Tyseley: A Free Running Exhaust...

Hi all. Today I was over at Tyseley again for their weekly volunteer working party. Efforts once again centred around 7029 "Clun Castle" and a good team turned out. I joined Phil & Nathan for a lovely breakfast at the Tyseley Corner Cafe on route (rude not to!) and this contributed to the start of a pleasant day. Work in the afternoon involved fitting parts of the exhaust system and blast pipe. 7029, like 5043, employs the later double-chimney arrangement of the Castle class and thus has a large, double blast-pipe casting. Its quite a thing and is a good four-man lift. Its interesting to study, whilst this work is ongoing, the exhaust abilities of these four cylinder machines. A free running exhaust is often key to the success of a steam engine. The freer the engine can run, the better she'll go. I've known powerful engines in the past to be restricted by their exhaust abilities. Its a fascinating subject and I look forward to seeing 7029 in action on the main line when that time comes. Today was also the first time in around 12 years that I didn't have my annual outing to the GCR's Winter Gala. I thought about it - and they had a great show on offer - but the thought of countless cold, wet enthusiasts bashing me half out of conciousness with their rucksacks all day again put me off. Cheers all and thanks for reading, Sam...