A1 TRUST ORDERS BOILER DESIGN WORK FROM MEININGEN
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is to spend £50,000 with Germany’s Meiningen Works on detailed design work for the boiler for ‘P2’ Prince of Wales.
Planned differences between the new boiler and the one constructed by the Deutsche Bahn workshop for ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado in 2006 include reducing the height of the banjo dome by 1in, increasing the bottom thickness of the foundation ring from 35mm (approx. 1.4in) to 40mm (approx. 1.6in) and raising the number of flexible stays.
Placing of the design work with Meiningen does not mean the contract to build No. 2007’s boiler will necessarily go there; the ‘intellectual property’ to Tornado’s boiler design is owned by the trust, which says it has received a number of submissions to build the new one. It plans to choose a supplier this year and place an order in 2019.
The news comes after the ‘P2’ became a complete ‘Mikado’ for the first time in September, with the placing of the leading pony truck under its frames. It is the first standard gauge 2‑8‑2 in Britain since the last ‘P2’ was converted into an ‘A2/2’ 4‑6‑2 by Edward Thompson in 1944.
Prince of Wales was rolled out of Darlington Hopetown Works exclusively for Steam Railway on September 18, when it was also fitted with its left‑hand side nameplate for the first time (see pages 62/63).
The previous week, the Bignall Group Ltd, in collaboration with Hexagon Metrology Ltd, conducted measurements of No. 2007’s horn block, using state‑of‑the‑art laser‑scanning. Students from University Technical College South Durham came to see the system working.