Small Prairie 4561 Restoration diary
Progress reports from Williton, Minehead and Lancashire, with photographs, from 2020 to today.
4561’s boiler leaves for Lancashire
Today Small Prairie 4561’s boiler departed Williton for Lancashire where it is being entrusted to the care of Riley and sons who will dismantle, assess and then overhaul…
Plans to restore both 4561 and 80064
We have confirmed that the WSRA plans to restore both 4561 and 80064 to steam on the WSR, with the work being done at Williton, as far as…
Pony trucks back on their wheels
Work on 4561 continues steadily at Williton and we can now bring you some of the first images of the pony trucks on their wheels Words and pictures…
Pony truck re-wheeled, and a tribute to Mike Johns
We are delighted to be able to bring you an update on progress on 4561. It’s been a long and very quiet year, whilst Trustees work through some…
Pony trucks painted and axleboxes test fitted
Words and pictures by Josh Chivers Both pony trucks have now been top coated and axle boxes are started to be test fitted onto the axles. We’re looking…
Cylinder cladding finished and pony truck straightened
The festive season was rather busy and the blog was a little sidelined, so here’s an update for the end of last year and the start of this…
Riveting the frames and straightening the pony truck
Another week and another update of work on the locomotive. Words and pictures by Harry Spencer The second axle box has now got its white metal. The first…
Running boards, axlebox white metal and a bent pony truck
This blog entry gives a sample of the work that has been going on in the background in recent weeks, despite delays with suppliers and other issues beyond…
Wheelsets re-profiled at Tyseley
Progress has been limited over the past 3 months while waiting for the three coupled wheelsets to be machined and returned from Tyseley. Words by Mike Johns. Photos:…
Piston castings, delays and cylinder cladding
It’s been a while since the last update. The delays have been for several reasons including longer than expected lead times for supplies, other work and the impact…
New piston rods and heads needed; slide bars fitted
A problem was found when the second piston rod was set up for machining. In the picture it is shown with a square standing on the piston head.…
Axlebox liners, cylinder cocks and piston rods
A welding procedure was devised to satisfactorily repair the cracks previously found (see 9th August). Work continued on the horn faces of the 6 coupled wheel axleboxes ready…