Engineering notes

The machining of the manganese liner plates is now finished and they are being checked for for the fit on to the horn blocks and horn guides. Machining of the brake hanger brackets has commenced.

The various stay bars have been made for the footsteps. The injector support brackets, which are located behind the cab footsteps on the fireman's side, have also been made.

Wheel Appeal and General Funding

The launch of the Wheel Appeal earlier this year has proved to be very successful, largely thanks to the appeal leaflet which was distributed in SVR News and also as a result of the feature article and full-page advertisement in Issue 401 of Steam Railway.

At the time of writing, we are well on the way to having the necessary funding for the driving wheels to be cast, and Tony will shortly be seeking competitive quotes for this job. At the same time, we are conserving funds for the pattern-making, casting and machining of the cylinders (see December 2012 Updates), which should be completed by the end of this year/early next year.

In order to prevent "leakage" of monies reserved for specific stages of the project, we have organised our funds into a series of ring-fenced accounts under the Trust's umbrella. This makes it easier for Chris to plan ahead and ensure that the necessary cash is always available when it is needed. This is one of the reasons why regular payments by standing order are so valuable: we can predict, with reasonable accuracy, approximately how much money will be in the kitty at any given time. Thank you so much to all of you who are contributing in this way (and, of course, in any other).

Readers who have not yet decided to go down the road of setting up a standing order with their banks are earnestly entreated to give it their consideration - please join us and add your strength to ours, so that you, and we, will have an engine we can be justly proud of. Looking into my crystal ball, here is a snatch of a conversation heard on Platform 1 at Bridgnorth, circa 2017:

"Wow, Grandad, that's a smart little engine!"

"Certainly is, son, and I helped to build it!"

Raffle winners 2012

1. Ian Lovatt , Gloucester
2. A C Walker, Bournemouth
3. Mike Smith , Stafford
4. K Marchant, Tetney, Lincolnshire
5. Mrs S Poxon , Brownhills near Walsall
6. Mrs Lillian Cook , Sheffield
7. Maxwell Smith, St Albans
8. Mrs C A Goodwin, Birmingham
9. Gerry Bennett, Cheltenham
10. E Heaps, Durham
11. David George, Corwen
12. Mrs K Arnold, Timperley Cheshire