Most of the regular volunteers were present today, and the team was joined by a new volunteer, a qualified toolmaker, who was welcomed in the traditional railway fashion.
The day began with a quick inspection of the contents of the box containing the carport that had recently been delivered to see what was missing. After topping up the generator with diesel, much of the day was spent shunting rolling stock with Chris H (Hunslet No. 4) to position Hunslet No. 15 by the lifting equipment in 83A. Achieving this required moving wagon B10 further down the storage area onto some scrap plywood sheets and relocating the Wickham trolley off the rails and onto the concrete area so that No. 15 could be lifted up for inspection.
Once raised, the extent of the damage to the brake rigging could be assessed. Two brake linkages were found to be snapped, but there is confidence that they can either be repaired or remanufactured and the oil pipes are severed. Lifting No. 15 proved to be an interesting juggling act, but the task was successfully completed. Progress was also made on the parking brake issue, with a suitable second-hand replacement valve sourced after discovering that the original component which was broken is now obsolete and no longer manufactured.
Elsewhere around the site, painting work continued on the museum building, steadily advancing what has become a long-running project. Maintenance work was also carried out in the workshop, including replacing a grindstone on one side of the polishing machine. Perhaps most importantly of all, the workshop mop was finally repaired, a vital, and arguably essential, piece of equipment now restored to service.
Overall, it was a productive day, with significant progress made on No. 15, ongoing improvements around the site, and the welcome addition of a new volunteer to the team.
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