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Under 4079 Pendennis
My mum always told me, “You get where water can’t, you do!”, but I prefer to think of it as, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” Which is a roundabout way of saying that I asked if I could have a look underneath one of the locos in the shed at Didcot today. I didn’t expect that I’d be allowed to, but to my surprise the lovely chap I asked was very accommodating and fetched me a hard hat, warning me that it’s wet and greasy, and I’d likely get my clothes dirty and boots caked in the muck at the bottom of the pit.
The photos aren’t brilliant, but I only had my phone with the ambient light underneath Pendennis Castle inside the loco shed. I focused on the inside motion, between the cylinder block and the second driving axle. It’s a bit cramped in there, especially since the pit is only about three feet deep. Amazing experience though, and well worth crawling in the dark and dirt for.
susan, Alex Mck and 4 others3 Comments-
I believe it’s quite complex underneath the four cylinder castles with little room to manoeuvre?
Lucky opportunity- worth asking!!
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@holtonpc There’s certainly a lot going on with two connecting rods and four eccentric rods all being driven off the lead axle, but once you learn what each component is and what it connects to it gets a lot easier to follow. Glad I don’t have to oil it: that would require some degree of athleticism to reach everything!
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@AlexF When I first went to see Pendennis at Didcot I asked the driver how she found it and she said something like “twice the cylinders but three time longer to oil it”
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