12th December 2010
Coach 5768 – restoration report by Dave Clarke.
The repair of the centre vestibule and northern half of the cant rail on the west side is virtually complete and the corridor partitions have been stained on the exterior face and a first coat of varnish has been applied to both sides.
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| Coach No. 5768 outside while No. 3360 was shunted back to the dock. The rotted mid rail in B Compartment has been removed and work started on the replacement section,12th December 2010. | |
The overhaul of the steel bottom rail is progressing well and the new steel sections are ready to be secured. This process is beginning with the fixing of the frame work to the steel gusset plates and the counter sinking of the holes by which the steel bottom rail will be riveted to the sole bar.
The western steel bottom rail plates have been tack welded together. The majority of the underframe north of the northern queen post has now been needle gunned and painted to top coat.
8th November 2010
Coach 5768 – restoration report by Dave Clarke.
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| Needle gunning has moved to the sole bar which is in red bonda primer while the bottom rail and flitch plates are in black gloss. | The holes created by the screws fixing the steel sheeting to the framing have been filled. The new waist rail can be seen on the right. Some of the structural bolts have also been replaced. | |||
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| The northern gangway pillars have been reattached to the flitch and bottom rail plates. The excess mastic requires tidying up! | With this part of the underframe needle gunned and painted, the overhauled vacuum reservoir has been re-hung behind the northern bogie. | |||
27th October 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
Sir Archibald Sinclair is in steam all this week (half-term). The pictures below were taken on Monday and show No. 34059 about to depart from Sheffield Park on the 3.00 pm train for Kingscote.
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25th October 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
Through a lot of hard work Sir Archibald Sinclair was able to take part in the Giants of Steam weekend. This involved the recladding of the backhead, which meant the removal of much of the pipework and the firehole doors attached for the steam test on Friday, reinsulation of the backhead, reattachment of the cladding and doors and then connecting up all the pipework again – and the firebox was a little warm! Sir Archibald Sinclair managed to complete two round trips on Sunday – double heading with No. 30777, Sir Lamiel.
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| No. 30777 & No. 34059 approaching Horsted Keynes on the Sunday of the Bluebell's Giants of Steam Weekend. | |
23rd October 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
No. 34059 has successfully passed both the hydraulic and steam tests in the presence of the boiler inspector. The former test was undertaken on Monday 18th October and the steam test was carried out yesterday (Friday).
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| Firehole door restaying, 6th October. | Backhead post repair, 21st October. | |||
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No. 34059 during its steam test – the steam at the front end is from the snifting valves and the missing running plate section were removed to gain access to the stays on the lower front section of the firebox. |
The cladding and insulation on the backhead will now have to be replaced when the firebox has cooled down. This will involve the removal of the fire door and disconnection of some of the pipework which runs on the outside of the cladding.
10th October 2010
Coach 5768 – restoration report by Dave Clarke.
The coach made a brief foray out of the shed to enable Mk 1 TSO 4941 to be shunted out of the shed.
Most of the northern half of the steel bottom rail has been replaced. New flitch plates have been welded to the new steel and will be bolted to the major vertical elements of the framework.
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| The section of bottom rail under the furthest section of open framework is the only section of the northern have of the coach left to be replaced. | |
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| 'Rising floor syndrome' can be seen above the truss rod post. This has been caused by corrosion between the sole bar and the bottom rail. Needle gunning has moved from the head stock to the truss rod. This has concentrated on the inner framing and will eventually move to the sole bar. | The section of waist rail by the clamp will need replacing. This was below the major leak in B Compartment that required a new section of top rail to be fitted. | |||
6th October 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
After the crack were found in the inner firehole door area in August, the decision was made to replace the area around the inner door with the pressing purchased earlier this year with the syphon 'repair kits'.
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| The inner firehole door area cut out. | The new plate along with the removed pieces. | |||
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| The new section welded in place on the inner firehole door area. | Initial drilling of the new stay holes. | |||
3rd September 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
Unfortunately Sir Archibald Sinclair has had to be withdrawn from traffic owing to further work being required to the inner firebox, close to the door. This will require the affected area to be cut out and new plate welded in place.
3rd August 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair has been fitted with replica Golden Arrows on the smoke deflectors. The engine will haul the evening dining trains this week and the arrows will remain in place until the end of the Bluebell 50 event.
