The handbrake column that was cast by FSE Foundry Ltd in Braintree in July (see Engineering Report , is being machined at Northern Heritage Engineering Ltd in Darlington. The column was cast using the original drawing, Nr 6678 of 1885, which is held at the Essex Records Office on behalf of the Great Eastern Railway Society. The casting required machining on the rear face and base to ensure that it is square and flat to be mounted to the rear cab/bunker panel. The casting stands 3 ft 6½ inches and weighs in at a hefty 138lbs (62.6 kg) and was particularly difficult to set up on the milling machine as the all the outer faces are tapered and not parallel to the surfaces being machined. Additional machining is required for the mounting holes and handbrake shaft bearing.
Northern Heritage Engineering Ltd ( https://northernheritageengineering.co.uk )has specialised in many aspects of engineering within the heritage market and have many projects on their books. We became aware of this company in their previous guise as North Bay Engineering Services Ltd and their new narrow gauge locomotive builds, including ‘Otter’, for the Isle of Man Groudle Glen Railway, and ‘Blyth’ for the Southwold Railway in Suffolk.
More recently, Northern Heritage Engineering Ltd have been supporting the S&DR200 celebrations in Darlington and provided engineering support for the ‘Locomotion’ locomotive replica and rolling stock. Also in progress, is another new build, the ‘Mountaineer’ ( https://1863mountaineer.co.uk ). This is a recreation of one of the first locomotives that were built by George England for the Ffestiniog Railway in 1863.
In parallel to the brake cross-shaft assembly, enquiries are also underway with regards to the other brake components, the linkages, brake hangers and brake blocks. This will complete the handbrake system ready for when the wheel-sets eventually arrive from Riley and Son (E) Ltd