Engine Repairs
At the Wimbish Yard and Elsewhere

A lot of activity has been going on during the last few months at the ex-Taylor's Yard at Wimbish, Essex. Click Wimbish for information about this yard. 

Garrett Showmans 'Lord George'  No. 33358
Owned by Kevin Swann. 
After the Councillor's Cavalcade 1999, the stay tubes started to leak and new tubes were collected from Willingales of Sudbury. In March 2000, the cylinder and barrel guides were being removed and work was well underway in getting old rivets from the throat plate and manhole ring. The barrel guides were removed in April, leaving a short length of the original barrel in the throat plate; this was removed when all the rivets were released. The remainder of the boiler unit was then shot-blasted and given two coats of rust-preventative.
A new boiler barrel was collected from Phoenix Engineering of Thetford in September, but little work was carried out in October or November due to domestic duties. Good progress was, however, made in December and January, 2001.  The new barrel was fitted after a great deal of work on the lap-joint, consisting of feathering the area of the joint on both ends to accommodate fitting into the throat plate and front tube plate. Two days were spent ensuring that the new barrel was parallel to both the hornplates and the crankshaft. 
Drilling jigs were then made to facilitate the correct alignment of the rivet holes of which there were 77 around the throat plate alone. Also, the front tube plate had to be fitted at the correct distance from the fire box, which required a repeat of the above drilling procedure. In both cases, high tensile 16mm bolts were used after every hole had been drilled and reamed. 

During 2001, major progress was been made. Saturday 28th July saw the first riveting session, this being completed without any problems, although the day being probably the hottest of the year. The loan of a members squeeze-riveter proved to be most helpful, see pictures below. This machine is about a 1 ton in weight, but is surprisingly well balanced when suspended from its lifting point. The large cylinder mounted on the machine acted on a fulcrum arrangement giving the required force to form the rivet. A gas furnace did the heating of the rivets; this method proves to be the most suitable as little or no scale is produced during the heating process. Little or no work was carried out during August and through until late October, because Kevin Swann was away in Canada and then had a spell in hospital for an operation and recovery. 
On Sunday 11th November riveting was again commenced, this day’s work went slower because hand-held pneumatic guns had now to be used. The completion of the double-lap seam and a good proportion of the throat plate was achieved by the end of the day. The work-force consisted of Melvyn Camps working the holding-up gun, Alan Hines rivet heating, Alan Rowlandson positioning the holding-up frame and Kevin Swann knocking-up on the outside. 

    

    

Further progress has been made with riveting work and the fitting of stay tubes and ordinary tubes was well under-way. 
Other activities prevented much work being done for some months, but early January 2003 saw a big leap forward with the boiler barrel riveted in place and the front tubeplate ready to be fitted. Concentration was now on placing the cylinder casting in the correct position. During the dismantling it had been found that the barrel had been off-set by over an inch (25.4mm) from throat plate to front tube plate and it was decided that this error would be put right when fitting the new barrel. This duly done, now came the tricky bit, that of placing the casting and fitting the connecting rods to the cross heads, thereby ensuring the correct position was found when the motion was turned. All 19 holes were marked using a hardened jig, made by Kevin Swann, and the motion work was again removed. Then using a magnetic drill and stand, all holes were drilled and reamed to size, special bolts having been made with a tapered  head for the last ¼ inch. Now came the last day's riveting, this being all completed by mid-afternoon. Again Melvin Camps was working the backing-up gun, Terry Young placing rivets, Paul Cornwell rivet heating and Kevin Swann knocking-up using his big long-stroke gun.

    

    

The fitting of all new gaskets, all having been made using the latest materials as recommended, and the cylinder went like clockwork, the tapered bolts fitting snugly and with no turning when final nut-tightening came. 
It was a great day when the new boiler was first filled with water - a few leaks had to be dealt with by caulking. Now came that mile-stone, the first fire lit in the boiler, a proving trial and relieving some stresses within the new barrel/tubes. This was achieved on 6th August 2003.  No steam was raised, just a boil to get the boilermakers best friend going - Rust! 
A date in September had been booked for its hydraulic. During its trial hydraulic, a leak was found in the area to the rear of the cylinder casting, further investigation revealed a crack - Kevin's heart sank with the last 5 weekend's work going to waste. The next couple of weeks were spent contemplating what to do, hours on the telephone talking with companies who perhaps could offer a repair of this nature. A company in the Midlands was found that specialises in this type of problem and  would guarantee any work done. Their method would be to stitch the crack, with no welding needed. Kevin had previously heard of this same company repairing a smashed Aveling roller headstock by the same method, with excellent results. 

