1863 Mountaineer Locomotive Project

Welcome to the latest edition of the 1863 Mountaineer newsletter.

There’s a real sense of momentum as we continue to make steady progress on both the locomotive and the tender.

With key components arriving, expert hands at work and a clear plan ahead, each step brings us closer to seeing this historic engine brought back to life.

Building the Tender Frame

We have taken delivery of some remarkable 200-year-old recycled oak, which is ready to be used in constructing the tender frame. With photographs of historic FR tenders and advice from Will High of Boston Lodge, we have finalised the design.

The wheelsets are already assembled and new sprung axleboxes have been cast and machined. So we’re ready to begin.

Our neighbour and experienced joiner, Ken Gales, will be machining the timber and assembling the frame.

Conrod Challenge Update

Those of you who contributed to the Conrod Challenge years ago, will be pleased to hear that the four connecting and coupling rods were delivered to NHE Darlington. These are the final major parts required to enable the machining and erection of the power train, (pistons, piston rods, slidebars, crossheads and slippers) all of which we already have the materials bought and paid for.

We still need to machine bearings for both the connecting and coupling rods but we’re fortunate to have original George England versions to model from. This work won’t happen overnight, as there’s the usual queue for machine operator time at NHE but rest assured, we’ll get there.

The first step will be to remove the rear cylinder covers and machine the lands for the slidebars. After that, we’ll prepare the said slidebars for the oilways and finalise their setup. We have all the materials required to make pistons, piston rings and piston rods – the major expense for this stage of the build will be labour (and more labour). This will demand heavily on our funding.

Support the Next Stage

To help keep things moving, we’re inviting sponsorship of the nine timber baulks at £100 per length. Once the tender chassis is complete, we’ll move on to bodywork.

If you’d like to sponsor a section of the tender body, either in part or in full, please do get in touch.

Mountaineers Welcome!

Fellow Mountaineers and supporters are more than welcome at NHE Darlington. Whether you’ve contributed, followed our progress or are just curious about the build, you’re warmly invited to visit the locomotive in person.

Don’t forget to follow ‘1863 Mountaineer New Build‘ on Facebook and ‘Northern Heritage Engineering’.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Yours,
David RC Wood (Chairman)
07712 584821