Deep in my past...

... I sometimes wonder how I got into restoring a steam loco in this day and age. There is, however, a clue from my family history.

My paternal grandfather, H. Albert Chapman, was at one time employed by W. H. Yeatman and sons Ltd of Poole, Dorset, England. Amongst his duties at the time was delivery of goods using the company's 'van' or, as appropriate to the 1920s, the Steam Wagon!

The wagon was a Garrett overtype and is listed in the comprehensive volume: Garrett Wagons, part 1, Pioneers & Overtypes by R. A. Whitehead (ISBN 0-9508298-5-4).

Stoker 'Tubby' Hibbs and Driver H Albert Chapman with BJ-1882
(Picture courtesy G M Chapman, date & location unknown)

The specification of the wagon was as follows:

• Garrett works number 31925
• Factory despatched 8th December 1913
• 3-tonner
• Superheated
• Piston valved
• Non-tipper
• Fixed sides
• Hinged ends
• Cast steel wheels
• Rubber tyres

'Tubby' Hibbs and H Albert Chapman (seated) with BJ-1882
(Picture courtesy G M Chapman, date & location unknown)

I know nothing of 'Tubby' Hibbs from the pictures or his family. My grandfather lived his final 30 years with Disseminated Sclerosis. Undaunted by the affliction, he continued to work from his wheel-chair in his backyard workshop sharpening saws, mowers, shears and anything else that was blunt using mainly tools that he'd made himself! He died in 1975 at 84.

W. H. Yeatman & Sons Ltd, I have been stunned to find, still exist in Poole although their business has somewhat digressed from its activities 100 years ago.

There is an old family tale that H Albert Chapman was the first person ever to motorise a straw baler by mounting it on the back of an old Morris car chassis and driving the baler mechanism with a belt and pulleys from the prop-shaft. It was never patented but my dad went on to become a patent agent. I wonder if he was conscious of a connection!

So, with that lot in my past, I guess it was inevitable that H Albert Chapman's heritage was going to find me out one day and Sentinel 7109 just happened to be there at the right time!

Postscript

After I first posted this article, I was telephoned by Anthony Yeatman who was very pleased to see the photos again and for the reference to his company. He explained that  W H Yeatman & sons Ltd is one of the country's oldest companies still run by its original family owners.

Meanwhile, G M Chapman, daughter of H Albert Chapman, my aunt and supplier of the photos, started to dig in her cupboards for any other related photos and came up with these two.

Tubby Hibbs (left) and H Albert Chapman (right) foreground
(Picture courtesy G M Chapman, date & location unknown)

And before the steam lorry...
(Picture courtesy G M Chapman, date & location unknown)

I had to work hard digitally with the original pictures to make them presentable. Hope you agree it was worth the effort.

How do I support the restoration?

The easiest way to support the restoration of Sentinel 7109 is by using Paypal to donate. For this you will need a Paypal account which can be arranged through the Paypal website. All you need to do then is click the Donate button below and the rest is easy.

Another simple way to support the restoration of Sentinel 7109 is to donate to the project by writing a cheque made out to "Sentinel 7109" and either handing it to the Midsomer Norton station shop assistant or sending it by post to:

Sentinel 7109 Restoration project
c/o Midsomer Norton Station
Silver Street
Midsomer Norton
Radstock
Somerset
BA3 2EY

Don't forget to include a phone number, email or contact address so we can thank you.

Offers of engineering skills are of course welcome (please)! Just post a comment below and say how you would like to help.

And finally...

...there's always these (or the modern equivalent)!

Trailing Engine's Boiler Feed Pump Valve Regrinding

The last episode left the inlet and outlet valves in need of a quick regrind. The process is simple and requires only a little fine grade grinding paste and a screwdriver to rotate the two halves together.

The rotation action is backwards and forwards in a two steps forward, one step back arrangement with the two rubbing surfaces never being allowed to stay in the same place for long. Otherwise the surfaces could stray from being flat and a good seal would only take place when the valve and seat had a particular position relative to each other. This would be clearly undesirable so hence the continual back and forth rotational movement.

Inlet Valve being reground.

After grinding, the remaining paste must be removed from all surfaces so that the paste does not get where it shouldn't during the pump's operation. I used Duck oil and a cloth to wipe away the residue. Paraffin is actually recommended but I didn't have any. However, there did not seem to be any residue remaining!

Inlet Valve

I did the inlet valve first and the result is below (apologies for slight lack of focus).

Inlet valve after the regrind
Deposits on the valve have gone and
the marks on the seat are lessened

At this point I spotted a problem which I had not previously noticed but was there all the time. The cap over the valve had clearly been over-tightened at some time sufficiently to break it apart.

Cap viewed from the side/below

Cap viewed from above

It had been tightened so much that it had pressed the centre section through so that the outer rim would seat but the whole piece would not seal. Whilst there would be little consequence to the pump operation because there is an outer cover to hold it in place, it has been remade to avoid any further trouble from it in future.
The original cap seems to have been made from gunmetal; however, a 1.5 inch diameter piece of brass rod has been machined for the new one.

Old and new

I decided to mill a groove across the top to enable the cap to be rotated. With valve grinding paste between the mating surfaces, it can now produce a good seal. At first I didn't think that water escaping into the cap cavity would be important; however, it could possibly act as an air bubble in the system and hence reduce the effectiveness of the pump (which was designed to work with an incompressible fluid). So I've convinced myself it will be better as a result!

Needless to say, the outer cover which holds the new cap in place should only be delicately 'nipped' tight to avoid further destruction!

New valve cap installed

Outlet Valve

The outlet valve was reground in a similar manner to the inlet valve.

Valve deposits removed compared to before

Seat deposits reduced

The outlet valve is now ready for action.

200HP Pre-war Sentinel Locos (1)

Sentinel 7109 is a 200 HP type; however, Sentinel also produced various other 200 HP types before they settled on the 7109 configuration. One such type proposed was the double centre-engined type shown below. However (see comments below the posting), this type was never apparently built although others were (but I don't have diagrams for them!).

Double Centre-engined 200 HP Locomotive

The front engine was intended to be linked to the front axle and the rear engine to the rear. Those specified to be low geared (and hence high torque) also had their engines locked together to prevent wheel-spin on one axle.

Compare this to Sentinel 7109 with its engines at the front (and check the comments below).

Sentinel 7109 - A balanced double-engined 200 HP locomotive

Both the types and others could be built with double gearing; however, 7109 is only single geared.

Cab Repaint

Wednesday 10th August 2011 saw more work to tidy up the cab before parts become inaccessible with the boiler reinstated.

Red paint is now getting everywhere...

...Left....

...Right and...

...Centre!

And who's idea was it to do a 'Banksy' of a road railer on the RH window?

Progress continues!