82045 The way ahead?

July update now live: http://www.82045.org.uk/news/82045_news-jly26.html

 

Chairmans Chat is up folks: http://www.82045.org.uk/news/82045_news-jly26-chairmanschat.html

 

"On the financial side, we suggested that we are about £130,000 away from funding the completion of the build and another £100,000 of fundraising beyond this to get the loco effectively into service." Why would it need another £100,000 after the build is completed?

 

To build up a stock of consumable parts, pay off outstanding loans?

 

Maybe to have enough money for when its boiler ticket runs out they know that they can press ahead with the renovation? Or for if it visits other preserved lines? Only my thought (maybe wrong).

 

Seems likely, not to mention the costs of getting the loco fully commissioned and operable (as opposed, say, to having a signed off boiler certifcate)

 

I don't have the answer to the question of the extra £100.000, only the trustees know. BUT take the comment of 35B above, plus todays spot price of coal/ton, around £500 and the figure seems realistic.

 

The Spring 2026 Members' newsletter used the wording "to support the introduction to service and organise the spares provisions for the locomotive". As mentioned at the AGM, to get the locomotive certified and accepted into service requires significant input from the SVR's paid staff among other costs.

 

Before Beachy Head entered service, it had about two months of running before it hauled a service train. I don't know precisely how many days / miles it ran, but it was quite a number; it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that if it did 20-30 days running in those two months, it might have burnt 40-50 tons of coal - there's about £16- to £20k to start with, not to mention the associated oil and water. Most of that two month period was done by the Workshop Manager and one of the workshop supervisors (doing the driving / firing and working up the operational instructions). So let's say two paid staff for 2 months; even allowing rather modest salaries in the sector, there could easily be £20k in staff costs (and on-costs) there. If the split between "build" and "get into service" puts the final boiler exam and sign off by the Independent Competent Person, then there are some more thousands there.

Now obviously you can account for those costs in various ways in terms of how you recharge them between different groups, but it is not too difficult to see how you might run up a significant five-figure bill between the last bolt being tightened, and the bottle of champagne being cracked on the buffer beam on the first day in public traffic.

Tom

 

Snagging, modifications required in the light of testing etc. The problem with making your own engine is you can't send it back to the makers if you don't like it.

I wonder where final paint comes in the completion?

 

Probably at the end!

(Someone had to say it. )

 

Thousands of people will remember Tornado's arrival at Newcastle in primer grey after her mainline test run, so don't worry too much about a coat of paint. Yes, I know this one is not going on the mainline but still needs a complete checkover. A good run out to check nowt falls off works wonders!

 

August Engineering notes now live: http://www.82045.org.uk/news/82045_news-aug26.html

 

Thank you.

 

One thing that has fascinated me throughout this build is that, given how much standards were supposed to wear their plumbing on the outside, how much is still tucked under or behind things.

 

You shouldn't be too surprised when you see the purposes for which the pipework is required! The pipework consists of a network of copper, steel, or brass tubes that safely transport high-pressure steam, water, and compressed air between the boiler, cylinders, and operational accessories. Much is indeed hidden from view, but ineviatably some will be visable.

it is an interesting point, and can easily be applied to so much more in a Loco build, where many components, and hours of skilled work are not ever seen by the public.

 

On 82045 the water delivery pipes to the clack valves pass through the side tanks vertically. Each pipe is protected by a steel tube welded to the top and bottom of the tanks. The steam heat delivery pipe also passes through the tube in the RH tank,

 

How odd. Iirc on the 4 they follow the underside of the tank?

 

Correct. We must remember that the 82XXX tanks were designed at Swindon.

 

Maunsell had a design philosophy, right back in SE&CR days, of "make everything get-at-able". But you need to think of the context of "before I do (and maybe introduce other design challenges), why might I actually want to get at that thing?"

So for example, on a vacuum-braked loco with a vacuum pipe, it's got to pass in close proximity to the vacuum cylinder, which on size grounds will be between the frames. But the likelihood you ever have to do any maintenance on the vacuum pipework between heavy overhauls is fairly low, so you gain simplicity, and don't lose much utility, by placing it between the frames. On the other hand, a piston and valve exam will probably take place every 20-25,000 miles or so - perhaps every few months for a heavily-worked loco - so it makes sense to design your loco such that the pistons and valves can be removed with the minimum amount of disassembly: compare how easy that is to do on a BR Standard relative to locos of a much earlier generation. Or look at whether the design of your superheater header allows ready replacement of elements or not, because that is a maintenance task you might have to do quite frequently. Maunsell redesigned the superheater between the Urie 4-6-0s and his own updated versions for precisely that reason - not much visible impact, but a big impact on ease of shed maintenance.

If you removed all of the "plumbing" (to use your phrase) - air, vacuum, heating - from between the frames on a UK loco, where would you put it? In the US and some other countries, the practice was to put it alongside the boiler, but that country had a more generous loading gauge. Try that on a UK loco with a large boiler and narrow cab, and you start to constrict the forward visibility, which has its own consequences. So if instead you run it between the frames, it's a fairly small penalty to pay for equipment that will require minimal attention between heavy overhauls. Whereas motion, oiling points, axle box drains - those are absolutely things you want to be "get-at-able".

Tom