The new reverser reach rod.
The 'lady' has been off her wheels in recent weeks with the leading and centre driving wheel sets removed, dressed and painted before being replaced. The bogie has now been removed from the frames and has also been cleaned, prepared and repainted.
Refurbishment of the motion is now underway. All the eccentrics have been remetalled, they will be machined shortly and new motion pins made. The valve rocker bearings have been cast and await machining. The rods are being cleaned, polished and made ready for fitting.
The newly manufactured reverser frame and lever have been fitted and work is progressing well on fabrication and fitting of the reach rod and weighshaft.
The new centre brake hangers have been machined and fitted. The frames have been drilled in preparation for mounting the remaining brake hangers and the brackets have been cleaned and painted ready for fitment.
Work has started on cleaning and refurbishing the sanders and they will very shortly be fitted back on the loco.
The boiler has also seen much progress with many hours of hard work required to remove all the the steel stays on both sides of the firebox. The boiler was ultrasonically tested towards the end of last year and no major problems were found.
The tender has not been forgotten amid all this work on the loco! The springs for the tender have been refurbished and are now back at Didcot. The tender wheelsets have been sent away to have the tyres turned and axle journals polished.
Finally, the Saint project's small but dedicated group of volunteers has grown by one as we welcome a new member. His time and skills will be a valuable addition to the project.
The 29XX or Saint Class of locomotives was introduced in the first decade of the 20th Century by George Jackson Churchward. The Saints displayed many excellent features in their design which profoundly influenced the design of all subsequent successful locomotives built for British railways until the end of steam operations in the 1960s. A total of 76 were built.
The first withdrawals of Saint Class locomotives began in 1931 and continued until 1953, No 2920 “Saint David” being the last survivor. However by the early 1920s a great potential existed for a large mixed traffic locomotive which could work any type of train from an express passenger to a slow goods. Mr. Churchward had retired in 1921 but his successor, Charles Collett, decided to rebuild a Saint Class locomotive No 2925 “Saint Martin” with smaller 6'0" diameter driving wheels and a more enclosed cab in 1924. This rebuild formed the prototype of the highly successful Hall Class locomotives, of which a further 329 were built between 1928 and 1950.
The Great Western Society is reversing history and recreating a Saint Class locomotive by rebuilding a Hall Class locomotive No 4942 “Maindy Hall” back to a Saint, just as it would have been around 1913.
Based on one of the first batches of Saints, it will feature straight footplating, correct type cylinders with inside steam pipes and lever reverse. Top feed will be retained due to its major benefits.
Obviously such a project will be expensive and we can only give a brief overview. If you would like further information on the project or feel that you could support Saint Project by making a donation or regular monthly contributions,or joining the regular working parties, please contact: Richard Croucher, Great Western Society, Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7NJ, England.
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 817200 or e-mail info@didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
Download the Saint appeal form (Word format)
The work required to convert No.4942 back to a Saint Class 4-6-0 is now under way. Three new driving wheelsets and two bogie wheels have been manufactured and the first stage of the rebuild - the alterations to the main frame - has now been completed.
Before starting a full examination of the donor frames, which included an ultrasonic test, was undertaken which confirmed that these were still sound, although some cracks were found above certain hornguides which required the previous weld to be removed and new weld applied - rather like a visit to the dentist for a filling repair! The rear section of the mainframe under the cab on the fireman's side also displayed some wasting where the fireman's hose had caused corrosion. Here there were two alternatives, we could either build up the existing plate work with new weld or cut out the wasted area and weld in new steel plate - the decision was taken to follow the latter option.
The first job tackled has been the reduction in height of the main frames by 4¼", which has been achieved by shaving off the top of the main frame. Saint frames were notorious for not being as strong as would be liked and since the area above the driving wheels will be hidden by the splashers, it has been decided to retain the 4¼" above the horns for the leading and centre driving wheels to retain as much strength as possible. The frame over the rear driving wheel has been reduced to the same height as the rest of the frame.
