Workshop Days

We run two day workshop sessions about six times per year. The presence of a relatively large group makes laborious jobs relatively painless and surprisingly enjoyable.

There is a wide range of unskilled, semi-skilled and very-skilled tasks which all contribute to the restoration and maintenance of our fleet of locos.

Next Workshop Sessions

Here are likely dates for workshop sessions in the autumn; we expect to be very busy indeed getting Sir Keith Park ready for its first test steaming.

Thursday/Friday 23/24 September
Thursday/Friday 14/15 October (with AGM on Saturday 16th)
Thursday/Friday 11/12 November
Thursday/Friday 9/10 December

You are welcome to visit Herston to work at other times; please let Willie Bath know when you are coming.

New volunteers

With a fleet of 8 locos and a large covered workshop there is going to be something worthwhile for any reasonably fit person to do. Please ring Simon for a chat (01474 833263) and a visit to discuss how you can help us. You do not have to be a shareholder in order to volunteer.

Recent activities

The 10-11 June workshop session was well attended, with most work being devoted to Sir Keith Park's boiler.

SKP boiler stay   N Wren boiler

Parts of the inner wall of the firebox have been cut out for replacement, revealing boiler stays in various condition.

To remove a stay the exposed heads are flame cut off, the surface is ground smooth and then the old stay is drilled through. Nick Wren uses a centre punch before drilling.

The 22-23 April workshop session went well. Work on the new tender continued, and the spring hangers for the driving wheels of Sir Keith Park, were fitted.

Sir Keith Park spring hanger   SKP tender

The spring hangers were fitted to Sir Keith Park. Note the grooved plates above the spring and below the support bracket, which allow a small amount of movement.

The internal structure of the new tender for Sir Keith Park is now complete. Note how little space the coal occupies compared with the water.

The 18-19th March workshop session was very well attended, with several new faces joining us. The main springs were mounted on Sir Keith Park, the left hand piston was prepared and fitted, and remaining piston valve components were prepared for fitting.

team Thompson   SKP main spring

"Team Thompson" spent two days in the bowels of Sir Keith Park installing the six main springs, each of which weighs around 200lbs. Tim Cheeseman (centre) and Malcolm Garner (right) had not worked at Herston before but seemed to enjoy it.

Each set of springs needs to be man-handled into place underneath the loco, then raised into position with the help of a block & tackle, a lot of shoving, and occasional profanity.

The January 2010 workshop session saw the fitting of the coupling rods to Sir Keith Park and further progress on its new tender.

GT filing 34053 coupling rods   Sir Keith Park coupling rods

Geoff Thompson, chairman of Southern Locomotives Ltd., makes a final adjustment to the bearing surfaces of Sir Keith Park's coupling rods.

Getting three sets of driving wheels exactly in line, joining the front and rear coupling rods, lifting them into position on the three wheel studs (with a clearance of a few thou), then doing the same again on the other side, is a good morning's work.

The December 2009 workshop session was very well attended and progress was achieved in many areas of Sir Keith Park.

Sir Keith Park frames   Sir Keith Park Tender

Derek Upshall fabricates the cross-members of the new tender tank to be used with Sir Keith Park, which is being built from original Brighton drawings.

Within the frames of Sir Keith Park, volunteer Ray Evans prepares the studs for the middle cylinder cover