Work in Progress: Thursday 27th February

Post Half-Term Week maintenance!

This week's report is again provided by Roger Bye.

It may have been a day without passenger trains, but there was plenty of locomotive action at Woody Bay today.

1. & 2. ISAAC and 6652 were parked in the down platform while HEDDON HALL waits in the up platform with a works train bound for Killington Lane. meanwhile, LYN was outside the shed...

3. ...where Tom (who helps bring down the average age of the Thursday Gang!) raised steam in preparation for setting of LYN’s safety valves and steam test.

4. In the shed Dave, (later assisted by another Dave) was working on CHARLES WYTOCK’s bogie.

5. In the workshop Peter was machining a new spring. The new one is clamped in the vice, whilst the half of broken spring can be seen in the foreground, on top of the vice.

6. & 7. Paintshop Boys Geoff, Phil and Barrie were hard at work...

8. ...with Jim on another plane altogether. Our regular readers may wonder why so much effort is needed to keep our coaches in good condition.

9. & 10. The North Devon weather causes the coach paintwork to deteriorate, especially at corners and joins in the woodwork.  The putty around windows cracks and breaks up.

11. & 12. Paint on wooden mouldings and metal panels cracks and peels.  All these defects have to be rubbed down, filled if necessary and sealed before the application of new paint and varnish.

Out on the track a small gang started the 2020 sleeper replacement program dealing with six sleepers near the points at Killington Lane.

13. Here in the foreground, new volunteer Glyn drills the sleepers, while Chris waits with the ready greased track screws to be fitted. In the background Nick uses the powered nut-runner to fit other track screws.

14. The ballast around the sleepers was then packed using two Robel Rotamp Vertical Tamping machines.

15. And the most amazing news is....that it wasn’t raining today...and the view was tremendous!

Text and photos by Roger Bye