Sentinel 8590 'Elizabeth'

On Monday 3rd September 2012, I did something I'd wanted to do for a long time: to have a ride on the Sentinel Steam Bus at Whitby, Yorkshire, on the east coast of England.

Elizabeth (1)

Possibly the only Sentinel Steam waggon still earning a regular income for its owners, 'Elizabeth', Sentinel Works Number 8590, departs for a trip around Whitby about every 20 minutes or so from near the eastern end of the northern quayside. (She is easy to find).

Elizabeth (2)

Built in 1931, Elizabeth is a Sentinel DG6P (Double Geared, 6-wheeled vehicle with Pneumatic tyres). But I mustn't steel the thunder here - have a look at Elizabeth's own website for more detail; it's a fascinating story.

Elizabeth (3)

There is also a facebook page on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth (4)

From the terminus, Elizabeth starts a steep climb from the quayside up to Whitby's higher levels. Not my best video but you get the idea. (Also on YouTube).

If you ever get the chance to visit Whitby, firstly beware of any vampires and secondly, make sure you seek out a ride on Elizabeth; you won't regret it.

Many thanks to Vernon, Viv and Andy for a brilliant Steam Bus experience!

Which Browser?

Good question!

As Sentinel 7109's 'blog author, I'm able to see various statistics relating to how Sentinel7109.blogspot.com is found via the internet, the country readers are based in and which browsers are being used (and quite a lot more).

By far (on 27th March 2012), Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser for this 'blog, then Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera and a few other contenders.

Stats Extract 27th March 2012

I do all my 'blog writing using Chrome with an occasional check to see that it's working properly on Internet Explorer. I've never looked at it with Firefox or Safari but did try briefly with Opera.

I was an early convert to Chrome and found it speeded-up page loading and transitions quite dramatically. Microsoft then released IE9 which uses graphics processing on PCs where it can to speed things up. Despite this, IE9 seems to me to be simply 'clunky' compared to Chrome; I'm find it keeps me waiting and wondering which bit will appear next and where on the screen.

I guess this is not too complementary to IE9 but it's my observation. So if you want to enjoy Sentinel 7109's adventures more smoothly, have a go with Chrome which is downloadable from http://www.google.co.uk/chrome.

My brief use of Opera was also very encouraging although Vista crashed on me and, after a Windows restore, I never saw Opera again! I haven't tried Firefox or Safari (I'm trying not to over-fill my Laptop with junk!). I now also use Windows 7 (64 bit).

In case you might be wondering if I have any connection to Google or Chrome - absolutely none whatsoever! I'm just wanting to make my 'blog more pleasant to use and Chrome works well for me.

Sentinel 7109 - A 28-ton Mistress?

I'm told (honest) that a mistress can take a lot of time, money and attention to keep happy. "Joyce" (Sentinel 7109) is certainly expertly fulfilling this role!

This week, 'blogging the restoration of Sentinel 7109 led me to a whole new aspect of the restoration that I had not really thought much about before.

No comment!

Nigel, co-owner of 7109, kindly volunteered me to give a talk to the 82D Model Engineering Society group in the Wiltshire town of Warminster. About 20 knowledgeable members attended the evening and, judging from conversations afterwards, seemed to have enjoyed the event.

Simon Bowditch, chairman, thanked me and commented that it was the most detailed description of the workings of a Sentinel locomotive that he had ever come across.

My content included 7109's history and reasons for being at Midsomer Norton; details of the Sentinel boiler, superheater, chimneys, engines, feedpumps and chains plus additional material on other Sentinels and models. I interspersed a few video clips to provide variety from the pictures only. I also passed around some supplementary pictures and texts and brought a few of Joyce's renovated components for interest sake. The talk lasted about 1 hour 20 minutes including discussions on the way arising from audience questions.

So, having done it once, I have the basis to tailor the talk for other societies should they be interested. Please leave a comment with a phone contact number below if you would like to invite me to give a repeat performance.

Many thanks to the 82D society for inviting me.

Between the Lines

Welcome to all who've found my Sentinel 7109 'blog from the link address on the back of the superb new S&DRHT newsletter 'Between the Lines'.

Well done, in particular as there is an extraneous '1' before the 7109 where it shouldn't be in the 'blog address! Oops Mr Proof-Reader!

Inter-Telegraphy: Lines, wires, poles (even Road possibly!)

I've accumulated quite a lot of information since May 2011 with the aim of recording the restoration work partly for my own reference and partly for anyone else interested in Sentinels or for anyone who's interested. I'm an engineer so no apologies for the postings being about Sentinel loco engineering and construction. No apologies also for drifting off-subject from time to time!

To find your way around, click on 'A Warm Welcome' to get started. Any text in blue is a link to either 'blog content or something else. Who knows what you might find?

Sentinel 8571 restored by the Salvage Squad

Sentinel 8571 at the SDC 'Noggin & Natter' 25th April 2009

Some time ago, I heard about a program in the Salvage Squad series which featured Mendip Steam Restorations Ltd repairing a Sentinel Waggon boiler for Waggon 8571. This is the same company that has also done the repairs to Sentinel 7109's boiler. Tony Thomas, the records' officer of the Sentinel Drivers' Club, also appears.

