K1 Working Parties

In order to keep K1 on good shape regular working parties are held in the winter period when no train services are running. They are held at Dinas in one of the available sheds there.  

Volunteers will be welcome at the working parties so in the first instance please contact any of those listed on the Group's details page. More details and advice on equipment is on the 'Volunteering with K1' page.

Next Working Party to be advised.

April 21st/22nd K1 Working Party Report..

The usual two of the team were on site, John Startin and Nobby Clark, Nobby having travelled over in the early Saturday morning from Cambridge.  

K1 has a huge following once again illustrated at this Working Party.  An American from New Jersey came to see K1, preferably in steam.  He has been all over the world including the Dundas Tramway in Tasmania and has a strong interest in the Garratt locomotive type not adopted in the States.  We did all that was possible by way of a tour of the engine.

With K1 in the back of the carriage shed we set about the two chosen objectives,  the floor and the steam feed route for the generator.

With the centre section of the floor already completed we repaired the existing battens, an additional batten added across the front, and two more behind the rising sections to stop them moving outwards. The existing front batten was replaced such that it reaches the rising sections to reduce the gaps through which coal dust can travel.  This was shortened for the oil firing controls. The extra batten at the front is because the main floor section is shorter to allow the fire box door to be removed without having to lift the whole floor.  The edge at the back head would benefit from some angle iron flush horizontally with an up stand that allows spilt coal and dust to be shovelled up without it going down onto the frame below. There is a copper pipe here that is badly crushed and requires replacement.  Some considerable contortions were needed for some of the fixings as we were not over a pit. The threads below were “painted” to prevent nuts from coming off.  The battens behind the risers make a huge difference to the stability of the whole floor.

Ahead of replacing the floor, previous working parties had expended much effort in removing the redundant injector drains both to tidy up and because the left hand (fireman's) side is to provide a route for the generator steam supply.  Previous trials with pipe and elbows showed the steam sander pipe to be in the way.  This pipe has been adapted but time did not permit a proper job though the connection remains and will take little to finish. That done the steam pipe sections and elbows were offered up to prove the route and the assembly of same. Three sections of pipe remain loosely in place. From the front of the fire box the pipe must go across the engine angled downwards before turning parallel to the frame and cross member to go forward to connect to the side entry on top of the generator.  A railroad joint is needed here as there will have to be in the vertical section in the cab to reach the control valve.  A reducer will be needed at the entry to the generator.  This then showed no further changes were required to the floor before it was put back into position. The floor will be prevented from moving back and forth by the section to be fixed just behind the back head.

We have sent three sets of suggestions to the Railway Workshops for machining the pivot brass casting that has replaced the Delrin liner.  The original base has tell-tale marks as to where the lubrication grooves are in the base and on the spigot.   It also shows a distinct lack of lubrication.

At the time of writing the next two working parties in May & June may not go ahead as John is not available for both, and Nobby not in June.  We will advise via this website of any changes.

March 19/20th K1 Working Party Report.

John Startin writes.   My thanks to Nobby Clark for his help and company.  Nobby is a stalwart volunteer traveling over from Cambridge regularly since 2000 to work on K1 as well as volunteering with the East Anglia Group.  With just the two of us a great deal was not going to be accomplished.  We did have another look at the generator steam pipe run which will have an awkward run to reach the supply point.  This must be done ahead of fixing the cab floor battens and further work on the floor.  We had been specifically asked by Tony to trial fit the new ball joint and our attention was applied largely to that alone.

The ball joint assembly was waiting for us at Dinas!   It looks very good so far but work remains to be done particularly the length of the pipe to the J pipe and the flange to the Return (U) Bend.  Therefore we set about removing the existing joint and the J pipe.  These are complex and awkward to put up and take down requiring it all to be loosened off before any part can be released.  The old ball joint was taken down revealing yet another steam leak behind the flange face.  We noted quite a number of fixings that were not really tight particularly those in awkward places.  The new joint does relieve this a little.  The use of sockets is essential here along with a torque wrench.  From what we found the gasket arrangements here have not been properly understood.  The J pipe will have to be disconnected to lift the engine when the rear pivot requires attention.  The main steam pipe remains a concern.  Looking at the NGG16s they all have the Y pipe fixed to a chassis cross member with short steam pipes to the cylinders.  The main steam entry pipes to the Y pipe all have an expansion/position provision.  Expansion for the front engine on K1 is provided by the receiver pipe but there is none for the hind engine.  The main steam pipe from the regulator by virtue of its route and length is readily displaced to absorb some of the forces.  The steam pipe on from the return bend to the Y pipe has no such accommodation.  The length of this pipe requires confirming once the pipes into the cylinders have been properly seated.  

