In addition to our extensive range of in-house machining services, we also offer work on site including horngrinding and line boring.

Horngrinding has become somewhat of a specialty for us, and we have carried out the task on both 4930 Hagley Hall and Stanier Mogul 42968 for the Severn Valley Railway, Jinty 47493 at the Spa Valley Railway and also a Hunslet Austerity at the Buckinghamshire Railway, along with a set of Merchant Navy tender frames at the Mid Hants Railway.

Our horngrinding is coupled with optical aligning which we offer via a 3rd party, thus allowing us to ensure that the horns are ground near perfectly to the cylinder (or frame) centreline. We normally achieve a result of 0.001” or less variation in the distance between two finished hornfaces.

With an ever decreasing number of people in the country with the specialist skills needed to maintain a steam locomotive, it can often be difficult to obtain a second opinion should one be required, and so we have often found ourselves being asked to offer this in an advisory only/inspection and written report role, as we have done in the past for the Kent and East Sussex railway for example.

As an extension of this concept, since April 2020 we have been acting as Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. This is the first time any railway has employed a contractor rather than an individual for such a role.

Our role at the railway is to oversee all rolling stock including planning maintenance and overhauls, inspecting and signing off repair work carried out, workshop staff management, assessing competencies of fitting staff in carrying out FTRs and other workshop tasks, ordering and sourcing materials and parts, as well as helping out with any repair work where necessary and also being on call should we be required at any time.

As a part of the job we also have to take an involvement in the commercial side of the business, working alongside their team to ensure that rolling stock is always available when it is required.