Overhaul update
The news this week centres around the boiler as you will see.
The boiler's large tubes have been moved into the boiler shop preparatory to installation along with ...
… the small tubes. The blackened ends of the tubes indicate where they have been annealed (softened by heating to red heat and leaving to cool) ready for expanding into the front tube plate after installation.
Here we can see that all the small tubes are in place in the boiler but have yet to be expanded into their holes. (Note that the boiler is lying on its left hand side)
An unusual view of the small tubes loosely in place as seen through one of the large tube holes in the front tube plate.
In the main shed could be found the superheater header almost ready for hydraulic testing - all of the super heater tube mounting holes have been blanked off with suitable plugs held securely in pace by the lengths of square bar, studs and nuts. The mounting flage which bolts On the front of the main steam pipe can be seen at the front, also with a suitable blanking plate in place. The brass fitting (just above the 13268 number) is where the test rig will be connected.