Tuesday 16 October 2012

Cats and Dogs...

With work proceeding on the Museum foundations, thoughts turned to the exhibits to put in it. Whilst our curator has been busy trying to properly catalogue our vast collection of narrow gauge equipment, we've been working to restore some of the more needy items and also pose him an interesting conundrum. One project just started involves a hybrid Dick Kerr skip wagon that had at some point in its history been separated from its original wheels and mounted rather ignominiously on top of a fairly grotty Hudson chassis. We have managed to locate a suitable set of wheels and running gear from a donor chassis to restore this wagon to its original condition, which will make a pair in our collection. This, of course, leaves a Hudson chassis behind, hence two museum artefacts where only one existed before this weekend!

With focus in the last couple of blogs on our feline friends, we should not forget their canine relatives. Mechanical work on "Tiddles" is nearing completion, so now "Pluto" the Ruston has been receiving attention. Work on this Apprentice project slowed over the last month, partially because of work directed towards preparing for the open day, but also as we were waiting for new parts. The original bulkhead was corroded beyond repair, so new drawings have had to be made and the three sheet metal component parts cut and folded to order. These arrived last week and were assembled over the weekend. The construction is a combination of bolting, welding and folding. With this work now progressing, we can focus on fitting the various controls then cleaning and painting. At this stage our target for completion by the end of the year still looks achievable (if we can keep the apprentices focussed).



So we have two more restored exhibits on the way, but there's still a long way to go on the museum and its contents. If you think you can help us realise our ambitions, contact us here.