a nice shade of grey..

The contractors have been in and completed the sandblasting and priming of the bunker, and what a difference it makes!

Progress report..... Saturday 13 June

AT Eveleigh; in the Large Erecting Shop, "Cabin Boy" Ron Denholm and I liberated some 55 year old rust from the area around the Firemans side door and window where the outside plating had buckled from the internal pressure. Fortunately the frame work has not deteriorated as much as has the plate work, so repair will be relatively easy.

IN Canberra the rear bunker has been sandblasted and undercoated in a trendy shade of grey by a contractor, so there is another painting job.

Photos when they come to hand.

Next Canberra work Day SUNDAY 21 June

Saturday 6 June Canberra workday

Another fantastic turnout, another productive day..although the wind chill factor in the afternoon reminded us that it IS winter, and that 40 degree celsius summer is now behind us.

Tasks undertaken included:

• more pressure washing, now about half way finished on the front engine unit; thanks again, Roger
• more painting, thanks Stu
• cross compound air compressor dismantled, with some challenges, including the b*****y thing creating a vacuum which made the removal of one piston a challenge; thanks Ian, Shaun, Shane and all the other expert advisers.
• removal of the pivot bearing at the front end of the boiler cradle; thanks to Marc, Kyle and John [and again, more experts]

AND , to show that we do not only pull things apart, the compressor was test fitted to the smokebox to prove that the new support plate will work.

In attendance:
Alan Gardner
Al's mate Graham Kidgell from the little railway near Melbourne
Peter Reynell
Shane Bollard
Shaun Barker
Ian Senini
Marc Millar
Mike Ridley
Stu Edwards
Kyle Rollinson
John Kempton
Roger Maynard
Also on site were Lindsay Richmond, who made lunch, thanks Oldmate; Paul Quinn, vibrating on a bogie frame;
Andy D, Jack Barker, Gav W. ; Dave and Keith Malcolm lighting 3016 for todays' Bungendore train, and David Villiers as cleaner and polisher.

Next workdays

• at Eveleigh..Saturday 13 June...contact peter@project6029.com for access and job details.
• at Kingston [Canberra Railway Museum] Sunday 21 June

The next Superweek is planned to commence on the 4th of July, the anniversary of the first workday, and then 6-10th of July.

MHG Workvan

Barry Peffer has been working to clean up the MHG brake van to prepare it for our use as a work and breakdown van. Here are a few pictures showing his progress. The pictures as usual are taken by Howard Moffat, our staff photographer, who is doing a great job of recording the faces and progress being made on this project.

Thursday 28th May 2009.

The quiet achievers. 

Work has been progressing between our weekend workdays at a steady pace. We now have 30 brand new superheater elements installed thanks to Gavin and Ian. David Malcolm  has arranged to borrow an element tester from our friends at the RTM. This will facilitate the high pressure testing of the required 20 elements that will have to be re conditioned. This  will make up the complete  set of 50. We will also take the opportunity to repair and test the spare elements while we have the test equipment on site.

Ian has also completed the rebuild on the bottom smoke box front plate and has now moved onto the replacement bracket and plate work for the air compressor mount. If this is not enough Ian is also making the new the sheet metal pockets for the wash out plugs at home. Well done and a big thankyou to Ian.

Between his bus driving shifts, Stuart has been dropping in to apply the many coats of paint required on the boiler cradle. Thanks to his efforts and the weekend crew  we should see the boiler cradle work completed in June. A great team effort.

After the boiler cradle we intend to start work on the four bogies as we are already  aware that the lateral control springs will require a rebuild. Typically when bogies are stripped down all of the working components tend to yield a lot of work for all concerned. So we anticipate many hours of crack testing, weld repair and even replacement of some components.

The air compressor strip down has commenced with the bottom cover removed. Again 20 plus years of inaction has every bolt resisting until the last turn. It was planned to send out the two piston rods for hard chroming, however a close inspection has revealed that the railways applied this previously.

The regulator rod will be sent out for hard chroming shortly, as when the fitting of the  superheater elements is completed the regulator will have to be fitted to facilitate the  planed hydrostatic and steam tests.

