Ready to Steam!

7820 inside the steam shed after being reunited with her tender - Photo courtesy of Mike Solloway

 

As I'm writing this, we've only got a few days to go before our 2023 operating season commences on Saturday 4th March. It really is amazing (or to use a rather more pertinent word in the context of heritage railways, 'worrying') how fast time passes us by! It only seems like yesterday that we shut-up-shop as it were for the much needed winter downtime. At first you think you've got plenty of time to get all the various maintenance jobs sorted out, but in reality it's actually quite the opposite when you take a look at the rather lengthy job sheets for each locomotive. The phrase 'These things are sent to try us!' comes to mind at this point, closely followed up by 'There's no rest for the wicked!'. Oh what fun!

Fortunately, recent weeks has seen great strides made with various outstanding jobs and the steam shed has been particularly busy on Saturdays with large working parties putting in a sterling effort. Our three operational locomotives (35006, 7820 & 7903) have all passed their required 'Cold Exams' and, at the time of writing, have either been through or are about to undergo a mandatory 'In-House Steam Test' or 'Hot Exam'. The smell of burning coal and steam is in the air!

 

Saturday 25th February was a busy day on shed with work being undertaken in all areas of the department. It was a particularly good day for the DMLL group with regards to both 7820 & 3850 as a large number of jobs were carried out. Work was also undertaken in relation to 2874 and 76077. The increasing amount of daylight certainly helps our efforts. 

 

Some of the jobs & tasks carried out over the past week or so are listed below along with some relevant photographs. 

 

7820

• 7820 shunted and coupled back to her tender.
• Tender and boiler filled.
• Tender spring adjusted.
  
• Cab received a thorough clean.
• Smoke-box re-oiled to look much cleaner. 
• A number of defects sorted. 
• Damaged steam heat valve swapped out.
• New coat of paint applied to cab handrails.
  
• Tool check and inventory completed ready for traffic at the weekend.

3850

• 3850 new smokebox door pin underway in the machine shop.
• Tender brake gear being worked on, along with front footplating and buffer beam being filled and sanded.
• Tender footplate painted underneath and reassembled with added spacers and strengthening brackets. 
• Sanded and repainted the fronts of the water tank.
  
• Preparations made to re-wheel 3850 in the not to distant future. 
  
• The boiler is now fully tubed and is soon to be filled with water for the first time since 2015.

76077

•  Back head cladding received undercoat.

7903

• Final fettling on 7903 safety valves. 

35006

• Re-fitment of the speedometer and generator following maintenance.
• Re-fitment of damper door mechanism / linkage. 
• Re-fitment of mud-hole doors and washout plugs following a 'Cold Exam'.
• Maintenance carried out on safety valves. 

2807

• Work on cylinder cladding undertaken.
• Continued work on the boiler crinolines.
• Ongoing work in preparation for the return of the boiler early next month (8th March). 
• Boiler hydraulically tested with no issues identified and pressure maintained.
  

7820's cab - Photo courtesy of Mike Solloway

 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims

 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims
 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims
 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims

 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims

 

Work on 3850's tender - Photo courtesy of Kenneth Sims

 

76077 back head cladding having undercoat - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale

 

3850's tender receiving attention to its paintwork - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale

 

3850's wheelsets - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

3850's wheelsets - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

2807's cylinder cladding being worked on - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale

 

The front end of 2807 - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

2807 boiler crinolines - The boiler is due back on 8th March - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale

 

7820 looking resplendent after a thorough clean, wax, and polish - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

7820's cab - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

7820's cab - Photo courtesy of Andrew Beale
 

3850 up on the jacks - 23rd February 2023

7903 looking rather smart - 23rd February 2023

 

Matthew & Bob reattach the speedometer and damper door mechanism / linkage - 17th February 2023

 

35006 being prepared for her In-House Steam Test the following day (24th) - 23rd February 2023
 

As Brian Blessed would say... P&O's alive! - The heatings been switched on! - 23rd February 2023
 

Test Underway - It would appear that the kettle has boiled! - 24th February 2023 - Photo courtesy of Jamie Christie

 

Steaming, Cleaning & Oiling - Getting P&O ready for our 2023 season - Photo courtesy of GWSR

 

7820 will be the first to operate services on Saturday 4th March, with 7903 & 35006 also out testing on the same day. 

 

 

CFoS - GWSR Cotswold Festival of Steam Gala Page

 

Important Note: New websites were launched earlier this month for both the GWSR and the GWRT, thus any pre-existing bookmarks to the main blog page via the old GWSR website will no longer work. The new websites can be found by visiting https://www.gwsr.com/ (GWSR) and https://www.gwrt.org.uk/ (GWRT).

All of the departmental blogs can now be found on a new main blog page here: https://www.gwsr.com/knowledge/blogs

I think now is as good a time as any to leave you with this rather apt song: The Final Countdown 

 

Until next time folks, further news and announcements are on the way!

 

Alex (the sooty one!). 

 

All published photographs are my own unless otherwise stated/credited.