Construction of the new P2 commenced in February 2014. After a huge effort gathering data and creating 3D CAD drawings it fell to James May, of Top Gear fame and a friend of the Trust, to make the first component, the smokebox door dart. James applied his engineering prowess in crafting the component at the front of the locomotive that secures the smoke box door shut.
On 21st April 2014 the frame plates that were to become No. 2007 Prince of Wales were rolled. The rolling of the frames, traditionally the point at which the locomotive is deemed to exist, took place at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe. The frames were profiled there on Wednesday 21st May 2014. The process was started by Ben and Tim Godfrey, the grandsons of Sir Nigel Gresley.
By the end of May, Bakers Patterns of Telford had produced sixteen polystyrene patterns for assorted frame stays, horn guides and brackets for No. 2007. These were produced by CNC machining solid blocks of the material directly from the 3D CAD drawings, thus saving a huge amount of time and money.
The frames plates went for milling and drilling at Boro’ Foundry at Stourbridge. The main frames were set up on the large Elga Mill and the top surfaces machined first. The process ensured that they were to become the most accurately produce locomotive frames ever. At the same time the tender frames were machined as well.
Following delivery of the patterns, the coupled wheels had been cast at William Cook Cast Products and the Tornado patterns for pony, Cartazzi and tender wheels and the coupled wheel hornblocks had also been delivered.
Frames delivered to Darlington, doubler plates welded on, the frames erected on stands and Cartazzi frames bent and added.
Caratzzi frames fitted, frames rivetted together.
Tyres ordered from Ringrollers in South Africa via Railway Wheelset and Brake Ltd. William Cook Cast Products sent the coupled wheels to Pattinsons for proof machining.
Machining of frame stay castings was underway at North View Engineering Solutions at Darlington for the smaller components.
Work continued apace on the manufacture of sundry components for No. 2007 including the rear dragbox. William Cook Cast Products were busy churning out castings, some produced using patterns for components in common with Tornado.
A total of 24 frame stay and hornblock castings had been machined ready to fit to the frames. Using some of the 1,065 driven and fitted bolts and self-locking nuts for frame assembly that have been delivered by Hawk Fasteners at Middlesbrough, these kept the team busy until the larger fabricated frame stays start to arrive.
The frames had been aligned and many further brackets, stays and gussets ‘wet assembled’. The canon box castings had been delivered from William Cooks, as had the wheels from Pattinsons.
Further progress had been made with the footplating and driven bolt work. The machining of the coupled horn blocks was nearing completion. The cab “flat pack” had been ordered and the curved plates were in the process of being rolled or press-braked into shape. At South Devon Railway (Engineering) the smokebox door was pressed using formers.
The cab components had been delivered and assembly started. The plate work for the smoke box had been ordered. Timsons Engineering at Kettering started manufacturing the smoke box door frame – a complex shape being made by CNC machining from a piece of 90mm thick boiler plate. North View Engineering Solutions at Darlington completed machining of the front boiler support and the pony truck top centre castings. At DLW progress continued with permanent assembly of the frame stays and brackets, and on forming and fitting the footplating.
Wesley Atkinson at South Lincs Foundry completed the pattern for the Kylchap double chimney. The fabrication of this pattern and the cores has consumed many man hours and pattern making is one of the biggest expenses in the casting process. At DLW the cab had been set up on the footplate. Work had started on fabricating the driving wheel splashers.
The proof-machined wheels were delivered to DLW before being sent on to North View Engineering to have axle bores finished and keyways slotted. The smokebox was assembled.
Progress continued to be made on the manufacture, delivery, machining and fitting of the larger frame stays. The furniture for the smokebox door was fabricated and many small parts made and fitted.
Creating the half-round beading for the cab involved an ingenious process by which square sections of sandwiched metal were turned to the correct ‘almost’ half-round profile before being shaped and fixed to the cab. The cab was (re)assembled after fitting the beading round the cab edge. In April 1935 the cut-out at the back of the cab side of No. 2001 was reduced to accommodate the fitting of bucket seats – this is the style adopted for No. 2007.
The smokebox was making good progress with the covers for the superheater and anti-vacuum valves made and fitted. Attention then turned to making and fitting the smokebox door details including the hinges, centre boss, lamp bracket, door knob and handrail. Curved plates were delivered for reinforcing the lower part of the barrel, and to make the distinctive smoke lifting plates. With the door fitted the smokebox was placed on the frames for a visit by the Gresley Society (who sponsored the smokebox).
All the frame stays were now permanently bolted in except for the front boiler support which shares bolt holes with the outside motion brackets. The front sections will remain temporarily assembled until the cylinders and outside motion brackets are fitted. The smoke lifting plates had been added to the smokebox and buffers and whistle added for the annual convention.
