Saturday 4th April
Whilst
doing the shopping, Claudette Oddy casually mentioned that "2807 won't
be in service today because it failed on Friday". Panic!!!
Gilbert
had gone to Winchcombe to work on the siphon, but toddled down to the
platform to watch 2807 come in …. and it didn't! Panic!!!
Gil shot over to Todders to find out what was happening. He discovered that she had failed. He reports:
"2807 failed on Friday after completing two runs to Cheltenham Racecourse.
The failure was caused by a faulty gasket between the LH Feedwater Clack and the Safety Valve base.
The
clack valve assembly was removed, the joint faces were cleaned, and a
new gasket was cut. During removal of the Clack, one of the fixing studs
broke, a new stud was made and inserted into the Valve base. It was
noted that at least one of the other studs shows signs of corrosion and
will ultimately require replacement.
During
removal of the clack the cover over the top feed pipe was removed and
it was noted that the cover is eroding the copper feed pipe. The edge of
the cover was dressed to remove any sharp edges in this area. The wear
on the pipe will require monitoring.
The
clack valve assembly was remounted onto the Safety Valve base and
tightened into place. The top feed pipe was reconnected after cleaning
the spherical copper washer in the joint. The retaining plate was bolted
into place and tightened up.
It is intended to carry out a steam test tomorrow, Sunday, with a view to going back into service.
Thanks
are due to "Carpo" and the Loco Dept team, for their work in dealing
promptly with this failure, and getting the loco ready for service."
Sunday 5th
Geof popped down to Todders for a short while, and reported:
" The
steam test was going well when I left. Carpo was asking if any of us
could be around tomorrow to put the loco ‘back together’. I’m available
tomorrow from 10.00 am. Anyone else available?"
on Monday 6th he added:
"Carpo
does want to put in service on Wednesday. Today was cooling down day;
tomorrow first thing he will tighten the nuts; then if we put back the water feed pipe covers and dome etc. tomorrow, he will roster it for Wednesday. Hence my request for help; I doubt I should be trying to do this unaided!"
No,
Geof, you shouldn't! [He who had a major heart operation at
Christmas!] Of course, it being Easter, everyone else was well busy
with their own things!
Wednesday 8th
2807
was back in service! Gilbert had managed to attend on Tuesday, and a
couple of chaps from Loco Dept did most of the work for us, apparently.
Many thanks to whoever it was [Carpo - please pass on our gratitude].
From
what Gil has said, it seems that this failure was something that the
boiler inspector had mentioned - that there was a steam leak from the
LHS of the safety valve assembly, and it ought to be fixed sooner rather
than later … it has been, now! Anyway, it is now down as Issue 13:
13 [BE] LHS injector clack leaking (possible joint). Steam seen when injector in use. { New joint fitted}.
2807 is currently rostered for Friday 10th; Friday 17th to Sunday 19th; Tuesday 21st; and Friday 24th to Sunday 26th.
Watch out for 2807 on 25th & 26th when it is Wartime in the Cotswolds!
It's always a brilliant event, and if you can make it, do: you will not be disappointed !
Oh, I forgot to mention: Wednesday,
Fred & Gil were at Winchcombe (mostly), working on the siphon.
John G and I pressed on with boot scrapers - John was head painter; I
was needle-gunner and bottom painter! Bruce passed through briefly to
see if we have a diagram of the leaky J-cocks. Mrs Bruce {Daphne} has a
disc problem, and backs do take an awfully long time to get better. So,
he's currently excused 2807 duties.
Roger
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