At the rear a new drag box has been fabricated and fitted. The old drag box was also badly corroded and would have required replacement in any event. Provision is also being made at the rear of the main frame for fitting the horn guides and strengthening plate for when No.2999 runs as an Atlantic. The four horn guide castings are currently on order and are expected to be delivered very shortly. To put it mildly they are big beasts, some 2 feet long and weighing in at around 100 kilogrammes a piece - the pattern for these was made by Ken Gibbs during the summer of 2003.
The next job to be tackled is the front extension frames, which need to be machined ready to be fitted to the main frame. This is quite a big job, which will be followed by the modification of the buffer beam from No.4942 prior to the latter being riveted to the extension frame. The buffer beam has been dismantled at Didcot during the summer and is now being made ready for fitting.
When the extension frames are complete it is the intention to fit the new cylinder block to the frames. The two cylinder blocks will need to be attached to one another before they can be fitted which involves the manufacture of 24 stays of various lengths. Once these have been joined together, the cylinder blocks can be assembled as part of the frame assembly, which will also be optically aligned at the same time as part of that exercise.
Since autumn 2003 the two new extension frames have been fully machined and are now ready to receive the new cylinder block and buffer beam assembly. The two strengthening plates to allow the locomotive to run as an Atlantic as well as a 4-6-0 have also been fabricated ready to receive the hornguides – once this has been completed it will be stored until we are ready to run the locomotive as an Atlantic in due course. The new cab sides have also now been fabricated.
Everything is now ready to assemble the whole frame structure – in reality the most testing part of the whole exercise. The bogie centre pin from No.4942’s cylinder block has been fitted to the new cylinder block and the latter is now ready to be attached to the new extension frames. These in turn can then be riveted to the rebuilt main frame. At the same time the buffer beam assembly will also be attached ahead of the new extension frames. As part of this exercise the cylinders will be optically aligned to the complete frame thus ensuring final accuracy of the complete rebuild.
In the meantime the new cab and roof assembly has been completed, the new footplate support brackets which are different from the ‘Hall’ design have been manufactured and work is underway on the new footplate, all of which can be fitted once the frames have been assembled. Work has still to start on the new splashers which will be to the original Churchward riveted design although the materials are to hand and have been profiled to shape. All the springs for the driving wheels and bogie have now been refurbished and the driving wheel axleboxes are being made ready to receive the new wheelsets to complete the rolling chassis.
Meanwhile at Didcot work on reassembling the bogie has begun. As the bogie axlebox keeps were missing when we purchased 4942, replacements have now been cast and the remetalling of the axleboxes to suit the new wheelsets is underway. New fitted bolts to complete the assembly of the bogie frame will also be manufactured shortly.
Work on the frames continues at Bury. Starting at the front the original buffer beam assembly from No.4942 has been rebuilt. The beam itself has been reprofiled along its lower edge to the Saint type and the support angles behind that were severely corroded have been rebuilt and re-riveted. The new cylinders have been bolted together and secured to the new forged extension frames. A new cross member (or frame stretcher) has been fabricated and fitted under the cylinders between the extension frames; also the new cross member behind the cylinders,through which the valve rocking levers pass and which is quite different from the Hall type, has been made and fitted. The bogie side control ball castings from No.4942 have been fitted to the new extension frames.
So the whole cylinder, extension frame and front bufferbeam arrangement has been completed as a sub-assembly and at the time of writing in early November staff from the Severn Valley Railway have just completed the final alignment of the complete frame assembly using their optical alignment equipment. The extension frames can now be secured to the main frames in their final position with fitted bolts. Most of the footplating is complete except for the sections adjacent to the cylinders which, although made, await the final alignment of the frames in case any minor adjustments are necessary. We have used much of the original footplate angle from No.4942 but all the platework is new.
The platework in front of the cab which carries the rear splashers has been made to be easily removable so that a plain piece of plate without a splasher can be substituted for the Atlantic conversion. The splashers have faithfully followed all the riveted construction of the original design and have been fitted to the footplate and mainframes. They await fitting of the brass beading which again is of a different design from the normal Collett style. We have made a pattern for the beading and an order has been placed, initially for just one so that we can evaluate it before ordering the remainder. The cab assembly is complete except for the fitting of the tubular brass edge beading and is bolted in place on the frames, and is complete with the front spectacle and porthole window frames.
