With the majority of the bogie overhaul work completed, some of the team has now moved onto the connecting and coupling rods. Some high tensile pull rods have now replaced the mild steel ones that failed last workday, and have proven up to the task of helping the strip down.
As a result of this all of the coupling, connecting rods and valve gear has now been stripped off the leading engine unit. There are now many hours of cleaning and crack testing for the crew to undertake. The magnetic particle crack detector will help speed up this process, but only after the years of 60 class road grime is cleaned off. Every pin and bush will be measured, recorded and assessed for fit and limit of wear. A painstaking task, but when completed we will have an accurate record of the motion, and a picture of what work is ahead of us for the first half of next year. As this type of work cannot take place out doors, the stripped motion is now off site and out of the weather.
Unfortunately, our resident photographer Howard Moffatt could not attend our last workday so we only have a few pictures to show and will just have to wait until the next workday to see where we are at.
Alan Gardner
