How No 1 Talyllyn’s new rods were made John Scott, one of the team who made No 1 Talyllyn’s new rods has very kindly provided information on how they were manufactured.
The drawings follow as closely as possible the original Fletcher Jennings design although the material is different but better. The drawings were then sent to a company called Precison Waterjet on the South Coast who profiled them from steel plate using a process called water jet cutting. The profiles were sent to F.W.Frost Engineers who finished the machining of the long section of the rod and the pockets for the brasses. The rods were then sent to a company in Sussex (EPAL) who machined the slots for the cotters using another high tech process called Electrical Discharge Machining. Meanwhile John drew the brasses and sent them to a foundry near Cambridge (Taylors Foundry) who cast them. John then finish machined them, together with the cotter blocks and oil pots, while Frosts made the small end bearings and most of the cotters. The Ffestiniog Railway whitemetalled the main brasses and fitted them and the small end bearings to the rods.
Many thanks to John Scott and Robert Frost for all their hard work making the rods look as close to the originals as possible.