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Normandy and Blackmoor Vale
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No. 96, Normandy and No. 21C123, Blackmoor Vale on display at Horsted Keynes. |
26th July 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
No. 34059 was passed by the boiler insurance inspector after the recent syphon repairs and has entered traffic.
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| No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair leaving Sheffield Park with the Sunday Golden Arrow. | |
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| No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair under test in Sheffield Park Yard. | ||||
Blackmoor Vale
No. 21C123, Blackmoor Vale, was hauled by newly passed for traffic No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair to Horsted Keynes where it will be part of the Bluebell 50 display of locomotives.
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| No. 34059 running round at Sheffield Park before coupling-up to 21C123. |
No. 34059 & No. 21C123 traveling north to Horsted Keynes. | |||
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| Approaching Horsted Keynes. |
Sir Archibald Sinclair and Blackmoor Vale awaiting the positioning move at Horsted Keynes. | |||
Normandy
No. 96, Normandy has been taken to Horsted Keynes so it can take part in the Bluebell 50 display of locomotives.
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| Normandy showing between No. 21C123, Blackmoor Vale's tender and GWR 'Dukedog' No. 9017. | |
7th July 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
The repairs to the thermic syphons on No. 34059 are progressing with the photograph showing new sections tacked in place on the left hand syphon. Similar work is in progress on the right hand syphon and it is hoped that the coded welder will be able to start the welding in the near future.
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No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair and the recently completed LSWR coach, No. 1520 were awarded joint first place in the Eastbourne Historic Vehicle Club Transport Preservation Awards category five. The Battle of Britain group are pleased to receive yet another award for the restoration of the locomotive.
Blackmoor Vale and Normandy
Both No. 21C123, Blackmoor Vale and No. 96, Normandy will be on display at Horsted Keynes for Bluebell 50 from 5th – 7th August and it is hoped that No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair will have the syphon repairs completed by then and be in traffic.
July 2010
Coach 5768 – restoration report by Dave Clarke.
The northern headstock has been needle gunned and primed with undercoat. Further floor boards under the first class compartments have been removed to enable further sections of the flitch plate to be removed from the underframe.
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June 2010
Normandy
No. 96, Normandy was loaded onto a trailer at Sheffield Park to be taken to the South of England Show, Ardingly. The engine will be on the Bluebell stand together with a couple of 4 wheel coaches.
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| The restraints being put in place. |
Tied down and ready to go! | |||
May 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
The areas of the syphon backs where the cracks have been detected have now been cut out. The edges of the cut syphons have been ground to the appropriate section for welding in the new syphon backs. It is hoped that the new sections will be tack welded in place this week.
Coach 5768
The cleaning of the sliding toplights is ongoing and once completed they are being primed and undercoated.
A section of corroded plate has been removed from the north east corner of the underframe. The plate is bolted to the top of the solebar (which has been built up with weld) and used to secure the frames to the underframe. Replacement plate has been fabricated and painted ready for fitting.
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| Replacement steel plate for the NE corner of the coach, it will be bolted to the solebar and is used to secure the wooden body pillars. The door threshold is in the foreground. | The upper flange of the solebar has been cleaned, had corrosion repair built up with weld and painted with red oxide. Bolt holes in the pillars show how they are secured to the steel plate. | |||
April 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
A recent boiler inspection noted that there are some cracks in the area of the thermic syphons above the syphon elbow. No problems had been noted here during the locomotive's major overhaul and it will be necessary to cut out the area of the cracks and replace it with new syphon pressings. These have arrived from Pridhams and it is hoped that the work on the syphons will commence shortly.
Coach 5768
A start has been made on lifting the floor under the first class lavatory and compartment 'A'. The rotten section of cant rail in compartment 'B' has been removed and replaced with a section recovered when Semi Open Brake Third 4035 was dismantled several days ago.
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| The rotten section of toprail has been removed and replaced with a section recovered from Bulleid brake 4035. |
With the partition between 'A' & 'B' compartments removed, the damage to the toprail on the east side of the latter can be clearly seen. |
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January 2010
Sir Archibald Sinclair
No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair has been winterised (water drained and parts protected) after working the busy Christmas period. The locomotive is now under cover in the engine shed. It will return to traffic in the spring to help celebrate Bluebell's 50th Anniversary.
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| No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair over the washout pit at Sheffield Park on Monday 11th January 2010. | |
Below are pictures taken of No. 34059, Sir Archibald Sinclair at work in the snow hauling Santa Specials.
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