‘P2’ TENDER TOUCHES BASE AS CHASSIS NEARS COMPLETION
Five years after construction of ‘P2’ Prince of Wales officially commenced, the engine’s tender chassis is taking shape.
July 21 marks the anniversary of the Gresley 2-8-2’s frames being dedicated at Darlington Locomotive Works by the town’s mayor in 2014, after which the ‘Founders Club’ – which had raised £460,000 to kickstart the project – was closed.
However, with the boiler ordered for No. 2007 in June (SR494), the major progress this month has been on the tender.
Ian Howitt has almost completed the construction of the tender frames at his Crofton workshop, where he also built the tender frames for ‘A1’ Tornado. As this issue was going to press, the base plate of the tender tank was due to be delivered from North View Engineering of Darlington, to be trial-fitted to the frames and have holes drilled for the tank, which is due to be delivered in September.
The last of the four tender axles has also been delivered and is to be sent to the South Devon Railway, where the tender wheelsets will be assembled.
On the engine, the right-hand motion bracket has been trial-fitted, and the final outstanding parts for the frames – the spring hanger brackets – have been ordered, while components for the brake gear are being delivered.
Preparations are being made for the hydraulic test on the superheater header – which involved finding 86 rubber balls (dog toys) to block the superheater element holes. The largest section of pipework – for the exhaust steam injector – has been trial-fitted, and conduits for the electric wiring are being routed through the frames.
An enlarged battery box has been designed to allow for larger batteries, in anticipation of the future need for the European Rail Traffic Management System.
It is designed to resemble a BR Automatic Warning System box as there is insufficient space to locate it out of sight.
Engineer David Elliott summed up: “We have reached that period in the project where there is a lot of essential but relatively unspectacular work going on.”