P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

i Think the reason we are building a P2 is because they looked ( when first launched) simply Magnificent and to a lot of people think they should never have been scrapped by that 'evil' Thompson...and because Mark Allatt wanted it to happen even more than an A1...

 

Latest news from the Mikado messenger email i received at 7pm is that the prince of wales 2007 P2 boiler is going to arrive from meiningen in 2 weeks time also defective philidas nuts have been replaced on the loco frames as well.

 

The defective nuts were flagged by the Hengist project. I believe a railway industry wide circular was put out and a number of Chinese ‘cheese’ nuts were found. Good that they were discovered now.

 

Yes it was Hengist that flagged it up and several TOCs were grateful too.
It’s a pity that not all heritage operators are an open with their experiences, goes to show the benefits of having professional engineers running the project.

 

I'd love to see what evidence you have for such a sweeping statement. My impression is that there is widespread exchange of engineering experience across the heritage sector between interested parties. Just because it is not apparent on internet forums and the like does not mean that it doesn't happen.

Peter

 

That’s not always been my experience.

 

If anyone is labouring under the delusion that only “hobby engineers” can be afflicted with the curse of counterfeit fasteners, allow me to very swiftly debase one of such fallacy.

Fasteners of questionable integrity appear in established supply chains in many industries. The incentives are high, and it takes careful supply chain control to keep them out.

 

See also: fake/below spec semiconductors

 

Chinese "stainless steel".... that goes rusty...there are various grades of SS btw....

 

Closer to home, dodgy copper stay material on 80072 - see e.g their annual report for 2014.

 

Were the copper stays counterfeit or just not good enough? (Albeit where sloppiness shades to negligence to turning a blind eye to actual fraud is sliding scale)

Counterfeiting materials is a massive problem, sparkplugs are an example too.

The incentives are just too easy, and a huge part of the world just doesn't culturally take quality seriously.

 

Tests showed the copper was not to spec.

 

Remember the batch of dodgy boiler rivets where the heads could be sheared of with a glancing hammer blow?
Ray.

 

Just to query your maths, but if you consider the new Beachy Head is only 85% of the
' proper ' Beachy Head based it seems on BP then the new County is 90% of a 'proper' County ! I love the ' Marsh ', fabricated cylinders and all and made a special trip from Bristol to be hauled by it. Bring on the County !