I was a tad concerned that there might not be enough milk in the fridge for everyone who came to polish the loco today. I needn’t have worried.
There’s quite a list of issues raised by drivers during May. Some say tha the new drivers have to make their mark …
10: Steel res[ervoir] pipe at rear of ash pan loose into one-way valve by reservoir. {Bruce & Gil inspected the pipework, tightened joints and added extra clips to the hose}.
11: Top isolating cock on gauge frame blowing. {This is a duplicate of issue 7}.
12: Fireman-side crosshead (bottom of) hot. {No one else has commented about this. We suspect the definition of “hot” is ill defined. We’ll keep an eye on it, but don’t believe there is a problem}.
13: Fireman-side injector steam valve nut on pipe leaking.
14: Brake whistle valve blowing past. {The springs on both whistles are not strong enough to fully return the valve to shut-off and always have been}.
15: Tender rear RH brake grease nipple loose; replaced but cannot tighten up. {A few weeks back, I discovered that the thread had gone in the hole. Still debating how this can be fixed}.
16: LHS injector steam valve leaking by nut on pipe to steam inlet. {Duplicate of issue 13}.
17: Gauge frame blowing top, drain, both nuts. {Duplicate of 11 which is a duplicate of 7. We have reported this to Boiler Responsible Person (because we are not supposed to fix this ourselves) several times}.
18: Driver-side injector front cap leaking. {Fixed by Bruce today}.
19: Clamp holding driver-side injector steam pipe loose. Needs spring washer? {Fixed by Bruce today}.
Gilbert joined us up until tea break then adjourned to Winchcombe to play with the siphon. He looked through the issues log (q.v.) and together with Bruce they fixed the clamp on the injector steam feed pipe [16]. The nuts were not fully tight.
Bruce tackled 18 & 19. Extra PTFE should stop the cap from leaking, but you can’t tell until there is steam up. At the other end of the same bracket, Bruce found that the steam heating pipe was also loose in its clamp. He bunged a rubber in to make it tight.
Stuart had emailed me to ask me to paint some of the cab sides where the number plates have worn away the paint. Getting the plates off is much easier now that the nuts are welded onto the inside of the cab. It is now (just about) a one-man job. It’s a challenge removing the last bolt and not dropping the number plate, though! I ran a die through the bolt holes, because a couple of them were very stiff to undo.
The railway has been approached by the Winchcombe Police Museum to have a small stand in there about the railway. Dave Staniforth got Stu to dig out a 1904 rail chair. Dave would like it cleaning & painting … plus a section of rail … for the display. So, Bruce & I tidied up the chair and found a two-foot length of rail. I surreptitiously replaced a wooden key from a siding with a metal one, such that the display would be more authentic date-wise. The use of wooden keys ceased in the 1930s.
Oh, back to the cleaning of the loco. New recruit Ian Boskett studiously crawled over the running boards with scraper, cloths and buckets of diesel, removing grit & grime. He said that he had to leave at 4pm, so wouldn’t get as far as cleaning the boiler and smokebox …
Ian has only been a volunteer here for a few months, but said that he is thoroughly enjoying it.
Sunday 22nd
Brian and Stuart put the finishing touches to the paintwork on 2807 ready for Monday.
Monday 23rd
See colour supplement (below).
Wednesday 25th
Well, there was just John G and myself here today. There was a lot of activity in the yard as locos were arriving for the gala this coming weekend.
Four boots scrapers had been sold by the cafes over the weekend, so it was important to restock them and get some more into the production line. I painted the lettering on five that were almost complete, and later fitted the brushes to them. Following an idea from John G, two BR(W) boot scrapers are painted in BR Green (commonly called Brunswick green). It seems to be the crimson and black ones that are selling at the moment, so I moved on to preparing half-a-dozen chairs and John primed the one already in the production line in black.
John commented on how shiny 2807 was on Monday … apart from the drain cocks. So, he went out armed with Brasso and polished the copper drain cock pipes and also the brass cylinder relief valves.
Next to John was … Hey, Guys! Guys! You’re supposed to light the fire in the other end!
Ron [workshop] had finished off the bronze flanges for the new “standardised” loco ~ tender water connections.
No workday on Saturday 28th May because it is GWSR Gala Weekend.
Monday Supplement
Just a few snaps of the Supporters and the Special:
Peter Todd took this one of Jeff Lacey shunting stock out of platform 2 at Toddington.
There was quite a throng on Platform 1. Bob Mack is looking happy!
Lots of people wanted a photo of 2807 carrying The Cornishman headboard, so she pulled back for people to get a good photo:
Here she is leaving Toddington station with almost 150 supporters on board:
Note the Express Passenger headlamp code, appropriate to The Cornishman!
Peter took this one of 2807 approaching Hailes:
And here she is arriving at Winchcombe:
There were 10-minute footplate rides for the lucky few who got their requests in early:
Many thanks go to Jeff Lacey (Driver) and John Pedley (Fireman).
Back at Todders at the end of the day, there was additional interest for people, as Erlestoke Manor was being off-loaded. What’s that odd-looking loco in the background, I wonder?
Roger
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