With Christmas over and a well-attended New Year Day steamup now past it's time to look at the jobs to be done before the start of the new season, the main one of these being the replacement of some of the firebox stays on the Marshall.

For those who might not be so knowledgeable on the subject a short guide to the importance and replacement of boiler stays (not the things your granny used to wear!): a boiler stay is a piece of metal which separates the outer layer of the firebox from the inner layer and reinforces it against the pressure of the steam. As the sides of the firebox are flat it helps prevent the boiler pressure from bulging them out as would otherwise happen with possible drastic results. A stay consists of a long threaded bar which is screwed through both layers, then the ends are rivetted over to fix them in place.

Back to the boiler: to get at the stays it would be necessary to remove the rear wheels from the boiler, but this would not be possible in its current place due to the feed tank and its concrete base being in the way. No problem, just move the boiler forward 6 feet. Not quite as easy a job as it sounds: we have to move 10 tons of boiler with 20 feet of chimney sticking up and NO BRAKES!

(I have a cunning plan....) Several ideas were mooted which usually involved a vehicle of some sort towing the boiler forward, however the stability of the boiler with its chimney up was doubtful, moreso if we were to subsequently jack up the back and remove the wheels. Firstly we would have to lower the chimney again, not too onerous a job with the right hiab, then slowly pull the boiler forward using a turfer winch. Once clear of the various obstructions we could jack up the firebox end and remove the wheels. How? Somewhere under Harold's nicely silver painted hubcaps was the answer. Our next mission was to remove a hubcap and see what lurked beneath.

It is doubtful whether the wheels had been looked at this closely for more than 30 years. Nobody was certain if there was a screw holding the hubcap on or whether it screwed into place, or how the wheels were fixed to the axle. Ian brought out his oxy-propane cutting torch and heated up one of the front caps and surprisingly enough it unscrewed quite easily, revealing that the wheels were held on by a collar and pin. Our job just got a bit easier. By the end of the afternoon the boiler had been disconnected from the pipework, the hubcaps removed, gauge glasses removed for safety and -with the exception of removing the railings from the front of the boiler- all was ready for the big move.

Update

Turn your back for five minutes and somebody finishes the job! While I was sunning myself on the remoter reaches of Dartmoor, Ian hitched his Land Rover to the Marshall and with a bit of help from the winch pulled the whole thing forward the required distance. The back wheels were then removed and the boiler blocked up ready for the boiler bashers to do their stuff. More next month hopefully!

On a side note, the restoration of the Bridgwater gasworks Sturtevant turbine pressure raiser has taken a step forward. Two things remain to get this running as it should: replacing the rotted leather diaphragm on the governor and making an orifice plate for the fan outlet to give some back pressure to operate the governor. A suitable piece of rubber has been obtained to form the diaphragm and the governor can now be finished off. It will be interesting to see this machine running properly.

Andy

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