Wednesday 11th
Well,
we were expecting to have an awful lot to do in this one day, in order
to get ready for a steam test tomorrow … When I arrived at 10.00, all of
the inspection hole plugs had been fitted; all of the mud-hole doors
had been fitted; even the grate had been replaced in the firebox. I
suspect that someone had been very busy yesterday … possible until late
in the evening?
David
came expecting to be hard at it all day, and couldn't find anything to
do, so he painted an oil can. So expertly was it finished, that he was
given a second one to paint!
John
T and Bruce started fitting the safety valves, and David joined in on
that. Note the spacer wedged in above the spring - this is to stop the
tightening at the point at which the valve blows off at the correct
pressure (or not, as the case may be). The rest of us were almost at a
loss knowing what to do! Gilbert fitted the ferrules round the plugs in
the cab, and replaced the small section of floor. I put the kettle on!
Carpo
popped into the TPO to tell us that the boiler inspector was most
impressed with our loco on Monday; gave it a clean bill of health, and
gave his opinion that the boiler was good for lasting out the 10 year
'ticket'. Good news.
At 11.00 we held a 2 minute silence in the TPO (apart from the noise of the kettle).
John
G tackled the rail chairs, applying an enamel top coat to 8. John T
assembled the gauge frame (in the cab) and fitted it. At this stage,
the boiler was filling with water, and John H [Loco Dept] was keeping an
eye on the level for us.
Having
just about run out of things to do, Bruce offered to lap-in the safety
valves on 4270. His offer was eagerly snapped up! David then assisted
Bruce, and once lapped, they fitted the valves.
Bruce
had had great trouble removing the safety valve bonnet from 4270, and
asked John T to run a tap through the bolt holes to clean them up. This
he did, and then checked how much clearance there is between the side
tanks and cladding by dropping a tap down there. Gilbert checked below,
and sure enough it fell right through. :-)
After
lunch, I watched over John H and Martin C [both Loco Dept] as they
carried out all of the pre-lighting checks and then lit a warming fire
in 2807.
David
had previously taken an oil can home to re-solder where it had been
leaking. Today, he ended up taking another one home to repair
similarly!
John
T ran out of things to do, so cut off bolts from some of the rail
chairs in the pile. John G noticed that the Flag & Whistle had only
one boot scraper left on the trolley, so he & I restocked that.
Bruce & David discussed various options for replacing the copper
pipe between Y-splitter and condensing coil, where there is a very sharp
bend (that has now split). Looking at that in 4270, the Y-splitter is
fitted directly onto the steam fountain (aka header), whereas ours has a
sort-of adapter between them (hence making it closer to the cab roof,
with less room for a comfortable bend in the pipe).
Martin C & John H banked up the fire, and we called it a day.
Thursday
is planned to be a steam test. Assuming all goes well, 2807 will be in
service on Friday and Saturday conveying race-goers twixt Todders and
Cheltenham. So, there will be nothing (much) for us to do on Saturday,
but next Wednesday we will position her in the shed ready to commence
winter maintenance … and address the pony truck enigma!
Roger
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