The distinctive slotted cab step assemblies have been finished and fitted. The rear extension frames for the Atlantic trailing wheelset have been successfully trial fitted to the mainframes to ensure a satisfactory fit. The newly cast Atlantic trailing wheel axlebox horns have also been machined and currently await fitting to the extension frames. The rear drawbars from No.4942 will be reused and new intermediate rubber pads and associated steel discs have been sent to Bury from the Didcot stores in readiness for fitting.
With the frame alignment now completed we can progress to assembling the new driving wheelsets to the frames. New spring hanger bolts are being made as the ones from No.4942 were past their ‘sell-by date’ and we have also sent from Didcot the new rubber pads and steel discs fitted to the spring hanger bolts which form part of the locomotive’s suspension, to put it in automotive terms. The driving wheel springs from No.4942 have already been reconditioned and are at Bury ready to be fitted. The existing driving wheel axleboxes from No.4942 are being fully overhauled prior to refitting. Meanwhile members of the North Western Group continue with the filling and painting of the driving wheel sets, all having now received two coats of undercoat with topcoat black to follow.
At Didcot the group led by Martin Breakspear continues with the overhaul of the bogie and new tubular stretchers have been made and fitted. The horn guides have been trued up and Peter Gransden has made a start on overhauling the axleboxes off No.4942, with the first axlebox presently having the whitemetal bearing surfaces machined to suit the new bogie axles. The bogie wheelsets are new and have Churchward design wheels although it is difficult to tell the difference from a Collett bogie wheel.
We are hoping that, because the journal size of the axles from No.4942 is smaller (having been machined several times during successive overhauls) than on the new axles which are at nominal size, providing the existing white metal is sound we shall be able to get away with just machining to the new dimensions without having to remetal as well. The newly cast axlebox keeps are also being machined at present. The forty odd new bolts needed to reassemble the bogie frame are being manufactured at present so final re-assembly should begin shortly. Meanwhile painting of the various parts is in progress. The Didcot group was planning a visit to Bury in early November to needle gun and paint the outer faces of the mainframes before rewheeling commences.
Meanwhile Ken Gibbs continues to make various casting patterns for the locomotive. In the past few months he has made patterns for the motion bracket, valve rocker shaft bearing, front and rear cylinder covers, driving wheel brake block and even the worksplate that is located in the middle of the square end footplating below the smokebox. None of these, or any of the other major components and modifications, would have been possible without the many drawings produced by Peter Rich and Mike Rudge.
Re-assembly of the bogie at Didcot is complete except for fitting the new axle box keeps, so it is once again a rolling chassis. As we hoped it has proved possible to machine the original axle box white metalled bearing surfaces to suit the new axle journal sizes which are larger. The newly cast axle box keeps have presented a minor problem because the front pair of axle boxes are of a different design to the rear pair. The front axle keeps fit fine but we are having to modify the rear axle keeps with some extra machining which is just about complete. The fitting of new lubrication pads is all that is required before the keeps can be finally fitted. Meanwhile final painting of the bogie is in progress.
The boiler has now been detubed in readiness for its despatch to Bury, thus reducing its weight for lifting and transportation. The tubes, presumably fitted when the boiler was last overhauled at Swindon in 1961, are heavily scaled (Didcot was its last shed before withdrawal in 1963!) but look better than many ex-Barry tubes we have removed at Didcot. First sight visual examination of the exposed surfaces has not revealed anything sinister but we will know more once the boiler has been grit blasted and ultrasonic tested which is scheduled to be done whilst it is at Bury. Meanwhile there are barrow loads of scale and muck to remove from the internal areas.
As well as the boiler and bogie going up to Bury there are quite a lot of smaller pieces needed up there such as motion brackets, slidebars and so on and these are being collected together, cleaned up and palletised in readiness.
