With Thomas occupying everyone's attention at Llangollen over the last two weekends there has been little work done, other than an assessment prior to restarting the restoration of Cravens 56456.
Two more ceiling supports have been fitted and some measurements have been taken for the manufacture of parts. A start has been made on fitting some previously manufactured sections that will eventually hold up the luggage racks.
The Thomas event went without any significant issues, other than an intermittent fault on one power car this Saturday which refused to go into reverse gear but which subsequently sorted itself out.
Over at Butterley work has continued on the rear of Gloucester 51118 at the driver's side. The corner framework has now been reconstructed and work is ongoing to repair the roof where it meets the side sheets. Repairs have also been completed to the edges of the floor in the centre saloon, the mounting and hole has been made for the radiator filler with the pipe put back in place and some sorting out of the vehicle's contents has been made to enable work to progress to the next stage.
In trailer 56097 some more pieces of floor have been laid and work has continued on the wiring up of the interior of the vehicle, including under the desk where a main support has been welded in onto which the wires are being located.
The repair/reconstruction of the rear driver's side of Gloucester Power car 51118 proceeds.
The good news is that the body side and lower valance is now completed to the guard's van, as with the previous area the lower box section did not require replacement but could be repaired, which has saved a great deal of work.
The bad news is that the rear corner is very heavily wasted, so much so that we believe that if it had been left much longer there would have been a serious danger of collapse. As can be seen from the 'before' photo things were obviously not as they should be but as the second picture shows once stripped down the full extent of the rot was revealed. The new metal in the second picture was inserted as soon as the corner post was removed so that the structure had some stability. Work now is in progress to repair this rear section.
Over at Llangollen progress has been slow this week due to the weekend being taken up with the operation of a six car set for the Day Out With Thomas event.
At Llangollen there has been more work to seal the vents on the top of the 108 set with another six removed and then blanked off before having the original ventilators reinstalled on top. However there are still leaks into the guard's van which are probably due to missing rivets in the roof which will have to be investigated.
Some other odd jobs including the resecuring of cab steps on the same unit and the fitting of new guard's armrests on Class 104 50454 have also been completed.
All three sets that are due to be used at the Thomas event next weekend were refuelled - it's a good job it isn't your car as 1,400 litres were required!
At Butterley the guard's van side on Gloucester Motor Driving Brake 51118 is coming back together but investigations into the condition of the back end have discovered more significant corrosion. Work is therefore ongoing to rebuild the main body upright which has wasted away at the top and at the bottom.
54490 received some attention to the toilet plumbing, involving renewing some of the houses between the water tank and the rest of the system with flexible hoses. Part of the ceiling was also replaced which had been damaged by leaking water. The fleet was marshalled up ready for the upcoming Thomas event, and time was taken to give the outsides of both the 104 and 108 a wash.
The Wickham played host to two Driver Experience candidates, both of who thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It is seen passing the service steam train at Glyndyfrdwy.
Further progress has been made with the bodyshell of Gloucester Driving Motor Brake 51118. The driver's side of the guard's compartment has been completely stripped, including the bottom box section, to enable repairs to be carried out.
The bottom sections did not require renewal and seem to be in better condition than the trailer, therefore only slight patching was required. This is now complete and work has started on re-assembly. Some more components have been manufactured for the framework and for the bottom valance. The panels that will be fitted onto the body have all been painted on the inside ready for fitting.
The 141 worked passenger services at the Midland Railway on three days last week and was well received by the passengers.