Final Week This week’s main task was drilling all the holes in the coal floor support strips for 5164’s bunker and there were a great many of them. A diagonal line all along the side panels and another line all along the rear panel. The cladding team continued fitting the mud hole door covers to the top firebox cladding sheets with … Read More
Week Four During the week there was much drilling of angles for the 5164 bunker after which they were all removed to clean out the swarf, de-burr the holes and bolt it all back together again. The last of the curved joining angle pieces that we need were finally extracted from the old bunker after putting up fierce resistance. Many of … Read More
Week Four Work on 4253 this week has been exclusively cladding with the bits welded together last week getting dressed back and painted, more retaining bands being cut to length and the end brackets cold riveted on and the backhead jigsaw having more bits cut and added. At least with the departure of the 541 tender tank there is more room … Read More
Final Week During the week, the filters and operating rods removed from Gervase last week were cleaned up, the drive chain was removed and, together with the engine sump, was steam cleaned to remove all the muck. Ther mesh screen above the sump was partially blocked by white metal that had dropped on it from a run bearing some years … Read More
Week Four As well as the usual three working days this week, four of us travelled up to Leeds on Monday for the funeral of our old friend and colleague Dick Weeks. RIP Dick, you will be missed. Work on Gervase is progressing with the roof section bought in out of the rain so it could be cleaned, the flaking old … Read More
Week Four This week, it was necessary to move 4253 so it could swap positions in the shed with Yank No 65 so all the Lobo had to be taken down before it was pulled outside. This shot shows the majority of the crinoline bands in position round the boiler and their joining pieces. After it was shunted back into the … Read More
Final Week of the Year! Tuesday, Christmas Eve, was all hands on the Tombola and Sales Stand for the last day of the Santa Specials which was well worth while as we raised just under £1,000 to replenish the coffers. One lucky lad won a Hornby Santa’s Express train set. On Friday, the team were putting the finishing touches to the … Read More
Week Four This week has involved yet more of the same for the 4253 boiler crinoline team with sections of flat bar getting shaped, welded together, drilled and, where necessary, the holes countersunk which, on long curved lengths is not that easy. However, more and more of the sections have now been successfully fabricated and trial fitted. Also, a batch … Read More