NEW-BUILD NEWS
‘P2’ front end comes together
It’s now three years since the project to build new ‘P2’ no. 2007 Prince of Wales was officially launched in september 2013, and the occasion was celebrated in style - by re-creating the front end of a Gresley ‘Mikado’ for the first time in almost 80 years.
Not since September 1937 - when class pioneer No. 2001 Cock O’ The North was rebuilt with the streamlined ‘A4’-style nose used on the last four ‘P2s’ - has this unique shape been seen ‘in the metal’. The second member of the class, No. 2002 Earl Marischal, had already received the ‘A4’ outline during its first heavy repair at Doncaster in October 1936. But on October 1, supporters at the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s annual convention, at Darlington Hopetown Works, saw the ghost of Cock O’ The North reappear, with the smokebox assembled on the front end, complete with the closure plates around the door and the distinctive smoke lifting plates. The front footplating, and the raised platforms over the cylinders, had been permanently fitted to allow this, completing the running plate as far back as possible before the cylinders and motion brackets are fitted. North View Engineering is making good progress with the leading brake stay - the last of the major frame stays - and at the opposite end, the cab has been fully riveted together. It had also been hoped to have the locomotive on its wheels by this time - but the assembly of the wheelsets has been held up by the late delivery of the axles from South Africa, and with a queue of such work at the South Devon Railway, the wheeling of the ‘P2’s’ frames is now expected to take place in the first quarter of 2017. But the ‘Mikado Club’, the sponsorship scheme to pay for the wheeling, has reached an important milestone, having signed up its 100th member - who generously went over the required £1,000 and donated a fivefigure sum. A further 60 places in the ‘Club’ remain for details, call 01325 460163 or visit www.p2steam.com In terms of assembling the entire locomotive, however, Chairman Mark Allatt confirmed that the delay “won’t impact on the overall programme - other things can move at their own pace, and of course in steam days, engines were often virtually complete before they were wheeled.” The next major stage in the construction process will soon take place, with the production of the locomotive’s three cylinders. The drawings for the ‘monobloc’ arrangement have been produced, with modifications made to the original design both to improve efficiency and reduce the locomotive’s width by two inches to increase route availability. It was originally expected that the cylinders would be a welded steel fabrication - but William Cook Cast Products, the principal sponsor of ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado, has expressed interest in producing it as a single casting, as per the original design.