Atomic Systems

Looks like a mighty bit of damage done.

See the top bit - 14th March.

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/tw/index.htm

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/gala0309.htm


Any idea what happened, must have caused a mighty bang!

Well,It is a mighty big damage!I wonder,i think there is one way that could happen,when you don't open the cylinder cocks on startup!Well one steam loco down from damage

Hmm, maybe, she was very worn out tyre wise I know due to being worked hard but she has only just passed annual boiler check which is typical!

Luckily for the MHR, they have Lord Nelson now and Bittern is not on the main line much this year so they will still have a second locomotive, could have easily just had Wadebridge for a while.

dgraw wrote:Hmm, maybe, she was very worn out tyre wise I know due to being worked hard but she has only just passed annual boiler check which is typical!

Luckily for the MHR, they have Lord Nelson now and Bittern is not on the main line much this year so they will still have a second locomotive, could have easily just had Wadebridge for a while.

Wadebridge is based at the MHR... but both 850 "Lord Nelson" & 34007 "Wadebridge" are booked to attend the Eastleigh event. During this event the MHR are due to run a two steam loco service, with just Bittern there could be problems.

I very much doubt the problem was caused by worn out tyres. Ian Riley has posted this on another forum:

The picture of the damamge is identical to that suffered by the B1 in Fort william a couple of years ago due to hydraulicing, However the 73096 damage has been attributed to a detached core plug, so there will be a history of severe 'knocking' from that side of the locomotive on recent drivers tickets.

73096 was due to be withdrawn next year anyway for overhaul. So now this has happened, it could mean that will be it from 73096 on the MHR. As she is owned by John Bunch and his loco agreement expires in 2014, 73096 and all the others he owns will probably leave that year.

73096 was due to be withdrawn next year anyway for overhaul. So now this has happened, it could mean that will be it from 73096 on the MHR. As she is owned by John Bunch and his loco agreement expires in 2014, 73096 and all the others he owns will probably leave that year.

Well the U Boat that is currently being put back together is his as well and thats staying, I would say this will be fixed super quick and she we will be back running before you know it

the u boat is gonna be a while because from wot i've heard from my last shed day dwn there was tht the boiler hasen't even been touched!!!!!!

73096 was a shock, i was firein nelson tht day and we were stuck at alton for about 2 and a half hours!!!! before things got rollin again. When we heard tht she failed, we reckoned tht she had jst run hot or a super heater element had gone (again).

Tom

Sorry, I was just talking to somone about U Boats and wrote it when i meant to write Black 5 !! Anyway, heres hoping MHR can sort things in their normal professional manner, Ropley Works is well up there is respect terms

Yes, all seemed to be recovered very well though so well done to them.

I have a basic conception of how steam engines work. However, from my time in a destructive test laboratory, I can say that looking at the damage there very significant forces were involved indeed.

Presumably, the entire that cylinder was at medium to high pressure so the noise would have been tremendous. The force required to bend metal like that is significant and when it lets go it makes a thunderclap seem insignificant. If it was at low pressure then I would assume the damage was compounded by the fact things were still moving after the initial rupture and mechanical damage completed the initial failure.

Having seen a 900 Psi hydraulic line let go from 50 yards away I can say it was a life changing moment. The fact it chopped a steel cabinet in half was somewhat educational.

mjt222 wrote:Well the U Boat that is currently being put back together is his as well and thats staying, I would say this will be fixed super quick and she we will be back running before you know it

mjt222 wrote:Sorry, I was just talking to somone about U Boats and wrote it when i meant to write Black 5 !! Anyway, heres hoping MHR can sort things in their normal professional manner, Ropley Works is well up there is respect terms

The U Class is owned by John Bunch and will operate probably until 2014 before she moves on elsewhere, she is being restored because the loco agreement states one of his locos must be operational at the end of the agreement in 2014.
The Black 5 is not owned by him, she is owned by The Mid-Hants Railway Ltd, who also own 35005, 75079 and possibly Douglas & Thomas.

If you look on the national preservation forum under the MHR gala thread there is good discussion on the incident, and people seem to have a good knowledge of what and how it happened.
Someone even managed a picture of the bit that fell of on the line side.
It was the first service of the day so pressure must have been rather high but it may have been slightly lower than normal?

In case your interested this video is up provides a good account. Didn't here a big bang as expected so I assume it just 'fell off' instead off taking off.
I read somewhere that they are going to repair it instead of letting it run out of ticket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFDWpaC9OIM

Poor thing.

dgraw wrote:In case your interested this video is up provides a good account. Didn't here a big bang as expected so I assume it just 'fell off' instead off taking off.

There were bangs, but as the person filming was near the back and has wind blowing into the camera, it doesn't pick them up.

Someone who was either on the loco or riding behind it has said this:

just a sudden big bang followed by 2 smaller bangs, a large cloud of steam and a large chunk of metal flying down the bank.

So i doubt it just fell off... specially as the cylinder remains ended up near the fence.... there was some great force making it go that far.

And i wouldnt believe where you read she will be repaired instead of left until it actually happens. She is a Bunch loco that was due to be withdrawn next year. A new casting for a cylinder is an expensive job, specially if the loco is so close to the end of her ticket. As i said before, Bunch's agreement with the MHR expires in 2014, so there would be little point in overhauling her.

Very painfull stuff indeed.

As it is a John Bunch engine, I highly doubt it will be overhauled (particularly since 41312 has just joined the queue - not sure where it sits with respect to the black 5, the 9F, the U and 35005).

However it wouldn't surprise me if they had to provide a new cylinder casting when they hand it back.