Little and Large

On Wednesday, Blog Companion Chris Blake was rostered fireman on 7903 for the day so had little to report apart from being in the unusual position to be able to compare old and new fireman's shovels. 

Chris Smith had been given an old GWR fireman's shovel by a kindly person and he had brought it along to show everyone. The following 3 photos are courtesy of Chris B.  

Little and Large: Modern (l), vs. Vintage

As you can see, they made them a bit bigger in those days. Below, Chris S is posing to show a bit of scale next to his shovel, and as a comparison to Chris B's modern style shovel. 

A bit of a difference, there

Chris B decided to try out the older shovel to see what it felt like to swing such a beast. Well, he says, he can report a failure that day as when loaded with a decent amount he could not get a proper swing or even lift it! Those firemen working in the older days certainly earned their money I would say after using one of these all day.

On Saturday 8th April, it was a gloriously hot, blazingly sunny day which may well be the hottest day of the year so far. Not a single cloud in the sky - the only thing blotting the blueness was the occasional contrail from an aeroplane flying over - or, the white smoke out of departing loco's chimney. To be precise, Foremarke's chimney.

It was roughly 10am or so when myself and my camera arrived. I'm not normally here at this time, I usually leave it a little later, depending on what else my day involves. At times, someone likes to inform me tongue-in-cheek that I've 'missed all the fun' so I thought that getting in a little earlier would appease this comment and I'd be able to get stuck right into the action!

As it happens I'd arrived just in time to see Foremarke depart on her first run of the day.  

The train departing Platform 1... is 7903 Foremarke Hall.

Off she goes

In the David Page Shed, it was eerily quiet. No sounds of tools being skilfully used... No chattering of voices, or laughter. In the unlikely event of it happening, you could probably hear a split pin drop. Although you'd hope not to. There have got to be hundreds of them on a single loco - I'd hate to be the one to find out where it came from!

Is the shed half empty or half full?

Maybe I had arrived just a bit too early, or perhaps people were busy making the most of the glorious weather today and doing other things? It is really quite a contrast when compared to the hustle and bustle of last weekend's Volunteer Recruitment Fair. 

However, the shed was not completely devoid of life - 4270, 2807 and Dinmore's new tender were tucked away in the opposite end of the shed - obscuring a handful of our volunteers wielding sandpaper and paintbrushes!

4270 has been having some cosmetic work done, amongst other things - after nearly 3 years of service since its initial restoration was completed in 2014, some parts of the running board needed tidying up as it was beginning to show the wear and tear caused by the many pairs of steel-toe-capped safety boots and gloved hands that have used it. What I'm sure doesn't help the situation is the inevitable coal dust that settles on the various surfaces during time in service - an extra bit of abrasion that gradually wears away the paintwork. Just another good job that a cleaner can do to help with the maintenance is to sweep the worst of the dust off every morning. Some areas such as the area directly under the smokebox and the grab handles were down to the original green primer, while some of the paintwork at the extreme edges were down to the metal. 

Still, this something that is easily remedied - just a little love, care and attention for this little loco from two willing volunteers Pete and Nigel (and whoever else had been working on it prior) and she will be looking as fresh as she was in 2014.

Someone had already applied a coat of green anti-corrosion paint to the affected areas and Pete and Nigel were busy sanding it down to make a nice smooth and even key for the grey undercoat and black gloss.  

 

A splash of green to keep the brown and orange at bay

Pete sanding down the front of the running board

...while Nigel sees to the sides

Meanwhile, I found Eleanor busy cleaning up the undercoat on Dinmore Manor's new tender. 

Getting There - the new tender for 7820

For the best long-lasting surface finish when the gloss goes on, the surface underneath needs to be clean, smooth and free of any residues. You can see that she has cleaned the back side and the bottom right hand corner, while the uppermost section has already received a coat of gloss black. 

The 2807 group were here in small numbers, but unfortunately they were mostly twiddling their thumbs as sadly, due to circumstances beyond their control, 2807 will now not be going to Didcot at the end of the month. It's a great shame, but there is a silver lining to the cloud in that at least there is nothing big to be done!

If you're planning a trip to the GWSR and would like to see/ride behind 2807, she will be in service from 12th April to 17th April inclusive, all being well.

I found 35006 in the yard - not much was going on with her today, but a good photo opportunity is not to be sniffed at:

Andy(l) looks on at the culmination of 30 years of hard work.

Next to 35006, 7820 was sunning herself and taking a well deserved break after being in service for 13 days - it was now time for some maintenance for the beautiful black Manor. 

7820 looking good in the sun

One of the jobs on the to-do list was to remove the damper actuating rod. Due to expansion when hot, it was found that the rod doesn't work so well, so to counteract the expansion and to keep it working it requires a little shortening.

The actuating rod, as removed by Nick

Next on the list was to see to the front left cylinder cover, which was leaking steam. Easier said than done - it was proving a little difficult to remove!

A stubborn cylinder cover, on Saturday

It's at times like this you could really do with a puller, but none could be found. Thankfully, as they had little to do, Brian and Gilbert from the 2807 group were on-hand to assist and make a puller for them. A great example of inter-loco-group teamwork that we see so much of at the friendly GWSR, which has no doubt helped with every success of the railway - past, present and future. If comradeship such as this continues for the years ahead, all helping towards that one goal to keep steam alive, people will be enjoying steam locomotives for generations to come.