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The Society has been in contact with Oakwood Press, the publishers of the new book on Richard Maunsell. We have come to an agreement whereby books bought wholesale by the Society can be sold to members post free. This will be of financial benefit to both the membership and the Society so, if you are interested, please see enclosed sheet for details.
EDITOR'S CHATIn the recent football match at Wembley between England and the Czech Republic, Glenn Hoddle, England's coach, chose as his two strikers Dion Dublin (aged 29) and Ian Wright (aged 35). The press described these two as Hoddle's "golden oldies". Well, we in the Maunsell Locomotive Society also have our "golden oldies" but, in our case, the word "golden" is more appropriate than in the instance given above as it refers to 50 years. Of the regular volunteers, several, including myself, passed this particular milestone some years ago. Two, Mike Frackiewicz and Barry Smith, have just reached it (congratulations to you both on joining the "golden club" - and, before you ask, retirement from Society duties is not an option) and others of the regulars are not far behind. The "golden oldies" and others are willing to carry on for some years yet but there is no doubt that some new blood would be beneficial in furthering the aims of the Society. So, how about it you younger members? There are many ways of helping, from total involvement every weekend to the odd day now and again. If you are interested, please make yourselves known. You will be made most welcome. |
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On a separate topic, mention has been made in the past of the intention of producing three Newsletters a year in order to keep members better informed. It hasn't happened partly because of my inability to find the necessary time but also because the current work on both 1638 and 847 has been and will continue to be very time consuming. With three issues per annum, this would have led to the restoration reports in each issue being quite short and the majority of the space given over to historical articles. Many members, I know, enjoy Maunsell related articles of days gone by but that is not the primary reason for our existence. So, there will be only two Newsletters per year but the good news is that some issues will contain more than the usual 16 pages.
At the time of writing this report (mid November), the position on the finances for the year was as follows:
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We expect to take delivery of the machined rods for 1638 shortly and pay approximately £29,000 including costs of delivery. By then we will have incurred a few more bills, so by the end of the year we will be down to about £15,000 in the bank and will have spent nearly £35,000 in the year making our biggest ever loss. |
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However the whole idea of raising money is to spend it wisely on restoring the locomotives. Although I feel that overall the finances are still in good shape, there is still the need to continue fund raising in order to ensure we can progress the project.
One of the Directors has kindly offered to sponsor the cost of new brasses for the rods - approximately £600. We have now raised about £4,000 for our tender tank. Now we have the tender chassis re-wheeled, the tank is the next fund raising issue to be resolved - we expect it to cost around £6,000 if we can arrange for it to be built on site - so can you help towards the last £2,000?
Finally a few names to thank for fund raising efforts this year:-
Paul Skinner and Peter Jessop have done an excellent publicity/presentation display above the donations box by 1638 which I am sure is part of the reason why donations are up on last year. Paul has also worked with Keith Sturt to produce new information boards for most of the locomotives in the running shed as well. This helps to give visitors a more informed view of the collection.
George Binns has masterminded the production of a free leaflet about the Society (see under Membership Matters for details).
David Pinkess has again been busy organising the collection of aluminium cans for 830. By November he had raised £233, with another cheque likely before the end of the year to lift it above last year's figure of £250. Time consuming work sorting the cans but it certainly is good money.
And finally thank you again to Paul Skinner for organising the stand at the Swapmeet which raised a very useful £234.
As can be seen from the income figures, all these useful initiatives, along with generous support from members, has ensured that we have raised a very creditable £6,000. Thank you very much.
The present membership is 297 of which almost two thirds are Life Members.
To stimulate interest in our Society, we prepared a supply of leaflets giving details of what we have done and what we intend to do. These were ready in September and have been displayed by 1638's tender at weekends together with application forms for membership. It is too soon to tell whether this initiative will help to recruit new members but the leaflets have been taken away in reasonable numbers.
I have been looking at the Life Membership subscription which is ten times that of the Annual Membership. The great majority of Life Members paid their subscription more than ten years ago so it is not economical to keep the present rate of £80. I will be proposing at the next AGM that the Life Membership rate is increased to £120 so, if anyone is considering becoming a Life Member, prompt action may save you money!
