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More good news relating to Boscastle - a West Country class pacific that has been undergoing a long overhaul. There were some major moves going on in the shed and Boscastle's tender frames arrived at the front of the shed (- alongside our new visitor!) The springs were on the frames and soon the wheels and axleboxes went into place. Many thanks are due to the GCR shed staff for their work and the capable supervision of our chief engineer Andy Morgan. Then the wheeled frames were moved to the back of the shed.....and the tender tank lifted. .....and put on the newly wheeled chassis.
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Love how basic that trailer is. I made a similar trailer! Mini sub frame widened, bed angle iron, roof joist timbers. The tow hitch and jockey wheel were the biggest expense. But I lost the actual jockey wheel going to the Pod as I didn't realise that it was running along the ground with the low back end of my fathers Rover 2000!
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Hi PHUQ There are 6 wagons in the headshunt at Quorn which have not run for several years. If we can get them running with "relatively" little work, we will reach our 30@30.....Watch this space! Of course more helpers are always useful.
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Nov 24, 2021 15:33:13 GMT
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More progress with all the floor plates tacked in place and one side sheet painted, with another tacked in place.
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Nov 18, 2021 22:09:24 GMT
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One of the lower side sheets is tacked in place. ....and the other news is that the new build A1 Pacific "Tornado" is going to be running on the GCR over the next two months.
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Nov 16, 2021 20:31:21 GMT
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Now we have tack welded some of the floor sheets in place, 4 out of 6 so far.
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Gussets.......several gussets.......but not the fabric type! These are steel triangles to reinforce the joints on our steel underframe girders. We spent a happy few hours replacing "See through" rusty ones with nice thick steel new ones....
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We were riding in the GCR "Veranda" carriage yesterday. This did receive some critical comments as it was a std Mk 1 carriage when it was converted. However it is really popular and does enable a very close up view of the engine working hard!
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Hi Glen There is a definite "knack" to getting those seals in place and to re-assemble them easily!
An unusual operational difficulty on the GCR yesterday, there was a "Bridge Strike" caused by a lorry at Swithland. The 11.15 was held at Quorn and the DMU at Rothley (I think). There was a rapid re-organisation of the timetable to use locomotive 73156, from the lunchtime dining train, to pull the 11.15 back from Quorn. The bridge passed its inspection and it was a normal timetable from 12.50.
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We had a very productive day on Wednesday. We were able to remove the vacuum cylinder from underneath the wagon, strip it down, put a new "Rolling Ring" seal onto the piston. A new "O" ring seal around the top, reassemble...and re-install in the wagon. The picture also helps to understand how vacuum brakes work (in simple form) - essentially the piston (centre) sits in the cylinder (left) which sits in the dome (Right). Then a vacuum is created by the locomotive in the train pipe which keeps the brakes Off. If air is then admitted in the train pipe, or the pipe breaks, then the vacuum retained in the dome means that air pressure will apply the brakes...so it "Fails Safe". And we were able to make a start on welding in new gusset plates to the chassis frame!
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Oct 30, 2021 10:20:49 GMT
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....As I said before - this is better than Jaguar ever made! Well Done!
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As many will already know, one of the regular contributors on this thread Georgeb has sadly passed away. We shared a passionate interest in railways and, although we never met, we were friends. RIP George.
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Oct 26, 2021 17:33:13 GMT
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Very Nice!
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Oct 26, 2021 14:52:40 GMT
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As everyone has said....RIP George. You will be missed by so many people for so many reasons...but thank you for sharing your life with us.
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Oct 21, 2021 14:26:38 GMT
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Thanks for your efforts gucci. It is very worrying.
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Oct 21, 2021 11:19:40 GMT
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Well I have started to spend money on the Sprite to get it RWYB ready......I've ordered two new diff gaskets ready for the diff changes!... it is progress of sorts.
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Oct 20, 2021 19:05:26 GMT
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Hi GSP The repairs are done "sympathetically" to keep the cost down by using less steel, keep the repair time down by minimising welding ....and to retain the character of used, preserved, mineral wagons. So it is a compromise and we are having to put more and more new steel in. It must also be remembered that whilst we are doing one wagon, the other 29 are outside..... getting worse. The brake van is in regular use on the GCR and so has annual Fitness to Run exams.
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Oct 20, 2021 14:55:42 GMT
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And in other news, my Brakevan is back on the turntable at Quorn. It may have to have some work done soon as I'm told the roof is leaking in a couple of places....
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Oct 14, 2021 11:22:25 GMT
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As always, a pleasure - and education! to read your posts....many thanks.
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Hi etypephil I will probably sell as I am getting older and we will be "downsizing" in all aspects.....but not just yet! So a last flurry of quarter mile action (RWYB) then a return to "Street" and MoT, doing a few local runs/shows......then sell..... is the plan. Unless, of course, somebody offers an attractive price!
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