built A Steam Engine’, along with guest presenter Tom Ingall, who was the Director, Producer and Narrator of these documentaries. Entrance into both the P2 Roadshow and the special viewing is free.
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has announced that it will be holding a number of presentations on the project to build new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales in 2018. Each presentation will feature key Trust personnel including Mark Allatt (P2 Project Director) and David Elliott (Director of Engineering) and will cover the background to the project, progress to-date, future plans and details of how to get involved. The presentation will start promptly at 11:00hrs until 13:00hrs on each of the days listed below and are open to existing supporters and interested members of the public:
• Saturday 10th February 2018 – The Great Northern Hotel, Peterborough
• Saturday 3rd March 2018 – The Principle Hotel, York
• Saturday 7th April 2018 – Darlington Locomotive Works, Darlington
• Saturday 19th May 2018 – Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
• Saturday 9th June 2018 – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
• Saturday 8th September 2018 – Derby Conference Centre, Derby
• Saturday 3rd November 2018 – Manchester – venue to be confirmed
• Saturday 8th December 2018 – Hilton Leeds City Hotel, Leeds.
Mark Allatt, P2 Project Director and Trustee, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented, “The past four years have seen dramatic progress toward our aim of completing new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales by 2021. No. 2007 is already at the stage Tornado was nine years into the project. We are holding a series of free roadshow presentations in 2018, starting in London at the London Transport Museum, to promote the £5m project and at each we will cover the background to the project, our progress to-date, future plans and details of how to get involved. These presentations are open to anyone interested in the project and we are encouraging our existing supporters to bring along interested family and friends. Now is the time to get on board this ground breaking project and help the Trust to raise the £5 million needed to ensure its completion in 2021.”
Bearing up….
Supervised by Mark Leatherland from Timken, the team at Darlington Locomotive Works pressed the roller bearings on to the crank axle. The process required the use of an induction heater for the bearings.
Most of Tornado’s roller bearings were fitted by the wheelset assembler at the same time as the wheels were pressed on. For Prince of Wales we have decided to assemble the bearings, axles and axle/cannonboxes ourselves as the plan is to fit the completed axle/axlebox and cannonbox assemblies to the frames before the wheels are pressed on. This makes the setting of the coupled axles much easier as the distance between the axles (which is a critical measurement for a smooth running) can be measured directly – this is not easy when the wheels are on.
The first bearings were fitted on 13th December to the crank axle. Having checked that the dimensions of the axle ends and the various spacer and thrust rings are correct, each component is heated to 110 degrees C using our new SKF bearing heater and slid onto the axle in turn. The axle is typically 0.004″ greater in diameter than holes in the rings and bearings, so as the components cool, they grip the axle. The problem is that if the outside edge of the ring or bearing cools and grips first, the the item will no longer be tight up against its neighbour as it shrinks on cooling. To overcome this we use our 50 tonne jack with various bespoke adapters to press each ring and bearing as it is fitted. The pressure is released once the component has cooled down.
It is a requirement of Railway Group Standards that work on roller bearings is overseen by a qualified bearing specialist which we do not have, so the operation was attended by by Timken Service Engineer Mark Leatherland who will provide suitable paperwork conferring acceptance of our work.
The next stage is to machine the adjustment rings that set the end float of the bearings, after which the axleboxes can be fitted.
The roller bearing fitting rig – David Elliott
The induction heater for the bearings – David Elliott
Bill Drumm applies grease – David Elliott
Ian Matthews and Bill Drumm with their handiwork – David Elliott
The bearings in place, wrapped in cling film to keep them fresh! – David Elliott
Going green!
As assembly of No. 2007 Prince of Wales accelerates, some components need to be finish-painted in topcoat, particularly those that will be inaccessible once the locomotive is fully assembled; one such is the wheel hub behind the Cartazzi axleboxes.
Ian Matthews’ handiwork on the Cartazzi wheelset – David Elliott