Brake shaft back in!

 A day to celebrate as the first major piece of the No 9 jigsaw is put back in place. The brake shaft was lanquishing in the shrubbery at the back of the Shed since its removal on the 3rd August last year. Needle gunned, primed, protected with a coat of light grey and greased up ready for its return to the frame, Alan Nick and I, with support from Rory on the telehandler, raised it up on the gantry and lowered it into place. Adjustments by podgers and the bolts were secured in place. The moment the shaft swung down on the bearings when I tightened the last nut was very pleasing and satisfying!

The brakeshaft bearing in the washer showing works number 7097 and NCB blue paint.

Nick steading the brake shaft as Alan lowers it into the frame. At this point it was the wrong way round and needed turning.

Adjustments with some podgers.

A couple of bolts in but still with support from the gantry.

The brake shaft has turned!

The reverser weigh shaft with one bearing that Robin made adjustments to.

Reaming in preparation for re-assmbly.

 The measuring continued and was completed successfully, including the axle boxes, allowing work to progress with their eventual refitting. The cylinder covers were examined and no "nasties" were found. Further cleaning, grit blasting, and painting took place and we moved on to reaming out all the holes in the frame, brake hangers, springs etc. With much appreciation from all of us Nathan produced a torque wrench with a multiplier to reduce the speed needed to reem out the 50 plus holes which was accomplished. Robin Taylor will make all the new pins as the existing ones were to say the least, loose. A couple of videos are available in this section to watch the reeming of both frame and springs.

A separate section will follow next on the re-installation of the brake shaft on the 29th August by Alan, Nick and myself, ably assisted by Rory on the Tele-handler.

Alan measuring the axle box.

No "nasties" found in the front cylinder box covers.

Cleaned out and ready for grit blasting and protecting.

Hand reaming was brutal and only 2 holes were achieved.

Reaming out spring hangers on the vertical drill.

Springs being reamed.- 15 on these alone.

Brake shaft and weight shaft needle gunned and primed. These were lying out side at the back of the Shed since being removed last August.

Cylinder and slide valve covers protected.

 Bush removal and measuring!

The wasted studs in the cylinder block & blast pipe have been replaced and the frame has been given a protective coating of grey. We retrieved items from the wagon in preparation for grit blasting and painting although this has still to be done. Mud doors were checked to see if they need any work and a new mould will need to be made as they are different to the mould we have for other engines. The new stretcher & stiffener have been given a coat of primer and look good! The bushes have been pressed out from the coupling rods (with relative ease).  We installed dummy axles and the process of measuring the centres has begun. This will continue.........!

Some dry weather would allow us to grit blast all the larger parts - brake stretchers, weigh shaft, hangers and chimney out in the yard and get them protected and back under cover. Let's hope so.

Alan flushing out a wasted stud.

No 9's frame in protective grey protected by 9F and 5025!

Brake hangers ready for grit blasting.

New studs for blast pipe.

New studs in cylinder block.

Trial fitting of mud doors in what remains of No 9.

New stretcher & stiffener by John Hunt.

Pressing out bush.

Waiting to lift and turn the coupling rod. Levelling with 3 blocks and a bit of sterling board! (Nick's photo)

Alan measuring between the LL & LC dummy axles.

Dummy axle RC driving wheels.

One bush with uneven shape.

All bushes removed.

Chimney, weigh shaft and brake stretchers waiting for some TLC!

Further progress - stretcher to mechanical lubricator!

 The new plate for the stretcher has been tacked in place (still to be welded in by a very busy John H) and the cylinder block has received a lot of attention. Wasted studs needed to be removed and replaced. Two needed flushing out connecting both halves of the block and took a bit of time!  Painting the frame with dark grey undercoat has started, and Alan French has completed the wonderful refurbishment of the mechanical lubricator very kindly donated by Bill McCarthy, electrical volunteer, who sadly has passed away. Duchess Blue/midnight, the colour that No 9 will eventually be, as was the case in her NCB days, has been applied! This is a long posting but covers a lot going on with the engine!

New stretcher.

Tacked on ready for welding. Alan looking on.

Works number 7097 on underside of cylinder block. Painted over now.

Underside of block de-greased before painting.

Top of cylinder being needle gunned. Wasted studs on front of cylinder will be removed.

Top of cylinder given a coat of aluminium HR paint.

8 wasted studs on RH cylinder removed.

Applying heat to aid the removal of wasted studs.

Applying heat to one of the blast pipe studs.

All 4 studs removed.

One of the wasted studs - a nut was welded on, heated & removed.

This stud took time to shift and tap a new thread for the replacement.

Brian W and Dave G started the dark grey undercoat. A coat of shed dust needs to be removed and a wipe down with paraffin cleans up the surface before they started!

The mechanical lubricator, kindly donated by Bill McCarthy and refurbished by Alan French. 16 outlets will supply lubrication to various parts of No 9. This will help the footplate crew - big time!

Oil level gauge and handle on ML.

Another view of the mechanical lubricator. The 2 T's are lifting devices! The are removed.

With cover.

Rivets and buffer!

 It's been a few months since an update on No 9 and in that time work has been curtailed due to the requirements by the crew in other duties! The wheelset has still to be sent to RPSI for re-tyring. We have however, replaced the bolts on the stretchers with rivets and re-attched the last buffer to the frame as a new spring has been aquired. The centre part of the stretcher has still to be welded in as John H has been very busy doing other important work in C&W.

Head of ram for inside riveting on frame.

New stretcher bracket on LH side.

Rivets on LH side to be ground flat.

Rivets ground flat - primer was applied soon after!

New spring for buffer. Undercoated & finished in black before fitting.

 

Raising the front RH buffer with gantry and secured with strop.

Buffer in place and partially secured. Still supported by the gantry.

Rear view - buffer secured.

Last of the buffers in place.

The next job is to clean the frame of the accumulated dirt and dust and give it a dark grey undercoat prior to being given its finished black coat!