'Day & McMahon Steam Technical Services' Era Work
A number of very successful projects were undertaken including under this banner:
Investigation and implementation of water treatment in conjunction with M&S Water Services for the following railways:
Vale of Rheidol (VoR), Ffestiniog (FR), Snowdon Mountain (SMR), Welshpool & Llanfair (WLLR), Isle of Man (IoMR)
Redraughting locos with a Kylchap exhaust system:
VoR No.8 (believed to now be removed)
VoR 2-6-2t No.8 in the rain at Devils Bridge. In addition to the Kylchap exhaust No.8 was further modified from GWR/BR days with conversion from vacuum to air braking and the fitting of a taller cab better suited to people taller than 5'. August 1997
Redraughting locos with Lempor exhaust systems:
WLLR No.14 (one time Sierra
Leone Railway No.85)
WLLR 'Sir Drefaldwyn'
WLLR 'Countess' (GWR No.823)
A Lempor exhaust for VoR No.7 was designed and manufactured but not fitted.
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Shaun & Nigel's initial work at the WLLR was so successful that the entire fleet has been redraughted. The locomotives are now more powerful than before and consume less fuel to do the same job. The cost of the work was very quickly recovered by the WLLR. Also under Shaun & Nigel's guidance the WLLR uses the M&S Water Treatment system. |
In
the December 1994 issue of the British railway publication Railway World
a very interesting article on the work at Llanfair was published. Click
here to read it. |
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WLLR
No.14 during testing. Note the additional pipe work and cables installed
for the tests. Test showed a 16% haulage increase in haulage capacity
and a 10% reduction in fuel used. As originally draughted No.14 would
not steam if a spark arrestor was used ! © Nigel A. H. Day |
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The Lempor nozzles for WLLR No.14 before installation. © Nigel A. H. Day |
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A
view of No.14's smokebox in 2003 with the Lempor nozzle clearly visible.
August 14 2003 |
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Welshpool
& Llanfair Railway No.14 has a day off at Llanfair. August 1997 |
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Mid
way through the rebuilt Shaun McMahon popped in to Llanfair. He was able
to take this photograph of a trial fitting of the Lempor nozzle to 'Countess'.
© Shaun McMahon |
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Second
locomotive modified was No.2 Countess. The above photographs show the
redraughting at different stages of completeness. © Nigel A. H. Day |
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The first time two modified locos crossed. On the left is No.12 and on the right No.2. The later was on test at the time of the photo. © Nigel A. H. Day
In 2003 No.2 now appears in GWR guise at 823. August 14 2003
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This
locomotive is a 0-8-0t of Austrian origin. Now named Sir Drefaldwyn it
is currently stored out of service. I was told the loco is a little to
powerful for her chassis and is thus not the best locomotive in the fleet.
August 14 2003 |
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A little while ago Sir Drefaldwyn had her smokebox prepared for display at a Gala weekend. it is conveniently still labeled ! The Nigel Day / Shaun McMahon Lempor type nozzle can clearly be seen on top of the blast pipe. August 14 2003 To view a larger, and thus clearer, version of this photograph (it is 200kb in size) click here. |
Development was also undertaken on combustion systems for oil fired locos on VoR No.7 and on the SMR. The developments on the SMR were continued by Nigel Day resulting in the fitting of No.4 'Snowdon' with a system giving fuel savings in the order of 30% compared to the coal fired locos on the line.
A detailed proposal to rebuild and thoroughly modernise WLLR marine type boiler fitted Kitson Meyer 'Monarch' was worked out to allow the loco to be used on the FR/Welsh Highland Railway. Sadly this plan has come to nothing with the loco recently moving back to the WLLR from storage on the FR. The WLLR plan to reassemble 'Monarch' for static display.