The Trust used the latest 3D CAD and 3D printing technologies to assist in the manufacture of components. New patterns are required for steam valve hand wheels. As several hand wheels are needed, wooden patterns would normally be the chosen method, however as all the components for Prince of Wales are being drawn in 3D CAD, the opportunity has been taken to use up-to-date manufacturing methods in the form of 3D printing.
Hornblocks and liners were fitted to the frames, the final machining of the last frame stays was under way at NVES. The plain axles had been delivered from South Africa and machining of the canon boxes was progressing well.
“It’s that man again!” – James May returned to DLW to create the ‘slacking cock flange’ which connects the high-pressure hose (slacking pipe) to the boiler and controls the volume of water used to wash away coal dust on the footplate of a steam locomotive.
The Trust placed a £142,500 order with I D Howitt Ltd of Crofton, West Yorkshire, for the assembly of the locomotive’s tender frames. Ian Howitt was a major contractor during the construction of No. 60163 Tornado, working both at Darlington Locomotive Works and in his own workshops and was responsible for the assembly of the almost identical tender frames for Tornado from 2005 to 2007. Multiple components continued to be delivered to DLW including the superheater header.
The sandboxes were being assembled at DLW and fitted to the frames. At SDR(E) the crank axle was assembled.
It was announced that Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd would assemble the tender tank for No. 2007. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust agreed to provide a number of Cleveland Bridge apprentices with the opportunity to assist in building the locomotive, providing them with experience in a different engineering environment. At DLW good progress was being made on the construction of the framework that would allow the boiler crinolines to be created.
As a start was made to manufacture the cladding to fit around the boiler, a third group of engineering apprentices from Virgin Trains joined the team in DLW to help with the construction work. The first finished wheelset arrived back from SDR(E), the Cartazzi axle.
The completed crank axle was delivered to DLW and most of the boiler cladding had been completed. The smokebox was now fitted with all its furniture.
The crank axle had its bearings fitted and one of the main stays/spring brackets. With the wheelsets progressing well it was decided that the frames would need to be lifted and the jacks were placed accordingly.
The decision was taken to seek an Assistant Engineer to expedite production of drawings and, following a recruitment process carried out in collaboration with Teesside University, we were pleased to welcome Daniela Filová, from the Czech Republic, who started with us on 17th January. Assisting David Elliott, Daniela was making good progress with the manufacturing drawing for the cylinder covers and had also proved useful on the shop floor!
The three coupled axles had arrived and the leading coupled axle set up to press on its bearings. There had been some more progress on cladding and Daniela Filová had been producing manufacturing drawings on a regular basis. The air pump which arrived in kit form was reassembled and sent with its twin plus various ancillaries to Meiningen for overhaul.
Work concentrated on fitting the bearings to the axles and preparing the axles and wheels for transport to the South Devon Railway for assembly. On 14th March Allelys collected the driving and pony wheels for delivery to SDR(E).
Down in the West Country, South Devon Railway Engineering was making good progress assembling the wheelsets. Meanwhile at Ian Howitt’s works, dozens of parts had been machined and assembly has started on the tender’s frames.
The spectacle frames had been CNC machined from leaded gunmetal (bronze) castings by Durham Precision Engineering, the glazing retaining strips laser profiled from 6mm brass sheet by Holme Dodsworth of Newcastle. 20.5mm thick multiple laminated glazings with an anti-spall coating on the inside were made to comply with current railway group standards by Romag at Consett. Ian Matthews had been producing the fiendishly complicated compound curvature for the junction of the firebox cladding and that of the boiler barrel.
Work continued at South Devon Railway (Engineering). The tyre fitting was being done using the ex-Swindon works tyre heating equipment. The quartering machine can bore crank pin holes or turn crank pins (if already fitted) from both sides of the wheelset at the same setting; provided the setting is not altered whilst swapping wheelsets, this ensured that the distance between the crank pins and the axle centres and the angle between the crank pins is consistent for all four wheelsets which is vital for smooth running of the finished locomotive. At DLW a start had been made on fitting the cladding to the frame in place on the locomotive.
By the start of the month the cladding had been fully fitted to the framework and an impression of a P2 in original form began to emerge at DLW. South Devon Railway (Engineering) had by now completed the wheelsets and delivered them to Darlington Locomotive Works.
By the time of the 2018 Convention the boiler cladding was complete and design work on the pony truck was complete enough for a (wooden) dummy truck to be assembled with the wheels in place. An order had been placed with DB Meiningen for the boiler and a £350k order placed for the locomotive’s electrical system.
