If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by class8mikado, Sep 13, 2013.

  1. osprey

    osprey Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Messages:
    9,356
    Likes Received:
    2,313
    Occupation:
    semi-retired, currently doing R&D for my patents
    Location:
    Halifax
    I'm a bit confused..bronze...steel? The castings which are being hydraulicly tested are steel by their colour. Is it your experience of bronze casting being cross related to steel casting, which I think is your meaning?
     
    Sheff likes this.
  2. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    7,567
    Likes Received:
    2,345
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired Engineer & Heritage Volunteer
    Location:
    N Warks
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I wondered the same. They are certainly steel and I agree with your supposition.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    osprey likes this.
  3. osprey

    osprey Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2007
    Messages:
    9,356
    Likes Received:
    2,313
    Occupation:
    semi-retired, currently doing R&D for my patents
    Location:
    Halifax
    Thank you "Peabody"...we agree..
     
  4. Foxhunter

    Foxhunter Member

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2011
    Messages:
    590
    Likes Received:
    709
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I think this is what was intended:

    "Whilst WCCP has extensively subjected the (steel) castings to Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), we are aware that from previous experience with bronze castings, even with X-ray inspection, it is not always possible to see minute pin holes which might give rise to leakage, hence the belt and braces approach."

    Therefore the steel castings have been subjected to an hydraulic test to check for porosity.

    Foxy
     
  5. Mark Thompson

    Mark Thompson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2017
    Messages:
    1,429
    Likes Received:
    3,559
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E sussex
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
  6. W.Williams

    W.Williams Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2015
    Messages:
    1,585
    Likes Received:
    1,465
    Occupation:
    Mechanical Engineer
    Location:
    Aberdeenshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Amazing progress. Those rods will never be that clean again! lol
     
    30854 likes this.
  7. NeilL

    NeilL Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2012
    Messages:
    1,916
    Likes Received:
    1,402
    Occupation:
    Retired & OAPWay & tree feller
    Location:
    Staffordshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Oh - I don't know, see if Sheff can do as good a job as he has on Tornado.
     
    Sheff and Matt37401 like this.
  8. W.Williams

    W.Williams Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2015
    Messages:
    1,585
    Likes Received:
    1,465
    Occupation:
    Mechanical Engineer
    Location:
    Aberdeenshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    hahaha, well have to give him the benefit of the doubt. But as we all know, there is a big difference between looking clean and being clean ;)
     
  9. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Nor will the wheel rims! ;)
     
    Richard Roper and Sheff like this.
  10. Richard Roper

    Richard Roper Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 22, 2006
    Messages:
    1,310
    Likes Received:
    1,355
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Librarian
    Location:
    Just up the road from 56E Sowerby Bridge
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Brilliant progress! I keep checking for news updates but hadn't seen anything since the cancelled Roadshow... Plenty of work going on as usual!

    Richard.
     
    Davo, Matt37401 and Mark Thompson like this.
  11. guycarr360

    guycarr360 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2005
    Messages:
    4,414
    Likes Received:
    2,729
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Chester le Street County Durham
    I often wonder if the work was really accelerated, money no object, how quickly the team could finish this, then build the next in order.

    The progress is remarkable, with every update.
     
    Richard Roper likes this.
  12. W.Williams

    W.Williams Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2015
    Messages:
    1,585
    Likes Received:
    1,465
    Occupation:
    Mechanical Engineer
    Location:
    Aberdeenshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    In theory things may go faster, but in practice, lead times for the components remaining are somewhat fixed. High quality engineering takes time, and there is a law of diminishing returns on how much faster you can go for an unlimited supply of money. You can't machine a coupling rod 3x faster for 3x more money, as tool speeds and feeds are fixed by physics.
     
    Sheff, ghost, 2392 and 5 others like this.
  13. guycarr360

    guycarr360 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2005
    Messages:
    4,414
    Likes Received:
    2,729
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Chester le Street County Durham
    I am sure with more bodies on CAD workstations, more bodies going through the myriad of tests and certification, and other jobs, the time would be reduced, which was the point.

    That's not a criticism of progress to date, which has been fantastic.
     
    osprey and 60017 like this.
  14. Jimc

    Jimc Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    4,052
    Likes Received:
    4,665
    Occupation:
    Once computers, now part time writer I suppose.
    Location:
    SE England
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    That's basically true of course, but until the sort of build times achieved by the factories back in the day are achieved then faster is always possible. Perhaps more important is the law of diminishing returns, where the expense of investment in machinery, staff and training required to increase productivity will get disproportionate to the actual time reduction.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2022
  15. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    7,567
    Likes Received:
    2,345
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired Engineer & Heritage Volunteer
    Location:
    N Warks
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Ah but that only comes with series mass production, whereas this is more akin to prototyping?
     
    ragl and Spamcan81 like this.
  16. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2020
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    1,595
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Thameslink territory
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    That's the point about "money no object" isn't it. With enough money you can jump any queue, be it materials, production capacity etc.

    "I'm sorry, we only have one CNC machine and it's doing something else"
    "Here's a new house and a gold-plated bentley"
    "I'll put that in the skip and start on your project now, sir"

    Generally of course "money no object" is almost never the case. The only example I can think of is when the Y2K bug threatened the City.

    As a theoretical excercise, with unlimited funds would you be better off jumping the queue at existing operations, or building your own capacity...
     
  17. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2020
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    1,595
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Thameslink territory
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Anyway, back to reality, it's looking good isn't it? I liked the the skyhooks on the running plate. I wonder if anyone else can retrofit that idea, seems a good way of saving backs...
     
    Musket The Dog and Richard Roper like this.
  18. LMS2968

    LMS2968 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2006
    Messages:
    2,987
    Likes Received:
    5,084
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Lecturer retired: Archivist of Stanier Mogul Fund
    Location:
    Wigan
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Yep!
    [​IMG]
     
    clinker, ragl, Bluenosejohn and 3 others like this.
  19. Bikermike

    Bikermike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2020
    Messages:
    1,442
    Likes Received:
    1,595
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Thameslink territory
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Heh! I take it the idea may be an innovation, but not necessarily one had by the P2people?
     
  20. DismalChips

    DismalChips Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2016
    Messages:
    636
    Likes Received:
    657
    Location:
    9A
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    It's not strictly relevant to this case but I am reminded of the Engineer's Triangle:

    http://www.engineeringexpert.net/En...content/uploads//2010/10/Project_Triangle.png

    [​IMG]
     

Share This Page