Restoration diary

This weekend we had Ian Williams the welder on site, starting the bodywork repairs on Repulse. Joining me today was Mark Burrows, Carl and Sofy Looker.Ian cut out rotten steel around No.1 cab end and along the 'non-visible' side, where we had identified the worst corrosion. He did most of the cutting out yesterday, today was clearing the rusty debr...

Ian Kemp decided to go to site today as it was a bank holiday and he wasn't working. Wes Needle was available too so I went as well.Quite a productive day, Wes was in No.1 cab again, fitted the windscreen washer control and washer button he'd overhauled, and made a repair to a conduit under the floor. He took away a section of cab panelling to rep...

I went up to site yesterday as Ian Kemp was bringing some helicoils as a possible solution to the radiator resistor backplate problem (see previous work party reports). After we'd looked at them and decided they may well solve the problem, Ian and Peter Carter took measurements off the power unit for the upcoming lift, barred the engine round as th...

A good day on Sunday, despite the Arctic wind in the morning. Wes Needle had a very productive day. He started the day by cleaning the debris from under No.1 cab floor on the second man's side. Then, with Dave's help, they checked the operation of the handbrake mechanism under the floor. They found that the pivot nut required tightening and a new s...

Dave Rolfe, Wes Needle and I were on site on Sunday 17th February. Peak Rail have been reorganising their site during the first weeks of 2019 and opportunities for work parties were also limited by the weather. Dave was removing the brake adjustment parts off the bogies, as he'd identified some that were either worn or where there appeared to be ...