The cylinder design was now well advanced and the first cylinder components had been delivered, the cylinder cover castings. The three cylinder cover castings which were made from Spheriodal Graphite Iron were produced by H. Downs & Sons foundry in Huddersfield from a pattern produced by John Hazlehurst of Swineshead near Boston.
By the spring of 2019, the superheater header had been finish-machined and delivered to Darlington ready for testing. Daniela had completed the pony truck FEA analysis and shown that it was unlikely to break! The new trial turbine wheel for the turbo-generators had been completed and an arbor and attachment cone were made to enable it to be dynamically balanced. With a total of four quotes to build the tender tank, we were near to making a decision on which supplier to select. Unilathe at Stoke on Trent delivered the three plain tender axles but were still working on the fourth, alternator axle.
We had received the first of the two outside motion brackets and following inspection, these were fitted to the frames. The last of the frame components in the form of the remaining 10 spring hanger brackets were ordered from North View Engineering Solutions. The casing for the new belt driven alternator prototype had been fabricated by North Bay Railway Engineering in Darlington. After protracted delays, the pony truck cannonbox is back with Timson Engineering at Kettering for final machining following replacement of some of the manganese steel wear plates.
Following delivery of the final tender axle the complete kit of parts including wheels, axles and alternator pulley wheel were despatched to South Devon Railway (Engineering). It was a very busy period for No. 2007 Prince of Wales as the boiler cladding and its jig had been removed so that the motion brackets and leading boiler support could be fitted and to provide access for pipework to be fitted. Work on the tender was progressing at a good pace with the frames and base plate at I D Howitt, at Crofton.
Alan Parkin redrew the cylinder drain cock gear to replace the original cable-operated arrangement with actuating levers. The pre-fitting of the tender tank baseplate to the tender frames had been completed at Ian Howitt’s works at Crofton near Wakefield where a total of 96 blind nuts had been welded to the baseplate. The baseplate was then returned to North View Engineering Solutions in Darlington where the erection of the tender tank was proceeding rapidly.
The first boiler plates had been formed at DB Meiningen and the superheater elements created. In addition to progressing the tender tank NVES were also fabricating the Kylchap blastpipe tops. Both motion brackets and the forward boiler support were now permanently bolted on bar three bolts on each side which required the outside brackets to be countersunk in-situ. The tender was complete enough for Ian Matthews to be able to apply some of the half-round beading that is such a feature of it.
The tender tank, grit-blasted and ready for paint, was delivered to Darlington and united with the Trust’s recently acquired accommodation bogies. Work had commenced on producing the heavy motion at Stephenson’s. The leading coupling rods had been forged whilst the intermediate and trailing rods had been heat treated and machining commenced.
Good progress had been made but DLW was now affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. Work continued although at a reduced pace. In order to ensure social distancing for our full-time staff, our volunteers had been asked not to attend and visits to the workshop were suspended. Trial fitting of the spring hangers had been completed and the driven bolts and cold turned rivets manufactured. Ian Matthews riveted the final balance weight plates to the intermediate coupled wheels. Meanwhile Meiningen had made good progress with components including inner and outer firebox backplate pressings, CNC machined safety valve seating blocks, smokebox tube plate rings and flanges for firebox backhead fittings.
The machining of the heavy motion was yielding results with the connecting rods being milled at Stephenson’s and coupling rods forged. The pony truck frame was making progress at North View Engineering Solutions in Darlington. The main elements (frame and steering arm) had been fabricated and parts for the crosshead machined. Further progress had been made with the tender frames and conspicuous progress with the tank. Ian Matthews had completed the filling and following priming and much rubbing down applied undercoat to the back and sides and black gloss to tank top, coal space and underside.
We had the profiles for the “shelf” under the back of the cab. When fitted to the frames, the shelf completed the frame structure and enabled Ian to start fitting the electrical trunking under the cab. Great progress had been made with the boiler, all the major components were on hand, the first boiler (the spare for Tornado and Prince of Wales) was starting to look like a boiler. The boiler for No. 2007 was scheduled for delivery in December 2021, optimum for preparing it to be fitted to the locomotive around the middle of 2022.
In addition to the two intermediate coupling rods, we now had the two fully machined leading coupling rods which Ian Matthews fettled and polished to the same standard as the intermediate rods. Meanwhile, Stephensons had almost completed machining the trailing coupling rods. The inside connecting rod had been forged and the outside connecting rods were not far behind. Triple T at Newton Aycliffe had now delivered all the complicated Y shaped brake hangers which have necessitated CNC machining which meant that we now had all the main components for the engine brake rigging at DLW.