There is sometimes a certain super symmetry to activities at Apedale. So it was last weekend. Amongst many other activities on site, the War Office Loco Trust 4-6-0 Hunslet 1215 was dismantled in anticipation of a movement for restoration to start in a big way. The photo shows the boiler being lifted out of the frames. What is doesn't show is the twitching of bodily parts in the crane cab due to the variations in the estimates as to what the boiler weighed. So, that's one loco reduced to its major parts.
On the other hand, the now-legendary Project Pluto Ruston189972 is rapidly being put back together. As you will see, the wheels, gearbox and frame and now united in one happy lump. The engine was extracted last weekend and now rotates (always seen as a positive feature of a diesel engine). The Apprentice Team are seen re-enacting the Torrey Canyon with the gearbox. All must be well because not only is the CME pointing, but so is the PWE. He must have got over his worrying about rolling contact fatigue. Not long to the start of the season now - we open again to the public on 31 March. Be there - get in touch here.
