This Saturday has seen us bid a fond farewell to the Jung steam loco Justine after an extra day wiorking the passenger train at Apedale. Justine is a cracking little engine, and fitted in very well at Apedale - so a big thank you to the team from the North Gloucestershire Railway at Toddington for the visit. She's gone back home now for their own October steam-up.
Meanwhile, steady progress has been made on the refurbishment of the ex-FR van which is destined for the Permanent Way department. After a considerable battle, the last remnants of the steel floor and the welds holding it in place have now been removed. If there's one thing the FR is good at, it's welding - we are confidently expecting a Customer of the Year aware from our supplier of cutting and grinding discs. The now fully exposed underframe is actually in surprisingly good condition; there are a few places where repairs will be needed, but only a few. The solebars and centre members are pretty much as-new. The only problem areas are the transomes to the bogie centre, where a closure plate seems to have fulfilled the sole purpose of trapping water and debris. The closure plates are now history. A couple of our younger members have done sterling work removing the loose paint and surface corrosion on the underframe, and it is now resplendent in red oxide. We'll damage a bit of that paintwork when we do the weld repairs, but nothing a few minor touch up can't deal with. The next stage is to get the thing back on its bogies and round to the workshop where Mr MIG Welder lives. As ever, get in touch here.
