New steel!

 Further progress in the shape of steel plates for the new running boards for No 9 arrived from Northern Fabricators of Elgin and we will make use of  the old ones as templates. We have started with the cab floor, clamped to the old one, and drilled out the rivet holes and various other openings for pipe work with still some to do when its on the engine. The angle irons along the 26' 9" length of the frame are on and straight as a die! Meanwhile some of the cylinder drain cock rods have been put in and the plates under the block are now in black! Big end connecting rod straps have been cleaned, primed and painted top coat. Lots of drilling and riveting to be getting on with!

The plate under the cylinder block is Black!

 

Big end connecting rod straps primed. Undercoat of edinburgh madder and 2 coats signal red applied.

Cylinder drain cocks lever up from shaft.

Brian W putting together the cylinder & steam drain cocks levers & rods.

LH angle iron on the frame. Straight as a die. Photo Nick Thompson.

 

Steel plate from Northern Fabricators of Elgin.

                                                                             
                                                                               

Checking old cab floor plate on frame.

                                                                               

Old and new clamped for drilling.

                                                                            

Nick drilling out rivet holes in new plate.

Cab and bunker floor in place. Excellent fit.

                                                                               

View from cab floor along No 9's frame. 

Old running board laid out.

Cylinder drain cocks and oil pot tops cleaned with glass grit. Edinburgh madder undercoat on strap.

Reverser links, cylinder cocks, sheaves and blast pipe!

 We have completed the connection between the reverser and the valve connecting rods and attached the 2nd plate under the cylinder block. This still has to have a finishing coat of paint - colour to be decided. It's black. The cylinder cocks shaft has also been fitted. The eccentric sheaves have been painted in signal red but 1 original set was damaged and we managed to get a replacement. This is getting some remedial attention as you can see from the photos. The long bolts required heat to extract them and the ones in the damaged set, which are good, will be used. A replacement blast pipe has also been aquired. Both big ends are ready for grit blasting, tinning and white metalling.

Lifting links in place, attached to the reverser weigh shaft.

 

Lifting links secured after the long pin was put in the wrong way initially.

Top view of lifting links in place attached to the reverser weigh shaft.

Reverser weigh shaft lever with key and pin in place.

Cylinder cock shaft drying and cylinder & steam chest operating pull rods ready for grey. 

Cylinder cocks shaft in place a week later.

Tapping the bolt holes next to the frame. Tight!

2nd plate inserted. A paint job next but what colour? Turns out it's black!

Eccentric sheaves in signal red.

Alan applying heat to the stubborn bolt in the replacement sheave.

It can't deny Alan & Nick! It came out.

Both big end bearings ready for the next phase.

The "new" blast pipe.

Valve connecting rods

 After publishing an update yesterday I thought this very important move forward deserved its own page! The valve connecting rods, along with the radius links were put into the frame on the 30th January and is the first part of the motion that will make No 9 a living, breathing engine. A lot more connecting to do but a big step in her restoration. Also a photo of the cottar pins securing the slide bars, each one a different size. Well done Alan!

Cottar pins securing the left hand slide bars.

Nick raising the RH valve connecting rod.

Alan positioning the RH valve connecting rod into the guide.

Both rods in place in the guides.

RH radius link in place. LH connecting rod turned to allow the link to be inserted more easily.

Both radius links in place.

The valve connecting rods through the guides.

Viewed towards the rear of the cylinder block.

Plates and painting and motion preview!

 The cylinder block that we worked on last month needs protection and insulation both top and bottom and plated were cut, using the old ones as templates. The top plates were easier than the bottom ones as they already had the tapped holes for the bolts. On the bottom new holes had to be drilled and tapped, a hard job pushing a drill up into cast iron! And 1 tap down - sorry! That done insulation was cut to "size" and held in place while the plate was moved into place. The left hand plate on the bottom still has to be done and heat resistant paint applied on all some surfaces. Brian has continued the painting work on the buffer beams and the frame, making it look very smart! We also started work on the motion by doing some positioning work on the reverser weigh shaft. This for the next blog coming soon!

Old as template used for new plate being drilled.

RH plate with steam pipe in place to check fittings.

Top plates in place and painted.

Bottom RH plate - looks awkward but it worked - eventually! Alan & Nick pushing the insulation into place.

Alan tightening a bolt on the bottom RH plate.

Brian applying the midnight blue to the corner of the LH buffer beam.

And a first coat of signal red to the buffers and beam.

Weigh shaft being supported by the gantry.

Reverser weigh shaft lever. Key & pin still to be inserted. Reverser held horizontal on gantry.

Eccentrics, concrete and oil!

 The last few days of 2024 and one of 2025 were busy with eccentrics and straps, preparing the big end bearings for new white metal, and to clean out old oil. See the video section for some oil being expunged! The top of the cylinder block was filled with concrete. This protects the block from damage as we found water ingress when we were dismantling her. Plates will go on top of this also. The cylinders were cleaned out and oiled to protect them, and the eccentrics painted and put back on the driving axle.The eccentric straps were gritblasted, one showing the LI and 7097 markings, which, along with all the parts of No 9 prove their originality.

Cylinders protected with oil.

LI and 7097 marked on the eccentric strap.

Eccentrics getting a coat before being put back in place.

A coat of midnight blue for her wheels!

Eccentrics - now you see why they were painted before being put back on!

A wash for the valve and big end.

Kiln dried sand on top of block - concrete next.

Concrete to protect.

Applying heat to remove old white metal and oil from big end bearing.

To be correct all the bolt heads are aligned and the buffers are back on! A good start to 2025!