ALLY PALLY

I KNOW THAT ONE OR TWO PEOPLE FROM THIS FORUM ARE GOING TO THE M.E SHOW AT ALLY PALLY THIS WEEKEND, FROM THE PM's I'VE HAD.
ANYBODY ELSE GOING ??

STEVE TOLD ME LAST WEEK THAT STW ARE NOT GOING TO BE THERE THIS YEAR, DUE TO HIGH COSTS FOR NEW COMPANY, WITH THE LONDON LOW EMISSION ZONE (THANK YOU KEN LIVINGSTONE !!!!).

WE WILL BE THERE ON SATURDAY

REGARDS
BRUCE

So where did I get the idea I could have a good chat about progress - or was I just assuming STW would be there again this year. Anyway, I will be there on Friday and now a little disappointed.
Could I therefore, as I won't be able to do it in person, ask through this forum for a Production Update. It is now sometime since the last and I for one would be interested in the state of the 4" Burrell boilers etc..
Best wishes to all and thanks to Steve and Dean et al for work so far.

Roger

I think many of the Foden builders would also like an update. The last full production update was posted in the production section of the forum last November, except of course for some updates in the various model sections.

We have had a number of promises when all the Foden parts would be completed but unfortunately the last date, end of December has come and gone.

I, for one, have been waiting for a cylinder since September 2007 but because of manufacturing problems two batches of these have been scrapped. The latest batch arrived October/November 2008 and promises have been made that they would be machined in November, then December and now January - how are they coming on and when can we expect to receive them, and all the others parts which are needed to get the model finished, or at least a steamable boiler.

I agree a general production update is probably due, the information being given through the forum seems to have slowed up, when it started out so well. I appreciate everyone is busy and it would not be on the top of the priority list, but more info please.

I was speaking to STW this morning and no firm date could be given on the Foden cylinder block or boiler. The boiler is a long way off.

Kieran

I shall be visiting the show on the Saturday and would be interested in meeting other STW customers for a chat and to exchange ideas and information (particularly 4" Burrell builders). Perhaps I could suggest anyone also interested in meeting go to the entrance of the exhibit hall at 12:00 noon. I will hold a paper with Steam Traction World on it and hope I am not the only person there!

Hi Guys,

An update has now been added to the production part of the forum. Please accept our apologies it has not been added sooner, however, also please remember that there are only 8 of us in total and we have all been working round the clock since returning from the Christmas break manufacturing parts. This has to be our first priority over everything else. It may not seem like it takes very long to update the forum but it can be quite time consuming.

Initially we did hope to complete all the Foden parts by Christmas and believe me it has not been down to lack of effort and shear hard work, unfortunately we can do very little when the gear supplier delays despatch especially when they have already received payment of 10k. It makes it difficult to just then take your business else where. Secondly, when we originally set our targets, it was in our minds just to purchase the boilers from MW's supplier (its not like they are off the shelf though), for numerous reasons this changed and we decided it was in STW's best interest to manufacture the boilers ourselves. This is something that can not be done overnight. The boiler needed to be designed and then approved by Royal Sun Alliance plus we then needed to source material and work out how we funded it. The cylinder blocks are now running on our large CNC Mill and will continue to do so until complete. This is one of only 3 milling machines that we have been able to purchase. Please remember that MW's had 8 milling machines so our resources are far less. With only 10 people requiring cylinder blocks we have had no choice but to use the machine for production up until now for reasons previously mentioned.

It is our intention to write to everyone plus add the letter to the forum updating customers now that we have 6 months production experience and known equipment and man power levels. This letter will cover what we have achieved since start up, staffing and machine capacity plus future targets.


All the best

Dean & Steve.

Hi Steve and Dean,

Thanks for the update, it good to see that things are progressing well.

Kieran