Please remember that subscription renewals for 1999 are due on January 1st and I will be glad to send you a new membership card as soon as your cheque comes in. I look forward to hearing from you. In the mean time, may I wish you the compliments of the season.
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Despite having been involved in locomotive restoration at Sheffield Park for close to twenty years one can still get a little over ambitious in one's predictions of when jobs will be completed. As we all know, reality often is a very different matter from what one hopes or predicts.
Anyway, although it has all taken a bit longer than anticipated, as we go to press we are pleased to report that we have accomplished two of our main tasks this year namely:-
Tender chassis - rebuild completed and re-wheeled.
Forgings for the locomotive's motion - all machining completed.
These are big steps forward (the work on the chassis has taken the best part of two years) but we now have a very sound chassis which should give trouble free service for many years to come (other than routine examination of axleboxes). Once we have a new tender tank on top, it will be the best tender of all the four for which we are responsible. As regards the forgings, organising and commissioning the machining of the motion parts is the biggest and most expensive outside contract job the Society has ever undertaken.
So, the details of what has been going on:-
Tender chassis
Drag box. Melvyn Frohnsdorff completed all the fabrication work in early October. This was a bit later than anticipated but it was a build it from scratch job, with very little information in the way of drawings. Melvyn had several weekends off due to ill health and the job turned out to much more complex than first envisaged. As part of the job, Melvyn has undertaken a modification to remount the brake handle from right hand operation as when fitted on the “Schools” chassis to the left hand side as is appropriate for a U class. Tedious work but good from an operational viewpoint. The front drag box is certainly very soundly constructed and we have received favourable comments on the quality of workmanship. So a very big thank you to Melvyn for his skill and dedication and to the volunteer gang for their assistance particularly with the riveting work.
Steps. One of our newer volunteers, Frank Glue, has mastered the complexities of folding the thick plate to the right shapes and then getting those shapes up parallel to each other and in line with the valance. This has been a bit of a struggle but the steps now look the part.
Brake gear. Paul Thorp and Ray Bellingham completed the overhaul of the brake cylinder and it is now back up on the chassis. Now the chassis has been re-wheeled the next job will be to sort out the brake blocks.
Rear draw bar and front draw hook. Tony Dagger - one of the work shop machining fraternity - undertook some machining to the draw hook we had to hand in order to shorten it to the required length and also machined out the holes in the drawbar forging to fit the size of the appropriate pins and pockets.
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Re-wheeling of the chassis took place on Saturday 14th November. One of the final jobs undertaken was the inspection of the axlebox crowns - these are the white metal bearing faces that are on the top of the axle journal. If these are not bedded down properly there is a risk of running a hot box. It appeared that the chassis had not run many miles since last fitted with remetalled crowns. It was felt that they had not bedded down adequately and Paul Thorp spent a happy few days “scraping them in” by hand under Keith Sturt's guidance. One may have to come out again for a bit more attention but this will be a relatively straightforward job. I don't recall having a hot box so far on any of our locomotives, so we want to get it right to ensure 1638 upholds this tradition!
It would be appropriate to label this photograph a "mug" shot. Standing in front of 1638's tender chassis are same af thase most closely involved over the last few years - fram left ta right, Paul Skinner, Melvyn Frohnsdorff, Paul Thorp, David Jones (at the back), Steve Pilcher, Peter Jessop, Clive Bean and Adrian Pinkess (an one of his rare absences from the confines of 847).
Other matters.
1638's motion. In early October, David Jones visited Central Engineering who are undertaking the machining of the forgings. The nine small parts were complete and work had started on one of the six large rods. Work was due to be completed by the end of November, with delivery back to Sheffield Park before Christmas. A set of wooden patterns for the bushes that we need for the rods have been very kindly lent to us by the Mid Hants Railway. The bushes were due to be ordered from the foundry at about the time of writing this report (mid November). The cost, a substantial three figure sum, has been kindly sponsored by one of the Directors.
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Paul Skinner working
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New cab roof. As can be seen from the photograph, Paul Skinner and some of the volunteers have made good progress with fabricating a new two part cab roof. This has required skill and patience when rolling the material to shape. The next job will be to rivet it all together - a nice indoors Winter job.
