Great news - for the first time since 1964, our boiler has carried water!  A static water test revealed no more than a few minor weeps, which is not unusual, and work can be carried on in preparation for the hydraulic and steam tests.  Coupled with a successful hydraulic test of the Super heater & Element assembly, at last we have something positive to celebrate!

While the saga of the boiler restoration rumbles on, we've had even more time than expected to get jobs done on the chassis, and as a result we've had the busiest summer for some years with a lot of progress to report.

The rear drag box has received a lot of attention.  This is the area of the chassis where the tender attaches to the loco.  The paintwork has deteriorated quite badly over the years, so the whole assembly was needle-gunned back to bare metal and given a full re-paint.  The loco is attached to the tender by the main drawbar, which also takes the weight of the train.  In addition there are two safety links which are normally slack, but which will take the weight of the train if the drawbar fails.  The holes in the drag box where these links attach were known to be badly worn, so they have been ground out to a larger size and pins have been fitted to the holes.

Much effort has gone into finishing the fitting of the ash pans to the loco.  All the fixing holes that allow the ash pans to be bolted to the foundation ring have been opened out to their final size.  After much struggling, the links that operate the front and rear damper doors and the hopper doors underneath have been re-fitted.  All the doors now open and shut quite easily when the mechanism is worked by hand, and we hope they'll stay that way.  The final sections of the linkages up to the cab can't be fitted until the boiler is back.  The whole assembly has been given another coat of high temperature paint, and the spray valve for the middle ash pan has been fitted whilst we have easy access.

The inside eccentric rod has received its final polishing, mainly concentrating on getting the last of any rust out of the 'pitting' that occurred over the years at Barry.  Although the rod won't be seen, the polishing will reduce the chances of any cracks developing.  The rod was in and out several times before we were satisfied with the fit, but it's now bolted in place with newly made long bolts attaching it to the eccentric strap.

Moving further forward, the main steam exhaust pipes from the cylinders have had their mating faces cleaned up to give a metal-to-metal sealing face using the 'engineer's blue' technique.  One face had bowed slightly due to an earlier welding repair; the face was machined flat, then made good.  The exhaust pipes were bolted up to the loco, and the faces on the blast pipe were similarly treated before the casting was bolted in position. The exhaust pipes had been fitted temporarily before so we could make the pipe cover cladding, but this time they're on for good!

Back at Detling, work on the boiler has included the hydraulic test of the Super heater Assembly to 375p.s.i., (1 ½ times boiler pressure), with no problems found.  Although the elements are new and unlikely to leak, it was nice to prove that our header casting and pipe joints were sound.  This test was carried out on the ground and the elements will be put into the boiler after its first hydraulic test.   Other work on the boiler has involved the removal and replacement of all the dome cover studs, which proved to be a very laborious task as most of the old studs snapped off and had to be drilled out, with the holes then being re-tapped.  The face for the blow-down valve has been cleaned up, a new set of studs installed and a blanking plate fitted.

One of the main things that has held up work on the boiler has been obtaining a set of mudhole doors.  These are the oval-shaped plates that fit in each of the lower four corners of the boiler.  Each of the doors is individual to its location and orientation, and Chatham Steam had the doors made by taking a profile of the inside sealing surface of the boiler, then had the new doors spark-eroded to this profile.  Problems with the sub-contractor and the eroding machine have caused much of the delay, but it has perhaps been worthwhile as all four doors seem to have made a very good seal.

As mentioned at the start of this report, in the middle of August the boiler was filled with water for the first time since 1964, a significant step towards testing the boiler.  This is the first check to find any obvious leaks.  A few tubes were weeping at the front end, but were soon fixed by expanding the tubes slightly to get a good seal.  At the fire box end, where extensive platework repairs were carried out about twelve years ago, a few old stays were weeping.  Overall, Chatham Steam were happy with the result, and their advice is to let the boiler settle under the weight of the water (the concrete pad where the boiler rests has cracked since it was filled with water!). 

When the dome cover has been made good and refitted, any remaining leaks will be dealt with, then the boiler will be pressurised and we'll see what happens.

Watch this space!!

Stop Press:  A successful hydraulic test of the boiler has been carried out in the presence of the Insurance Inspector - a steam test will follow shortly.  This does not start the "ten year ticket"!