Shot Blasted

Saturday saw the Steam Loco Dept's AGM in the village hall.  I could of course give you the full details of the reports of the various members of the management committee etc, however unless you suffer from insomnia, I doubt that any good would come of that.  Besides, I was far too lazy to make any notes. 

That's not to say that no "real" work happened on Saturday, in spite of the cold.

Yes, it was still cold enough for the DIY igloo kit to have survived in the car park

Whilst the owner of 76077 has been assured that igloos are perfectly warm and cosy place to shelter from the elements, he remained sceptical and opted instead to erect a marquee over his loco in the car park.   

Still the same colour as an igloo though

 Inside, the various parts of 76077 which had become used to sitting outside in the cold and the rain up in the north siding were now rather overwhelmed by the TLC that they were receiving.  For a start, the shot blaster contractors had been in and done a good job of removing the old paint.

Wheels...

...boiler...

...frames.

Where necessary, surfaces that wouldn't benefit from being shot blasted, such as the cylinders had been covered over to prevent damage.

Protected cylinders

The first step was to sweep up the shot that was left on the ground, get it into wheel barrows and dump it in the ash dock.

Jonathan (l) & Jamie,sweeping up.

 Working parties will soon be taking place to get the newly shot blasted items painted before they disappear off to Loughborough for Locomotive Maintenance Services LTD to commence the restoration work.  I would have pointed you at their website, but they don't seem to have one.

An item not mentioned (to the best of my recollection anyway) at the AGM, was that the signing on point has now got a shiny new floor:

Well, OK, it had been shiny when installed

Keeping anything clean when steam locomotives are involved is widely regarded as impossible.

Lurking in the shed was an unexpected device, a Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP), better known as a "Cherry Picker".  We're having upgraded lights installed in the sheds. 

Waiting to pick cherries.

 Winter maintenance is still in progress, with many of our locos undergoing "B exams"

In the case of 2807, that also included the need to get the fireman's side front coupling rod off.  As is so often the case with steam locomotives, nothing is ever easy as the coupling rods are all coupled together (well the clue is in the name) and much effort was expended in persuading them all to come off.

2807 in the shed.

Once all the fireman's side coupling rods were off, an issue was detected with the journal on the leading wheel set, the wheel boss having been worn away by the coupling rod ( in the photo below), whilst the opposite side (A) has rusted.

Leading journal (Photo courtesy of Roger Molesworth)

Further investigation will be required to determine the cause and correct it.

Dinmore Manor is one of the locos undergoing her B exam, all her washout plugs and hand/mud hole doors had been removed.

7820 in the shed

Nicely cleaned up mud/hand hold doors in the DMLL container, waiting to be refitted

The new billets of steel to be machined into spring hangers for 7820's bogie arrived last week.

Three of the four new spring hangers, awaiting machining, photo courtesy of Martin Ginger

35006 is still on the lifting jacks and having her axle boxes reassembled and refitted:

35006 on the jacks

And finally, it's not just the locos that receive winter maintenance, I noticed that some of the lamps had disappeared from the new lamp stand, presumably off for a little TLC of their own.

Gone AWOL?