New Gowrie carrier frame takes shape
THE carrier frame structure for replica North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Hunslet 0-6-4T No. 979 of 1908 Gowrie was bolted together in December in preparation for riveting.
The Gowrie Locomotive Trust has also obtained castings for piston rod and valve spindle glands (now machined), the regulator quadrant and gland, injector steam valves and clacks, and for the split bearings for the coupling and connecting rods.
The pattern for the coupled wheels has now been finished and the order placed for these to be cast, and the tyres ordered.
To rectify the original Gowrie’s reputation for below-par performance, a new larger boiler is to be designed, and the carrier frames have already been lengthened to accommodate a longer firebox.
Sold to the Ministry of Munitions in 1918 after just 10 years’ service, Gowrie was later resold and cut up by 1931.
➜ Anyone who would like to contribute to the new-build project, underway at a workshop in the Midlands, is invited to email gowrielocomotivetrust@gmail.com or write to: Marion Allen,
Hon. Treasurer/Secretary, c/o 6, Shipley Rise, Carlton, Nottingham NG4 1BN.