November 2006 :: Fotopic.Net

November 2006

1st November 2006

The first working party of the month was on Sunday 5th with Alan and Chris on site for the majority of the day with Adrian arriving in the afternoon. The dismantling, cleaning and refitting of the handbrake mechanism at Number 2 end commenced with Alan and Chris managing to partially dismantle one of the parts that had become seized. Chris dismantled, cleaned and then refitted some of the moving parts that are on the outside of the loco. The old grease certainly builds up over the years and gets rather solid so all the old grease was removed, all the components were fully cleaned, re-greased and then refitted. Chris also performed the same process on one of the parts normally situated under the cab floor.

Sunday 12th saw just Joan and Doug on site. The main purpose of the day for Joan and Doug was to continue with cleaning and painting the backs of the electrical cubicle covers that are in Number 2 cab. Doug also painted part of the fire circuit pipe work in the engine room.

Sunday 19th saw just Alan and Chris on site on a sunny but cold day. Both Chris and Alan worked on the handbrake mechanism in Number 2 cab. One part of the mechanism had seized completely and Alan had managed to get part of it apart on a previous working party, but today he suceeded in dismantling the complete mechanism by using carefully applied heat from a blow lamp recently purchased. It is assumed that the handbrake mechanism hadn't received any treatment for years and had suffered badly from water ingress. Chris managed to dismantle some of the mechanism on the Secondman's side of the cab, clean the parts up and then refit them after plenty of grease was applied in the right places. In the afternoon, Chris managed to dismantle part of the Secondman's side linkage that had seized sometime in the past. The part that Chris removed was the matching half of the part that Alan removed earlier in the day. After much heating with the new blow torch and clobbering with a hammer, the pins finally seperated from the holes joining the different components together. The swing arm that is attached to the handbrake chain outside the loco is the next part to attempt. Both sides of the cab have seized swing arms and we are investigating how best to tackle the situation on the next working party.

Sunday 26th saw Joan, Doug and Chris on site. Joan cleaned up part of the handbrake mechanism that had been dismantled during the last working party, removing all of the grime, rust and old grease from the components. Doug and Chris dismantled yet more of the handbrake rigging in Number 2 Cab, cleaning the appropriate components and then reassembling them. Joan and Chris reassembled one of the universal joints that connects the brake rigging under the cab floor to the swing arm which operates the handbrake chain on the exterior of the loco. One more working party should finish the handbrake mechanism at Number 2 End.

Wednesday 29th saw John and Chris on site. John and Chris continued the seemingly never-ending task of overhauling the hand brake rigging at Number 2 end. By the end of the day (after a lot of persuasion from John), all of the seized mechanism had been freed and was moving with ease. The hand brake rigging at Number 2 end has been completely reassembled and is now functioning fully. All that remains is to oil and grease the chain which drives the handbrake mechanism which is located in the nose at Number 2 end. A very productive day indeed. A few minutes were spent getting a few time exposures of the loco once night had fallen.

480x640 Bar_bent_like_a_banana.jpg	640x302 Handbrake_Mech_1.jpg	640x344 Handbrake_Mech_2.jpg	549x527 Handbrake_Mech_3.jpg
640x360 Handbrake_Mech_4.jpg	640x480 Joan_doors_Nov_2.jpg	640x480 Joan_doors_Nov_1.jpg	480x640 CO2a.jpg
480x640 CO2b.jpg	600x330 37254_dark_291206.jpg