It was a long and wet day on site, with rain falling pretty well all the time and only stopping about half an hour before we went home. It was a small team on site today, but there was a lot of positive news to report.
In the morning, work was completed on the erection of the tent structure over the Moes and Bishopton Hunslet No. 5. What a fiddly and frustrating job, but it is now standing and, most importantly, dry inside. Attention then turned to tweaking the brake system on Hunslet No. 15, while other jobs around the site continued despite the weather.
After lunch, work carried on with the installation of the roof on wagon B10 whilst fitting more floorboards to the same vehicle. Progress may have been slowed by the rain, but it certainly did not stop.
The first big news of the day came when Hunslet No. 15 was lowered back onto the rails and moved and stopped under its own power. I was allowed to have a little play and it is good to drive, with plenty of power when the throttle is opened. It is our seventh operating locomotive on the railway. Back in 2020 we only had two, so things have come a long way and it is pleasing to see another engine returning to service more to do and a repaint but great nether the less.
A lorry also arrived to collect the 18-inch gauge Ruston locomotive and gearbox parts for their journey to their new home at the Steeple Grange Light Railway ( SGLR ) in Derbyshire. With its departure, all of the 18-inch gauge equipment has now left the railway. The end of an era perhaps.
Workshop tasks continued throughout the day, including making a start on clearing some of the cluttered bench space, while work also took place within the new tent on Bishopton Hunslet No. 5.
The locomotive was finally started later in the afternoon, although the engine sounded very unhappy and may have a head gasket fault. Excitingly, the loco did move under its own power, but laid down a very effective smoke screen in the process. Fingers crossed it proves to be an easy fix with a bit of a strip down and repair.
With the rain finally easing towards the end of the afternoon, tools were packed away and the site closed up at about half past four after an interesting and productive day. Despite the weather, there was plenty of progress made, one locomotive returned to operation, another moved under its own power, and another chapter closed with the departure of the last of the 18-inch gauge equipment.
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