We are steaming on Sunday 2nd December on our home track at "The Grange Community Centre" at Hurworth from about 10am until 12.30. Hopefully we should be running the new electric train .

The Comsol solder appears to have been successful. The boiler has now had its first pressure test at 2 times working pressure and has passed this test. The cladding, new insulation and fittings have now been refitted and it is now ready for its next test at 1.1/2 working pressure to test the fittings. If this is O.K. then the engine will be rebuilt ready for a steam test. Watch this space. ... See more

The boiler manufacturer who made the boiler for "Lady Margaret" has declined to attempt a repair for the same reasons that we had anticipated i.e. it could cause leaks on the rest of the tubes and turn the whole thing into scrap.
Plan "B" is now about to be attempted. That is to get the tube as clean as possible using an acid bath and lightly grinding the joint then to use "Comsol" solder to repair it. Comsol has quite a high melting point (296) but not as high as silver solder (420+) therefore we may be able to repair the small weep on the one tube without disturbing anything else.
Watch this space. ... See more

As well as our monthly meeting last night, we also had a guest speaker. We regularly have guest speakers at this time of year and the subject of the talks is quite varied and often has no implication to model engineering.
Last night's talk was given by a Physics teacher/tutor and the subject matter was regarding his visits to the CERN Hadron Collider.
He has been there a few times for various activities with students and gathered a lot of information regarding this facility.
I don't intend to even try to explain the workings of this unit as anyone wanting this information can access the site to gain comprehensive information.
Suffice to say that he kept the physics and science to a minimum and delivered a fascinating talk.Only one of our members was close to nodding off but he usually does.
If anyone is interested in this subject and wants to book this lecturer for similar talks then leave me a message on here and I'll get back to you. ... See more

We had one of our regular monthly meetings last night. On the whole,the club has been running well and our bank balance is quite healthy. The only problem that we have at the moment is a hydraulic failure of one of our steam engines.
Anyone visiting our home ground at Hurworth over the coming weeks or months will notice that "Lady Margaret" will not be available.
This engine was due it's hydraulic test and when the test pressure reached one and a half times its working pressure, a weep was noticed from one of the boiler tubes.
We have a lot of experienced members in the club and a number of them have built their own boilers in the past and it's hard enough to silver solder all of the tubes into the end cover with brand new,clean copper. This boiler is now 9 years old and although we could probably do a decent job of cleaning and descaling the exterior of the offending tube, it is impossible to clean the inside surfaces and the heat required for silver soldering will possibly melt the internal crud and contaminate the joint. We also know from experience that the temperature required to try and repair one tube can have a knock on effect on the adjacent tubes so that you are chasing leaks.
Our decision therefore is to consult with the original manufacturers to see if they can repair and certify this boiler. If this is not possible then we may have to purchase a new unit, bearing in mind that nine years ago, this boiler cost £1500. Hopefully with new technology and techniques it won't come to that.
Watch this space. ... See more