Removal of axle boxes.

But first a bit of digging - this was required to remove packed in dirt on the rails to roll the sets into the Shed as this road is not connected at present to the yard. This made life a lot easier on the back. It's amazing what you find - washers, bolts, nails, stones, and earth of course! No surprise really. The wheelsets were moved onto 1 road to allow the 6 axle boxes to be removed from the journals. Using a jacking trolley to support them, the pins were pushed out and freed. All parts were then re-united and marked for future re-assembling. The thrust plates and journals were greased by Nick and, along with Alan, Denzo tape was applied to protect the moving surfaces. Nick then started to clean the driving set with the hot wash, uncovering some blue paint. Dave McNicoll (in a separate communication) said it could be the first time of painting at the railway in Prussian Blue. I contacted Roy Lambeth to see if he had any photos of this but unfortunately not. It would have been nice to think it was original NCB blue.

The wheelsets will be cleaned, grit blasted, NDT'd and repainted for protection. They will be sent to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland at Whitehead for new tyres.

All 3 sets on 1 road. a bit of digging had to be done to allow the tyres to engage with the rail.

Wheelsets ready to have the axle boxes removed.

4 of the axle boxes removed, ready for cleaning and marked for future work.

Nick Thompson greasing the journal and thrust plate.

All 6 axle boxes removed from wheelsets. Tyres removed from driving set previously by John Hunt.

New denzo tape applied and the start of the high pressure cleaning underway!

Some blue colour appearing during the cleaning. See text above.

The leading and trailing wheelsets.

And as an extra - one wheelset was used as a test for the Plasser & Theurer crane by John Sinclair.

June 2023 update

A decision has been taken to continue the partial restoration of No 9. On the 5th & 8th of June the two remaining wheelsets, leading and trailing (the driving wheelset having been removed in August '22) were separated from the frame. The worn tyres will be cut off and all 3 wheelsets will be sent to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland RPSI at Whitehead, Northern Ireland to be re-tyred. The Plasser & Theurer rail crane, nearing the competion of its own refurbishment, was used, lifting each end, rolling out the wheelsets, and a slave bogie reset for support.

It is hoped that work can continue on both the saddle tank and the cab. A frame has been constructed to support the inverted tank to allow for the detritus to be cleaned out! Grit blasting of both, and several layers of protective paint, will see progress in the not too distant future.

Trailing RH spring - pins and nuts removed.

 

 

Ready for the lift & wheel removal. Irish coach, 26 025 & 26 002 in background.

Crane chains attached to lift the cylinder end. Hard hats mandatory!

Cylinder end raised - ready for the slave bogie to be placed under the frame.

Front end on slave bogie.

Footplate/Cab end raised - wheels removed - waiting on slave bogie.

Frame resting on slave bogies. Driving wheelset on left of bogie - tyres removed.

Leading wheelset - springs removed.

P & T crane in use for No 9's wheelset removal. Made in Gouda!

Supports made for saddle tank inversion. This was done on 20th April.

End of 2022 report.

A final post for 2022 with a photo of No 9's boiler barrel and steam dome having been given a protective coating of red oxide. Whilst there is no other progress with her restoration at present, the Strathspey Railway Association raffle this year was exactly for that, and £5,400 was raised. A good start!

 

Steam dome and barrel with a protective coating of red oxide.

A further update on Austerity No 9.

 Work continued to remove the side wrappers and the foundation ring from the copper firebox during October. But after removing the rivets attaching the firebox to the foundation ring more problems were encountered and that has led to the restoration on No 9 being put on hold at present. A large part of the firebox and the crown sheet will need replacing. All parts are being stored for the future.

The blog will continue to be updated when more news is available, 

 

 RH lower wrapper burned free from firebox.

Firebox inverted to work on the foundation ring. 17th Oct.

Chassis covered well but back out in the cold. New ashpan is under the tarpaulin.

Foundation ring removed.

Firebox with foundation ring removed.

Rivet holes distorted on bottom of copper firebox.

Different sizes of stays.

Copper gleaming.

Firebox lifted for removal for further examination and safe keeping.

All that remains after lift.

Separation can be painful - not in No 9's case!

Separation looks painful but in No 9's case she will feel the benefit in the long run. After a huge amount of work by Benny and Adam the smokebox, boiler barrel and firebox have been prized apart using the plasma cutter and other devices (i.e. wedges and hammer!)  to lay bare damage to at least two of these parts. In particular the throat plate has many weakness's around some stays and this will be replaced. This may have been caused by expansion and contraction when it was briefly in steam prior to being mothballed. The copper firebox will need attention to the top as the dip is now clearly seen. The barrel is in good condition and seems to need no serious work.

Now a three piece - firebox, barrel & smokebox!

Smokebox minus door. This is ready to be hung when the time comes.

Front tube plate now fully accessible with smokebox removed.

Support for the barrel now it has been separated fron the firebox.

Barrel with throat plate. Throat plate,
which has been NDT'd, is to be replaced.

Inside of barrel with steam dome opening.

Throat plate damage with metal failure around stays.

Close-up of damage on throat plate.

Firebox tube plate. Side wrapper sheets will be replace.

Firebox with stays that connected the backhead still in place.

Top of copper firebox damage. This will be replaced from a line just below the shackle.Visible dip along length.

Some extra photos taken on Thursday 6th Oct with more work in progress.

Front tube plate removed and turned. 

Will be cleaned to see for damage.

Front tube plate damage. Cleaning will identify more. Top row, 2nd from right shows damage already.

 

Benny burning out stays with plasma cutter on outer wrapper to remove it.

Wrapper with some stays burnt out.

Backhead, firebox & driving wheel assessment

 Work has continued with the assessment of the firebox condition and the removal of the worn tyres on the driving wheels for measuring. The firebox and boiler were NDT tested and the backhead, and possibly the throatplate, need replacing.The tyres will be replaced, and the hope is that some spare ones we have will fit. 

Backhead ready for NDT test.

 

Benny cleaning the heads off the backhead rivets with the plasma cutter.

Backhead rivets nearly all burnt out. Split between it and sides visible.

Backhead removed.

Backhead removed and stays now visible. These will be burnt out.

Firebox throat plate will probably need replacing.

RH side with driving wheels removed. Gleaming 5025 stands guard!

Looking down through frames - driving wheel axle removed.

Driving wheel axle stabled on new road to new running shed.

John Hunt cutting the tyre of the one side of the wheel.

The other tyre has already been cut. The tyres will be replaced.

Tyre cut on both sides. Gap appearing between tyre and wheel.

Tyre cut through and loose on wheel.

James (Jim) McPherson, a valued volunteer at The Strathspey Railway, who passed away on the 3rd August, worked on Austerity No 9. His family very generously donated some of the collection at his funeral to the restoration of this locomotive. Thank you.