April update

Work so far in April has focused around getting the cab stripped back to a bear frame and giving it a deep clean and assessing all the pipe work that's normally hidden under the cab floor. The frame work has been cleaned, rust treated and given a few coats of paint to help protect it for years to come before we look at putting the new floor sections down. The second man's side has been rubbed backed down and has uncovered a fair bit of original green paint work which has been hid away for many years.

Original red oxide primer and BR Green hiding under where the foot rest is normally bolted on

Undercoat being applied to area's of the cab

The frame work has been given a coat of black gloss to help protect for years to come, once some repairs to the small step wall are carried out (at the bottom of the picture) this cab can then start to be fitted out with new flooring.

Work has continued on the cab front area mainly around the tops of the marker light panels. This area has suffered badly with water ingress over the years which seems to have come from holes being drill into the body to secure the overhead live wire enamel signs. The require the horn funnel to be removed which sadly wasn't a five minute job as the two bolts nearest to the middle doors are not accessible from the inside. A decision was made to cut the horn out from the front and just replace a larger area of steel with new fittings on the back to hold the funnel and grill back on the front.

A new section of steel welded in around where the horn funnel goes, not the easiest of areas to repair but another job ticked off the list.

A nicely cleaned up horn grill showing its had a very hard life with rather a few hammer marks on it.

With the No2 in cab progressing really well the same can also be said with the west side of the loco. Large areas of steel work have now been replaced starting from behind the No2 end working our way back to the No1 end.. The three bodyside grills have been removed to gain access the the rotten area's behind where the filter trays sit These grills will be made up as new item and them welded into place on the loco.

Members of the team tackling the area around the three bodyside grills. As you can see new steel work has been added in around the boiler access steps.