With the Pilk now officially back on its feet and looking towards an early discharge from the casualty unit, other winter maintenance jobs have been occupying the volunteers of the Apedale Vally Light Railway. Coach maintenance and greasing fishplates isn't particularly photogenic, but welding up holes in steam locos is. The Hudswell Clarke steam loco made its triumphant return to steam in September. Inevitably, there is a small snag list of minor problems which emerged during early running. One of these was the need to re-route the oil pipes from the displacement lubricator to the cylinders; this involved sealing the previous hole used to penetrate the smokebox. Hence the welding. Another minor job has been fixing the replica "AngloGold Ashanti No.9" plates, which have doubled.the weight of the loco, but do give a nice "finished" air. Not sure yet which loco will work the Santas - time will tell if this new upstart will displace the old-faithful "Stanhope" on this prime job. Mentioning Santa - don't forget, still time to book here. Get in touch here.
