70036 Boadicea

[barlowworks]

Nice one Jim. Congratulations on getting the 100 up, it's a journey I've made many times and thanks from all us Brit builders for documenting your build.

Mike

[Jim]

Thanks Mike,
I hadn't noticed the page number, gosh that's a few pages. I must say it is a great journey and I've collected so much information along the way from other contributors which is what makes this site such a great one.

Jim

[Jim]

Aug 17, 2018 8:18:26 GMT stevep said:

Jim,

On all the transport boxes I have made for my locos, I have had one end fixed, and attached a piece of wood across the end (on the inside), just above the height of the buffer heads. When the engine is in the box, it is prevented from bouncing up and down, and potentially hitting the lid of the box.

I have made the other end fold down for a loading ramp. So I had a separate piece of board that fitted inside this end, again with the cross bar just above the tops of the buffers.

Hope that might help...Steve

Hi Steve,

I took onboard your idea of a bar across the tops of the buffers by including two lugs on the front buffer stop to do the job of your bar.
For loading the front stop is removed for the loco to be backed in then replaced when the rear stop's long tongue has located in the coupler pocked under the cab. The coupling pin is dropped in to lock the rear down and the front stop placed on the studs and similarly bolted down. The steel unloading ramp slides in to form the lid and also provides added bracing for the sides of the box.

Ive still got to make up a simple box for the tender while the driving van will be tied down to the floor.

So the tasks go on.

Jim

[Jim]

It has been a while since I've posted anything regarding 'Boadicea' so I thought a short update might prove I'm still on the planet and breathing.

I'm currently working on fixing the problem of the unwanted movement in the lifting arm on the fireman's side of the loco when running. The movement was very obvious in a video clip I posted here. The problem was caused by the removable arm on the driver's side not being as fixed as it should be which allowed the fixed arm on the fireman's side to nod up and down if you get my drift.

Anyway as much as I hate pulling Boadicea apart the job had to be done so here she sits in a rather sorry state.

The other task that is causing me grief is the injector clacks that still weep slightly but enough to make the injectors hot and we all know what that means. The remade ball seats are tight under a blow test or in Julian's case a suck test but I believe the problem is in the design that consists of an inserted ball seat held down by a small screw in retaining ring. Once things start to warm up and steam pressure builds it finds its way under the valve seat and into the delivery pipe. Trying to seal the seat with sealant is nigh impossible given the very small surface area available and in a very tight space.

I'm currently considering inline clacks much as I hate to disturb the pipe work.

As a side issue I was asked via an email about how I provided for the reversing shaft as it passed through the running plate. I like to make getting things apart as easy as possible so opened the slot the shaft goes through to enable the running plate to be removed easily. The tunnel that covers the shaft is also removable and in position covers the gap. The photo shows it more clearly than I can explain.

Now I'm off to restock on soothing ales..I need them...badly.

[JonL]

Thats some lovely motion work. Well done.

[Jim]

Thanks for the comment Nobby. I see I need to get some more corks for the oilers, They fly out once things get moving, well on the test bed and I imagine her moving

Jim

[Jim]

Back to problems with feed water clacks.

As mentioned on the previous page I thought I'd solved the problem of the top feed clacks leaking steam back to the injectors but despite being tight when under a 'blow' test they started to weep once in steam. An email to Barry our club boiler inspector brought a reply suggesting using inline clacks.

With the other clacks I've made I like to use a screw in valve seat to allow me to work directly on the valve seat free of the confines of the valve body which is what I opted for for this project.

The photo shows stage one of making the valve seat which has already been threaded 5/16x32 and is having the centre drilled for the start of drilling out the passage way/valve seat.

Next a No 29 drill was used drill the pilot bore before using a No28  to drill and finish the bore and create the valve seat of .138". The Everett Clem Data sheet gives a range of .132<.156 for a .187 ball. For this exercise I opted for the .75 of Ball Diameter rule to arrive at the figure of .138. which is within Clem's range.

Before assembling the valve I took a light skim across the face to ensure the valve face was free of any imperfections that might effect the ball sealing.

This photo shows the completed screw in valve seat, the valve body, a .187 SS ball and a .187 Nitrile ball along with the two drills used.

The with the valve screwed into the body and a copper tube inserted into the nut and tail the free end of the tube was put into a glass of water, I had thought of soothing ale but this is a 'blow' not 'suck' test so I reluctantly reverted to water.

Ready to test.

So how did it go?

First up a very tiny stream of bubbles came out the end of the pipe with less of a stream when the Nitrile ball was used.

I then disassembled the valve to place the valve seat on a firm base the using a spare SS ball on a short rod I gave it a firm hit with my bigger engineer's precision hammer.

The result? a repeatedly tight seal with the Nitrile ball and an occasional slight leak with the SS ball.

I'm happy with the result and will now make two new removable seats using the same procedure for the top feeds. If by chance there is still a problem. I'll carry on converting the test rig into an inline clack along of with making a second for the driver's side. I'll be using Nitrile balls.

Now it's soothing ale time.

Jim.

[David]

Very interesting. That has to be easier than mucking about with D bits.

[Roger]

Hi Jim,
I think you would get a better shape to the seat if you used a Silicon Nitride ball to form it rather than a Stainless Steel ball which is much softer. They are very cheap and readily available on eBay. You might even find that you don't need to go to a Nitrile ball after that.

[Jim]

Not quite back in the workshop yet.

