May has seen good progress again on the overhaul work being carried out on Fenchurch for her 150th anniversary later in the year. Statfold Barn has pulled out all the stops getting Fenchurch’s bottom end overhaul completed & ready for delivery back to Sussex & at home the boiler work is progressing at a pace whilst a start has also been made at sorting through all of the various parts of the engine currently in storage.
Below the final report and pictures from the work at Statfold Barn to finish the bottom end overhaul to an outstanding finish both mechanically & in appearance!
Expansion link assemblies having the trunnions re-machined.
The overhauled expansion link assemblies with new through hardened die blocks made to suit.
The axle boxes after white metalling and rough machining.
New slide valves to replace the worn originals & modified oil grooves added to prevent wear.
Trial fittings the guide bars and valve rods to ensure correct alignment.
The overhauled coupling rods after painting and polishing the bright steel.
The new slide valves installed and checking the timing prior to fitting the valve chest cover.
The overhauled drain cocks and modified drain cock mechanism.
The finished & assembled inside motion ready for the return journey home to Sussex.
The finished & assembled inside motion ready for the return journey home to Sussex.
In the boiler shop the in house boilersmiths have been busy forming new BR lollie pop style rivets for the front tubeplate to be riveted up whilst also riveting into place the palm stay rivets holding the new inner firebox to the original boiler barrel.
Riveting home one of the firebox to outer barrel Palm stays.
The neatly finished palm stay rivets.
Another rivet being heated up for setting.
In the former one of the bespoke lollie pop rivets ready to have it head formed in the squeezer.
Post squeezing the newly formed rivet joins its counterparts in the part bin.
Within the main works Fenchurch’s boiler side tank sheets, sandboxes & cab roof have all been dug out of storage and have subsequently received attention to any corrosion with a start being made at repainting these items.
Both side tanks sheets having been pulled out of storage & painted up into first top coat IEG.
The cab roof having recieved the same attention outisde the main works.