Progress on re-wheeling the frames at Bury is still awaited. Due to an unexpected amount of work since the beginning of the year, in particular a significant amount of work on No.34067 “Tangmere” before it goes back into traffic, Ian Riley has been unable to move forward with No.2999 but we hope that he will soon be able to press the start button again. The first splasher beading has been cast and is at Bury awaiting fitting.
We have made a start on the lever reverser mechanism in the cab. We are fortunate in having the original 1906 drawing for this (mind you it would help if it had all the dimensions together with the manufacturing tolerances shown) and we are presently awaiting quotes to make the two quadrant racks. These racks are 1”thick steel and using modern profile cutting techniques, we expect to be able to produce them without any further machining being necessary.
Finally, with the departure of “Fire Fly” from the works, the Saint’s 3500 gallon tender has been brought in from the cold, in readiness for work to commence. It is parked next to No.6023’s immaculate rebuilt tender and provides a good before and after view.
Re-assembly of the bogie has been completed and sporting a coat of gloss black, and the boiler having received its first washout for over 40 years, both were loaded onto wagons, together with the rest of the small parts destined to be reunited with the frames at Ian Riley’s works at Bury, and the whole lot moved across to the West Yard at Didcot. Using a 50 ton mobile crane everything had been loaded onto the waiting low loader by midday on Friday 1st July, ready for the road journey up to Bury, where unloading took place on the following Monday.
The Didcot gang has paid another visit to Bury, descaling the inside face of the frames and giving them a coat of paint; the driving wheels also received another coat of black paint. Otherwise, apart from repairing the rear drawbar rubber compression cups, no further progress has been made by Ian Riley at Bury. He has promised that he will make a start shortly on the driving axle boxes as a prelude to re-wheeling the frames.
Following the request for a suitable replacement chimney one of our members has most generously offered to donate his Modified Hall chimney and we hope to collect it shortly. Out of interest, the budget cost to make a new chimney to the original design was around £10,000.
Progress is being made on the in cab reversing lever assembly. The two quadrant racks have been made and the actual “pole” reversing lever forging has been ordered from the same forge that made the new extension frames. The estimated cost, as quoted, to complete the whole reverser mechanism in the cab is £6700. If anyone would like to sponsor all or part of this reverser mechanism we should be absolutely delighted to hear from you.
We have a 4-6-0 once more. By the end of January the driving axle boxes were finish machined, the underkeeps fettled up, new lubrication felts and feed wicks fitted and the completed assemblies fitted to the new driving wheelsets. The frames were then lifted up and lowered onto the waiting wheelsets. The next job is to fit the reconditioned driving wheel springs and complete the rolling chassis.
Other work recently carried out at Bury includes grit blasting and painting the boiler. This has been done prior to refitting it to the chassis. Once the boiler has been fitted we can check the dimensions of the complete locomotive to ensure that it is in gauge and thus able to move on Network Rail. Both motion brackets have had their slidebar faces trued up prior to setting them up on the frames and aligning with the new cylinders together with the new rear cylinder covers and remachined slidebars. The eccentric sheaves have also been fitted to the driving wheel axle.
The Atlantic conversion has not been forgotten. Both sub frames are now complete, with horn guides and horn ties all fitted. The modifications necessary to the locomotive mainframes, footplating and bracketry which will allow these sub frames to be fitted when the conversion takes place were incorporated when the rest of the modifications were carried out on the mainframes
The work scheduled at Ian Riley’s workshops in Bury has finally been completed and the locomotive has returned to Didcot. Since the last report, work has been concentrated on the modifications to the motion brackets from No.4942 to incorporate the Saint design which has the valve rocker arm bearing integral with the motion bracket. The new section castings were machined and were then carefully aligned with the existing brackets and the frames, before being finally secured in place.
