Maintenance Update

Sunday last:
I nipped down to Winchcombe station as 2807 was due in.  Spoke with Ben (the driver) and he was happy with the steam heating; vacuum; and over the moon about the brakes (which clearly took him by surprise when he first applied them!).

I checked the steam heat connection (where I'd noticed the apparent puff of steam where it was not expected, last week).  There is no safety valve here (so that theory died).  There was no steam leak at all ... so, I have no idea what the cause was ... but it's gone away!

Monday last:
Surprised to see Foremarke Hall in service - it was a marketing day!  I was giving a lighting-up training to a new recruit, Peter, so we did the practical on 2807.  Peter spotted a couple of boiler tubes with ash in them!  Val H sold 3 boot scrapers for us!

Wednesday last:
I'm a bit vague about Wednesday.  I think no one else turned up, so I did a spot of chair painting and then went home!

Saturday 23rd:
During the week, I had totally re-vamped our yard notice board.  New pale blue background.  New photos of 2807 between 1981 and 2012.  Adverts for boot scrapers, teddies and 00 wagons.  My thanks to Steve & Stu who helped me formulate this new design, which is more of a window on our sales than just a history of the restoration.  At the Board Meeting in the afternoon, I asked who had noticed it when they arrived ....

Snippets of interest from the Board Meeting:
The Boiler Inspector was very happy with the operation of the safety valves, after we'd improved the seating of them.  New springs are still awaited for them, as the manufacturer discovered a flaw in one and is redoing it.
Though the RHS eccentrics had been overhauled this winter, the LHS have not, because Rod (machine shop) became ill, and Race Trains were pressing us into service.
The tubes had not been air-cleaned (we noticed on Monday!).
Ingo has completed the CAD data for the new regulator valve, but the 1st prospective supplier couldn't handle CAD; the 2nd couldn't handle computers; the 3rd can make a sand casting; the 4th can 3-D print moulds or patterns.
On the sales front, 00 scale wagons are no longer profitable (so we won't make any more); there's a new teddy in the offing, provisionally called Laverton Lil.
Meanwhile, Val H sold 2 boot scrapers today.  :-)

2807 is in service this weekend, and Tuesday & Wednesday.  Nothing rostered beyond that, yet.

TTFN

Roger