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Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 285 - Steam News - Weekly report - 5th November - 12th November 2006 - by Gert Jubileus

14th November 2006

 

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SANDSTONE STEAM LOCOMOTIVES:

THE RATANGA LOCOMOTIVE
This last week Henry made good progress with the restoration of the Little Ratanga Locomotive. He machined new piston and valve rings as well as some of the bushes on the motion. Henry completed the left side of the locomotive motion and is busy with the right side. Lukas Nel in Bloemfontein also completed the boiler work that was needed.

Below are some photos taken of Henry and the Ratanga Locomotive restoration.
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The right cylinder.
Henry making new packing for the cylinder covers.
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The piston head, cylinder cover, piston and crosshead.
Henry cleaning of all the rust and uneven surfaces inside the cylinder.
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Good clean workmanship.
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Henry machining parts for the Ratanga locomotive.
The inside of the right cylinder after Henry machined it to a smooth surface.
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The Ratanga tender.
The motion on the right.

Once Henry is finished with both sides of the motion and cylinders, I shall set the valves and test her with air. The cab was sanded off and will be spray-painted soon. The boiler will then be fitted and the cladding will be made. The tender is halfway completed and on hold till Henkie returns from Port Shepstone.
 
CLASS NG 15 NUMBER 17:
Last week we steamed the Kalahari on Saturday and this week it was time to attend to all the little steam leaks that was booked. Normally the driver will book the repairs and will not care how many he book, for it’s the fitters problem to fix all the repairs, but here I book repairs and have to fit them myself. J
All the tarot spindles were packed and the left injector spindle has to be faced.
 
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Packing of the spindle packing nuts with rope.
The injector spindle and valve was removed.
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The injector valve with a thin layer of grinding paste.
The faced injector steam valve.
 
CLASS NGG 13 NUMBER 49
This week we took of the rear steam brake cylinder of 49 that was not working. The brake cylinder then was stripped and cleaned and a new steam pipe was fitted. The steam old steam pipe was blocked and was the reason the brake cylinder did not work. At least it was worth it to clean the cylinder in and outside.
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Below left: The brake cylinder.
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Below: The cylinder was stripped and cleaned.
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Below: Then a new steam pipe was fitted after the cylinder was cleaned and lubricated inside and out.
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CLASS NGG 16 Number 153

This week all the tarot spindles of 153 were packed as well as the ejector packing nuts.
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THE LAWLEY:
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The Lawley received some special attention this week. First of all the lubricator pipes were loosened and the choke valves were removed. The choke valves were stripped and were washed with degreaser. It is very important to keep these tiny holes open for they easily blocks. We then removed the valve covers and the valve setting was checked. Before we could do the valve setting, it was needed to catch up the play on all the pins working directly to the valves.
 
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Below: The valve of the Lawley
The Choke valve
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The stripped choke valves.
Pins removed to catch up any play.
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The reverse axles were removed, cleaned and the play cached up.
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THE WICKHAM RAILCAR:
The Wickham came to the Inspection pit this week and little repair work was done to it. Henry made a new exhaust bracket and secured the exhaust.
 
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THE FUNKEY MIDGET
This Little locomotive gave some problems with her rear coupler and Derrick removed and done some welding work on it. Below is a photo of Derrick fitting back the coupler.
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THE BSA RAILCAR:
The BSA Railcar was re-railed this week and a full-scale restoration is done to the body as well as the mechanical side.
 
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Below: Derrick is working on the body.
Henry is doing the mechanical side of the car.
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SANDSTONE ESTATES TRACK:

This week the entire Railway line was sprayed for weeds.

To see a short clip of the Wickham attacking weeds, click here! >>>>>>
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POINT NUMBERS
We made and stenciled numbers for the points. Each set of points has its own number, as illustrated below right. This will make it easier to book repairs as well as to follow up on repairs. The rest of the point will receive their numbers in next week.
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PHOTO BELOW: While we were spraying the Railway line, two airplanes were spraying the lands on the Farm.
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Below: Just imagine yourself on a train running through these breathtaking scenes on the Sandstone Steam Railway. Here are so many photo opportunities to be explored.
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WOODEN TOLLS:
Petrus completed 21 wooden tolls so far and will continuous as soon as he is finish cleaning all the locomotives motion.
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LOCOMOTIVE MOTIONS:
Below are some photos taken of Petrus washing the motion of the locomotives. We are going to clean the motions of the locomotives after each run and once they are clean, it will not take up much time to keep them clean. It is needed to be kept clean to enable us to see if any cracks may occur.
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THE OVERHAED WATER COLUMN:
This week we erected the overhead column just outside the shed where we lit the locomotives. We can shunt out the locomotives and while we wait for steam we can fill the tenders and safe lots of time. The water for the column comes directly out of the black water tank wagon on the left in the photo below.
The column has no water in unless we plug in the two-inch water pipe and start our big centrifugal pump. This is water in a second with a feeding of 27000 liters an hour. We also fitted a spray light in the middle of the column to light up the area below the column in the nights.
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Above left: Derrick shows where the two-inch pipe is connected.
Below: Henry machined a pin for the Farm.
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WAGON NEWS:
The restoration of the wagons is slightly on hold while we concentrate on other loose ends. However, Derrick is busy with the fitting of a new vacuum train pipe onto the XC as illustrated below.
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PLANNING FOR NEXT WEEK
1.) To fit back brake cylinder of 49
2.) To prepare Little Bess and the Peckett to steam.
3.) To go on with restoration of BSA Railcar body and mechanical.
4.) To clean the motion of all locomotives
5.) To clean Locomotives
6.) To box remaining wooden Tolls
7.) To go on with restoration of Ratanga Locomotive.
8.) To ballast storage line and lift and pack.
9.) To offload spares from Port Shepstone.
10.) To fit all point numbers.
11.) To stencil wagons
12.) To do under frame restoration of XC and stencil.
13.) Locomotive Repairs.
14.) Train Tour on Saturday.
15.) Wagon maintenance
 
NEXT LOCOMOTIVE IN STEAM!
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