Maybe it was the left-overs from Christmas, but none of us was terribly enthusiastic about tackling a big job. I couldn’t even face getting the equipment out and cleaning more rail chairs. Besides, there’s less than a week to go!
Nevertheless, John G applied a coat of Deproma to the two remaining chairs in the production line. I fitted a brush to the last ordered boot scraper. Later, John and also Ray applied some Cuprinol to a dozen or more brush heads.
Ray, Gil and Bruce had started the day at Winchcombe because the old pillar drill had died but Ray had found a willing taker! So, they had been there removing the drill from the siphon van and into the taker’s van.
JC [Loco dept] said that he would get a couple of chaps to light a warming fire in preparation for 2807 being in service on Thursday and Friday, so we left them to it.
Gil decided to read through the issues log to see what we could attend to. He and Bruce removed the bottom of the Mason’s valve, which reportedly was leaking steam. They then tightened up the nut holding the left-hand whistle to its steam supply - which Sam and I had noticed was leaking when we lit the warming fire last week. While up there, Bruce discovered our retractable rule that must have been sat on top of the firebox since Bruce was last up there (3 operating days ago).
I think Gil must have spread grease around somewhere, because I got red grease on my glove!
Bruce, being concerned that the pivots in the other compensating beams are seized, attempted to
persuade some oil to seep between the pin, bush and beams.
Ray and I investigated an older reported issue that, after we had fitted new brake blocks, the tender
brakes were dragging. A couple of them are still fairly tight, but not dragging as such. There is no
sensible way of adjusting the brakes individually. One would have to heat the rods that link one to
another, and either stretch or compress (as appropriate) to effect an adjustment. Alternatively, you
just wait until they settle themselves in!
We all decided that there were things that we could be doing elsewhere, and knocked off early.
Thursday 29th
I checked that 2807 was operating. She was.
The Deproma that John had applied to the two rail chairs was still tacky, but I put an enamel top coat
on anyway.
Friday 30th
I intended doing the lettering on the chairs, but could see that I had missed quite a few spots, so had
to touch-up the enamel instead. I then cut some wedges for the boot scraper brushes. I prefer to
do this when nobody else is around - operating the band saw with people walking in, out and behind
is a bit of a health hazard, methinks!
Met Gilbert as I left. He’d been for a ride on the footplate. Nothing amiss.
Saturday 31st
Bruce and I turned up, though both of us had other things to do elsewhere. So, after checking the
issues log, and inspecting a couple of points, we knocked off at lunch time. The remaining issues are:
01: [JC]: Excessive side play in all gradient pins. Serviceable until rods overhauled. {This was reported in June 2015, would you believe! We were too busy to attend to this last winter. Time to take a look this winter?}
15: [JC]: Tender rear RH brake grease nipple loose. Replaced but cannot tighten up. {Reported in
May, we know that the thread has gone, and it may need a sleeve fitting to rectify this.}
31: [PG]: J cocks stuck. {Reported in July, it doesn’t say which J-cocks! Gilbert believes it is one feeding steam to the hydrostatic lubricator. We’ll have to examine it and see.}
34: [PG]: Balance weight rivets loose on LH driver / LH trailing driver, RH driving wheel. {We had
marked this to review during winter maintenance. It’s a challenge to know how to tighten these rivets, as access is very limited behind them.}
41: [PG]: Top valve on gauge frame blowing. {See photo. Valve needs repacking.}
47: [JC]: RH piston gland blowing. {Carpo had suggested that it settled down while in service. Gilbert noted to monitor this, but we ought to repack it over winter.}
48: [JC]: LH front and rear top mudhole doors + RH front top mudhole door blowing. {Carpo marked
this to be monitored. I wondered if the inside surfaces had not been cleaned when the seals were
replaced a couple of weeks ago?}
52: [SB]: Leading coupled springs hitting pony truck pivot beam. {You have to be pretty keen to spot that! Actually, the dent (arrowed) is on the frame stretcher, not the pivot beam. Note that it is not shiny, which may imply that it doesn’t happen all of the time. Bruce and I took a look and decided that the only solution would be to put additional weight onto the pony wheels. Bruce dug out the weights, and each pony wheel currently takes 3.4 tons. We think that they ought perhaps take more, but there is no weight diagram specifically for our loco due to the fact that it has been modified so many times over the years.}
53: [SB]: Rear damper door warped. (Coat caught fire oiling up!!!)
54: [PG]: Safety valves lifting well before red line. {Note the red line. 😊}
She was still warm from yesterday, which is why there is still 15 psi “on the clock”. Bruce had a play with the piston rod lubricators, because I noticed a pool of oil on the top of it, and then discovered water running out when I waggled it!
We should examine these and see if the felt pads are soaked with water, and make sure they are rubbing on the piston rod.
Apart from finishing the two boot scrapers in the production line, we called it a day: New Year’s Eve
day! The team sends its best wishes to all of our supporters, and we hope that 2017 brings you your
fair share of happiness, success and good fortune.
Roger
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