The GCR 567 Locomotive Group has released a short update on the work being completed to see 567 in steam.

In March, the mainframes of the locomotive moved to a new temporary storage site in Rugby.

Back in October, the current home of locomotive, the GCR at Ruddington, agreed that they no longer had the capability to set and rivet the frames of the locomotive.

Discussions are continuing with 4 sites for this work, but the group’s favourite at the moment is CTL Seal in Sheffield.

Manufacturing work on the rear dragbox is continuing at Enterprise Locomotives in South Yorkshire.

Both sides of the fabrication were completed in February and the assembly has been stress relieved and now has been machined to ensure a sung fit.

The overhaul of the cylinder block is the next item to progress. A site in South Yorkshire with a large borer, which will be used to machine out the cylinder block valve chest corrosion, was available to the project when they are ready.

The bogie frame plates have been delivered to the group’s Crofton site, which has been agreed that this would be the next priority to complete for the project.

The horn guides and tie rods have now been machined along with the completion of the bogie wheels, this means that the centre casting, springs and spring hangers are now the main elements standing in the way of the group having a rolling assembly.

Progress has been made on the driving wheels, with a draft model and drawings now at an advanced stage. Discussions with the pattern maker are now taking place for a quote for the 6ft 9inch driving wheels.

Talks have moved on to the boiler, and discussions have taken place with a number of suppliers. 567’s boiler will need to be CE marked and there is only one approved body available in the UK currently.

With this knowledge, there is now a sense of urgency to finalise the design to support a full project completion in the next 4-7 years.

If you would like to support the 567 Group, you can do so over on their website.