Recent
News from Ropley Motive Power
Depot: showing work-in-progress of
interest to the steam railway
enthusiast
Reports
and photos by your webmaster,
or by others where acknowledged
Follow our restoring of heritage steam engines from Barry wrecks to high performance, mainline certified steam classics
| 25th
June 2005:
Bert Hitchen and Neil Henderson with their Black Five on the day before its first main line run since restoration (to Fratton; load test 10-up on the return) Photo (25th June 2005): Tony Wood
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| 22nd
June 2005: Movie: Re-fitting the cab of #92212 (3.2MB, 22nd June 2005): Tony Wood
Major boiler work on #92212 (January - June 2005) Photos (22nd June 2005): Tony Wood
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| 20th June 2005:
Rod Tye (with new volunteer Kim Kouth) fires #92212 for its formal steam test Three photos (20th June 2005): Ray Sully
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| 17th June 2005:
Colin Chambers sorts tackle for the lift of the new tender tank which arrived today for the MHR Black Five
Photo (17th June 2005): Tony Wood
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| Ray photographed the lift - | |
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| Four photos, above (all 17th June 2005): Ray Sully | |
NewsExpress
for latest news from all the UK heritage railways
| 13th
June 2005:
... moves Bittern during shunting operations for refitting #92212's tender
Four photos (all 13th June 2005): Ray Sully
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| 26th May 2005:
The springs for the Ivatt arrived and were fitted
today. Rod tended a warming fire in it ready for a test run tomorrow
before it departs on loan to the Bluebell
Railway on schedule: Les and tw were milling the ball-ends of the superheater elements for #92212 on the big radial drill : The work on #92212's boiler | |
| Duncan's next project has arrived: a Metro
Cammell Pullman. (Click pic for interior view) Two photos (26th May 2005): Tony Wood |  |
| 25th May 2005:
The axles are back in Ivatt #41312 with the re-metalled axleboxes under wooden blocks for now. BCK coach (now #S21236) was on the pit road outside, and John Dunkerley and Jim Lawrence were changing a brake cylinder |
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| On the pit road inside the shed, the big-end of Bittern's middle con-rod is on, and the small-end was suspended on a strap. That's the middle valve-chest above the pile of straps on the left. You're looking forwards from just left of the crank web |  |
 | Bob
(The Welder) Preston is making
progress assembling the Ikea
flat-pack dragbox (Photo (tw): 13th April 2005) for the
MHR Black Five's tender. The original was cast steel, but the quality of Bob's fabrication work makes a very lovely job Three photos (25th May 2005): Tony Wood |
 | 18th May 2005: The whole job on 9F #92212 boiler Photos (18th May 2005): Tony Wood
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MHR Diesel Gala (13th - 15th May 2005) - The photos
| 11th
May 2005: Bittern's crank axle is raised on rollers at present to allow easier setting of the valve gear |
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| Now that the crown stays
of 9F #92212 have been replaced, the leak at the
main steam pipe (regulator to superheater header) has been investigated
and its source traced Water was dribbling between the pipe and front tubeplate (at about 7 o'clock: click photo for a closer view) Note that nothing remains of the steel reinforcing ring |  |
| Lots of Army
engineers are being made very welcome at MHR at present. It
seems they have to learn how to run a railway, so came to MHR (of
course!) No joke
suggestions aimed at UK main line operators, please!
Here they are learning to drive steam trains with Dave Wiseman and Bob Deeth, and Jim Russell had trainees on the Double Bubble too. "We always have a good time" - several of them said. In Ropley loco shed, others were renovating the braking system of a guard's van, and at Alresford a new track panel had been laid, amongst other jobs. |
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Archive of previous Loco Shed News
pages of this website
Restoration of former SR Bulleid 'West Country Class' #34016 Bodmin (index to pages) MHR loco and carriage stock details More information about MHR locos' history "I'd love to help but I haven't any spare time ..... Anyway I live too far away" Links to other recommended websites MHR Ropley Shed website in Japanese is on-line here ( see also )
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Webmaster: tonywood@watercressline.co.uk
Copyright © 1997 - 2005: Tony Wood
http://www.watercressline.co.uk/tw
| The Watercress Line, The Railway Station, Alresford, Hampshire,
England, SO24 9JG Tel 01962 733810 Fax 01962 735448 info@watercressline.co.uk www.watercressline.co.uk/tw |
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