Today: Full size shunting puzzles, Work on the Wickham and Tinkabell continue and s unique photo opportunity
It was bright and sunny first thing, a little cool to start with, but the warmth built steadily and by the afternoon it had turned into a really pleasant day. With a good team on site, progress was made across several projects while trains ran for the Mills Open Day. Two services were operated, carrying lots of appreciative passengers.
Work on the Wickham trolley moved forward with a first green topcoat applied to the inner faces of both end panels. Suitable timber was sourced and shaping began on the new buffer beam for the Dough wagon. Tinkabell saw major attention as the bonnet cover and entire front fairing were removed, followed by some impressive panel‑beating to straighten out the dents.
A group turned their attention to shed 83D, exploring better ways to install the roof panels. The tower wagon was moved to assist — reluctantly, as its brakes needed persuasion from a sledgehammer before it agreed to roll. Adjustments were then made to the scaffold tower to make it more useful for the job ahead.
The afternoon became a full‑scale shunting puzzle, with seemingly every vehicle across the Railway Works moved at least twice. This caused much amusement and confusion on the Public Tours as everything wasn’t necessarily where the Guides expected it to be! However, by the end of the session, the Dough wagon was back on the track and positioned inside Museum 83C ready for buffer beam work. Wagon B10 was moved out of Workshop 83B and into shed 83A, taking the space freed by the Dough wagon.
That opened up a gap in the main workshop, promptly filled with the newly arrived locomotive Hunslet Works No. 9080 – Bishopton number 15. It rolled smoothly behind Chris H (Hunslet number 4), and the chance was taken to photograph all three Hunslet Bishopton locomotives currently at the Railway – including visitor Number 4 – nose‑to‑tail the first time such a lineup has been possible since the mid‑1990s.
To round off the day, sanding continued on Tinkabell’s bonnet cover and a coat of red primer was applied, the lighting in ARS2 was finally sorted and essential workshop tasks carried on in the background. Solid progress across a wide range of jobs, thanks to steady effort throughout the day.
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