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Here is another update from Richard Pearson following the progress of Tornado’s winter overhaul.  All photos by Richard Pearson. In order to ensure we have the funds available for No. 60163 Tornado’s overhauls we need to raise in excess of £250,000 each year. Our Covenantor scheme – an A1 for the price of a pint of beer a week – raised the funds to build Tornado and now provides the essential support to keep our locomotive in tip-top condition. If you are not already a Covenantor, we would be delighted to welcome you on-board, from as little as £2.50 each week, to ensure we keep Tornado on the main line where she belongs. Our Covenantor forms can be found here including a registration form (including a Gift Aid declaration) and a standing order form which can be completed and returned to Darlington Locomotive Works.

The refurbished boiler belly bottom door, ready to be re-installed.

With the arrival of the new ‘O’ rings the work on the exhaust injector was completed.  The first picture shows it back in one piece and on the bench at DLW. The second picture shows Ian Greenan and Nik Proctor fitting the injector.  Access to the injector isn’t the best - one man needs to work in the pit under the engine while the other works from outside.  Lifting/jacking the injector up into position was made a little easier as the engine and tender weren’t coupled together.  And we all now know why the BR Standards have the injectors on the outside!

Oceaneering International Services Ltd visited again, this time to MPI the boiler repairs.  The picture shows the weld being tested on the RH rear corner new boiler washout door aperture.  No defects were found.

In preparation for reassembling the engine, all the copper pipes were annealed, and have all been polished.  Nik Procter has put many hours into polishing the pipes, but here we see James Pearcy polishing one of the injector steam pipes.

The team then drained out the old oil, and cleaned and examined the cylinder mechanical lubricator.  The lubricator itself was fine, but we did find a fault with slack in the drive mechanism.  The slack was allowing around three inches of movement of the main drive before giving drive through the ratchet to the lubricator, therefore reducing the stroke and the amount of oil being delivered to the cylinders.  The fault was traced to a loose key in the main drive shaft, the key was badly worn and was rolling in its slot (see the second photograph).  A new key was manufactured and fitted, and the drive to the pump improved.  Our oil consumption should now increase back to normal levels!  The sight glasses have also been cleaned and a letter ‘F’ added to the scale which now provides an indication of when the lubricator is full.  This should hopefully prevent overfilling.

The boiler Safety Valves were returned from LMS, where they had been undergoing their annual inspection and overhaul.

The boiler passed a hydraulic test in front of Andy Wright, the boiler inspector from British Engineering Services.  Andy reports that he is very happy with the boiler and following the hydraulic test he agreed to sign the boiler off until 2025, subject to successful annual inspections. Andy returned on 27^th February to carry out a final in-steam inspection.  The pictures shows the fire grate being refitted - prior to the work to refit the lagging cladding and pipework, with crane is booked for the refitting of the cab.  Steam tests to follow!