Further to the last update:-
56301– repairs continue- power unit is being reassembled but can only be progressed so far until two specially made bearings are received. These were necessary as one of the journals on the crankshaft had to be reground which then required a non standard diameter bearing to be fitted. Bearings were on around a 6 week lead time and are expected around end of September.
56006- the blower motor which caught fire ( resulting in the loco being withdrawn from the summer gala) has been overhauled and refitted. Fault finding continued on the outstanding issues and is continuing as I write , to try and get the loco available for the Autumn Gala. As is usual I will update any progress on here as and when we know more from the chaps on the ground.
We make no promises – despite having a significant increase in volunteers , this kind of testing is a skilled job and we only have a couple of volunteers capable of carrying this work out. Key restrictions are people’s day jobs/ Holiday season and family commitments…….
However as always we are striving to have the loco ready but obviously a lot of things influence that.
Website– at our recent AGM ( a full report to members will appear in the next Gridiron ) we agreed some action which should see our website and our facebook page updated more frequently ( with more reports on restoration on 56006 to suplement the reports on current mailnine workings) . Three of our new volunteers are keen to progress this aspect of our communication , which has been rather poor over the last few years- again due to lack of volunteers .
Online sales will also be subject to this teams remit and hopefully changes are afoot……