Engineering updates

Engineering Update May/June 2014

'The Unknown Warrior' is Wheeled.

We realise that building a complex locomotive like the Patriot was never always going to be a straight forward exercise. The last few weeks have been interesting and challenging to say the least. From the outside it must have looked as though nothing was happening, but I can assure you it was a bit like a duck swimming across the lake, all calm above water, but below the legs are working furiously in all directions at the same time!

Engineering Update - April 2014

Work continues at Tyseley Locomotive Works on preparing to fit the axleboxes into the main frame. All the Horn Guides have been polished to remove machining marks and the corners radii added by hand. All this has been completed to the usual high standard expected from Tyseley.
The Axleboxes have had the brasses pressed in and the journals have been machined to the size of the axle. The bronze wearing faces are now being machined to the sizes determined from the frame assy.

First Outside Cylinder Casting Revealed

Following the casting of the first of the two Outside Cylinders last Wednesday evening, the casting has remained in the mould to cool until early this morning. The mould was opened and the sand broken away to reveal the casting.

First Outside Cylinder Cast

A group of project supporters travelled to Coupe Castings, Preston last night to witness the casting of the first of the two Outside Cylinders required for The Unknown Warrior.
Five tons of molten SG Iron was prepared for the casting, the final casting weight was expected to be around 2 1/2 tons.
The casting will now be left in the mould until the middle of next week to cool, before being broken out of the sand mould.

Engineering Update - March 2014

Locomotive Frame Assembly
Work continues at Tyseley Locomotive Works on preparing to fit the axleboxes into the main frame. All the Horn Guides are now ground and the frame assembly has been measured to determine how much to machine from each axlebox to get the axle centre in the correct position. The Axleboxes themselves have had all the remaining oil holes and fixing holes for the brasses machined in. The brasses are ready to be pressed in over the next couple of days.

Engineering Update - February 2014

Locomotive Frame Assembly
Work continues at Tyseley Locomotive Works on the grinding the Horn Guides ready to fit the axleboxes. A breakdown on the horn grinding rig has added time to the task, but this work is now expected to be complete in the next 10 days. Once the grinding is complete the frame assembly will be measured to give exact axle centres and the offsets established to final machine the axleboxes to fit.

Engineering Update - January 2014

Following the flurry of activity to get the loco motive on its wheels for display at the Warley Model Railway Exhibition in November 2013, things may have appeared to have slowed down, but in reality it is still full steam ahead on the progress front.

Engineering update - October 2013

The two outside motion brackets and boiler support brackets have now been cast and have been machined. The cab has been ordered from R.D. Moore's at Coalville for delivery at the end of October. The driving wheels have had all the tyres turned at Tyseley Locomotive Works, where work on machining the driving wheel axleboxes has been completed. These will be taken to the Llangollen Railway Works to be fitted to the frames. The rolling chassis with cab and smokebox will be exhibited at the National Memorial Arboretum and the Warley National Model Railway exhibition during November.

Engineering update - July 2013

The completed driving wheelsets for 'The Unknown Warrior' were delivered to Tyseley at the beginning of July. The all-new Heritage Railway magazine-supported wheelsets have been assembled at Buckfastleigh workshops of South Devon Railway Engineering. At Tyseley Locomotive Works they will be balanced with lead weights, turned, and have the axleboxes fitted before being taken to the Llangollen Railway Works to be fitted to the frames of 'The Unknown Warrior' to enable the rolling chassis (minus the front bogie), to be completed.

Driving Wheel Progress

The driving wheelsets have nearly been completed at the South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh. The final two crank pins were machined and fitted, and the balance weight plates were also riveted on the driving wheels during May. The final jobs that remain to be done are tyre turning and pouring of molten lead in between the balance weight plates.

Smokebox Completed at LNWR Heritage, Crewe

The Smokebox has now been completed at Crewe and was delivered to the Llangollen Railway Works on the 5th June. Volunteer LMS-Patriot Project painters and Llangollen Railway volunteers, Godfrey Hall and John Sandiford have painted the top coat and the smokebox now looks resplendent with its shiny black paint - ready to go on display for LMS-Patriot Project Members' Day.

