'Wildfowler' at Urmston - steaming issue solved!

As noted in the post of 23rd July, 'Wildfowler' has had a tendency to clinkering in the fire after a couple of hours of running, which restricts steaming.

Today I ran 'Wildfowler' with the new grate, and we adopted a policy of regular raking. What a difference! The loco now 'breathes' far more easily, steams like a witch, and at end of play today, after over three hours of running, showed absolutely no sign of reducing steaming rate.

I think we've solved it!

And we had a lovely day for it, the rain arriving as 'Wildfowler' was loaded into the car for the journey home.




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New grate for 'Wildfowler'

As noted in the last post, 'Wildfowler' has a tendency to clinkering in the fire after a couple of hours of running, which restricts steaming. Clinker is ash from the burned coal, which has liquefied and then solidified. It clogs the grate and prevents sufficient air coming in through the grate bars to keep the fire lively.

We think there are two factors causing this; the grate bars are a little too close together to allow the ash to fall through into the ash pan, so it remains in the firebox to get melted and form clinker, and the fire bars run across the firebox making 'raking through' the ash with the dart less effective than if the fire bars ran front to rear of the box.

I therefore ordered a new grate which we have trimmed to the same size of the original, to address both these shortcomings.

Wildfowler's dampers open (there's one on the other side of the ash pan as well, both controlled by a single lever in the cab). When a retaining pin is removed, the grate drops down on a hinged cradle into the ash pan, and can be withdrawn through the damper opening. 

The new grate halfway in to the ash pan through the damper opening. Once the grate is fully inserted, the grate cradle can be raised manually to locate the grate in the base of the firebox, and the pin inserted to retain it there.

The new grate on the left, the original on the right. Note the fire bars run front - rear on the new grate, side to side on the original. The fire bar spacing is wider on the new one, though that is exaggerated in this picture by the angle it was taken.

The damper in the closed position 

The lever on the extreme right controls the dampers

Next time I run Wildfowler it will be with the new grate. I'll let you know how we get on.

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At Urmston today, with 'Wildfowler'

Today was the second occasion I have run 'Wildfowler' at Urmston since I purchased her following the successful trial described in the last post.

Today, Jason Lau was there with his camera to capture the fun.

Trevor with his Polly tank, Peter looking on 

 Having filled the boiler with water, the capacious side tanks are next.

 Malc finishes oiing round as I fill the second tank.

A face at the window! 

Topping up the first tank (the balance pipe means as you are filling one tank, some water transfers to the other).

 Trevor's Polly and Jim's Beyer Peacock tank on the steaming bays. 

L to R Peter, Bob, Jim, Eddie, Stephen, George, Joe.

 The compressed air powered-blower is in the chimney as we raise steam, me keeping a watch on the fire and willing the pressure gauge to move off the stop. L to R George, Eddie, Malc, me, Peter.

 In passenger carrying service. I top up Wildfowler's tanks between runs.

 Barry on Dave's Black Five in the station, with me on Wildfowler behind.

Malc on the Black Five.

As last week, we noticed Wildfowler was not steaming as well after a couple of hours in service as she was at the beginning of the day. There appears to be clinker building up in the fire box after that length of running, which isn't dropping through the grate into the ash pan and therefore starving the fire of air, so we are going to experiment with a different design of fire grate.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's a video of Wildfowler on the prep bay, blowing off, ready for action: CLICK HERE

A few minutes later we run down the 'take on' track ready to join the main track and begin passenger services: CLICK HERE

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Sometimes, out of left field, comes something you never expected.

It was a very special day for me at Urmston today. I'm expecting the lovely Jubilee next month, but another even more interesting machine has 'popped up' in the interim; 'Wildfowler', a 2.5 inch to the foot 5" gauge model of an 0-6-0 Fowler 2 foot gauge tank engine somewhat in the idiom of the Beyer Peacock engines belonging to Jim and Dave that I have been driving at the club.

On Tuesday I visited Steam Workshop in Heckmondwike to view the loco and I was smitten! Simon, boss at the company, suggested he bring it to Urmston today so we could run it in real conditions, carrying fare paying passengers. It performed fabulously, Dave, Jim , Billy and other experienced Urmston drivers all had a go and loved it, as did Malc and me. Just a few minor 'running in' things to fix, which Simon is sorting.

'Wildfowler' is quite softly sprung which makes for great haulage capacity as the wheels will follow vertical track irregularities and therefore give maximum grip and less tendency to slip under load. But it does mean she 'dances' a bit under way!  A real 'Wild Fowler'; the builder, Walter (see below) knew what he was at when he named her!

When I visited Steam Workshop on Tuesday we were convinced this was a model of an actual loco, not just a 'free lance Fowler'. The 'Fowler' detail in the motion and cab and tank shapes were too specific for that. But we didn't know which loco.

On Wednesday I was at Manchester Locomotive Society (MLS), of which I am a member. I'd noted the works number on the builder's plate on the loco and looked it up in the MLS library copy of Fowler locomotive build list. There it was! No.16991 built October 1928 for Nockton Estates Light Railway, a Potato farm in the Lincolnshire fens, owned by Smiths Crisps.

She worked there until 1930 but proved too heavy for the light ex-WW1 two foot gauge track, so was sold on to a contractor and spent her final years working on reservoir construction in Weardale in the North East. On completion of that project she was put put up for sale, but there being no takers (she was well knackered by then) she was cut up on site in 1938.

Here's the amazing thing - I also discovered that this model had been built by a Walter Fidler of Burton on Trent in 1964. I passed this information on to Simon and a penny dropped; his grandfather had been a friend of Walter. Walter died in 1965 before completing the model, but having done all the 'engineering'. We think Simon's grandfather might have finished it, doing the 'bodywork' (tanks, cab, boiler cladding etc.)

None of this was known when 'Wildfowler' first arrived at Steam Workshop about a year ago in rather tired condition. It found a buyer who paid a deposit and Steam Workshop started work on it, but he had financial problems and dropped out. It was re-advertised and that's when I got involved. Steam Workshop have re-tubed the boiler, replaced the front tube plate, and repainted the engine in a lovely lined-out 'Fowler orangy-brown', inspired by preserved Fowler 'Saccharine' at Statfold Barn Railway.

Simon found Walter's obituary in a 1965 copy of 'Model Engineer' magazine. It states that 'Wildfowler' (named by Walter, 16991 never having carried a name) was Walter's (a noted model engineer) masterpiece. The piece carries pictures of the locomotive under construction.

It is a very beautiful thing of superb quality. I feel privileged to be its next owner.

Here's a link to Steam Workshop's site: CLICK HERE

Here are some pictures. Click on any for a larger image.

'Wildfowler' as she arrived at Steam Workshop

 First peek of 'Wildfowler' in Simon's car as it arrived this morning

 'Wildfowler' on its way to the steaming bays

 Lovely loco! Facing the wrong way for running at Urmston, though. It's a heavy two-man lift, but Simon and one of his guys lifted it, turned it, and put it back on the track.

 It's chunky! It's massive! 'Wildfowler; dwarfs my 'Alfred' on a steaming bay

Steam Workshop's picture of the finished loco

Here's a video of the first fire, and then running at Urmston: 'Wildfowler' video

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