Our next workday is Saturday 6 June. Yes winter already.

Alan Gardner

Workday Report 18 May 2009

Work on 6029 progressed rapidly this week as we completed three consecutive days on the project.

Friday 15 May.

Gavin and Ian held their regular Friday session with the installation of 10 new superheater elements. Lindsay Richmond also helped out with the heavy lifting, thanks Lindz. The last job for the day was to lift the smoke box front plate into position.

Saturday 16May

The Eveleigh work team removed the life expired roof off the cab revealing many years of rust and subsequent damage. Mike will complete a full set of CAD drawings to outsource the construction of new roof sheets.

Sunday 17 May.

The installation of the smoke box front plate was completed by Ian and old mate Alan Kent. The bottom plate attachment was yielding some problems, however Ian has assured us that it will be sorted out next week. After the last of the new elements were removed from the storage van, Marc started to clean of each ball end for installation next Friday.

The donated workbenches were reassembled and we now have four workstations that will assist with the repair and rebuild of the many small components. Gavin has sourced a six inch vice that we can install on one of the benches. Wow!!

The Boiler cradle is staring to look like a new one as Stuart, Howard, and just about everyone is having a go with the re paint. Gavin and Peter removed the water delivery pipes revealing some active corrosion that will require some major surgery.

Our next work day will be Saturday the 6th of June and work will continue on the boiler cradle.

We will now be holding weekly workdays every Friday, so if you have the time to help out please come along . Lunch is BYO and Gavin will be supervisor for all mid week work and if you intended coming along please let him know in advance.

Alan Gardner.

The Cab in Eveleigh

These photos by Steve Preston, show that the cab is now without a roof, and its removal shows the corrosion and damage caused by years of neglect. A large amount of metal will need to be replaced before the cab is reunited with the frames, which should happen in a few months.

Sunday 17 May

This day, which turned into delightful Autumn day, was attended by
Alan Gardner
Gavin Woolf
Alan Kent
Marc Millar
Stuart Edwards
Ian Senini
Alf Spiteri
David Villiers
Kyle Rollinson
Vince Patrech
John Kempton
Peter Anderson
Peter Reynell
and Howard Moffat
I will leave it to Al to list the days achievements...this post is to recognise those who were there yesterday.

a big weekend

Saturday 16 May saw a two person work party at Eveleigh take the can opener to the cab, thus creating the worlds' first convertable Garratt.

You ask why?

Even in Canberra's relatively dry climate, the enemy of all things steel appears. In this case, the worst parts are the window cut outs where the gutters naturally collected, but not necessarily diverted rain, and areas near the doors where two or three layers of plate are now interspersed with oxidised steel.

Best to fix it "proper" now; roof off will give better access.

And the roof itself is a maze of holes where everything that could be hung, was. Even the ceiling was held up [or down] by a bolt through the roof.Actually, many bolts.

Then, more holes for the colonial conversion to dual control. Another heavy casting, more holes in the roof.

Saturday 2nd of May 2009

The boiler cradle rebuild continued with the continued efforts of Howard and Stuart. Stuart has also been coming in on the weekdays and as a result we should see the cradle frame completed in the next couple of months. Marc put his nine inch angle grinder to good use to prep the final welds required on the smoke box floor. Andrew Duffy removed the four Nathan mechanical lubricators off the engine units and we can now assess and bench test this vita equipment. Rodger Maynard continued to steam clean the leading engine and thanks to his efforts we should be able to start the application of paint soon.

Many of the boiler cladding sheets for the back head are in poor condition and Gavin’s new plasma cutter was put to good use for the first time. Marc and Ted experienced the joys of sheet metal work and a result the back head sheets are now about 90% complete.

Back in Sydney Mike Reynell is organising the manufacture of 50+ element washers and when completed we can start installing the new elements. As usual Bruce s continuing with the machining of the many replacement components.

Our next workday is Sunday the 17th of May starting at about 9 am, all welcome!

Alan Gardner