Middle Cylinder Cast for 'The Unknown Warrior'

The middle cylinder for 'The Unknown Warrior' was 'knocked out' on the 29th May at the Coupe Foundry in Preston. BBC Radio Lancashire was there to witness this landmark occasion - the first major casting to be made for a standard gauge steam locomotive from a polystyrene pattern.

Engineering update - April 2013

The fourth crankpin was machined during April at SDRE, at Buckfastleigh. The cylinder pattern for the middle cylinder and bogie parts were completed. Around 60Kg of lead was purchased for the driving wheel balance weights, although more will be needed.

Project Update - March 2013

The LMS-Patriot Project, is pleased to announce that Heritage Painting has been chosen to paint the new ‘Patriot’ 4-6-0 locomotive - 'The Unknown Warrior'.

Heritage Painting, the specialised railway vehicle painting service has already repainted high profile locomotives including ‘Mallard’, ‘Flying Scotsman’, ‘Dwight D. Eisenhower’ and Black 5 number 45407.

Engineering update - March 2013

Stretcher number 5 - the final stretcher that is needed for 'The Unknown Warrior' was delivered to the Llangollen Railway Works during March, after being cast at the Boro Foundry. The Lye foundry near Stourbridge has previously cast the other four frame stretchers, bogie centre pin, and driving wheels for 'The Unknown Warrior'.

The bogie frame plates were cut during March at Morgan UK Ltd. Fabrications of Tyseley and were delivered to Tyseley Loco Works where assembly of the bogie will take place.

Engineering update - January 2013

Following on from the assembly of the three 6' 9" driving wheelsets for 'The Unknown Warrior' at South Devon Railway Engineering last year, quartering and fitting of the crank pins has now taken place. There are four different designs of crank pin that are needed for 'The Unknown Warrior'. The quartering of the crankpins ensures the correct alignment of the crank pins in relation to the cranks and axles. The lining up for this job took nearly two hours per crank pin, while the boring process took around a day to complete for each hole, with each cut taking around 15 minutes. About 30 cuts were required, depending on the final size of hole needed for each crank pin. South Devon Railway Engineering is believed to be the only railway engineering workshop that can do traditional crank pin quartering.

Spring Hangers and Cross Stay Blanks Made for 'The Unknown Warrior'

Twelve spring hangers have been made for 'The Unknown Warrior' with assistance from Project Director Neil Kinsey. The spring hangers were machined at Fastlok Engineering Ltd. in Nottingham and have now been taken to the Llangollen Railway Works to enable the rolling chassis to be assembled.

New Driving Wheel Springs Made for 'The Unknown Warrior'

The first new items for 'The Unknown Warrior' to be completed during 2012 were six driving wheel springs. These were made from new by Owen Springs of Rotherham. They were assembeld with 14 separate leaves. The last of the six springs was assembled at Rotherham on 9th January. The springs will be delivered to the Llangollen Railway Works and fitted to the driving wheelsets once completed.  

Owen Springs have previously refurbished the tender springs for the Fowler tender that is being refurbished for use with 'The Unknown Warrior'

Frame Stretchers Delivered to Llangollen

Four frame stretchers were delivered to the Llangollen Railway Works during December 2011 and are awaiting fitting to the frames of 'The Unknown Warrior'.

The stretchers which were cast from new patterns made by Eddie Mocraft at the Boro Foundry, were machined before delivery to Llangollen. The four stretchers arrived at Llangollen in protective plastic sheeting.

The stretchers will be fitted between the frame plates of 'The Unknown Warrior' to enable a rigid assembly to be built. New drawings for the fifth stretcher are being completed. 

Genuine LMS Buffers Obtained for The Unknown Warrior

The LMS-Patriot Project has acquired a set of genuine LMS buffers for 'The Unknown Warrior'. Two of the Buffers will be used on the loco which is being assembled at the Llangollen Railway Works and the other two are suitable for the ex Barry scrapyard Fowler tender which was dismantled at Barry Rail Centre, in South Wales.

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