Plenty to see on boiler No. 799 and tender No. 3223 this month, with new steel in place on both. Our volunteers have been enjoying the warmer weather but are as focused as ever on completing our tender tank. Meanwhile, the Ropley boiler shop has made strides with the outer firebox wrapper. Now is an excellent chance for me to remind our followers of our boiler appeal.
We are aiming to raise £20,000 to fund a replacement front tube plate and angle ring. This work was not in the scope of our original plans for this boiler overhaul but have proved necessary due to cracks and other damage discovered in both items. Our fundraiser is over half way towards its target, so please consider supporting us via our donation link on the website. If you prefer to pay by cheque, please make this payable to the Urie Locomotive Society Limited and post it to our membership secretary, David Pratt, 8 Woodlands Close, Hawley, Camberley, Surrey GU17 9HZ.
Our team of volunteers carry out as much work on 499’s restoration as we can ourselves. This ensures we get maximum value for money to engage the Watercress Line’s specialist boiler and mechanical expertise on the most vital parts of the project. In donating to our boiler appeal, you are also directly supporting our home railway.
Externally, the boiler shop team have been making excellent progress on boiler No. 799. Here we see the driver’s side outer side sheet now welded into place. On the fireman’s side, the outer side sheet is in place, weld prepped and ready for welding. Internally, the boiler shop team have also fitted new supports for the brick arch. Gandalf the Grey, aka Barry drilling out the bolt holes in the front central section of the tender coal space floor. We are bolting the steel sheets that make up the floor to the framework underneath with flush countersunk bolts. This is so the heads are not in the way of the fireman’s shovel. We then join each plate to its neighbours with weld and seal up the countersunk bolt heads. To enable easy maneuvering, we fit each sheet with a temporary lifting eye. These are then removed once fitting is complete. The coal space with the first flat section in place to allow us to drill the bolt holes. We will then lift it to remove any swarf, weld it into place, and countersink the holes before fitting the bolts. As we are making good progress, our hope is to have a structurally complete tender tank by the autumn. Our attention will then turn to the various fittings, including the handbrake column, tool boxes, water level indicator and bucket cock. Investigations are underway to determine the correct design and placement of the original LSWR style lamp brackets. 30506 captured by Tom Brooker during the recent gala, at which we commemorated 50 years since its arrival at the Watercress Line with a special headboard. This was reminiscent of the famous ‘Hayling Farewell’ rail tour.
