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29 & 30 March 08 - GWS, Didcot
This weekend was a major milestone in our maintenance programme with the return of the remaining items away for specialist work or parts on order. The repaired and re-metalled eccentric strap and the bricks for the new arch arrived from the South Devon Railway (thanks to Dave) so it was all systems go with a big turnout of working party members.
The piston was re-fitted on the right hand side and re-united with the crosshead. The front cylinder cover was also re-fitted. In the smokebox, the petticoat was re-fitted as well as the blastpipe caps, blower pipe work and other associated items. In the firebox a team got on with fitting the new brick arch and that was completed by the end of the day.
Work also began on the re-fitting of the eccentric strap. This took longer than expected with the amount of scraping in to be done and checking but this should be completed this coming weekend. A lot of smaller items were completed with the air pump governor re-fitted and the new vacuum hose pipes installed. The cleaning crew were again hard at it, with still more items being rubbed down, filled and re-painted where necessary.
This all means the loco is almost ready to be steam tested in a few weeks time.
As usual, here are some photo's from the weekend...
21,22 & 23 March 08 - GWS, Didcot
A quiet weekend on the whole owing to the Easter holiday but those who braved the cold weather got stuck into quite a few jobs
The safety valves were removed so their seats could be lapped in. The gauge frame overhaul was completed and assembly of all the items finished. Some items of air brake piping received some attention along with the split pinning of the lock nuts on the valve gear and the refitting on the mechanical lubricator drive.
As usual, here are some photo's from the weekend...
15 March 08 - GWS, Didcot
Another good weekend with the focus on the assembly of the right hand cylinder cover and motion. The rear cover was refitted along with both slide bars, the crosshead and connecting rod. The eccentric strap has also been repaired and is ready to be white metaled.
Progress on the support coach is also advanced, with the bodywork completed and painting underway.
7, 8 & 9 March 08 - GWS, Didcot
Another full weekend of work, with lots of items completed. We still have a fair way to go, but we're getting there.
Friday One of our tasks was to undertake an inspection of all the air tanks on the loco, involving some boroscope equipment to check the internal condition, coupled with an NDT thickness test. So, both people to undertake these tasks arrived on Friday and in a couple of hours that was another job ticked off the list.
Saturday Another big turn out saw to it that several tasks were completed. In the smokebox, the blastpipe was put back in (with two nice new gaskets) and bolted into place. Also the regulator valve cover was put back on. Installation of the right hand expansion link was completed and a start was made on the left hand one. The loco's gauges, were put back into the cab as they had been returned to us fully certified for another year. Meanwhile, the cylinder relief valves that had been removed so far, were cleaned up and their seats lapped in. Also the global valve seats were lapped in and re-assembled.
Sunday Assembly was completed of the left hand expansion link. Work also continued on cleaning up and assembling the cylinder relief valves, whilst the fitting of the boiler washout plugs was finished so that the refilling the boiler could be done. The cleaning gang did their ususal excellent work, when not dragged off to do other things. Some of the brake pipework that has been dismantled to remove/re-fit the expansion links was re-assembled.
As usual, here are some photo's from the weekend...
1 & 2 March 08 - GWS, Didcot
The emphasise is very much now on re-assembling the loco with most of the major works complete. The new expansion link die blocks were delivered last week and so we've begun fitting these and putting the expansion links back into place. In the smokebox, the new exhaust pipe for the air pump has been fitted and also the new supporting stud for the blastpipe has been inserted. In the firebox, some minor rectification work has been completed and the fire bars are back in place. Some new washout plugs are on order and we should have the boiler boxed up this coming weekend.
The cleaning crew have also been hard at it with the loco beginning to shine now in more places than it doesn't. Some painting of verious items has also been completed.