In the old money it's 100F in the water bag or 38C so all a bit warmish but good paint drying weather

Not much has progressed on the Britannia due mainly to the heat but Santa did bring me a small drone which I've been learning to fly. So far I've managed to knock all the Christmas cards off the coffee table just moments after they'd been artistically arranged .... much to someone's great annoyance.

Landing the darn thing has been a problem.  I did pull off an incredible landing in a small cavity in the wood heap which topped the landing under the settee. I've discovered too that small drones react quite dramatically to flying into a cob webs, we do have a few though fewer now than before.

Once the weather cools I will do another trial steam up to see if at long last, the injector feed clacks are sealing.

On a more cheerful note Christmas with the grandchildren was quite relaxing.

All the very best to everyone for the new Year.

Jim

[Tony K]

I see no soothing ale Jim - or perhaps they were consumed and caused drowsiness?

Or was it just the flash causing the heavy eyelids?

[Jim]

Well spotted Tony.

Though I hadn't realized it I had actually dropped off and at that point some dastardly person, suspect No1, my daughter. snapped me. At least I wasn't snoring.

As to the soothing ales, they had to wait until I'd made the 150km journey home including the ascent of the Clyde plus we have very active random breath testing units. Stay safe stay sober.

Hope you had a great New Year and that progress continues in the workshop.

Jim

[delaplume]

Hello Jim,

I hope you're back to "Normal" now ie}--- Post Soothing Ale condition...LoL !!

I'm a bit late I know with this suggestion regarding corks flying out of their holes.....try putting a couple turns of screw thread in the hole and then use say half a turn of the cork to just "nip" it in place ??

Alan

[JonL]

How is Boadicea these days? And in line with the naming thread, do you tend to pronounce her boo-dic-ah, bow-dis-ear, or another variation? I've heard that name pronounced in so many different ways.

[Jim]

No Nobby I'm sticking with the more traditional Bow dis sear. She's been steamed a few times now on the test track so my next move will be to organise a visit to the club to have a steam test done. It's only a round trip of 600 kms or near 7 hours,  says he blithely.

Jim

[barlowworks]

Isn't that just like nipping down to the shops in Aus. 😂 It's just the same in the US. When we were over there with my American daughter in law we "just nipped" to see Gram. 500 miles, they thought nothing of it. We get used to living on a small island here in Blighty.

Mike

[Jim]

Actually Mike we decided to break the trip with an overnight stay in a Motel.

On the way home we took a  side trip to look in on some cousins at a National Trust fundraiser in their historic shearing shed Old Errowanbang

Built 130 years ago with stands for 40 blade shearers the actual building is immense and actually consists of 4 levels, unique for shearing sheds which were typically on one level. The advent of mechanical shears saw a reduction from 40 blade shearers to 12 with hand sets and currently just three due to a change of emphasis in farming.

Old Errowanbang seen from the outside and built of corrugated gal steel.

The wool classing floor

A cross section of the shearing shed from 'Old Errowanbang Wool Shed' a walk through history' by Russell Moor.

I also picked up some of the casting for my next project, the Bolton Beam Engine which will be a pretty hefty model when completed.

I might just get 'Boadicea' over to the club for a steam test and run too. stranger things have happened.

Jim

[Jim]

Well it's been quite sometime now but today was a lot cooler and with some good rains the concerns regarding the bush fires lessened somewhat so I decided to do another steam up of the Britannia.

Following a visit to the club before Christmas I had a chance to see first hand what other members were using and doing in terms of fuel and fire building. Previously I'd only used high quality char but supplies are no longer available and the old techniques were not working with the new fuels.

In essence I found the secret was to build the fire bed up using charcoal soaked in Kerosene then once that was established start adding a mixture of Welsh coal and Bacchus Marsh Char. The result was a nice bright even fire that kept the pressure between 85 and 100psi. The state of the fire also confirmed that the Rosebud grate was delivering sufficient air evenly across the whole grate.

My other concern was with the clacks which previously had been weeping and so making the injectors hot to a point where they would not pick up.

This time with remade valve seats and Nitrile balls there was still signs of slight weeping but dousing the injectors with cold water then turning on the delivery taps to give a steady trickle of water through the injectors solved the problem with both injectors picking up when needed and with the clacks buzzing to confirm they were working.

At the end of the steam up the grate was slid out using a thin metal strip to clear the slide ways and I was very suprised that only a dusting of ash was falling into the pan to collect it. Then it dawned on me.... I'd forgotten to remove the slide out base to the ash pan!!! Some mothers do 'ave 'em.

All in all a very satisfying result so the next step is to make the trip to the club for a boiler test and hopefully all being well a nice gentle test run.

Jim

[David]

Whose loco were you driving Jim?

Unfortunately I only saw you in passing, sorry I missed saying hello properly. I think I was driving my father-in-law's P class at the time. I found it required plenty of fire and a bit of draft the whole time because the Welsh coal seems to require that to get it to burn hot. Given those two things it steamed well and was easy to drive.

We all still find great lumps of clinker on the grate after a few hours and it depends on the loco and driver how long you can go like that. I find the steaming in mine falls off a cliff after about 2.5 hours if I'm constantly hauling passengers. It's a saturated loco so it uses a lot of steam, so needs a lot of fire.

[Deleted]

Nice one Jim...any pictures or video to share?... you know how much we all love such things...
It's great to see you posting on your loco again...

Cheers

Pete