And finally, once again it is appropriate to note the considerable assistance given to our cause by the workshop staff, particularly Keith Sturt, who has kept a tolerant eye on our progress and been on hand to advise and direct us in our endeavours. It would do no harm to mention a few names in thanks to all the volunteers and a few others who have given up their time to work on getting what was a bad Barry wreck back into good fettle. In alphabetical order this year's work force has included:-
Ray Bellingham, Clive Bean, Melvyn Frohnsdorff, Frank Glue, Ian Hawkins, Peter Jessop, David Jones, Rodney Packham, Steve Pilcher, Paul Skinner, Barry Smith and Paul Thorp.
I am bound to have forgotten someone, if so my apologies in advance.
We can always do with more volunteer support, particularly any skilled or semi skilled workers who fancy a crack at helping our two ongoing projects through to a conclusion. Adrian Pinkess, in particular, could do with one or two fit, reliable assistants to help him progress the good work on 847. Even occasional assistance would be appreciated.
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In early BR days (no lion just BRITISH RAILWAYS on the tender) U class 31634 awaits its next turn of duty at Exmouth Junction shed on 28/7/49. PAUL SKINNER COLLECTION
Those of you who have read the Autumn edition
of Bluebell News will know that the band of troglodytes (as we have been
dubbed) have continued to toil away on 847. Since the last report progress has
continued apace. By mid June, 847 had been completely gutted of all flues and
tubes. The area next to the locomotive began to resemble Barry scrap yard. The
tubes needed to be cut into convenient lengths and deposited in the scrap bin.
The copper bottle ends of the flue tubes were sawn off and a trip made to my
local scrap merchant. With the site clean and tidy, June 21st. saw the team
working in the cab removing the header, whistle and some of the oil pipework
runs.
All work stopped on Sunday June 28th. for the Friends of Stepney weekend. 847, bedecked with face, became Henry for the day. The footplate was besieged by concerned children and parents enquiring about the health of the engine as the workers tried to remove still more fittings. By 11.30 a.m. all work had ceased as there were so many footplate visits. A lot of new friends were made. Many of these will return in the not too distant future expecting to see 847 in working order (they'll be lucky!!)
Having ventured into the firebox, and having the benefit of a trained eye, Keith Sturt, Bluebell's workshop manager, said “A great deal of work needs to be undertaken. It's just as well that 847 stopped when she did.” After much deliberation, a plan of action was produced and a start made burning out patch screws. These screws run horizontally along both sides of the inner firebox holding two sections..
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.. of plate together. Every other one has been cut out using the oxy-acetylene gear and the 7/8” threads washed out of all remaining slag. A 7/8” taper tap and parallel tap are then used to recut the original thread form. Then the thread needs to be opened up to the next size (15/16") as a good mated fit is required with the new patch screw. So again taper and parallel taps are used, this time to the new diameter. Obviously this is slow work but half, that's approximately 50, have now been re threaded to 15/16”.
Next comes the cutting of a new countersink centralised to the newly cut thread form. A new patch screw can then be inserted into the copper. This job has kept me occupied for all of August, September and October with the odd food parcel and cup of tea being passed in through the firehole door (I expect to hibernate here for the rest of the Winter). My learning curve these past few months has been dramatic and I thank Keith Sturt for all the help, guidance and support that he has given to myself and the team.
Besides the firebox work, other members have removed the steam brake and sanding control gear from the boiler backhead and all remaining pipework in the cab. This has been stored in the van awaiting stripping down and cleaning along with all the other fittings. Have you a few hours available to help in this area? The cab roof has had all bolts removed, except for a couple in each corner, ready for the day of the boiler lift.
Since the overhaul of 847 began on November 16th. 1997, nine working members have been involved. On some Sundays as many as five have worked on the locomotive. To date 830 man hours have been spent. A special mention to Ray Vistucis and Peter Hazelden who have ventured into the inner sanctum of the firebox to relieve my lonely existence and to perfect their thread cutting skills, and to Dave Pinkess who has kept me abreast of news of the outside world as he shouts the information through the firehole door.
I think patch screw replacement will see us through to Christmas. What then? Well, 200 crown stays, give or take a few. See you in the New Year.
You may recall that in part one of this look at Clayton we found out what kind of chap he was; dynamic yet cautious, hard working and loyal, very loyal in fact, he worked for Maunsell from 1914 until 1937.
