Castle

P.S. City of Truro and the flying Peckett (why do I hear close harmony singing as I write that?) was coming on nicely too! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Missy showed me Railcar No. 12 at Ally Pally yesterday and all myself and my friend could say was WOW! It is all very well doing railcars in 4mm but to do this in 2mm to this level really is an achievement. Well done Missy! They do look so beyond their time don't they? That particular iteration has a bit of the look of an HST front in a funny sort of way... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Another thing is that the picture are the right way round - the modern world in grainy black and white, the Edwardian era full of life, colour and variety. Even saying that, those are some rather nice shots of the modern station. Very well observed and captured. Art on RMWEB - whatever next?! All the best, Castle

Hi Mikkel, Brilliant - I love the narrative qualities you weave into a post! Really took us on a journey there didn't you (pun sort of intended!)? What is the source and materials used in the Auto trailer please? Thanks and all the best, Castle

Hi Farren, The red frames was purely a preservation thing for No. 4079 - apparently at the behest of Lord Gretton when he owned her and it stuck until she returned to the UK. The frames are now black again. The picture is great isn't it? The grandfather and the kids if you think about it - they are quite different but also share a lot of common heritage. When there is a Stanier designed LMS machine on shed at 81E, it is regarded as a long lost cousin! All the best, Castle

Hi Rob, Those shots are AMAZING! Thanks very much for sharing them with us here. It was great that you were able to follow her journey on the way out to Oz in this way. The thing about her having the fence built round her is news to me and to have photo evidence too is excellent. All the best, Castle

Being on RMWEB gets more like being in a 'Carry On' movie as time goes on... All the best, Castle

Hi Farren, The doctor may have SAID that you were better but love of the GWR is an incurable condition! Will you be having a Castle model there Farren? Ah go on. Go on, go on, go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, etc... All the best, Castle PS: It would be easier to build a brand new No. 4079 but nowhere near as much fun! The great thing is becoming the latest link in a chain that goes right back to the day in 1923 when her frames were machined and laid out.

Hi Farren, What's a millimetre? Just kidding! The tolerances are down to a few thousands of an inch in places but some of it is by necessity a little more 'agricultural' in their allowance. The valve gear for example is very finely made but things like the linkages for opening and closing the damper doors are not so much. You have to be extremely careful when considering tolerances too because for one you have to realise that much of this machine gets quite hot in operation so the expansion rates of materials in very specific applications have been taken into account by decades of Swindon experience. We must also be careful not to make things too tight as we are overhauling a machine that has done nearly 2 million miles in service and is nearly 90 years old. This means that, try as we might, we are never going to totally eliminate all of the wear without renewing vast chunks of locomotive which is not what the project is about. Increasing tolerances in one area can create tight spots in others. As a result a sort of happy medium has to be achieved and common sense applied. By and large however, we stick fairly closely to the original drawings. One interesting quirk of Swindon drawings means that there are sometimes 2 drawings for a part - one carries the dimensions and the other the tolerances! Confused? You will be... Watching a modern engineer ponder over the arcane drawing language of Swindon is one of the joys of the job. An otherwise sane guy who is doing some of the bushes in the valve gear lost it with a drawing on Saturday and the phrase "I've sacked people for producing better work than this - what kind of idiot put the tolerances on another drawing" was heard to float across the works... I hope this helps! All the best, Castle

Hi All, Picture the scene: Steam Security Guard: 'ello, 'ello, 'ello - what's all this then? Castle: Nothing, nothing at all officer. Steam Security Guard: Then why is your jumper that funny shape and currently looks to be tipping the scales at over a ton? Castle: Errrrrrrr..... The only problem with that is - no carpet in the works! I could suggest it - give the place a nice homely feel. That's more of a ride than I've had - I was just a few years old when she left for Australia! Lots to look forward to in the future though. Funnily enough my earliest memory is looking up at a set of shiny red A4 driving wheels at a fairly new National Railway Museum at York. Make sure you come along and repeat the experience when we finally bolt the last few bits back on! We will have to see if No. 4472 is available to play at some point too! Guess who has just discovered the multi quote button? I've only been on here a year now... All the best, Castle

