Moving swiftly on!

If you are a regular to the steam department blog you will be aware that Ray, your previous scribe, has decided to step back from his regular writing duties to allow himself to concentrate on his new role as the department training manager. The new kids on the block, Bryony, Tom and myself, would like to kick off by thanking Ray for contributing so much to the blog and setting the bar so high! It is going to be a tough act to follow and we thought we would kick off with a rare photo of him I captured whilst I was his cleaner on a turn in 2017.

Oi! Put that camera away!

This picture also takes us nicely onto the matter of 2807. The loco has only been out of traffic for twenty one days but the group has made an impressive start to the heavy general overhaul. A representative from the 2807 group, Roger, has been sending us updates on the progress so far. Last Saturday it was the department's AGM and at the meeting Roger also gave a swift update on progress so far. The first step was to section up the loco into eight parts and associate a team to each which looked something like this...

I think the most important team was Team R and whilst they were filling the kettle, team A (in the cab) got off to a slow start. They were finding access to many of the fittings restricted by other fittings, cab floor or pipework. However by the end of the day a large number of the fittings were removed leaving just a handful.

Before...Image by Roger Molesworth

Angela from the cab team removing more fittings. Image by Roger Molesworth

After. Image by Roger Molesworth

David, Ian and Bruce removed the washout plugs and mud-hole doors whilst Ian also unbolted the smokebox from the boiler barrel and loosened the bolts on the safety valve so that it would be ready for removal. They even found the time to hoover out the smokebox!

Ian and Bruce removing washout plugs. Image by Roger Molesworth.

Undressing 2807 was down to David M and John G who started removing the cladding from the cylinders before then moving onto the boiler barrel. At this point they found out that being part time contortionists came in very handy to gain access to the bolts under the boiler barrel to undo the boiler bands.

David removing the last bolt. Image by Roger Molesworth. 

By the 14 January the team in the cab had made quite a lot of progress and they were ready to remove the roof which then also allowed the remainder of the firebox cladding to be removed.

Up! Up and away! Image by Roger Molesworth.

Last piece of cladding being removed. Image by Roger Molesworth.

Ian spent a day inside the firebox cutting out the tubes whilst Bruce, Neil, Geoff and Roger were at the other end pulling the tubes out. Upon inspection the tubes looked in excellent condition with no pitting and there was a good thickness of metal left due to the water treatment used at the GWSR.

To me! To you! Image by Roger Molesworth.

Cross section of a removed tube. Image by Roger Molesworth.

What a difference twenty one days can make. Here is a before shot of 2807 on one of her last days in steam and how she ended up at the end of the day on Saturday.

2807 running into Winchcombe. Image by Roger Molesworth.

2807 at the end of play Saturday 18 January 2020. Image by Roger Molesworth. 

The team have made a great start so far however, there is still a huge way to go and for more updates keep an eye on the 2807 blog http://gwr2807.blogspot.com