Update from Saturday 12th March and further photos of the demolition train.
Despite the steam gala taking place last weekend various work was progressed on shed. At the end of the day
when the shed visitors had gone home D7018's new transmission shaft was installed.
Regular readers may recall that the one previously fitted (the locos original) was found to be not fit for use so a
new one has been fabricated by an external company at great expense in order to progress the loco overhaul.
The sheered stud inside D6575's engine block has been successfully removed with some options on how to
secure the cylinder head.
Dave Hammond has sent us an update and photos regarding D9518. In summary the area beneath B end has
been cleaned and painted.
To gain better access to this rarely seen part of the Loco it It was first necessary to remove the two air brake
cylinders that were solidly attached by way of fitted bolts through to the frames.(Those cylinders will have
new seals fitted before reassembly and newly made fitted bolts installed). Having made space we were able to
prepare for painting. Because this fairly inaccessible area was awkward to get into it took slow time to complete
the job to the standard we required. The process involved Trowelling out the mix of coal dust and congealed
grease that filled the frame stretcher trays and coated every horizontal and vertical surface. Followed by use of
a strong DIY type scraper to lever off the very tough layers that remained and followed by vacuum cleaning and
sufficient mugs of tea at regular intervals we got to a reasonably clean standard.
We then moved the wheeled frame that now is D9518 back and forth to get underneath and shovelled up and
binned the stuff off of the floor because some of the grease removed, even after 40 odd years was still sticky
and filthy; we didn’t want to spread that more widely over our new paint!
Finally, we were able to wire brush all surfaces bright clean. We checked and can confirm here that there are
No loose rivets or bolts or anything that could cause concern in this area. It is clearly a very strongly made box
section wherein fits the B end drawbar. In fact the vertical surfaces are very well preserved with all original paint
intact, and with only light surface rust on the horizontal surfaces and a little surface under the air brake
cylinders locations that we easily removed. We assessed the overall the condition as being excellent and no
further work is needed in this area.
Finally we applied Primer, Undercoat and Top coat. The result after painting is shown in the photos.
Below we have some excellent photos this week. Firstly a selection from Graham Perry, Driver of the
"demolition train" during the Somerset and Dorset steam Gala working that train on the 6/3.
Leroy has sent a photo of a visiting steam loco alongside our yard at Williton.
Finally we have some photos from Dave of the work undertaken on D9518.
Despite the steam gala taking place last weekend various work was progressed on shed. At the end of the day
when the shed visitors had gone home D7018's new transmission shaft was installed.
Regular readers may recall that the one previously fitted (the locos original) was found to be not fit for use so a
new one has been fabricated by an external company at great expense in order to progress the loco overhaul.
The sheered stud inside D6575's engine block has been successfully removed with some options on how to
secure the cylinder head.
Dave Hammond has sent us an update and photos regarding D9518. In summary the area beneath B end has
been cleaned and painted.
To gain better access to this rarely seen part of the Loco it It was first necessary to remove the two air brake
cylinders that were solidly attached by way of fitted bolts through to the frames.(Those cylinders will have
new seals fitted before reassembly and newly made fitted bolts installed). Having made space we were able to
prepare for painting. Because this fairly inaccessible area was awkward to get into it took slow time to complete
the job to the standard we required. The process involved Trowelling out the mix of coal dust and congealed
grease that filled the frame stretcher trays and coated every horizontal and vertical surface. Followed by use of
a strong DIY type scraper to lever off the very tough layers that remained and followed by vacuum cleaning and
sufficient mugs of tea at regular intervals we got to a reasonably clean standard.
We then moved the wheeled frame that now is D9518 back and forth to get underneath and shovelled up and
binned the stuff off of the floor because some of the grease removed, even after 40 odd years was still sticky
and filthy; we didn’t want to spread that more widely over our new paint!
Finally, we were able to wire brush all surfaces bright clean. We checked and can confirm here that there are
No loose rivets or bolts or anything that could cause concern in this area. It is clearly a very strongly made box
section wherein fits the B end drawbar. In fact the vertical surfaces are very well preserved with all original paint
intact, and with only light surface rust on the horizontal surfaces and a little surface under the air brake
cylinders locations that we easily removed. We assessed the overall the condition as being excellent and no
further work is needed in this area.
Finally we applied Primer, Undercoat and Top coat. The result after painting is shown in the photos.
Below we have some excellent photos this week. Firstly a selection from Graham Perry, Driver of the
"demolition train" during the Somerset and Dorset steam Gala working that train on the 6/3.
Leroy has sent a photo of a visiting steam loco alongside our yard at Williton.
Finally we have some photos from Dave of the work undertaken on D9518.