Further evidence for concern over these is that the flanges securing the pipe to the cylinders are splitting the weld to the pipe on both sides. (Andy Shaw spotted this while having a look at the Ball Joint.)  These pipes have to come down anyway making the repair a simple matter.  With the parts removed the new casing was positioned to explore its fit and to identify problems that might arise.  Our attention then turned to the problem of securing the ball pipe to the J pipe.  The existing arrangement might just have fitted but it does not.  The use of four springs instead of three would have eliminated this but meant the cover would then not be the same and the springs too would be different from the later engines.  I considered that the commonality of parts was more important.  The three stud arrangement is easier for maintenance as the access to the springs is easier, they can be removed in situ, the top two cannot as it is.  The clamps used have remained the same from K1 right through to the NGG16s.  The pipe is much shorter on K1 hence the problem.  Nobby and I considered several ideas before finding a suitable one and had the spring studs been right required only that they be shortened and castellated nuts be used to secure them.    A different design of flange coupling has been devised to be drawn up to be made.  Various gasket material has to be researched for refitting of the pipes, etc.  And the 'Y' pipes and others have to be removed before the main re-assembly with new gaskets. 

January 21/22nd 2012 K1 Working Party Report. 

John Startin reports: The weekend’s work objective was to remove the pivot base, assess the repair required and fit a temporary pivot base, without dismantling a lot of the motion, etc, so that K1 could be moved around or from the running shed without hindering other loco’ work. Access to lift the engine under the ends of the cross member required the expansion links to be disconnected and laid back out of the way. The reversing rod required releasing and to do this the hind expansion links were blocked up, balancing the weight of the front gear. This was done without the need to move the power unit out from under the frames. After lunch on the Saturday the lift was made. The pivot bolts which are “fitted”, had to be driven out and considerable careful leverage applied to the base as it has lugs around the cross member. The temporary pivot base was then offered up and once shown to fit, greased and bolted in place. The engine was lowered requiring the minimum of re-positioning to engage. The bulk of the disconnected pipes and linkages were put back to allow the engine to be moved. There is some historic wear on the upper pivot from K1’s working life in Tasmania, but by repairing the liner now this should not be an issue. The rear pivot will require similar attention in the future. 

Sunday was spent cleaning up the nuts and bolts ready for re-assembly, looking at steam leaks and the pivot on the NGG16 for comparison. The Delrin liner in K1’s pivot base had to be cut in situ to release it. It is in two parts - most of the base as one, and the edge and sides as a second piece. Lack of grease caused by the grease channels in the upper face being partly blocked as the Delrin became deformed. Compared with the NGG16 brass base liner, it is the same thickness as K1’s but the question now is how to make the base and edge by fabrication or as a casting. The edge will have to be a ready push fit to allow future removal and will need to be fixed to prevent rotation. The NGG16 pivot is a much more substantial affair with provision for adjustment. The historic nature of K1 rules such a change as a non-option. The [NGG16] brass sections lining the edge are more substantial allowing the brass to be threaded. K1’s edge liner will be some 7/32” thick and will have to be fixed the other way about with brass countersunk screws tapped into the cast base. A single mechanical feed of steam oil introduced through the centre of the casting from below should suffice to flood the whole assembly. Also the team looked for steam leaks and possible causes. What is happening at the front remains something of an enigma. The operating rod from the change valve cylinder shows no steam scouring and is not the real cause. We remain concerned about the joint, a push fit, between the change valve and the exhaust manifold above it, and the fit of the pendulum pipe within the blast pipe casing. There is a 1/16” clearance here. The drawing asks for a “rolling fit” and clarification as to what this means will be looked into. This is quite a gap through which the smoke-box vacuum might be reduced or steam might leak back below the engine. 

The high-pressure steam pipes to the cylinders have given way twice now, once on each side, so a detailed look and measurements have revealed errors. The choice of gasket material may relieve some of the problems, as on the NG15’s it is round section copper, that does not require chiseling out unlike flat section. This is difficult to fit on the Y pipe used on K1, as this requires the exhaust manifolds to be removed. The steam supply pipes have been a cause of concern right from the beginning, as the bends from the Y pipe to the cylinders have to be fitted first. The pipe from the Y pipe to the return U bend onto the ball joint has always been awkward to fit. It is tight against the frame stretcher. Careful attention to the drawing shows the assembly of the pipe, return bend and ball joint is not as it should be. The design allows the pipes and ball joint to be fitted to an auxiliary plate that is in turn retained to the rear stretcher. The auxiliary plate is too thick and the steam pipe from the Y pipe to the U bend is too long, hence a mis-alignment. The proper length for the steam pipe may only be determined once the Y pipe and connections to the cylinder are in place. This also affects the ball joint (the new one and casting is now machined at Boston Lodge, as per Tony Williams’ photo left) and its alignment with the main steam pipe and that too has been noted as incorrect. Other joints are being assessed. 

For the rescheduled working party on April 21st/22nd, the route for the steam supply to the generator was examined. Two steam pipes for the sanding and steam brakes run inside the frame and these have been repositioned upwards at a joint to give the supply pipe a straighter run. One of these pipes has an extra section inside the cab now not required with the removal of the oil firing. Repositioning of these pipes will tidy up inside the cab and perhaps allow a much simpler run from the generator supply. And the new cab floor may well get fitted up with battens, etc.

The next regular working parties will be held in 2012, to be advised, and the regular K1 AGM will take place on the same weekend as the WHRS AGM, a flyer and e-notice will be sent later in the year.

K1 working party report for Feb 13/14th 2010.