What will the Ashpan look like?

On 18th September 2011, I visited the Teifi Valley Railway (a round trip of 280 miles) to examine the only other double engined Sentinel loco in the UK.

Sentinel 9622 at Teifi Valley Railway 18th September 2011

Sentinel 9622 is looking a bit sorry for herself at the moment but is due to be put through a thorough 10 year overhaul and back into service before too long. It last ran on the Gwili railway around 2007.

A lot can be learned from examining other similar locos. 9622 is substantially different from 7109 as it benefits from 31 years of development. More perhaps in another article; however, one of the main reasons for the visit was to find out about the construction of an ashpan. Whilst drawings depict what is to be made, sight of the real thing really helps in understanding what's required.

Having said that, whilst 9622's ashpan matches the drawings, 7109's will have to be different as there are only four mounting points as opposed to the five shown here.

View from above

Cut-outs to allow air to the fire

This ashpan has clearly been used and the metal thickness is not as new.

View from underneath

Flap for emptying ash (1)

Flap for emptying ash (2)

A short chain is used to support the bracket so that the flap does not open too far.

Flap hinge close-up

Eagle-eyed observers will be wondering how the damper works. A fire is damped by reducing its air flow; this can be done either by stopping the air getting into the fire or stopping it from getting out. The Sentinel method is to place a flap over the top of the chimneys so there is no inlet damping.

7109's chimney flaps and operating handle