Having had people working hard at Toddington to get the loco chassis ready to receive a steam-tested boiler, it is especially disappointing to report little progress so far with work on the boiler, due largely to quite extraordinary circumstances.

A chance telephone call to Chatham Steam in April revealed that they were being forced to re-locate their business by the end of the month, and after a hurried search they had settled on the old RAF airfield near Detling, some ten miles from their old site.  Needless to say, the upheaval stopped work on just about everything.  The move was made entirely at their expense, of course, but it doesn't reduce the frustration at the lack of progress especially since, unusually for a restoration project, shortage of cash for the boiler work is not a problem!

As soon as we heard that our boiler had been moved, we paid a visit to the new site, accompanied by a list of the items we've delivered there over the past year; thankfully everything seems to have arrived at the new site safely.  We were told that they hadn't checked the contents of a small pile of storage bins, where some of our studs and nuts were kept, as a swarm of bees had taken up residence and we declined the offer to check the parts ourselves!

The move to Detling has given us some information that will be very useful when the boiler finally returns.  When it left Toddington, it weighed around 18 tons.  Fully tubed, it's now up to 23 tons and the superheater assembly will add a further 3 tons or so to the weight.  Add in the chimney, petticoat pipe and sundry other fittings, and we will be looking at about an extra 10 tons added to the original weight, and suitably larger cranes for the lift on to the chassis at Toddington.

Anyway Chatham have recently re-commenced work on the boiler, and almost immediately found a problem.  The sealing rings we had supplied for the superheater header didn't fit properly, and in order to ensure that we had the correct solution to the problem we made up a dummy superheater header in the workshop.  A second set of rings was machined to match this seat, then the rings were rushed down to Kent to keep the job going.  The set that didn't fit can be re-worked and used on the opposite ends of the main steam pipes.  Imperial sizes of nuts and bolts in the correct grade of material are now becoming so scarce and expensive that we have decided to make a new set of dome cover nuts ourselves; Chatham Steam will be supplying and replacing the studs.

Every cloud has a silver lining, so they say, and the delay with the boiler has allowed us to undertake more work on the chassis between the frames, which we had expected to have to do with restricted access once the boiler is back in place. We have spent some time getting the inside eccentric rod to fit nicely, blueing up the bearings and mating surfaces to achieve a satisfactory fit.  The resting pad for the rear boiler foot (removed last time) has been cleaned up and is ready for repair.  The fixing holes in the chassis have been reamed to the next size up and are ready to take new fitted bolts.

On the tender, the long job of cleaning up the underside of the tank has continued, with the area around the water sump receiving most attention.  All the machining on the water sump casting has now been completed, and the shut-off valve has been fitted in place.  A lapping tool had to be made in order to cut the valve seats; the valve head is double sided and seals to a face in the "open" and "shut" positions, avoiding the need to pack the valve spindle.  When finished, the valve head blued up nicely, indicating a good seal.  The valve controls the water outlet from the tender so that the trap door can be opened and the filters removed, inspected and cleaned as necessary, without the need to drain the whole tender tank.  Another outstanding job on the sump was to machine the trap door and make the retaining mechanism; the last task remaining is to make a set of runners for the filter elements, and weld them in position.

Finally, it is always useful to receive advice from other restoration groups.  We had been advised of problems that can be encountered on newly restored locomotives, when debris from work on stays and inner firebox plate work accumulates between the stays and on the foundation ring in the water space.  If left undisturbed, this debris can cause a hot spot to develop in the plate work, leading to cracks forming.  A quick inspection of the foundation ring of 35006's boiler showed that all is clear.