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Construction

First steel casting

10/07/2014
We can now bring you an image of the first wheel casting after it had been broken out of the mould at William Cook Cast Products.  We are also pleased to say that Darlington Locomotive Works is ready for the frames thanks to sterling efforts by Mick, Andy and the volunteers. This is just as well as the frames were loaded on to the lorry at Boro’ foundry yesterday and due at DLW between 8.00 and 9.00 today!  The Cartazzi outer frames and main frame doublers will be collected on Friday.  In the meantime the first paint has been applied – to the doublers over the slots for the Cartazzi axle in the main frames – see picture.
 
07091401New P2 wheel 2 cleanedDE
 
The first steel casting for Prince of Wales!  This will now be NDT tested and machined – David Elliott
 
07091402Loading frames at BoroDE
 
The frames are loaded on to a lorry at Boro’ Foundry for delivery to Darlington – David Elliott
 
07091403DLW ready for framesDE
 
Darlingto Locomotive Works has been cleared to receive the frame plates – David Elliott
 
07091404Ian Matthews paints the first frame componentDE
 
Ian Matthews, responsible for keeping Tornado pristine, paints the first frame components – David Elliott

First wheel cast!

04/07/2014

David Elliott delivered the Tornado patterns for pony, Cartazzi and tender wheels and the coupled hornblocks to Cooks at Sheffield at the start of July.  The first coupled wheel has already been cast and we will add photos as soon as it is broken out of the mould

Good progress is being made with preparing the expanded polystyrene patterns for casting with the addition of runners and risers.

07031401Coupled wheel pattern after casting first wheelDE

The coupled wheel pattern is prepared for casting – David Elliott

07031404Mould box containing first wheelDE

The mould box containing the first driving wheel casting for No. 2007 – David Elliott

07031403Drag box poly pattern with runners and risersDE

The substantial polystyrene pattern for the dragbox – David Elliott

07031402Frame stay and firebox support poly pattern with runners and risersDE

The frame stay / boiler support pattern – David Elliott

07031405Pony and Cartazzi wheel and coupled horn block patterns delivered to CooksDE

The pony and Cartazzi wheel and coupled horn block patterns delivered to Cooks – David Elliott

Frames machined

01/07/2014

These photos and the video show progress on the milling and drilling of the main frame plates at Boro’ Foundry at Stourbridge. The main frames are set up on the large Elga Mill and the top surfaces are being machined first. The table is big enough to accommodate the 11.2m length of the main frames, however the cutting head can only move 8m. Hence the frames will be reset 3 times, once to complete the machining of the top edges, then twice more to machine the bottom edges and the horn slots. Fortunately 8m is long enough to machine all the horn slots in one setting which will ensure that their positions relative to one another are accurate which will make eventual setting of axle centres easier than with Tornado.

The leading frame extensions are simultaneously being machined on a gantry mill. The left and right hand plates are tack welded and clamped together on the machine table so that they can be machined and drilled together. The video shows the cutter returning to the start of a cut at the rear end of the upper edge of the frames and proceeding via a large cut out where the one piece cylinder block will sit. All edges of the profiled frames are being machined to remove the metal that is heat affected by the flame cutting process. Typically 0.25″ is being removed around the edges in 2.5mm deep cuts. (Apologies for mixture of imperial and metric units – the drawings are imperial, the machine metric!). After the plates are accurately set up both machines, cutting is Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) from a .dxf drawing which in turn is derived from the Solidworks 3D model of the locomotive.