The locomotive had to be lifted so that the leading driving wheelset could be run out, to provide the necessary access for this operation. Finally the rear cylinder covers were finish machined, and fitted to the new cylinders so that the reconditioned slidebars could be refitted and aligned with new shims made, all of which was quite tricky and took several weeks of continual work to complete. The final operation was to remove the cab roof and refit the boiler into the frames and at the same time use the crane to lift the frames to replace the leading wheelset. In the event it was sitting a little high and not quite level so the boiler had to come off again while this was addressed.
At the smokebox end the floor of the smokebox needed to be cut away to provide a bit more clearance for the new cylinder integrally cast inside steam pipes, two of the frame stretchers were a little too high and needed tweaking, the firebox expansion brackets also needed a bit more machining and the front spectacle plate needed a bit more clearance around the firebox. All in all considering the lack of detail drawings and dimensions for a Saint and the serious changes made to the frames, we were pleased that so little needed to be done to get the boiler to fit. The modifications were put in hand straight away and a week later the boiler was lowered into the frames, and they fitted.
Now No.2999 was a rolling locomotive a check was made on its axle weight distribution to ensure the bearing loads were evenly spread ready for the move back to Didcot and the overall weight (52½ tons) in its present condition was noted, which is some 20 tons less than the finished article. Final finishing off included straightening the front drawhook, making a new nut for it and reassembling with new buffing pads and at the rear, refitting the engine to tender drawbar links and finally, fixing one of the cabside number plates in position.
Once the boiler was in place the Didcot gang moved in over one weekend and fitted a temporary wooden footplate floor and fallplate, ready for its move over Network Rail to get it into Didcot Railway Centre. A further small group visited Bury towards the end of October for a final review and to witness its movement up and down Riley’s yard. It was taken by road to Milton depot where it was coupled to No.6023’s tender (which is already cleared for Network Rail) and then incongruously towed into the Centre with Thomas the Tank Engine on 14th November. The first Saint on the main line since 1953? A collection of parts remains at Bury, including the Atlantic sub frames, and this will be collected separately.
It is time to look forward and let the restoration begin and complete the Saint Project and see “Lady of Legend” in action as soon as possible. Although the majority of the large items required for No.2999 have now been acquired there are a number of new items which still need to be manufactured including the new reversing rod and lever, the front cylinder covers, new brake hangers (it is interesting to see how little room there is between the leading and centre driving wheels), the brake rigging needs some alteration to conform to the Saint Class specification, new boiler cladding needs to be manufactured and new fittings and pipe work made. The motion needs restoration and refurbishment, the 3500 gallon tender needs a complete rebuild and restoration and we have to repay the short term loan which a member has kindly put up to complete the rebuild at Ian Riley’s works to ensure No.2999 returned to Didcot without any unnecessary delay. And finally we need to manufacture new axleboxes and springs as well as two coupling rods so that the locomotive can operate as a 4-4-2 Atlantic.
So 2007 will be a year for consolidation and preparing to move forward and to get the next stage of the Project under way we are re-launching the Saint Project appeal and we hope that you will feel able to support this ground braking project at this time. It has been a long time coming and we should like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.
For all the doubters we now have a faithful reminder of Churchward’s classic original 2 cylinder 4-6-0, from which all other two cylinder locomotives in the UK and arguably across much of the world, especially the British Empire, descended. It is different and it looks different from anything else we have at Didcot.
Restoration is now well under way and we shall soon be starting to acquire all the various fittings needed. A Society member has sponsored the reversing mechanism and we shall start to machine the forgings. If you would like to become a Society member and join the team we should be delighted to see you. There is still plenty of restoration work to do. The restoration team remains a compact group of people, most of whom have been with the project from the start, with some very welcome additions along the way. They handled all of the hard grubby work of dismantling a locomotive that had not been touched for forty years and that had spent a good few of those in the open at Barry suffering the ravages of salt laden air.
Over the last few months the working party, which meets every other Saturday, has given the Lady several coats of paint which has helped to cover up the scars from the surgery and a start is being made in readiness to begin fitting the motion and we expect very shortly to take delivery of the new reversing lever. We also hope shortly to purchase the cladding for the boiler. If you would like to join the working party, Martin Breakspear and his team will be pleased to see you.
