Engineering notes

By Tony Massau

The full time staff at Bridgnorth are continuing with firebox work and also some machining work on the injectors and the water control valves. Stephenson Engineering at Atherton have completed their work on both valve spindles and both crosshead arms which connect the union link to the crosshead. Stephensons have also made all the tapered washers for the ends of the transverse stays which protrude through the outer firebox and are secured by a nut.

Annual General Meeting

By Chris Proudfoot

In the wake of last month's notification that the AGM has been cancelled, a member emailed me to suggest that we have some sort of Zoom meeting as a tide-me-over until we can have a proper one. He said that members need something to assure them that all is well.

I think this is a good idea, but I'm terrified of Zoom and all that sort of stuff, so if any kind soul out there could spare me a few minutes to explain, in words of one syllable, how you go about doing this, I'd be very grateful. I have a pc and recently bought a plug-in microphone for it, so I suppose that's a start.

It is thought that one reason Neanderthal Man couldn't compete with our direct ancestors was that he developed his technology to the point at which it answered his purposes, then didn't bother to update it. For about 150,000 years. Well, I can sympathise with that, so if you can help me with Zoom I will be for ever in your debt.

82Xxx in BR Service

Thanks to my friends Neil Evans and Ivan Whitehouse, I now have a nice - and growing - little pictorial library of the BR Class 3 tanks in BR days, and will include one or two in each month's updates. This month's, from Ivan, caught my eye not because it's particularly attractive but because it is thought-provoking.

The scene is Bath Green Park shed, and 82041 is keeping company with a shockingly neglected BR 2-10-0. 82041 was allocated to Bath from early 1959 until withdrawal in December 1965, but the state of both locomotives suggests that this shot was taken towards the end of that period. Of course, we all know that many BR locos were sent for scrap with indecent haste, but these two still had years and years of useful life in front of them. If I had to single out one class whose early demise was a crying shame, it would be the magnificent 9F, and if ever there was a candidate for a strategic steam reserve, then surely this was it - two hundred of these splendid locos, along with five hundred Black Fives and five hundred 8F's.

Are there any more you'd like to add? Please let me know: I realise I'm giving away my prejudices with my own choice!

Thanks, Ivan, for the pic. The copyright owner's name can be seen in the bottom left-hand corner, but I can't make it out entirely, so do please get in touch if you can help me here.