Riley and Son (E) Locomotive Engineers of Heywood, UK has been awarded the contract to supply the following for GER 789
A more detailed engineering report will be published soon.
To survey how you may further progress the build of GER 789 please click on “How you can help.“
Wheelsets Update
As previously reported, all our wheel castings have been delivered to Riley & Son for assembly. As the original design had a one piece forged crank, it was decided that a fabricated crank was the best option for manufacture and cost, this meant an expensive one-piece forging was not required and subsequent expensive machining/grinding wasn’t required. Our design will be based around the J15 style crank axle and, along with the expertise of Riley’s, a suitable design will be quoted and constructed.
Once the crank axle has been verified, all additional material will be ordered and Rileys will commence work starting with the leading and trailing axles as these are the quickest sets to attack to enable getting the loco on its wheels. Once these are done they will be closely followed be the driven and trailing drivers.
The radial guides are still at the machinists and are due to be delivered some time in April, once they have arrived they will accurately set up fitted into the frames.
The design for the main radial truck casting has been finished and will be put out for quotation for manufacture. These are quite complex castings and the trust is looking at utilising some modern 3d printed patterns to produce high quality castings, the process that has been successfully used to produce some very complex castings for several other preservation groups. This isn’t a cheap process but compared to traditional patterns they will hopefully come in way under the cost of traditional patterns alone.
Hornblocks
One of the big ticket items yet to be attacked are the driving wheel hornblocks. Prior to our CME’s & TLW’s involvement the frames had been cut to the original design to accept the wedge style hornblocks as shown below.
It was decided that this elaborate wedge system really wasn’t required in modern preservation times so a simplified version needed to be deigned to alleviate this. The main problem was that the frames had already been designed and cut to accept it and to save welding in corners and subsequently machining, it was decided to design the hornblocks to “fill the gap”. This has meant the design of 4 different patterns (leading & trailing, left and righthand side) have needed to be created. The beauty of this design means that, as the original design would’ve needed four patterns too, we’ve reduced the number of components required considerably, thus saving a considerable cost on the final assembly, not to mention ease of maintenance once the loco goes into traffic.
The main importance for this is strength of the assembly as we build. Once the locomotive is on its front and rear radial trucks, the frames will have a lot of stress on them, increasing as parts are fitted. Naturally the hornblocks are needed prior to the fitting of the driving wheels but they also supply added tied in strength to the frames, especially with the keeps fitted too. This will all go towards keeping any undue stress to the frames to a minimum as the build moves forwards.
Shown below is one of the hornblock castings (right rear). Before manufacture full FEA (Finite Element Analysis) will be carried out on the new design and any additional strengthening added prior to manufacture.
The Importance of CAD Modelling.
There are several reasons behind producing 3D CAD models of the assembly as the build progresses. The CAD work can be used in the manufacture of patterns (poly patterns for the cylinders saving on the costs of tradition patterns) and also for the ratification of the design, especially when parts come together.
These locomotives were designed and built over 100 years ago and mistakes were a regular occurrence, especially when it cam to assembling the kit of parts. To keep manufacturing down to a minimum and to try and achieve a 0% failure rate, the design is regularly checked along the way.
The design of the hornblocks is no exception and when the design was looked at it became apparent that, once the boiler was fitted, the firebox came into close proximity with the hornblocks, not only this but you have to take into account the fact that, whilst in steam, the boiler will expand by a certain percentage. Doing the model shows that, although the assembly is very close, once assembled and the boiler fitted, there won’t be any issues with clashes between the two.
This shows just how close the rear corners of the firebox get to the rear hornguides, not much wiggle room in there at all (some bolts drop within ¼” in it’s “hot” state).
Addition Parts
Whilst the aforementioned parts have been addressed, TLW has been continuing in manufacturing all the associated suspension gear whilst waiting for the radial guides to return from machining, all these parts will go together to assist in getting the loco “on its wheels” for the first time.
To survey how you might be of assistance to the rebirth of GER 789 please click on “How you can help”
GER 789’s machined wheels have been delivered to Riley and Son (E) Ltd, Premier Locomotive Works, Sefton Street, Heywood, Lancashire , OL10 2JF. The move has been made in conjunction with the Churchward County Trust.
Further information relating to the assembly of GER 789’s wheel sets will be published soon.
As you can see above, work is continuing on the CAD files needed to produce the tanks and cab for the locomotive. This will be cut as a flatpack design (think Ikea just a lot larger) and then welded to form the individual parts. Careful thought has had to be used as the F5 was a cab/tank/bunker configuration of several locos so a lot of research has gone in to the design to ensure a faithful reproduction of the original is achieved. Once we’re happy with the design the fabrications should come together relatively easily.
