We are excited to announce that this year’s Urie Locomotive Society Open Day is taking place alongside the Watercress Line’s Engineering Open Weekend on the 12th and 13th September at Ropley. As we enter an exciting chapter in the restoration of our S15 No.499, come along and see the latest progress that has been made. We will be thrilled to show you our work first hand and look forward to seeing you there!
Throughout this very hot summer our engineering team have made fantastic strides on 499, particularly with regard to our new tender tank. This is now largely complete with detailing, mechanical components such as the handbrake and other finishing touches making up the remaining work. At the appropriate time, and as funds allow, we will be planning the overhaul of the bogies and brake rigging to finish the tender as a complete unit.
The major milestone of fully re-wheeling 499 is a step closer with bronze welding repairs to the driving wheel axle boxes complete. The staff at Ropley will be white-metalling and machining these in the coming months ready to fit to the axles. Work has also started on the horn liners and our aim is to have the loco on all its wheels early in the new year. With several projects currently taking up space in the main works there are a few jobs on other locos to complete before the team are ready for lifting 499. After re-wheeling it will be easier to reposition the chassis throughout the Ropley complex as required for the subsequent stages of the rebuild. These large oil pots are newly cast and will provide lubrication oil for 499’s driving wheel axle boxes. Pictured here they are as delivered and in their un-machined condition. The visible internal cores will be drilled and will provide the oil runs to the lubrication pipes. Each of these is filled with a worsted wool trimming which acts as a syphon and regulates the flow of oil. As the re-wheeling of 499 onto its driving wheels comes closer, we have been examining the other components required. The centre driving axle on S15’s feature more responsive coil springs, as opposed to the leaf springs on the leading and trailing wheel sets. We have made a start on cleaning up the spring hanger components for these. 499’s slide bars are lubricated by four smaller oil pots screwed directly to the bars. The threads are one inch diameter with 12 threads to the inch. Utilising our old and rather tired lathe seen here cutting the thread.The first oil pot with the hinged lid riveted awaiting polishing.Our new tender tank is now a complete box! With the final section in place and the remaining straight section of the raves riveted on, the final part of the external profile are the two curved corner sections. Missing in these photos, we will cover the fabricating of these in the next edition. Also visible are some of the lamp brackets and the vacuum brake pipe. The flat section of the tender coal space floor is also now complete. The two holes at the rear are for the water filling caps. These and the covers that fit onto them have been slightly enlarged from the originals to allow for easy access into the tender tank if required. The original sizing would have been suitable for children and few others!Mike F drilling the mounting holes in one of the tender filling caps so that they can be fitted to the steel tank over the cutouts. Once they are in place the finishing touch will be the screw latches that secure them shut while in service, preventing debris entering the water tank and clogging the water outlet. 499’s coupling hook has been crack tested and fitted into position on the front of the loco. Our engineering team have also extracted the various buffers and buffer components we have in stock. Some are in better condition than others but overall we have some surprisingly good metal to work with.
Photos: Sam Wyatt, Barry Stratton, Pat Bell, Mike Field.