So what did Clayton, typically, get up to during all these years?. Well, quite a lot. He oversaw all design drawings, scrutinising those that came from junior staff, and in later years, when based at Waterloo, scrutinised those from Ashford, Brighton and Eastleigh. The minor drawings he could sign off himself, the more important ones had to be seen, discussed and signed off by Maunsell of course. He contributed much design work and ideas himself, but also kept tabs on leading draughtsmen. Here really we are talking about Jock Finlayson at Eastleigh. Finlayson would rapidly revert to Urie methods unless he was regularly checked, and Maunsell was keen to impose some Ashford flavour on Eastleigh. Thus Finlayson's reliable but heavy....
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Pages 10 & 11
... handed methods such as large castings (heavy) instead of machined pieces had to be watched as locomotives well overweight, especially for the Eastern Section, would result. Finlayson was a strong personality so Clayton was just the man for the task. Clayton said that the Ashford background “didn't condemn South Western engines as no good, but that we're out to make them better”.
Another aspect of his work was to pick up all the committee work that Maunsell didn't have to attend personally. One such example was the ARLE committee work during the First World War. The purpose of this was to agree on a standard design for war work and the list of participants was a who's who of railway CMEs. In the end they opted for Robinson's 2-8-0 design, but it did put Clayton in contact with Churchward, who was to influence him later. It was also this type of war work that got Clayton his MBE, awarded in the New Year's List of 1920.
As mentioned earlier, Holcroft saw Clayton as a
conservative engineer, but this is a bit unfair. Between 1903 and 1907, Clayton
worked for Paget, one of the most innovative designers there ever was. He
worked on various multiple cylinder machines (including an 8 cylinder 2-6-2!)
and Clayton draughted the lot! Incidentally, unlike most of hism colleagues,
Clayton was not 100% in the railway business.
Sandwiched between his time at the SECR and working for Paget, he
had a year working for the Coventry Motor Car Co. As the car business had been
going for less than a decade at that time, it must have required inventive,
flexible, thinking people, hardly the conservative type Holcroft had in mind.
Interestingly, Clayton didn't reveal the extent of his part in the Paget
designs until he retired, though having seen his paper outlining the design
work, clearly he was proud of them; maybe they just didn’t fit the image
he wished to portray at the Southern.
When it was time for an express engine to be built for the Southern (the “Lord Nelson” was the result), Holcroft persuaded Clayton to push for an engine with more than 2 cylinders, thinking of a 3 cylinder affair. Clayton was more taken with Holcroft's 4 cylinder idea, with the, previously untried, cranks at 135 degrees. In October 1924 he rode behind a Castle (“Carmarthen Castle”) and then an A1 (on the Flying Scotsman) to get more information for Maunsell. The importance of Clayton to Maunsell was underlined in 1921. Clayton had served his apprenticeship at Beyer Peacock in Manchester before going to the SECR the first time around. He was instrumental in 1918/9 in the rebuilding of the E class to E1, these locomotives being rebuilt at Beyer Peacock. Perhaps these facts are not connected, or perhaps they are, but Clayton was offered the position of General Manager at Beyer Peacock. Maunsell was not too pleased; he didn't want to obstruct Clayton, nor to lose him and so persuaded Clayton to stay with a promotion from Chief Draughtsman to personal assistant to the CME, a move that gave him much more authority, and a much wider brief than before.
Maunsell said that “he did not regard himself as a superman, but looked upon them (his team) as experts in their own departments and depended upon them for advice”. This said, Maunsell's great strength was in engineering and his draughtsmen were..
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..allowed some freedom of interpretation as to the aesthetical appearance of the designs. Clayton was just such a person, and now it becomes obvious how it is that the similarities of different company designs takes place. A blend of Clayton's Midland practice with some Great Western style lines, is the foundation of a Southern outline under Maunsell. Clayton used to wind Holcroft up by frequently saying “what we did at the Midland”, but Holcroft was just as much a Great Western fan, Churchward saying to him on his departure from Swindon, “always speak up for the Great Western”, so you can be sure it was a two way thing!