      

All the motion work had to be removed again, together with the cylinder casting which was then transported to the chosen firm near Coventry. Kevin was very perturbed at the thought of leaving the casting with them, but within two days he had notification of the cost and time scale. Collection was made within 10 days - a very professional company, who Kevin says he could recommend to anybody. 
During this time of contemplation, after finding the cracked casting, Kevin busied himself making a new firehole door to Garrett’s drawing, this involved hand-flanging ¼ inch M/S plate. This helped to overcome some of the frustration of finding the cracked cylinder and all those lost days. 
Christmas holidays saw the fitting of this same casting again and all went like clockwork. On Saturday 10th January 2004 the fitting of the smokebox together with dynamo bracket was completed - another hurdle crossed. 
With a year of his spare time being taken up with his son and daughter’s engine Felsted Belle, Kevin resumed work on Lord George in December 2004.  A new bottom, manstand and coal plate were made and riveted in the tender, followed by a galvanising primer paint before fitting.  New axle box bushes, having already been machined, only required to be pushed in and locked in place by screw pegging (see pictures, below) followed by the job of fitting both axle box slippers and then axle boxes.

    

   

The axle was then fitted (by now Kevin was getting enthusiastic at the thought of putting the wheels on); with axle in place the refitting of the driving block needed careful attention, new taper keys having to be of the correct thickness before the final touches to drive it in place with a 14 lb hammer.
During this time, coats of paint were applied in readiness for final lining and varnish. Although many other tasks have to be finished before being ready for her first outing,  she was beginning to look recognisable as an engine once again. See 'Repair Updates (March 2006)', below, for later information on this engine and the other four engines on this page.

1914 Aveling & Porter Roller 'Lady Lucy' No. 8361 
Owned by Darren Swain 
The owner has been burning the midnight oil, working on this roller. He is removing the lagging for a full inspection and hydraulic test and when this has been successfully completed, he will re-lag it and re-paint it in Aveling green. An axle bush on the front rolls has already been refurbished.

1926 Aveling & Porter Roller 'Gentle Annie' No. 11556
Owned by Michael Swain 
This ex-Taylor roller is having its tender repaired after it was received from the roller’s previous home at Gt. Chishill, Cambs.

1922 Burrell Showmans Road Loco. 'Margaret' No. 3926
Owned by Keith Honour.
This engine has been stripped down, re-tubed and prepared for hydraulic testing so that it can be taken to 'The 2005 Stumpshaw Steam Rally. 

1924 Fowler Roller 'Jenny' No. 15973
Owned by Glen and Adrian Culpin.
This  requires re-tubing and an hydraulic test. 

Repair Updates (March 2006)
Over at Wimbish, Kevin Swann's  Lord George is making good progress and should be back in steam and running in the next few weeks. Darren Swain is undertaking a repaint of his Lady Lucy, while his brother Michael is having the crank straightened on Gentle Annie. Melvyn Camps has had his superheater apart for inspection and all is well. The Culpin Brothers' Jenny should be re-appearing on rally fields this year. Keith Honour had his annual Christmas run to Thaxted with Margaret and is now preparing his new Mather & Platt dynamo for fitting. In his cold shed in North Norfolk, Ollie Owen is making steady progress with his Marshall Portable, which he has sold to fund the next project which is spread all around the yard and workshop.
   At Stotfold, Burrell  Road Loco. Ex-Mayor, No.4000, is receiving attention to her little ends.
   At the Pumfrey's Springwell Farm, they have had a new valve rod bush and die-block for their Ruston Traction Engine Success, No. 50278, thanks to Olly Wyeld. The nocturnal Aveling & Porter Roller Emerald Rose, No.11804, owned by Chris Brighty, is now resident at Springwell Farm and is currently receiving a repaint courtesy of Melvyn Camps and Michael Pumfrey, ably assisted by Chris.