January 2007 :: Fotopic.Net

January 2007

1st January 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF OUR VISITORS AND SUPPORTERS!
Sunday 7th saw the first working party of the year with Alan, Adrian, Chris, John, Chris Stuchbury and even a very rare appearance by Dan! Dave Downer came down specially to work on the electrical cubicle sorting out the few remaining gremlins as well as removing redundant wire and generally tidying up the electrical cubicle. Dave brought with him a new relay to replace one of the old relays that had given up the ghost after all these years. John, Alan and Adrian removed the frost grille and radiator louvres from A-Bank side of the loco so that the area hidden behind the grille and louvres could be cleaned of any debris that had collected and then repainted with anti-corrosive paint. This work is all part of minimising corrosion where possible as Class 37s tend to rust in this area quite badly. Most of the nuts and bolts came apart quite easily when you consider how long they must have been in there without moving. The steam loco lads on site seemed very keen to lend us their gas axe for us to work on our loco - ulterior motive perhaps? Dan and Chris S assisted Dave with the electrical cubicle. Chris finished off a few outstanding small tasks on the loco such as removing the remaining glass cover for the fire pull handle at Number 2 End so that replacement glass can be cut to size.

Sunday 14th saw Joan, Doug, Adrian and Alan on site continuing with cleaning the area that had been revealed since the radiator louvres and frost grille had been removed the previous weekend. All of the debris and dirt has now been removed and the area is almost ready for painting. The louvres are in the process of being cleaned of the accumulated dirt and the louvres have been found to be BR Blue! Obviously this area wasn't touched when the loco was painted into "Dutch" livery by BR! Thanks to Joan, the troops were kept fed yet again!

Sunday 21st saw just Alan on site due to other members having prior commitments or sickness. Alan continued working on the radiator louvres preparing them for dismantling.

Sunday 28th saw Adrian, Alan, Doug, Joan and Chris on site. Alan and Adrian continued with overhauling the radiator louvres and surrounding area that had been exposed when the louvres were removed revealing blue and green paint in the process. Joan commenced stripping the paint off the aluminium strips that surrounded the frost grille whilst Doug blasted as much dirt off the louvres as possible. Chris commenced removing all of the dirt and brake dust that had accumulated on the frost grille over the years. The grime was caked on really thick and took a lot of effort to get it all off. Alan and Adrian ended the day with priming the area that they had been cleaning. Thanks to Joan and Doug for providing the food to keep the volunteers working!

500x667 Chris_removing_sandite.jpg	640x524 Louvres_removed_from_loco.jpg	640x480 BR_Blue_on_louvres.jpg	640x480 Frost_grills_and_louvres_removed._059.jpg
640x480 Interior_with_gaping_hole.jpg	600x800 Frost_grille_comparison.jpg	600x800 Alan_and_Adrian_cleaning_louvre_area.jpg	600x800 Doug_jetting_louvres.jpg
600x800 No_grille.jpg	600x800 Frost_grille_completed.jpg	600x800 Grub_up.jpg	480x640 Differing_colours.jpg