April 2026 Update

By Pete Maddicks & Tony Howard

First may I apologise for how late this update is, I have been having trouble with my emails, but it is all sorted now. 
Another good month, with a lot more parts going on. The smokebox only needs the spark arrestor left to fit. All the pipe work in the cab completed. 

Saturday 11th April.
On site today: Dave Mc, Kevin S, Peter M, Simon B, Steve M, Tony H.
First Saturday back after the Easter break.
Tony bought the glass for the windows that he had been storing at his home.
We made a start on filling the water tanks, this included the water space in the bunker. After a few minutes, a few leaks started to appear, mainly through the bolts that hold the rear balance pipes and a few bolts that hold the bunker to the frames. More worryingly quite a large leak in the rivet/welding in the front left corner of the bunker. The water was drained out of the tank/bunker. More investigation will be needed to cure the issue.

Monday 13th April.
On site today: Charles L, Dave L, Dave Mc, Peter D, Peter M, Phil H, Tony H.
Dave L and Tony worked on the ashpan doors operating mechanism. They managed to get it all sorted out, and the front and rear doors all connected up to the operating levers in the cab. Charles had made a pattern for the drop grate operating lever. This will go to be laser-cut off site. The new steel pipes passed their hydraulic test and are waiting for a NDT test later this week.
No further work was done regarding the water leaks as it was too wet to work inside the water space in the bunker.

Saturday 18th April
On site today: Jack K, Dave Mc, Kevin S, Simon B, Charles L, Phil H, and Peter M.
Today Dave Mc, Kevin S, Simon B, Phil H, and Peter M, fitted the superheater elements and blast pipe. We also put the chimney in place on the smoke box, ready to be lined up on Monday. Jack K and Charles L, were working on the grate and ash pan.  In the afternoon, we started to fill the tanks, but only got a few inches in before we found a few leaks on the balance pipe joints. We then fixed as many as we could before the water drained out.

Monday 20th April.
On site today: Bob L, Charles L, Dave L, Dave Mc, Peter D, Peter M,
Chimney lined up, bedded down on fire clay and bolted down permanently.
Today the checker plates for the damper doors operating levers were fitted, and the plain washers and split pins were also fitted. The Blower ring was then fitted to the bottom of the chimney. Work was done on the Locking mechanism for the drop grate.

Saturday 25th April
On site today: Dave Mc, Simon B, Steve M and Pete M.
Today we spent the morning tightening up all of the nuts and bolts on the water side of the tanks and the bunker. We also fitted some new lead washers to help stop the leaks. Dave Mc was putting special paint on some of the leaks in the bunker. Steve M was polishing the copper pipes in the cab.

Monday 27th April.
On site today: Bob L, Charles L, Dave L, Dave Mc, Peter D, Peter M, Phil H, Tony H.
The previous Saturday, the tanks were fully filled with water to check for further leaks. Apart from a number of minor leaks around rivets the only major leak was around the bolts that hold the semi circular brace at the front of the tanks. No lead washers had been fitted. So new lead washers were fitted today. The left-hand side of the water space in the bunker was given a coat of sealant, this is where the water leaks were observed a couple of weeks ago when the tanks were partially filled.
Work was done on the lubricating pipework cover that sits on the smokebox, it was not sitting flat - it is now.
The vertical piece of infill cladding that covers the small gap at the front of the tank and the boiler either side was installed on the right-hand side.