P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

@guycarr360 Thanks for letting us know what the state of play is at the moment, good to know what's going on within the confines of what you can publicly say.

 

thanks for photos and update. However, looking at that v Tornado when under build and lack of fundraising strategy and capability I can’t see it finished this decade.

 

plus as covenantors and boiler club members - why aren’t we being updated and told about the boiler issues?

 

Thank you for the update. So there are plenty of work-faces but little apparent work taking place? The frames have been available for first fix piping and wiring for a long time. Same for the tender too. What’s happened to the scale model of the valve gear to test the operation before cutting metal?

 

I understand that the resource doing the electrics has been working on Tornado so that’s why no progress there. Given the departure of staff and contractors I wonder who will do the work?

The scale model of the valve gear was supposed to have been commissioned three years ago…

 

Everyone is committed to Tornado, but the thing that struck me after was, surely, the tender, could be a project that could be completed on site, with a group of volunteers, quickly.
Whether they are now gone, have got too old, or the enthusiasm has gone, i cannot comment.
I knew nothing of the scale model of the valve gear, so cannot comment.

 

A specific room is available for the electrical install construction and test, with the chap who is going it very confident after learning on Tornado, it will be not as involved a job.

 

See also comments made recently about 92 Squadron and its impending overhaul: mostly age in its case.

 

As a covenantor to both locos and a past subscriber to several "clubs" to a value of several thousands, it somehow does not seem right that I am relying on the goodwill of other Nat Pres members to learn about what is happening. Are my expectations unreasonable?

 

Not unreasonable, but unless you and others like you communicate your unhappiness to the Trust, then nothing will change.

 

Ok, but why the interest in boiler No. 3 when it won't be required, in all probability, for something like another seven years? In the light of the experience with the rebuilt boiler No. 1, No. 2 may well be being rebuilt at the present time, so maybe it's just as well that they hadn't done much as far as No. 3 is concerned. It could well be that, after refuting the recommendations of Meiningen regarding the depth of the firebox water spaces, the A1 Loco Trust is about as popular at Meiningen as they are on this forum!

 

As far as I know, the original boiler wasn’t rebuilt to the new spec though, just overhauled. The inner box is still to original dimensions, but with even more flexible stays, so its longevity remains to be seen.

 

But it was modified in some way, intently or not, hence the need for tyre turning!

 

New foundation Ring iirc, though why this should be significantly wider and/or deeper who knows...

 

Indeed!

 

Meanwhile across the pond ….. no problems with delays due to Covid or other such impediments….

THE YEAR OF THE FRAME — PRR No. 5550 is almost 50% complete as the T1 Trust makes headway on the massive 71,000-pound locomotive frame! Additionally, the T1 has injectors and air compressors on the way, thanks to collaborations with nearly a dozen other steam operators that will also furnish components for many big locomotives. We have raised more funds this year than ever before, and 2025 will likely make the four cylinders a reality!

It is possible that America’s newest mainline steam locomotive could roll out ahead of schedule if fundraising continues at this rate! There’s still time to DONATE to the T1 Trust as part of your year-end giving: www.t1trust.org

 

I've noticed Americans never talk in tons, always thousands of pounds. Is it because they believe "biggest is best", even in numbers?

 

Probably to avoid confusion between the short ton (2000 pounds) and the long ton (2240 pounds).

Britain standardized on the long ton under the Weights and Measures Act of 1824, conveniently just in time for the start of the railway age. The short ton fell out of use in the UK, but remains the more commonly used ton in the USA.

Have you noticed that in American TV crime series, they always quote a person's weight in pounds, not stones and pounds, as the USA does not recognize the stone weight?

The other noteworthy difference is in volumes - American pints and gallons are smaller than British ones, even though both are based on different sets of historic English units.

 

Flashback to a conversation in a pub I used to work in many moons ago over the difference of American and British gallons etc. Devolved into Pythonism very quickly.

 

I belive the US pint is a pound in weight of water, whilst in the UK "a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter".