September Cont.

The 2nd of October saw Adrian, Alan, Dan, Doug, Joan, John and Chris on site - must be a record attendance? Doug worked on removing the rust from the step at Number 2 end Driver's side and then painted it with Joan's help. This is readying the step to receive the newly-arrived steelwork to finally cover up the gap and keep out the elements. As well as numerous other painting jobs, Joan cooked a superb lunch as well. Joan also did some work on the track towards the end of the day. Alan drilled then tapped-out a couple more holes for securing the cab floor and then coated the newly-installed plate on the floor with anti-corrosive primer. Adrian removed some of the life-expired platework from the step at Number 1 end, Secondman's side. John and Dan stripped and then painted numerous items in the container. Dan also completed the rebuild of the hotplate (again)! John ground a lot of the welds on Number 1 nose back to a smooth surface. Chris worked on various painting jobs and also replaced some of the turbocharger pipework with some that we had purchased from C.F. Booth at Rotherham.

On Tuesday 4th, Moff and Chris put in a couple of hours work grinding some of the welds off and then covering them with anti-corrosive primer.

Sunday 9th was quiet with only Alan and Chris on site. Alan commenced screwing the floor down and good it looks too! Alan straightened out one of the floor members that had become bent over the years. Chris completed the paintwork where the platework is missing on the outside of Number 2 cab's Secondman's side. Chris then removed the rust from the step area of Number 1 cab's Secondman's side and then painted the area together with a bit more work at Number 2 end Driver's side.

Tuesday 11th saw the newly-primed floor crossmembers in Number 1 cab repainted with undercoat.

The crossmembers painted on Tuesday 11th were painted with top coat on Thursday 13th.

There were four members of the working party on Sunday 16th (Joan, Doug, Alan and Chris). Alan continued his project of flooring the cab at Number 1 end, Joan yet again provided a perfect bite to eat at lunchtime as well as preparing some of the surfaces in the engine room for painting. Doug worked in Number 2 cab clearing some of the accumulated debris from under the cab floor as well as assisting Joan in the engine room. Chris also worked in the engineroom getting new flooring ready to go behind the big ballast weight that is near the batteries - part of the chequerplate camefrom scrapped 47052! Chris also painted some pipework on the outside of the loco as well as assisting Alan with Number 1 cab. Thanks must go to Chris McNaughton for his ideas on drilling the holes in the new floorboards in the correct location - simple but very effective!

Thursday 27th saw Alan beavering away in Number 1 cab fixing more floor panels to the floor crossmembers.

On Sunday 30th, a new toy arrived on site - a hoover! Don't panic, it isn't a Class 50 but a plain old hoover to replace the two that failed on the last weekend working party two weeks ago. Joan and Doug removed more debris from the floor in the engine room. The area being worked on was behind the ballast weight where the boiler would have been situated. The area was cleared of rust and debris then painted with anti-corrosive paint. Chris and Adrian measured then cut some more flooring material ready to fit above the area where Joan and Doug had been working. Chris painted the ballast weight near the batteries as it had become very dirty over the years and will be the location for a workbench eventually. Alan spent another day working on the cab floor in Number 1 cab and at the end of the day, only 5 panels needed fixing. A crew seat was added in Number 1 cab to ensure that the holes in the floor were in the correct place. Joan cooked her usual splendid lunch - soon be time for soup as it is getting towards Winter.

During the first week of the month, Alan continued his task of completing the floor in Number 1 Cab. All that remains is for four more floorboards to be fitted to the lower part of the floor. One of the water pipes was removed to allow a drain plug to be removed with the intention of replacing the plug with a tap so that the water can be easily drained.
On Thursday 3rd, Joan returned one of the seat backs that she had been renovating. The seat back had been stripped down the completely re-covered and it looks absolutely superb. This has now completed both crew seats for Number 1 Cab. Don't panic Joan, there's another 2 to do for Number 2 Cab! Cheers to Doug for the Pictures.
Sunday 6th saw Adrian, Alan and Chris on site. One of the first jobs that was undertaken was to replace the sheet covering the exhaust stacks as it had been torn to bits during the gale force weather we had during the previous week. Alan continued with the flooring in Number 1 Cab and found that one of the newly cut floor panels had warped slightly! Alan also cured a minor fault where the top of the cab door on the Driver's side caught the bottom of the cab ceiling where a new edging strip had been fitted. Adrian and Chris continued fitting the floor in the engine room and this included drilling and tapping a lot of holes and also painting the exposed pipework in primer ready for a top coat hopefully during the following week.
On Thursday 10th, Alan purchased a gate valve for attaching to the coolant pipework removed earlier in the month. The gate valve was trial fitted on the same day. This required the partial removal of some coolant pipework to enable the new valve to be installed.
Sunday 13th saw four people beavering away. Joan worked in Number 2 Cab removing accumulated debris to prepare for the onslaught on this cab when the time comes. Joan also provided the superb meal that we have got used to at lunchtime! Doug assisted in the engine room by painting the conduit that was primed last week and by tidying the floor of dirt and debris ready for the flooring panels to be lifted one by one for inspection and correction of any faults as and when time permits. Chris painted the fire circuit pipework that had been primed the previous weekend and also installed the flooring behind the weight in the engine room. The loco has had this bit of floor missing since it was bought two and a half years ago. Alan spent the day working in the engine room for a change! Alan drained all 12 cylinder heads of coolant to prevent any danger of frost damage over the winter. It was originally intended to have the water pumps back in by now and have the engine started again this time with a mixture of water and antifreeze, but as the water pumps are still under repair, we have drained the loco completely of water. Alan also assisted Chris with fitting the new gate valve to the coolant pipework and then helped refit the pipework itself. To refit the coolant pipework, one section of floor had to be removed to get the two parts of pipework bolted back together. The area which had the floor removed will be tackled next as it is absolutely full of dirt and oil. This area will be thoroughly cleaned and then painted with the appropriate paints. All bolt holes will also be checked to see if any of the threads need clearing out.
Alan was on site on Tuesday 15th mending a fault that had never been properly rectified on the Driver's side door at Number 2 end. Another floorboard was secured in Number 1 Cab. Alan also sorted out one of the cylinder head drain plugs that had a problem with the screw threads. Chris was also on site working on parts of a Class 33 'Crompton'. Don't worry, it won't be arriving on site, Chris was just reconditioning some parts for 33052 as it is currently out of traffic for major bodywork repairs!
Sunday 20th saw just Alan on site. The floor in Number 1 Cab is now completed apart from the lino which will be added just before the loco is completed so as not to wreck the floor covering with oil!
There was the usual 4 members of the team on duty on Sunday 27th. Joan and Doug worked in Number 2 Cab as well as sorting out the lunches. Alan and Chris constructed a cover for one of the exhaust ports to keep the weather out as the sheets we are currently using don't seem to last very long nowadays.
Alan produced another exhaust stack cover on Tuesday 29th. These will now be rubbed down and painted then installed on the loco.