06261401Buffer beam and small componentsDE

The buffer beam and small components – David Elliott

06261402Leading frame plate extensionsDE

The leading frame plate extensions are milled – David Elliott

06261403Leading frame plate extensions 2 DE

A different view of the milling in progress – David Elliott

06261404Machining cut-outs for cylinder block DE

Machining the cut-outs for the cylinder block – David Elliott

06261405Main frames at Boro DE

Viewed from the rear, the sheer size of the frames is apparent – David Elliott

06261406Main frames at Boro on Elga mill DE

Milling the main frames – note the tack welds holding the two together – David Elliott

06261407Tender frame plates ready for machining DE

The tender frames were machined at the same time as the main frames – David Elliott

 

Patterns produced

28/05/2014

Giving a clear indication of how fast this project is moving ahead, Bakers Patterns of Telford have produced sixteen polystyrene patterns for assorted frame stays, horn guides and brackets for No. 2007. These have been produced by CNC machining solid blocks of the material directly from the 3D CAD drawings, thus saving a huge amount of time and money. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust was a pioneer in using these polystyrene patterns in the construction of Tornado. The components will shortly be cast by William Cook Cast Products.

05281401Poly patterns at Bakers

 

Frames cut!

22/05/201427/09/2017

On Wednesday, 21st May, the frames of P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales were cut at Tata Steel Scunthorpe.  Ben and Tim Godfrey, grandsons of Sir Nigel Gresley, started the machine that began to steadily profile the 21 tons of 30mm steel sheet into the shape required for main frames, tender frames, Cartazzi frames and numerous other parts required.  The profiled frames will erected at Darlington Locomotive Works and will be on show to Founders, Covenantors and members of the public from 18th – 20th July.

05211402ScunthorpeAH

Ben and Tim Godfrey start the cutting process – Andy Hardy

The frames for new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales were profiled at  Tata Steel in Scunthorpe on Wednesday 21st May 2014. The process was started by Ben and Tim Godfrey, the grandsons of Sir Nigel Gresley, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway who also designed the world famous Flying Scotsman and world speed record holder Mallard.  The profiling was done at Tata Steel’s 3-Bay facility using a purpose-built Messer Omnimat profiling machine, which use gas burners to cut the steel into the desired shape and is capable of processing  up to 40,000 tonnes a year of profiled plate for delivery to customers around the world.

Tom Ingall (BBC Look North) talks about the frame profiling

Mark Allatt, Chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity behind the project said, “The main frames of a steam locomotive are the parts upon which everything else is built, and so the importance of this milestone to the Trust cannot be overstated. With the first part fabricated, courtesy of James May, we are thrilled to be able to have reached the stage of profiling the substantial pieces of metal that make up the locomotive’s frames at Tata Steel – and being able to declare that the project to build No. 2007 Prince of Wales is now well underway.
“Having already built one steam locomotive from the drawings with Tornado, the levels of support and interest that have been generated towards No. 2007 Prince of Wales have been nothing short of sensational.  With backing from HRH Prince of Wales, high profile celebrities such as James May, significant pledges made by members of The  Founders Club and large numbers of monthly covenantors coming on board, we can demonstrate just how much progress we have made towards resurrecting this amazing design of steam locomotive from the annals of history.”
Jon Bolton, Tata Steel Long Products Director, said, “We are delighted to be associated with this project. It is a great example of modern steelmaking and processing being used to bring an iconic piece of British rail history to life for the benefit of future generations. Scunthorpe steel went into making Tornado so it is only right it should be used in No. 2007 Prince of Wales too.”

05211401ScunthorpeAH

21 tons of steel will be reduced to roughly 14 tons when the process is complete – Andy Hardy

05211403ScunthorpeAH

Tata’s scheme of work for profiling the P2 frames – Andy Hardy

05211404ScunthorpeAH

The Godfreys and the P2SLC team outside Tata Steel, Scunthorpe – Andy Hardy

05211405ScunthorpeAH

At lunch the team enjoyed the air ‘Cock o’ the North’ on the bagpipes! – Andy Hardy

Frames profiled

21/05/2014
The frames for new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales were profiled at  Tata Steel in Scunthorpe on Wednesday 21st May 2014. The process was started by Ben and Tim Godfrey, the grandsons of Sir Nigel Gresley, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway who also designed the world famous Flying Scotsman and world speed record holder Mallard.  The profiling was done at Tata Steel’s 3-Bay facility using a purpose-built Messer Omnimat profiling machine, which use gas burners to cut the steel into the desired shape and is capable of processing  up to 40,000 tonnes a year of profiled plate for delivery to customers around the world.
 