I could write a book about Clayton’s work, but I'll just identify one thing that caught my eye. The boat trains were getting heavier in the war years, but there was no money to upgrade the track which had quite restrictive axle weight limits, not to mention loading gauge. What was needed was an E Class but with more power. Wainwright had superheated a few but that pushed the weight up. Clayton was heavily involved in the scheming of the E1, a rebuild of the E Class that kept the weight almost the same, but had much more power. This was all done on a shoe string, and was also done by the use of many N Class parts, thus the locomotive needed very few new parts, many coming from the original E or from the N Class stock. This was almost an engineering of something for nothing. Clayton’s experience of rebuilding Midland 4 -4 -0s was instrumental in this masterstroke.
After Clayton retired in October 1938, he had relatively few years to enjoy, outliving Maunsell but only as far as 1946, at the age of 73. Not a bad innings, following a varied and eventful life, more than pulling his weight during the Maunsell era.
The next focus of attention will be yet another completely different character, the clever but quiet type of man, the Assistant Mechanical Engineer.
The Society’s container was also moved on the same day that 1638’s tender chassis was re-wheeled (14th November). The container is now in a slightly more secure position in the yard as part of a redevelopment to provide more covered storage facilities for the workshop. Our volunteers played a useful part in doing their bit for preliminary site works and spent a day tree chopping and tidying up around the yard. It is always appreciated if we can be seen to be doing a bit for the wider Bluebell cause.
Following my appeal in the last Newsletter for news of 841, several members made contact about what has been happening this year on the North Yorks Moors Railway (NYMR). I am very grateful to you all for taking the trouble to write in/phone. What follows is my amalgam of the information provided to me.
It would appear that the last year in which the S15 (as 30841) worked was 1994. At the end of that season it was withdrawn and it has been in store ever since awaiting overhaul.
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A heavy overhaul commenced in the Spring of 1998. It is being carried out by the NYMR to the required standard for main line running and the whole project is being planned and monitored using Microsoft Project, a project management software package. All the tasks associated with the overhaul are listed and then time and resources (manpower and, if appropriate, equipment) are allocated to each task.
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841 near Abbott's House Farm with the 16.40 Grosmont-Pickering train on 25/5/87.
JULIAN GILES
As the project develops, regular monthly meetings are held to discuss the progress made. This involves reviewing each task planned for the previous four weeks and a look ahead for the next eight weeks. Any new tasks which have been identified during the previous period are added to the programme and, with the look ahead, it is possible to identify when material needs to be ordered to match the overhaul. This is the first project on the NYMR to be planned and monitored in this way. It is hoped that the date of completion will be March 2000.
So, what is the progress so far? The smokebox has been removed and a new one is being fabricated, and a new front tubeplate may be required. A decision has been taken to use 825’s frames and cylinders. 841’s frames had cracks before preservation and, in spite of welding, have given problems ever since. By the time you read these notes, the shareholders of the locomotive (as members of the Essex Locomotive Society) will have held a meeting at the NYMR to review progress and to take any major decisions that may be needed. It is hoped to bring MLS members further updates as the project develops.
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On October 5th. 1997, S15 No.828 is seen at Yeovil outside the new steam shed for the local preservation group. RAY V ISTUCIS
Remember the “little and large” photograph in Newsletter No. 36 showing full size and 5” gauge versions of 847? Following the appeal for information, Jim Buttle, Maunsell Locomotive Society member and builder of the model steam locomotive contacted me. We arranged to meet at his home for me to view the model but, due to various diversions, this meeting did not take place until July last when I finally made it and was made most welcome.
This 5” gauge locomotive was not built “from the ground up” as an S15 but started off as a partly built Thompson B1 which Jim bought. After a while, as happens in these situations, Jim decided that he didn't want a B1. What he really wanted was..
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Jim
Buttle's 5” gauge |
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.. a Southern Railway S15, so how to go about modifying it? A friend in Jim’s club, the Tonbridge Model Engineers, undertook to design and produce the correct valve gear while Jim got on with various other jobs which included heavy modifications to the wheels to make them look the Maunsell part.
Building a model steam locomotive in any scale does not happen overnight and this S15 was no exception. Several years went past before all was ready and the locomotive was steamed at Toubridge. The photographs accompanying this article show what a gem this model is and the one showing the detailed backhead reveals one of Jim's passions. He doesn't like to see any empty spaces. Some of the fittings are dummy and it is certainly not pure S15 but Jim will be quick to tell you that it is most definitely Maunsell (some of the fittings owe more than a passing nod to the “Lord Nelson” and “King Arthur” classes).
