LNWR Heritage has released an update on the overhaul work that is ongoing to steam locomotive No.60532 Blue Peter.

For those that aren’t aware, 60532 Blue Peter was purchased by the Royal Scot Locomotive & General Trust in October 2014 and has been stripped down to be assessed by engineers.

Frames

The mainframes have been descaled to allow an NDT, or Non-Destructive Test, test to be completed. This is a way to highlight any potential areas that could have cracked.

Unfortunately, the centre cylinder block was cracked. This required a replacement to be made. A local foundry has weighed the old one and has cast a new one using drawings from the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust due to the similarities between A2 60532 Blue Peter and A1 60163 Tornado. This has saved time and money compared to making a new one from scratch.

Patterns for the six new valve liner castings have been made ready for production, this equates to two for the new cylinder block and four for the outside cylinders.

Loose rivets from the mainframe lap joints have been removed and replaced, these were found at the rear of the cylinder block. Loose bolts have been taken from the driving axle horn blocks and work has begun on re-bedding the horn block to the frames and the fitting of new bolts.

The centre frame stretcher, which is used to carry the brake cylinder, has been removed. This required attention to the corroded areas caused by a poor design which allowed it to hold water.

Outer rivet heads are now being dressed in the tyre region. This is to ensure clearance between the rivet head and the tyre.

Boiler work

Work is progressing with the boiler. This has included the manufacturing of a new inner and outer firebox with only the copper and steel throat plates being kept for use. The copper throat plate is currently receiving new lap inserts to remove any life expired sections.

A new copper tube plate and new front tube plate have both been manufactured.

Blue Peter’s boiler barrel has had new sacrificial plates fitted, where needed.

A new foundation ring has been fabricated with a new ash pan, which is nearing completion.

The original drawings for the A2 are being further reviewed for the production of a new tender tank, smoke box, and smokebox door.

To address gauging issues, new safety valve pads have been manufactured that will allow the valves to sit lower on the boiler, thus ensuring that they fall within the gauging profile.

60532 and the BBC

The association between 60532 and the BBC TV Programme, Blue Peter, is still ongoing. The BBC have been filming the overhaul. The first in a series showing the overhaul of Blue Peter was aired in 2017 on CBBC.

The first part focused in on Blue Peter presenters, Barney Harwood, and Radzi Chinyanganya, moving the locomotive from Barrow Hill Roundhouse in Chesterfield to Crewe. Lindsey Russell then picked up the story by assisting with the locomotive’s strip down.

The BBC will now be filming at the LNWR workshops throughout the overhaul, and the return to steam in the future.

The future?

There is currently no completion date set for 60532, and there are no firm plans on which locomotive will be overhauled after Blue Peter. These will be announced in the future.

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