Legends of Steam™ - LOCOMOTIVE 3801

Express Passenger Locomotive 3801
— entered service in 1943 - now undergoing a full mechanical overhaul

3801 Project Update

31 December 2009

3801's frame continues to be stripped of its components — some to be overhauled but all to be throughly cleaned. The frame itself is being brought back to bare metal, by hand, with special treatment being applied to areas of light corrosion.

Peter Di Michiel and Matt Lee are preparing to remove the pedestal liners. These phosphor bronze castings line the frame's 'horns' or guides, against which the axleboxes slide. One of the later activities will be to 'set-up' the frames to ensure accurate alignment of the driving wheel axles and to do this, it has been necessary to have the pedestal liners reconditioned, by lightly and precisely machining their surfaces.

A pair of pedestal liners on the workshop floor. For each axle, the leading liner is fixed to the frame, while the rear liner has an inclined surface on its back face, allowing adjustment to take up wear.

Volunteer Graham Hope uses a needle-gun to cut back rusted areas of the frame at the cab end. Followed by wire-brushing to bare metal, corroded areas are coated with a rust-converter solution, then primed and painted with engine black.

The view from inside the smokebox looking back along the top of the engine frame. All of this cleaning was accomplished by hand, over a period of weeks by the Project's volunteers . The main air reservoir, which is cast integrally with the main engine frame, can be seen.

Although most of the cleaning done on the frame was achieved with scrapers, wire-brushes and needle-gun, the Project Team has been fortunate in borrowing the new steam cleaner from the Rail Heritage Centre™ at Thirlmere. This has enabled much more rapid cleaning and is very effective at removing stubborn grease and other encrustations.

3801's 7”-80 cross-compound compressor is receiving a thorough service. This view shows the steam-end of the compressor while the photograph below shows the combined steam and air piston rods on the workbench with their respective piston packings.

The intermediate, or tender drawgear pocket, was assessed as requiring replacement. The original item was a steel casting, but has been replaced by a welded steel fabrication of equal strength. This image shows the pocket being prepared by a contractor for installation in the tender underframe.

Now installed, the pocket was secured to the leading edge of the tender's underframe with 'fitted bolts', which are tightly forced, or driving-fitted, into their respective holes.

As well as a new pocket, the unit-drawbar and safety-drawbar are being replaced from original items held in stock at the Rail Heritage Centre™ at Thirlmere. Here they are seen undergoing non-destructive testing to ensure their integrity before use.

Enquiries &
Telephone/Fax
Reservations

Phone	02 9379 1110
Fax	02 9379 1063
e-Mail	info@heritageexpress.com.au
Online Reservations are fast, secure & easy - just follow this u 'Buy Tickets Online' link displayed on the Tours & Events pages of this web-site. All bookings are accepted in accordance with our Terms & Conditions.

NEW SOUTH WALES
RAIL TRANSPORT MUSEUM
telling the NSW rail story
— rail heritage conservation,
experiences & involvement

The trademarks, logos and service marks ("Marks") displayed on this web-site are the property of the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum — ABN 25 000 570 463 (NSWRTM) — unless specifically noted as being the property of other third parties. Users are not permitted to use these Marks without the prior written consent of NSWRTM or such third party which may own the Mark.

© New South Wales Rail Transport Museum 2007-2010
— NSWRTM is a registered NSW charity, since 1971 —
photographic contributions to this web-site are credited here.

HERITAGE EXPRESS™
the tour operating arm of the
NSW Rail Transport Museum
— operating the NSW rail heritage fleet