This year's Society Summer Draw was held to raise money for the acquisition of fittings for the locomotive and work can now get under way manufacturing all the various fittings required.
Work continues but in recent times has been limited by the constraints of finance and other resources. Painting of the locomotive has continued and the tender body has recently been lifted from its chassis to allow a full assessment of the work required to put it back into good order. Meanwhile we are continuing to source all the fittings for the loco. The injectors, water gauge frame, cylinder cocks and cylinder relief valves have all been made over the past few years, a brake valve assembly is almost complete and the castings for the lubricator await machining. We are now moving forward with the backhead fittings and an order has been placed for the injector steam valves, steam heat shut off valve, “W” valve, pressure gauge cock, “J” cocks, reservoir release cocks, blower valve, condensing coil shut off valve, and a condensing coil. There are, however, many subtle differences between the original Churchward design parts and parts from the Collett, Hawksworth and even B.R. eras. We, of course, are aiming to have the Saint typical as the loco would have been not long before the First World War, with Churchward level parts. Generally speaking most preserved GWR locos carry fittings of a later level, so sourcing the parts takes a bit of investigation. Also completed recently are the two new front cylinder covers.
We are on the lookout for a Churchward style water gauge protector, which is of a round profile instead of the more usual square type. If anyone knows the whereabouts of one, could they please let us know; we would gladly swap a square type one for it. We are also on the lookout for a tall safety valve bonnet; To have these parts made new will be a costly affair so if anyone knows where we could find either of these, we would love to hear from them. Please contact Peter Chatman at the Didcot address.
Over the past months, the tender has been stripped down to the frames and any components that can be re-used have been salvaged. The tender will shortly be re-assessed against the original assessment to determine the total extent of the work required to rebuild it.
Progress has also been made on the loco herself. Having completed fitting and preliminary alignment of the pole reverser work moved on to preparing for the fitment of the boiler backhead fittings. The boiler flanges have been machined and protective covers fitted.
Brackets to carry the vacuum reservoir have been fabricated, fitted to the frames and are ready for fitment of the reservoir itself. Other work completed at the front of the loco includes modification of outer running plate supports to allow fitting of the cylinder covers.
Under the loco, work continues in preparation for the wheel drop which will allow fitting of the brake brackets.
Collation and preparation of the many components removed from Maindy Hall continues apace together with a reorganisation of our part store to make location of components easier.
This month the loco has been moved from No. 4 road in the works to the lifting shop. Work will of course continue whilst we await removal of the boiler (in preparation for re-staying).
The boiler lift will also be an opportunity to repaint the otherwise inaccessible sections of the frames and to fit valve gear and brake gear.
Meanwhile, the tender frames will shortly be moved into 2999s old position in the works so work can start on the rebuild.
Since the June update, the boiler has been removed as planned and work is well underway preparing and painting the newly exposed metalwork.
The removal of the boiler has also given access to allow the removal of the splashers which will soon be modified to accommodate the boiler cladding.
Work has already started on the boiler itself, starting with the removal of the firebox stays.
In addition to the boiler lift, the front and middle drivers have been removed and preparations made for fitting the newly manufactured brake hangers.
At the front of the loco, the vacuum reservoir has been installed onto the recently fabricated brackets.
Progress may not always have been as speedy as we would have liked but it has been steady and always in line with income received. Much of this has been achieved as a result of the regular payments which many members make by Bankers Order, often linked to the Gift Aid scheme, plus occasional donations.
There are two ways in which you may assist: any donation at this stage will be most welcome and will allow us to finish the work without having to resort to borrowing. Alternatively you may feel able to take out a Bankers Order to provide a boost to the regular income on which the Project relies for its long term completion.
If you would like further information on the project or feel that you could support Saint Project by making a donation or regular monthly contributions,or joining the regular working parties, please contact: Richard Croucher, Great Western Society, Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7NJ, England.
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 817200 or e-mail info@didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
Download the Saint appeal form (Word format)
Whatever help you are able to give will be most welcome and will move the Project forward considerably towards final completion.