The main steam in/out manifold plate has been soldered to the main body of the cylinders and holes for drain cocks have been drilled. This completed the major work on the cylinder lump and so the whole assembly was shipped out to Alsager Precision for some welding!  Once cleaned up and degreased a good coat of etch primer was applied to the set. The cylinders are now resting in a warm place while the etch bakes. Here’s where we’re upto…

The main steam in (threaded middle port) and steam out (outer ports). The Steam outs will be combined into one pipe…

Work is underway on producing the four snifting valves for the locomotive. These sit on the outside of each cylinder (see ”A week of drilling and tapping” post for a photo of their position).

Whether these will end up functional, or just dummies – i’m not sure yet – as room for the pipework is limited. If the functional route is undertaken, these will purely be a pipe outlet, with the clack hidden behind the cylinder. 5 PCD holes to drill in each, remount in lathe with end cap fitted and complete the turning of the end cap (not shown)…

Work is well underway on the Piston and Piston Rods. All the main cylinder piston blanks have been completed, but are still needing to be turned futher and slotted to accept the O rings. This job will be completed, when the cylinder liners have been fitted to the cylinder bores. The piece on the end of the rod (to the right of pictures) is the start of the crosshead construction…

After what seems like weeks of drilling and tapping, the basic cylinder structure is almost ready for welding together. I’ve a few tweaks with a file to complete the jigsaw fit before this can happen.

The images below shows the side snifting plate brackets fitted in place, as well as the numerous M3 threaded holes, ready for the cylinder lagging – now that really was tap bending fun! The brackets which will fasten the cylinder assembly to the frames has been drilled to accept the 2BA mounting bolts. These have been drilled using a jig, so that the frames can be matched up to these holes…

It’s fair to say that the sun is keeping me from playing in the workshop. I really need to get an air con unit for these hot days! However, some small progress has been made. The rear end cap covers have now been slotted to accomodate the slide-bar bracket…

Work has also started on the crosshead assembly, with machining of the slippers completed…

Next job is back to the main cylinder assembly. Drilling the holes for the lagging, drain cocks, snifting valves etc before final welding. Once welding is completed, the cylinder sets should come together pretty quickly and easily (fingers crossed!)

A few weeks back, I took the opportunity to visit the WHR. Glorious day, picturesque surrounding and of course a few NGG16′s for good measure. Thought I’d post a few pictures, including one at the recently opened Pont Croesor extension, only a few miles from its final destination of Porthmadog, which is rumoured to open later in the year.

138 at Dinas on the first train of the day…

138 arrives at the new Pont Croesor station…

138 rounding the final curves on the climb to Rhyd Ddu…

87 ready for departure, as 138 clears the line to Waunfawr…

A brief update to kick off June. Main endcaps and motion brackets are now one, silver soldered together and machining completed…

After investing in a cheap ball turning attachment off ebay, a sceptical purchase which has very much paid off, the other end caps were balled-off (if that’s a word!)…

A small screen cap from Turbo Cad showing how the cylinder bits fit into the jigsaw…

The stainless steel cylinder end cap covers are progressing well. Apart from a good polishing at some point and cut outs for the motion brackets, they are finished. The top row rear covers, these still need a slot cutting to accept the motion bracket (see below). The bottom row shows the completed front covers. The middle hole will accept the ‘half balled’ end of the bronze cylinder end cap…

Both ends. The covers fitted over the bronze cylinder end caps. The left one is the front, with the bronze spigot sticking out ready to be machined into its half ball. The right one is the rear assembly, with square piston gland in place…

The image below shows the rear assembly. The motion bracket has been roughed out and ready for final machining. The motion bracket will eventually sit in the milled slot in the main end cap and silver soldered into place. The stainless steel end cap covers shown in the first picture need to be slotted to allow the motion bracket to pass through.

There’s still a few core components to complete, but I am hoping that over the next few months, the cylinder sets should start to come together.

The cylinder (top left) and valve liners (top right) have now all been completed and ported, ready for fitting. A start has also been made with the cylinder end caps (bottom left). The image below shows the connecting rod end, with its milled slot, ready to accept the slide bar bracket. I’ve also made a start on the end cap covers (bottom right). These are made from stainless steel tube with silver soldered ends. They are just blanks for now, as they need the centres boring to accomodate the piston rod and gland…

Stainless steel end cap test fitting in place…

Liners ported and test fitted in place…

I’ve had a good rumbling sound from underneath the car since visiting Ally Pally in January, which has taken a good few weeks to sort out. Luckily, its now sorted and I can now devote some time on the 16!…

Not much to report, although work is progressing on the cylinder sets. The bronze liners are all now bored and await porting (next job)