Engineering notes

The patterns for the new chimney and the vacuum ejector exhaust ring, which bolts to the base of the chimney inside the smokebox, are complete and a price for casting is awaited. The rear end covers for the cylinders have been cast and delivered and a price is awaited for casting the front end covers.

The smokebox front ring and the wrapper have been drilled in preparation for riveting together although we propose to attach hinges and other bits to the smokebox door whilst everything is lying on the ground and easier to work on.

Various parts of the cab structure have arrived from the laser profilers in flat pack kit form. The steel work for the roof now has to go to a bending company to be shaped and prepared for the sliding vent section.

The machining stage of the axleboxes preparatory to whitemetalling is complete whilst machining of the keeps for the pony wheel axleboxes continues. Machining of the bearing brackets for the brake shaft is also in progress.

Publicity and Fundraising

The article and appeal in the latest issue of SVR News have produced a good response from the wider membership of the Railway, with several thousand pounds in donations and new standing orders received to date, and a number of new members, to whom we wish a hearty welcome to the Trust.

I can't say "be a part of something amazing", since the group building the P2 have made this memorable slogan their own. Nevertheless, those of you who have decided to support 82045 can feel with justification that you are playing your part in creating a little bit of history, both in the annals of steam railway preservation in general and in particular in those of the SVR, which looks set to be the first British standard gauge heritage line to be able to boast that a genuinely new steam loco was built on its premises. Our own slogan - "Practical Steam for the 21st Century" - sums up our aim better than anything I could have thought of, and was the idea of our self-effacing webmaster, Paul Bennett. Very many thanks for this, Paul, as well as for everything else you do for us, and don't you dare delete this! [I've been persuaded not too! :-)]

Following discussions with one of the leading hobby magazines, I am looking forward to a further burst of publicity, but we need to keep our powder dry for the time being and I can't say any more just now. If anyone is curious, he or she is welcome to get in touch with me at the usual email address or by phone.

The boiler appeal continues to make excellent progress, though the first inroads have been made into the bank account thanks to the need to pay for components of the smokebox assembly. We will easily exceed the £200,000 target for 2015 taking this into account, and I anticipate that Tony will soon be able to report to you that work has started on the firebox and boiler barrel: we await news to this effect at the time of writing. Thank you so much to all of you who have helped make the appeal so successful.

Of course, while all this is going on, it's necessary to keep your eye on the ball in regard to other aspects of the build, and I am working on a strategy to finance the engine's motion, which is going to be the single most expensive item (or set of items) apart from the boiler. For this reason, I would like to offer a number of components for sponsorship, and some of these are detailed in the following paragraph. I've said before that existing income streams will cover the remainder of the build to completion, but what has to be avoided at all costs is a cash-flow crisis - i.e., will the money be available at the time it is needed to pay the bills?

Sponsorship

Thanks to the generosity of two members, we already have the connecting rod forgings and these await machining. This month, I would like to start by offering the largest component of the motion (well, actually there are four of them!), the coupling rods.

Please forgive me if I am stating the obvious, but the connecting rods ("con rods" as they are universally called) are the big, tough jobbies that connect the crosshead and slide bar (little end) to the driving axle (big end) and thus take the full force of locomotion. The coupling rods join the leading wheelset to the centre wheelset and the centre wheelset to the trailing wheelset. Each coupling rod will cost around £5,000 for the forging, and offers are hopefully invited for the following:

• Driver's side (left hand) leading rod
• Driver's side trailing rod
• Fireman's side leading rod
• Fireman's side trailing rod

Please get in touch with Chris if you are interested in sponsoring one (or more) of the above. Thanks!