Engineering 

The replacement driving wheel contract has been placed with William Cook Cast Products in Sheffield, with a delivery lead time of 12-14 weeks: preparatory work on the wheel pattern has been carried out free of charge by the company. Material for a new front buffer beam has been delivered (there is more about this in The Warrior 52). An estimate has been sought from South Devon Railway for the wheelset re-assembly package, after work on specification preparation. Dialogue continues with Cast Iron Welding over cylinder modification pending authorisation.  Materials have been delivered for the new fitted bolts required for chassis re-assembly.

Frame shotblasting had to be postponed into first half of March because of adverse weather.

Engineering

This month West Shed took delivery of a lathe suitable for the in-house production/finishing of a wide range of components for 5551. This will generate cost savings and improve project progress and quality control over the life of the project. LMS-Patriot provided loan funding to make this investment possible.