The backhead |
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So, even though our full size 847 is currently out of service, at least one miniature version steams on. If you are ever in Tonbridge on a Summer Sunday with time to spare why not visit the track which can be found in the park just off the High Street. The miniature S15 may or may not be in steam but ask for Jim anyway. He will be only too pleased to talk to you about his pride and joy.
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Before
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"Schools" Class No. 925 "Cheltenham" on display at the National Railway Museum in 1995
M IKE FRACKIEWICZ
Unfortunately, the caption for the centre spread photograph was omitted from Newsletter No.37. The photograph was taken by Julian Heinemann and showed 847 about to take a train out of Sheffield Park in August 1997, a few weeks before its withdrawal from service.
If you haven't an Internet connection and don't know someone who has, you might like to try your local library. What's waiting for you, if you do, is a Maunsell treat. Locomotive profiles, back issues of the Newsletter, photographs by the bucket load, video clips of our locomotives (as well as some sound only clips), a competition, latest restoration news and links to a massive range of other railway sites. Get your friend or librarian to tap in www.ndirect.co.uk/maunsell and you can join the thousands of people who have already discovered the site. Main viewers are the US (30%), the UK of course at a similar amount, the Commonwealth countries at about 10% and the rest come from a massive range - Chile, Holland, Russia and Denmark being good supporters. A couple of visits from the US military caught my eye as did visits from the Ministry of Defence! Why not find out what it is they are interested in.
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Paul Skinner (plus helpers) had a successful two days in July at the Bluebell Swapmeet/Toy Fair with a net benefit of more than £200 for Society funds. Our thanks go to Paul and his helpers and to those members who provided items for sale. Hornby O gauge tinplate items proved popular provided the price was right.
We are always seeking more items of railway interest, model or full size, for sale either as a donation or we can sell items on a 10% commission basis. Again the price sought has to be realistic as dealer's prices at these fairs are very competitive. If you have any surplus model railway items, please consider donating them to the Society or selling them through our sales stand. Please note books and magazines are not good sellers and are heavy to carry about. Do not be offended if we do not accept.
We have recently acquired some 00 gauge railway carriage and bus kits. Unfortunately they arrived too late for the Toy Fair so now is your chance to purchase as they are bound to sell quickly when they next appear on the sales stand. The list of items is as follows:-
BSL Coach Kits (00)
Most of the coaches are partly built with some work being needed to finish them off. All the parts needed can be supplied. Some bogies have EM gauge wheels but these can easily be changed to 00.
PORTSMOUTH ELECTRIC S.R. STANDARD STOCK
Motor brake second - 2 off, All third, Restaurant first, Trailer composite - 2 off
MAUNSELL 59 FT. STOCK
Corridor brake third, Corridor composite, Open third, Pantry brake first, Corridor brake composite - 2 off
BULLEID COACHES
Brake composite - 3 off, Semi open brake third, Kitchen diner third, Corridor composite
Corridor diner first, Open composite - 3 off
MTK Coach Kits
59 FT. BULLEID COACHES
Brake third - 2 off, Composite
Coaches can be supplied with a choice of roof material - aluminium, wood or plastic. S.R. steam bogies, underframes and seats. The cost of a coach with all parts necessary to complete is £15.00 including postage or £13.00 if collected from Sheffield Park on a Sunday by prior arrangement.
Please telephone Paul Skinner on 01903 813537 for details.
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Bus Kits (00)
These are available at half price or less.
ABS STREETSCENE SERIES
LGOC ST Kit No. R342, LPTB STL Kit No. R311, 1934 DENNIS ACE Kit No.
R290,
1959 LT ROUTEMASTER Kit No. R336.
VARNEY TRANSPORT REPLICAS
Tilling London bus double deck - 2 off, Leyland Cub C type, Greenline single
deck,
LT double deck Godstone
GS MODELS
1946 AEC T class, 1927 AEC/LGOC Scooter
Price £11.00 each plus postage.
Thanks are due to all contributors and to our printers, Impressions Printing Technology of Sevenoaks, Kent.
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Rear cover: MIKE FRACKIEWICZ
