4709 moves to Tyseley

Regrettably not under its own steam, but 4709 was last week moved to Tyseley, where removal of the extension frames and assembly of the entire front end is due to get under way immediately.

“The work will include the final assembly and of the front end extension frames, racking plate, all of the racking plate fixing angles, the leading stay counterweight and eventually, fitting of the cylinders” says 4709’s Chief Engineer, Paul Carpenter. “Firstly though, the extention frames will have to be inverted to facilitate the work on the underside. Once complete and the cylinders are in place, the entire assembly will be righted and re-fitted to the chassis.”

“A fully wheeled chassis isn’t that far away now.”

“Meantime, work on the front and rear cylinder covers is also underway. Dudley’s Micron Alloys are working on the castings, which are due for completion shortly. The piston valve covers are complete and are already at Roach Engineering for machining. They will shortly be followed by the piston covers.”

Once the extension frame has been re-fitted, the team at Tyseley will initially have to align the cylinders, as that will for the datum for all the other measurements. Next up will be fitting the hornguides, spring hangers, wheels and axles.

“As you might imagine, it’s a massive job, requires absolute accuracy and vital to getting the whole 4709 project back on schedule as soon as possible.”

The move was successfully carried out by Ray Bowern’s Staffordshire-based Boat Transport and Cranage.