The week started with dressing the angle pieces for the front of the cab that had been trimmed to size the previous week

followed by offering them up to check the fit.

The vertical feed pipes that run through the tanks to the clacks had the flanges cleaned up and the studs fitted 

after which they were blanked off and filled with sand in readiness for bending.

The corner pieces of cladding from the firebox to the backhead continue to take up a lot of time and effort with measuring, marking, 

cutting, 

bending 

and spot welding bits together 

before trial fitting them.

The top ducket section of the 5164 bunker was offered back up to see how well it fitted to the top beading now that the latter has been reshaped to fit the new platework.  

It’s not too bad and showed where the old welds needed to be dressed back in preparation for when it gets welded back on.

On Sunday, we completed the drilling to attach the corner sections of the retaining strip for the top coal floor 

which were then bolted up to pull them into shape after which they were tack welded to the straight pieces of strip either side.  The coal floor itself was then offered up to check the fit against the joining strips 

and this showed that a bit more fettling is required along the back edge before it will sit happily so out it must come again.

More work was done on 4253’s pipework with the vertical clack feeds being heated

and given their initial 90-degree bend 

after which they were temporarily replaced to mark where the next bend needs to be.  

Also, the last bit of pipework for the steam heat had the end connection to the mason’s valve silver soldered on.

Finally, the tallow tray had the retaining brackets marked and drilled after which it was trial filled and given a load bearing test with the traditional engineman’s tea container.