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News Here you'll find all the news as work progresses. 29/06/2003 - Well exams are over and the fourth year beckons (must be mad!). Having planned a summer of working on Conway this plan was foiled when I was offered two jobs! As a result I'm now spending my days designing railway carriages and my evenings on Conway. Work on the boiler is progress well along with almost complete coupling and connecting rods and expansion links ! For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 06/03/2003 - Well it's almost exam time again - and there's no better break from loco building than a bit of revision (surely that isn't right!). Anyway in between all the revision, DIY a, wedding suit fittings (not for my wedding!) and general chaos I've managed to plough on with some boiler work. A whole two new pages of fascinating bits and bobs on the boiler front, including lots of pictures. For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 06/03/2003 -Well, with Alastair wanting me to give him a hand with setting up his new mill I decided to make a weekend of it - and boy what a weekend. It all started on Friday afternoon. First job was to clear the workshop (well the end of the garage), and unpack the mill. Followed by bolting it to the bench and setting the gibs it was now 9.30 and time for a couple of quick beers (which somehow ended in a 'lock in' with the locals) !!! At 8.30 on Saturday morning the workshop buzzed into life. Alastair worked the mill machining the slide valves - a slow and laborious job but results in a beautiful end product. Meanwhile I attacked the cylinder end covers. Despite these being a relatively simple job it's amazing how long it take simply because they are so fiddly. 14 hours later we decided it was time to call it a night (no time for the pub so a bottle of wine sufficed - anyone detecting a theme!) Sunday started with another 8.30 start. Alastair continued with the slide valves while I began work on the piston and piston rods. we managed to get 1 completed unit and 2 other pistons screwed onto their rods with one more rod to make before I had to leave - for the joys of a 40 min train ride that took 2 hours and a bus ride! For all the gory details have a look at the changelog page. Finally I'd like to thank all the visitors to the site for their continued support carrying us well past the 3500 mark in only 14 months! We ALWAYS love to hear your feedback and if you need any help we will try and do our best - the pictures you see on the site are a fraction of the full collection! 10/02/2003 - No progress on the loco recently but the ideas keep on coming - see the new Driving Truck page. 29/12/02 - Not another apology to start the news! To say things have been hectic recently would be an understatement. My workload at uni has been through the roof! Hence the lack of updates. Just before I returned back in September I completed the springear units - they mightt not be very exciting but I estimate they took over 100 hours to complete! Further work on the boilers. Having received the completed tubeplates, tubes and sheet material from Alastair I managed to get one set of tubes and firebox wrapper silver soldered together. The outer firebox wrappers have also been bent to shape. Alastair is also making progress with the bushes. For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 14/08/02 - Well - what can I say - firstly apologies for the lack of any recent updates. Work has been progressing well but I've also been busy working on 12" to 1' stuff. If you don't know where have a read through the history page. Lots of progress afoot - the boiler kits have arrived and I'm getting the propane torch ready for some intensive silver soldering! For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 21/06/02 - Some major re-organisation on the site. I've split some of the large pages into smaller ones - the aim is to keep loading times for those people who use 56K lines down below 2 mins. We now have four almost complete cylinder blocks plus the first test assembled wheelset. The materials for the boilers are also on order. At present everything is packed up for my return to North Wales. Also some lovely new pictures on the Gallery page. For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 10/06/02 - Well, what a week - and it's only Monday !!! Half the wheels are now complete with completed tread, flanges etc. We also have one and a half cylinders machined - we managed to find some very nice people who've let us use their Bridgeport mill!!! For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 04/06/2002 - Finally I've got around to updating the site. Having spent every single minute eating, drinking and breathing exams for the last two months I can finally report that they are over. With nothing to do till I start my summer job I have 4 weeks Conway with only eating, sleeping and drinking to get in the away!!! The updates I've added are only the last 3 days worth of work so you can see that things are progressing !!! I should also put some thank you's on here. Firstly thanks to everybody out there who have followed the site and pushed me past the 1000 hits mark!!! Secondly thanks to my housemates for putting up with me!!! Finally a big thanks to Carl for all his support and help. For details of the page updates look at the Changelog 12/04/02 - The Easter vacation is over for me and everything is packed up ready to move back to Cardiff. You'll now see that we have hornblocks and axleboxes ready to receive the wheelsets. Alistair is now safely installed in his new home - but unfortunately can't get to the lathe due to a few thousand books in his way !!!! Also added a new page on Project X - have a look at the page to find out!! and look at the Changelog for details of the updates. 30/03/02 - Happy Easter everybody. I've been taking full advantage of the Easter break with the occasional appearance through the fog of cast iron dust!!! Alistair should now be safely installed in his new house so expect major progress on the wheels. With the unimat barely getting a chance to recover between cuts, work on the hornblocks is progressing apace. 19/03/02 - Well - it's been a long time. They've been cracking the whip at university so progress has come to a virtual standstill. The workload is easing off now and with the Easter break next week work is about to restart. There's been quite an interest in the CNC aspect of the project and I plan to add a new page about it in the next few weeks. 10/02/02 - Now that the exam season is over progress is forging ahead. Most of the castings have been ordered with some having been delivered already - see the castings page for the latest iinfo. Also the unimat has emerged (or should that be disappeared into!) from the workshop complete with new variable speed drive unit - see the unimat mods page for more info. Alistair is busy attacking the wheels - again see the wheelsets page for more info. Meanwhile a large pile of bits and bobs for the valvegear and the spring gear are starting to appear. 07/01/02 - Everything has finally made it back to Cardiff but not without drama (it took seven 7 hours instead of 4, 2 cars and 1 tow truck and trailer!). Ordered a digital camera today. Due to it being exam time in uni world, the site will probably be quite quiet over the next few weeks - you have been warned! Normal service will resume shortl1y! 02/01/02 - The lifting arms have been drilled ready for slotting, 4 of the brake blocks have been completed along with a reversing arm before the milling cutter died! Also the feedpump rod is getting there only requiring a bit of filing and drilling before it will be finished. The reach rods have also been finished. 28/12/01 - Welcome to the site. Currently I am working on the lifting links, lifting arms, brake hangers and brake blocks. |
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Last Edited 28/06/03 Created By David Murray & Alastair Clarke Contact the webmaster on [email protected] or [email protected] |