November 2005 :: Fotopic.Net

November 2005

1st November 2005

During the first week of the month, Alan continued his task of completing the floor in Number 1 Cab. All that remains is for four more floorboards to be fitted to the lower part of the floor. One of the water pipes was removed to allow a drain plug to be removed with the intention of replacing the plug with a tap so that the water can be easily drained.
On Thursday 3rd, Joan returned one of the seat backs that she had been renovating. The seat back had been stripped down the completely re-covered and it looks absolutely superb. This has now completed both crew seats for Number 1 Cab. Don't panic Joan, there's another 2 to do for Number 2 Cab! Cheers to Doug for the Pictures.
Sunday 6th saw Adrian, Alan and Chris on site. One of the first jobs that was undertaken was to replace the sheet covering the exhaust stacks as it had been torn to bits during the gale force weather we had during the previous week. Alan continued with the flooring in Number 1 Cab and found that one of the newly cut floor panels had warped slightly! Alan also cured a minor fault where the top of the cab door on the Driver's side caught the bottom of the cab ceiling where a new edging strip had been fitted. Adrian and Chris continued fitting the floor in the engine room and this included drilling and tapping a lot of holes and also painting the exposed pipework in primer ready for a top coat hopefully during the following week.
On Thursday 10th, Alan purchased a gate valve for attaching to the coolant pipework removed earlier in the month. The gate valve was trial fitted on the same day. This required the partial removal of some coolant pipework to enable the new valve to be installed.
Sunday 13th saw four people beavering away. Joan worked in Number 2 Cab removing accumulated debris to prepare for the onslaught on this cab when the time comes. Joan also provided the superb meal that we have got used to at lunchtime! Doug assisted in the engine room by painting the conduit that was primed last week and by tidying the floor of dirt and debris ready for the flooring panels to be lifted one by one for inspection and correction of any faults as and when time permits. Chris painted the fire circuit pipework that had been primed the previous weekend and also installed the flooring behind the weight in the engine room. The loco has had this bit of floor missing since it was bought two and a half years ago. Alan spent the day working in the engine room for a change! Alan drained all 12 cylinder heads of coolant to prevent any danger of frost damage over the winter. It was originally intended to have the water pumps back in by now and have the engine started again this time with a mixture of water and antifreeze, but as the water pumps are still under repair, we have drained the loco completely of water. Alan also assisted Chris with fitting the new gate valve to the coolant pipework and then helped refit the pipework itself. To refit the coolant pipework, one section of floor had to be removed to get the two parts of pipework bolted back together. The area which had the floor removed will be tackled next as it is absolutely full of dirt and oil. This area will be thoroughly cleaned and then painted with the appropriate paints. All bolt holes will also be checked to see if any of the threads need clearing out.
Alan was on site on Tuesday 15th mending a fault that had never been properly rectified on the Driver's side door at Number 2 end. Another floorboard was secured in Number 1 Cab. Alan also sorted out one of the cylinder head drain plugs that had a problem with the screw threads. Chris was also on site working on parts of a Class 33 'Crompton'. Don't worry, it won't be arriving on site, Chris was just reconditioning some parts for 33052 as it is currently out of traffic for major bodywork repairs!
Sunday 20th saw just Alan on site. The floor in Number 1 Cab is now completed apart from the lino which will be added just before the loco is completed so as not to wreck the floor covering with oil!
There was the usual 4 members of the team on duty on Sunday 27th. Joan and Doug worked in Number 2 Cab as well as sorting out the lunches. Alan and Chris constructed a cover for one of the exhaust ports to keep the weather out as the sheets we are currently using don't seem to last very long nowadays.
Alan produced another exhaust stack cover on Tuesday 29th. These will now be rubbed down and painted then installed on the loco.

500x664 Alan_draining_heads.jpg	640x480 Cutting_stack_cover.jpg	500x664 Engine_room_floor_3.jpg	500x664 Engine_room_floor_4.jpg
640x334 Exhaust_stack_cover_under_construction.jpg	500x664 Refitting_pipework.jpg	501x582 Seatback_1.jpg	500x540 Seatback_2.jpg
640x480 Cab2.jpg