Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale, Jay Hirst and I were on site yesterday. Richard finally finished drilling and tapping the fixing holes for the mounting plate for the change-end switch in No.1 cab, a difficult job because most of the holes are either at floor level, or right next to structural supports for the cab desk and the bulkhead the driver's seat is attached to. Dave used the mounting plate that is in good condition as a template to make another for No.2 cab, as the only original we have is badly corroded. The change-end switch itself is rather curiously made of two steel sections and a central aluminium section. The paint was flaking off the aluminium part as it had presumably been applied without using an etched primer. The loose paint was scraped off, the steel parts and pipe outlets were masked off, and it was sprayed with an etched primer. Once that had dried, the switch was test-fitted to the new mounting plate dave made to check it fitted correctly, which it did. Jay hoovered up more debris from under No.2 cab floor, then flitted between assisting Richard and Dave. I finished topcoating the brake frame conduits and the new support brackets Dave had made, then undertook infrastructure work, sorting various tools and parts, and returning things to their proper places. Photos by Andy Rowlands.