The radial guides were originally pressed but as this would’ve involved expensive tooling we’ve reproduced 789’s as fabrications. Below shows three out of the four guides finished just awaiting final machining and fettling before being mounted in the frames.
Also well under way are the cylinder covers, the pattern has been made for the front covers and will be cast in the next few weeks.
The rear covers are also almost finished and just require all the relevant bushes machining and fitting to complete the assembly.
Once these have been fitted along with the pistons and rods which are currently under production the main thing left to do is the crossheads. These are currently awaiting initial quotations for casting. These along with the large radial truck castings and axle boxes will be the next castings done to enable the front and rear sections to be readied for the leading and trailing wheelsets, once completed.
Recently Heritage Railway magazine (issue 293) published an excellent article produced by Owen Hayward the magazines Staff Writer regarding GER 789’s rise from a lighthearted exchange between Chairman Stephen Cooper and CME Graham Rowland in the early 2000’s to the advance state of the build in May 2022.
July will see further contracts being awarded for the horn guides, axles etc. A detailed report reflecting contractual engineering matters will be published once terms have been agreed.
Procast Ltd has delivered GER 789’s brass bunker plates. The castings are the product of L D Brooks of The Great Eastern Railway Society, Graham Rowland GER 789’s researcher, our CME Elliot Powick whilst not forgetting the skill and craftsmanship of Stephen at Procast Ltd.
Tyseley continues to manufacture components ahead of the fabrication and fitting of front and rear radial trucks. The above image is of the axlebox keep/spring links.
The above image is of the front and rear radial truck keeps.
The round bars depicted above are the raw E16 materials for slidebar bolts.
Radial trucks
Accurate Section Benders Ltd. of Kingswinford, West Midlands has delivered radial truck components to Tyseley Steam Locomotive Works.
The process of accumulating sufficient detail for the radial trucks has involved much research and consultation by our researcher Graham Rowland, our CME Elliot Powick and CME of Tyseley Steam Locomotive Works Al Meanley.
Originally the radial trucks would have been cast however due to the unavailability of some drawings and resultant missing detail, our engineering team considered it prudent to fabricate the assemblies instead. A logical and commonsense approach rather than run the risk of wasting donations on castings and subsequent machining of components that could be unfit for purpose.
A detailed engineering report on the machining and assembly processes will be published soon.
Procast has cast both brass bunker side number plates. Detailed specification was kindly provided Lyn D Brooks of The Great Eastern Railway Society.
After a wait of in excess of 20 years GER 789 will be displaying its identity in brass. “Procast Foundry Ltd.” of Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire has manufactured the patterns for GER 789’s bunker-side brass I.D. plates.
The project to produce accurate brass bunker side plates commenced several years ago with drawings obtained by our then CME Graham Rowland whom in turn enlisted the able assistance of Lyn D Brooks of “The Great Eastern Railway Society.” Latterly our CME Elliot Powick modelled CAD drawings that were subsequently used by “Procast.” Casting of both brass plates is imminent.
Accurate bending
This may sound a little cryptic! “Accurate Section Benders Ltd.” of Kingswinford, West Midlands are currently bending/forming 16 x 25mm thick plates that will collectively contribute towards our goal of having leading and trailing wheels under GER 789 by the end of 2022.
A more comprehensive news update to follow soon.
Tyseley Steam Locomotive Works continues to progress the build of GER 789. All footplate steps have been cut, fabricated and positioned ahead of being hot riveted to the frames.
As of 26th February slide bar machining is 90% complete.
All images courtesy of Elliot Powick, CME, GER 789.
The build of GER 789 continues apace. The most recent focus of attention has been the radial trucks; a protracted CAD engineering assignment due to the absence of crucial drawings. Fortunately our researcher Graham Rowland was able to unearth the required details to enable our CAD Engineer and CME Elliot Powick to proceed. Material for the radial trucks is to be ordered in January 2022.
The frames continue to be progressed. The bunker base plate has been drilled and cut to accommodate the handbrake column, whilst the steel for the steps and splashers has been machined and fitted to the frames.
Work continues on GER 789’s suspension.
Thanks to our CME/CAD Designer Elliot Powick and our engineering team at Tyseley, 2021 has been an incredible year for GER 789 with the frames being assembled, smokebox fitted with chimney atop and the bunker located to the rear. The design work for side tanks and cab has been all but completed with material soon to be ordered. With much more work planned for 2022 the appearance of GER 789 as seen at the footer of this news update will soon become a reality.
To survey how you may be able to further progress the build for GER 789 please click on ” How you can help.”
We thank you for your continued interest and support.