Hi Kev, That is a very familiar view! No. 4073 and No. 5051 are referred to by the No. 4079 Team as 'The Haynes Manuals'... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks for the likes and kind comments - overhauling No. 4079 is really hard but it is also a real privilege so it is really nice to be able to share her with you all. I hope you all get to come and play when she is finished and don't forget that there is a tour for RMWEB types this year of 81E if you would like to come and see her before hand. Hi Mikkel, Thanks for the kind words - she has been on an epic journey and she has now come home - she was based at Didcot in the late 1960 / early 1970s and she now has a permanent home there. It is a privilege to be part of it and it is great that I get to share it too. Hi Miss P, I have always said that the difference between the two hobbies is that our full size charges just come with a great deal more gravity. It is the one thing that scales very badly. Picking up a Castle connecting rod in 4mm scale can be done with tweezers - in 12" - 1' scale it takes 4 strong people to just pick it up! Think about how fiddly it is to line up the crank pins and put the rods on a model and then make your front wheel set weigh 4 1/2 tons... Hi Kev, The casting weighs about 5 cwt and is not only heavy but it is an awkward shape too so it was difficult to handle. It needed to be flipped over to transport it too so it required a good deal of grey matter to get it in and out of the engine and then in and out of the site. It's challenges like this that make the job interesting! Thankfully the big casting - the inside cylinder block - stayed where it was. The other interesting thing in that shot is that you can see the lubrication pipes running from the oil pots on the running plate down to the driving wheel bearings. All the best, Castle

Hi All, The return of the conquering hero... As requested by Kevin from O Gauge Land (!), here is a brief little update of the progress with the overhaul of No. 4079 Pendennis Castle. As with all of these sorts of things, back in 2000, when the fanfares about her coming home subsided it was thought that there would be a quick overhaul and then she would hit the main line with a vengeance. How wrong we were... There were two decisions that were taken with her overhaul early on. The first thing that was taken as golden was that we had to bring her back to life. She is an incredible asset for both the GWS and the nation and as a result, people should have the opportunity to both enjoy and learn from her. We love the work involved in restoring her but we will enjoy sharing the fruits of this labour even more. The second point that was made is that as she didn't go to Barry, the vast majority of her components are original. Wherever possible these are to be restored and reused rather that replaced and there has been great care in ensuring that the historical fabric of the machine is maintained. The vast majority of the work on her has been done in house at 81E by volunteers and that has kept costs down but increased the time required to do the job. The loco has had several major repairs undertaken since the 2000 overhaul started. One of the big ones was here, in the saddle area. This section of the smokebox saddle is a single massive cast iron lump that also incorporates the exhaust steam pipes from the outside cylinders to the two to one exhaust casting that you can see in the photograph below. The flange that this two to one bit bolts up to had broken off and the only way to fix it back on was to remove the casting and then ship it to an outside specialist for repair. Despite the fact that she is knocking on the door of 90 years old, the manufacturing tolerances are such that it took literally two days to take all of the fitted bolts out and lift the casting free. It then took a further day of almost solid and very careful hammering to get it to fit back in place again. Not a job I wish to re-experience... For County fans, the green cab in the background is that of No. 1014. The mechanical side of the engine was in very poor condition and the wear was everywhere. Almost all of the moving surfaces in the engine have required at least attention if not replacement. A fair amount of new white metal has been poured in the pursuit of Pendennis perfection. The amount that goes into a driving wheel axle box has to be seen to be believed! It would certainly keep a 4mm scale model maker happy for sometime if it were made into kits! Liners have been fitted to both the valves and the cylinders and the vast majority of the motion is ready to fit in the not too distant future. Once the liners are bored out, the next item on the shopping list is piston rings. One area where complete replacement was the only option was the injectors. The Australians found that desert temperatures and GWR Injectors were not a good mix and the result was that they replaced them with some Gresham and Craven hot water types. The return to the UK saw the aim to return some of these parts to the engine and as a result GWR style injectors were fitted. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that there are two live steam injectors here. The exhaust injector that was manufactured from scratch for No. 6023 proved very costly and as the one for a king is different from that of a Castle, we would have to undertake this operation from scratch too. It was therefore decided to go this way to get the best from our funds. The rear drag box above it was completely rebuilt as well as 80+ years of water, ash and coal dust had taken its toll. I thought I would show you this view as it is one that only a few get to see. Castle, sans boiler, from above. At the bottom of the picture, you can see the newly fabricated ash pan (on temporary mounts) and moving forward the overhauled brake cylinder and then the crank webs for the inside cylinders on the leading set of driving wheels. Between this and the middle of the exhaust casting will sit the motion and it gives some idea as to just how tightly this is packed into the locomotive! Thankfully a boiler that has been very well looked after in desert conditions needs little overhaul in comparison to some so here at least, we have been lucky. The firebox has had a number of new stays, seam rivets and the various mounting studs replaced but on the whole it has been a relatively pain free experience. You can see the various mounting pads for the cab fittings and the blow down valve and these have been faced off to make them flat again and then greased to preserve them. Along the lower side of the firebox you can also see the studs where the slides that rest on the top of the rear frames are mounted. Now here is a famous face! It once carried such famous signs as Z40, The Birkenhead Flyer and The Great Western Envoy. There must be many suggestions as to what it should carry in the future - I can think of a few... The last non main line 'big ticket' items to be purchased for the locomotive is the smokebox steam pipes. These are all in need of replacement with the exception of the two copper ones in the top corners. This will be a major fabrication job so we are keen to get this one on the go as soon as possible. The problem is we have to take the smokebox off first. While the pressure vessel part of the boiler was found to be in good order, the dry extension (to which the smokebox is riveted) is wasted around the bottom and a section will have to be cut out and replaced. So guess what we are up to in the next few months? The tender is pretty much a done deal and only requires the main line equipment fitting to complete it. It is currently on holiday with No. 5051 while its original Collett tender has repair work done. It to has had much work done to it and this has included complete front drag box replacement and all the bearings and moving surfaces checked and overhauled. As with all of these things, it is just a question of money and time now. There is still a little way to go but we are getting closer all the time. In the next few years, a legend WILL return... All the best, Castle Oh, and there will be a 4mm scale one on the cards this year too - what else would I have pull my Little Didcot super saloons?!

