Boring the cylinders on No 9.

 The cylinders on No 9 needed boring as they had become worn after many years of hard work. There was a score line in the RH one which required skimming. N.L. Engineering Ltd came up from Wigan to do the job. They completed the work over 3 days between the 3rd & 5th December. The boring machine is an amazing piece of kit and John and Jake have done an excellent job. The cylinders are as smooth as.........! There are some videos in that section of the Blog for you to enjoy. Apologies for the length of this Blog but it is a very important part of No 9's restoration. Most of the photos credit Jake Morrow.

To start the covers on the rear of the block had to be removed. The nuts looked as if they were going to give trouble but after heat was applied to each a sharp tap from a hammer released them!

Alan applying heat to the RH nuts whilst Roddie removes the ones on the LH one.

LH cover about to come off.

LH cover off and marked to show its position on the block.

Covers off - boring can begin!

Boring out LH cylinder.

At the rear of the cylinder block.

Part of the machine.

An overhead view of the boring machine.

The 2 cylinders bored out.

RH cylinder.

A view from the rear of the block.

The nearly finished job. Just the removal of the skimmimg to do!

And a wee reminder of what they were like!

Wheels, brakes, slide bars and underkeeps!

The big news is that the wheelsets have arrived back from Riley & Son. All 4 brake shafts have been put in place with the leading one having to be lowered down between the newly inserted slide bars. Ah - the story unfolds! Work on boring the cylinders by N.L. Engineering on the 3rd to the 5th December meant that the slide bars, along with the rear cylinder covers, had to be removed. Aligning the axle boxes with the wheelsets was completed successfully and the buffer beam cleaned, along with all the bolts and nuts. New underkeeps have arrived and are now being soaked in an oil bath. A separate post will follow with info about the boring of the cylinders.

Wheelsets returned on the 14th November! John And Alan checking them out!

Leading shaft being lowered in between the slide bars - soon the be removed for boring work on cylinders. Photo credit Nick.

Levelling the wheels and aligning the axlebox.

Right driving axlebox.

Buffer beam wirebrushed along with frame and primed. Cylinders now accessible for boring.

Some of the beams bolts gritblasted, primed and run through a die.

New underkeeps. Look good enough to lay your head on! Now soaking in an oilbath ready for the axlebox, not the head!

Wheelsets primed and undercoated, ready for the 20-C-40 Midnight Blue.