Bruce had barely arrived before he was asked to release the brakes on 2807 because they wanted to move it (and couldn’t!). Apparently, the piston in the vacuum cylinder had stuck up at the top, holding the loco brakes on! Bruce found a suitable length of wood; wedged it above the actuating bar and heaved the piston back down. Once started, it dropped easily.
The loco was then hauled out and the ashpan was cleaned by Loco dept chaps. We needed her over a pit, anyway, to tackle the jobs on the issues list:
5 pep pipe leaking - Bruce had fixed this last Wednesday, but not signed-off. So that was easy.
6 Driver side, under cab side, main steam pipe to injector leaking at joint/sleeve. Can’t fix it until the loco is not required, or on standby, because of having to remove the pipe, re-braze the sleeve, and fit it back together. This might be more than a one-day job.
8 Gauge frame drain-down tap out of line (vertical) when closed. Bruce & Gil tested this, but it seems OK now. It is possible that Mark Y fixed it. It required a new Klinger sleeve within the tap, and Mark had said that he had some and that he also has a gadget for fitting them.
10 Both clack valves passing-by steam. Bruce’s homework was to play with a new pair that we had in our spares pile. He measured then against the drawing and adjusted them for clearances. He also made a groove in the surface, which seems to give a better seal. All that remains is a hole to be drilled for the fitting of a c-spanner. Then he can replace the clack valves.
11 Fireman’s side flange lubricator spring broken. New coil spring required. JC supplied a new coil spring and Bruce fitted it. Arrows point to the graphite lubricator rubbing on the wheel flange and the other end where the spring goes in.
12 Loco brakes now require adjustment. Gilbert and Nigel [Loco Dept] were left to adjust the loco brakes. There’s a “bottle screw” with a “left-hand” thread on one end, and a proper thread on the other. By turning the “bottle” it lengthens/shortens the brake rods. That’s Nigel wielding the King Dick.
13 Tender brakes now require adjustment. More than 8 turns on handbrake. Bruce examined the brake handle and found that it only requires 6 turns to apply the brakes. A second opinion was sought, and the result was that the tender brakes are declared fine! Issue rejected.
Since folks were busily fixing problems, and the cafés have been selling boot scrapers like mad over Easter, John G and I dodged the showers to progress some of the chairs in the production line.
Saturday 7th
2807 was in service, so nothing to do but boot scrapers!
Well, apart from Stefan coming to collect the rail, chairs, keys, nuts & bolts that he has acquired from the P-Way Dept for his back garden! Luckily, Stefan had been able to borrow a flat-bed truck, because it is a three-man job lifting each rail. Today, we had Brian and Dixie join Bruce, John T, Gil and myself here, so we easily loaded Stefan’s truck. Except, where was Gil? Gone for a ride!
While waiting for Stefan to arrive, Bruce had spotted that the bottom hinge of the gate leading into the yard had been “modified”, causing the gates not to close properly. Here he is removing the four bolts that hold the hinge to the sleepers. That’s Dixie, John, Brian, and Bruce in the orange with the spanner. 😊 Bruce took it away, prep’ed it and got it welded back together.
Bruce brought his homework in for marking. He has prepared the clack valves, their seats and faces. Note the groove which experience has shown improves the seal. There is also a small hole (almost not visible) into which a c-spanner can be hooked to tighten the pieces.
The weather was not a wet as the Met Office had promised, so boot scraper work commenced! Dixie was painting rail chairs. By end of play, there were six black bottoms plus three green tops.
John was cutting off bolts, angle-grinding off rough edges and wire-brushing chairs during the morning, and then moved on to needle-gunning more chairs during the afternoon.
Bruce joined in, angle-grinding and wire-brushing during the afternoon.
I started the morning with needle-gunning, moving on to fitting brushes and painting after lunch. Four BR(W) / GWR boot scrapers completed plus four LMS / BR top-coated.
Hang on, where was Brian? Gone for a ride!
Typical! Here’s John beavering away with the needle gun, and where is everyone else? Standing looking at the engine!
Roger
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