Hi Andy, Ironically something that could have happened to my sort of Castle in real life! I'll get my GWR coat... All the best, Castle

Hi All, I THINK that the small hole is either: 1 For putting a pep pipe through to slake the coal dust or 2 so that the long handles of the fire irons have somewhere to go. But the above of course is a GWR man's interpretation... All the best, Castle

Hi RJS1977, That is a rather nice little guards compartment there isn't it? The picture there will be most useful so thanks for that. That is the issue with these coaches in preservation isn't it? They must be preserved of course but the use for them can be limited. All the best, Castle

Could be a Tool or Riding van too... All the best, Castle

Cheers Mikkel, You learn something new every day... Thanks! All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, The colour seem to be across the board for all the pictures of lifting shop cranes in the Lyons Great Western Engine Sheds 1947. The lower section on dark stone, upper works in light stone. I suspect that nobody has ever repainted the one at Didcot so it would be genuine GWR paint too! All the best, Castle

Hi Kevin, Sorry it took a while to get back to you. I am 'on shed' at the weekend and I will take a few snaps to do a little feature on No. 4079 for you (model coming soon!). The general outlook is rosy though and large lumps of motion are poised to go back up at the moment. Hi RJS1977 I didn't realise either! Funny old world... I don't know what yours is like but the body on No. 111 isn't great but it has the advantage of having the majority of its period interior still in place. The weird thing is that Didcot has No 1 (breakdown train tool van), No. 111 (the K41) and No.1111 (Collett C77 8 compartment sunshine third)! I wonder, is there a GWR No. 11 out there still? All the best, Castle

Hi Polly, Yes - original GWR stone type hues are in evidence here - I imagine they were the same across the board. I THINK it is in the Great Western Way and / or the Shed Book. I will check my copies tomorrow for you unless someone else gets there first... Thanks for the compliment on little No. 111! I hope to see You and Ray again soon. All the best, Castle

Hi Kev, No thanks - creating a County, a Saint and little blue tank engine No. 1 at 81E and not to mention the GWS 47XX project at Llangollen is enough recreations for now... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Duck is getting better... Just a quick photo treat for you all. The boiler removal process that was undertaken just before Christmas last year on Pannier No. 3738 has been reversed you will be glad to know. The boiler passed its post repair steam test last week, has been given the once over and the thumbs up by the insurance company's inspector and we now just (!) have to reassemble the thing so the last 4 years of the engine's current boiler ticket can be enjoyed. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there last Saturday when the boiler was restored to its rightful position but I figured you would all like to see the results. The shiny silver paint is of a special heat resistant type that should help to further prolong the life of the boiler. It does have the look of some bizarre open cab Dean Goods without the tanks doesn't it?! The chance was taken to spruce her up a bit and a bit of paint has been splashed around in all the right places on the frames as well to complete the current face lift. No. 3738 should be up and about again very soon. Out of interest, the grey thing making a special guest appearance in the bottom left corner of the picture is the work in progress 3,500 gallon tender for Saint No.2999 Lady of Legend. I will take another few pictures for you to see as we go along. All the best, Castle

Hi Paul, Many thanks for both the tip and the compliment! I need to get a Y2 FRUIT and an OPEN C from Mr G. in the not too distant future so I may call him up. I do have one more super saloon kit to put in the pending pile for the boat train first though... All the best, Castle

Hi All, Thanks for all the help above. Stuff like this will doubtless help others too. Taz: that K42 is a lovely job - I am still surprised its your first brass kit! It must be natural talent good sir. Thanks for the information. Mikkel: that is most helpful - cheers! It confirms that my order to buy that type as well from Cooper Craft last night was a wise choice! All the best, Castle