Mark Allatt, Chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the registered charity behind the project said, “The main frames of a steam locomotive are the parts upon which everything else is built, and so the importance of this milestone to the Trust cannot be overstated. With the first part fabricated, courtesy of James May, we are thrilled to be able to have reached the stage of profiling the substantial pieces of metal that make up the locomotive’s frames at Tata Steel – and being able to declare that the project to build No. 2007 Prince of Wales is now well underway.  Having already built one steam locomotive from the drawings with Tornado, the levels of support and interest that have been generated towards No. 2007 Prince of Wales have been nothing short of sensational.”
 
Jon Bolton, Tata Steel Long Products Director, said, “We are delighted to be associated with this project. It is a great example of modern steelmaking and processing being used to bring an iconic piece of British rail history to life for the benefit of future generations. Scunthorpe steel went into making Tornado so it is only right it should be used in No. 2007 Prince of Wales too.”  

05211401ScunthorpeAH

Frame cutting starts on the huge pieces of 30mm steel sheet – Andy Hardy

05211402ScunthorpeAH

 Ben and Tim Godrey start the plasma cutter working on the steel sheets – Andy Hardy

Frames rolled

25/04/2014

Coinciding with St George’s Day, the rolling of the 21 ton steel frames for a new steam locomotive which will eventually weigh around 170 tons is a significant step in the construction of Prince of Wales. The rolling of the frames, traditionally the point at which the locomotive is deemed to exist, comes hot on the heels of TV presenter James May making the first component – the smokebox dart – in Darlington Locomotive Works on Thursday 20th February 2014. 

TATA plate going through 2nd stage rollers 23-4-14

The plate going through the second stage rollers at Scunthorpe – Tim Beere

 

First component made

28/02/2014

James May, TV presenter, media celebrity and self confessed steam enthusiast has agreed to make the first part of what will be the most powerful steam locomotive to operate in Great Britain; new build steam locomotive No. 2007 Prince of Wales.  James applied his engineering prowess in crafting Prince of Wales’s smoke box door dart, the component at the front of the locomotive that secures the smoke box door shut (resembling the hands on a clock). Using materials and tools at Darlington Locomotive Works, already famous as the location where new steam locomotive Peppercorn A1 No. 60163 Tornado was built and completed in 2008, James created the first piece of this iconic locomotive.

James May commented, “Not many man made machines stir the soul, but a full blown steam locomotive is right up there, and we invented it. However, over the decades we’ve lost so much of the talent, skill and knowledge needed to build them. That’s why its such a thrill to work alongside the team building No. 2007 Prince of Wales, determined to not only resurrect this monster from the past, but to improve it using modern wizardry to do so. It’s a real privilege to know that when Prince of Wales eventually roars past me at a station, I can proudly say along with many others that I helped build that….. and it works!”

02211401James May creating Prince of Waless smokebox dart using the lathe inside Darlington Locomotive Works

James May concentrating on the lathe – Tim Beere

 

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To develop, build and operate an improved Gresley class P2 Mikado steam locomotive for main line and preserved railway use. All Images Copyright A1SLT

Gresley P2 2007
Gresley P2 2007@Gresley_P2_2007·
7 Dec

The presentation is now underway, as David introduces the project to this morning's attendees.

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Gresley P2 2007@Gresley_P2_2007·
7 Dec

All set up for today's P2 Roadshow taking place in conference room 2, Pendulum Hotel Manchester.
Join us for an informative presentation led by our engineering director David Elliott. Presentation starts at 11am.
FREE entry, all are welcome.
We look forward to meeting you!

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Gresley P2 2007@Gresley_P2_2007·
5 Dec

https://www.p2steam.com/category/construction/

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