To my great satisfaction, I recently found the program by accident on YouTube!

It's split into four parts which can be run from the links below. It's a fascinating program and includes many challenges in common with Sentinel 7109's restoration.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Same day, same venue

Same day, same venue (same caption!)

Another Special Welcome...

... to all you garden-geeks arriving from VegPlotting!

(NSW, Non-Steam Wife) is still clearly generating a lot of traffic to Sentinel 7109. So here's another little gem of a posting especially for you!

Midsomer Norton won many competitions for best kept station and particularly for its horticultural efforts. As well as the greenhouse, there was the 'Sun, Moon and Stars' astronomical garden creation between the station building and the roadway.

In this 1922 photo, the garden is clearly in good order.

Midsomer Norton Station 1922
(Courtesy Richard Dagger Collection)

However, at the start of 2002, the garden was in a very sorry state with the area only mapped-out and not seemingly too fertile!

1st Jan 2002

1st Jan 2002 again
Note the appropriate sign beyond the buffer stop!

By the middle of 2005, the garden had been put back in place creating a reasonably authentic reproduction of the original. (Note - when the Silver Street bridge was removed, the area for the Sun, Moon and Stars was also cut-off in its prime; hence the new garden is actually slightly smaller than it used to be - but that's progress!).

7th July 2005 has the garden in place
and a steamy thing inhabiting the background!

Jumping to 2011, the Sun, Moon and Stars are resplendent in bright colours and a credit to the volunteers who look after it.

30th August 2011 

30th August 2011 again

Keep up the good work!

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.

Sentinel 8843 - A different sound of steam

Coming off the rails for a posting, the more I discover about Sentinels, the more interesting they get. In answer to a request earlier in the year, I was invited to spend Saturday 16th July 2011 at the Langport, Somerset, steam rally paying particular attention to John Goold's beautifully restored Sentinel Steam Waggon, works' number 8843.

Who's the happy-chappy in the passenger seat?

Built in 1933, it is a S4 type (meaning shaft-drive, 4-wheeler) with three-way tipping gear (left, right & centre).

Unlike Sentinel 7109, 8843 has a four cylinder, single acting steam engine (2-stroke) driving the rear wheels via a shaft and axle-mounted differential. Sentinel Super waggons before the 'S' type had two-cylinder, double-acting engines and were chain driven with the differential as an integral part of the engine's crank-shaft.

I was able to have good explore of 8843 during the day but what caught my attention was the engine ticking over in neutral gear. I'd always thought that steam engines were permanently linked to their driving wheels but here was not the case. I was also interested by the sound of the engine; having my camera with me, I used it to record the engine ticking over. Initially it is in late cut-off (starting), then shortly after it starts, the middle (intermediate speed) cut-off setting is selected then finally the late (fast) cut-off setting. Note how the sound changes before it finally stops. (Also on YouTube).

Listen rather than watch (the paint is already dry!)

Even more interesting is that this engine sounds far more like a diesel engine than a steam engine yet there is no internal combustion here!

Whilst out on an evening trip on the roads around Langport, I was sitting just behind the cab and able to catch the 'bark' from the chimney. This next video clip is of 8843 starting from rest and changing gear (cut-off) as it accelerates. (Also on YouTube).

Listen rather than watch (the paint is still dry!)

What also impressed me was the turn of speed. Although 8843 struggled a bit on the hills, on the flat it had no trouble getting to 40mph or so and apparently it can do quite a lot more! I always thought vehicle were pretty slow in the 1930s; clearly Sentinel had produced an advanced, modern vehicle but still propelled by steam!

A special welcome...

... to arrivals from VegPlotting.

(NSW, Non-Steam Wife) has clearly been generating a lot of traffic to Sentinel 7109. So here's a little posting especially for you!

2011 Greenhouse at Midsomer Norton Station

Sentinel 7109 lives at Midsomer Norton Station, near Radstock, Somerset, UK (BA3 2EY). This particular station was always characterised by its greenhouse which was situated next to the signal box. Station staff used it to cultivate all sorts of produce (which, in those more gentle 1950's days, there was time to do between trains).

1959 (Photo: Eric Rimmer (SDRT Collection)
from Alan Hammond's Heart of the Somerset & Dorset Railway)

The line was closed in 1966 and most of the station including the greenhouse was dismantled. In September 2003, the scene looked as in the picture below.

September 2003 wasteland

In 2005, work began to bring the signal box and greenhouse back to life.

October 2005

June 2006

January 2007 (with Graeme Mayes perched on the roof)

May 2007 (My name is on one of the roof-tiles as are many others
who sponsored the tiles at a pound a time)

June 2008 externally complete but no greenhouse

Magically stepping forward to 2011, the greenhouse is complete to accompany the signal box. Produce is being grown again and sold to raise funds for the project as a whole. So Garden Bloggers and all, do come and visit us at Midsomer Norton Station any Sunday and enjoy all the sights and sounds (and cake) that are on offer.

May 2011 Greenhouse and Signal box complete in all their glory