Restoration diary

​19/6/2017 Deborah Stokes and I completed the rail grey topcoating in the radiator compartment, Dave Rolfe refitted another part of the radiator shutter actuating mechanism, while Wes Needle carried on in no 1 cab, refitting panelling to the driver's desk, though not without some effort as the panels were warped from storage and previous rushed fit...

Whilst we have the radiators removed from 50030, attention has turned to the radiator compartment inside the bodyshell with the aim being to refurbish it as quickly as possible. The reason for this is that we have the refurbished radiators back in our care, but we quickly decided that the best place to store them was where they came out from - name...

Most of our efforts since Christmas have concentrated on preparing the radiator compartment for the return of the radiators now they have been repaired. It's been all hands on deck to clean up years of accumulated debris, attend to lots of corrosion, especially around the blower duct on the floor and the electrical trunking that runs either side ju...

On 22nd August Dave Rolfe and I were on site. Dave was having a good sort out of our storage as it had got a bit untidy, which was preventing us from finding items we need for the actual restoration project, and disposing of offcuts of some wood that we don't need. I carried on undercoating in the Thin Man's and a bit round the front of the cu...

​A major step in the restoration of 50030 is to lift the existing radiators out of the locomotive so that they can be sent for professional overhaul.  Whilst we do have some spares, our assessment of them - backed up by professional judgement - is that the radiators inside the locomotive are in far better condition.  Whilst 50029 and 5003...