weekend updates

Sunday
- paint wheeldrop
- dispose 7802 smokebox, ashpan, firebox
- dispose 5764 smokebox, ashpan
- dispose 7812 smokebox
- more progress to 6634 can rear

The main task fo today involved most of the cleaners on duty plus other MPD volunteers yesterday included applying a top coat of yellow paint to the in-shed wheel-drop floor plates. After cleaning the floor plates with clean paraffin and rags, white spirit was wiped over them to remove the oil component from the paraffin cleaning, reading to make a paintable surface which the top coat could lay onto.

Once half was cleaned down, painting started on the near side of the floor level panels, coating with top coat yellow gloss. Continuing onto the far side of the same level after the white spirit had been wiped off, the plates were painted yellow and left over lunchtime.

Following on afterwards, although the service was running late, we continued this time on the floor of the wheeldrop in the lower level (equivalent of being in the inspection pit) going through the paraffin cleaning, white spirit, then paint. This then had the wheel-drop complete short of cordoning off using the safety chain posts and rope-hung wet paint signs at the inner end.

Towards the end of the afternoon Adam and Chris cleaned out the smokebox of 7802 and raked through and dropped the firebox and grate, then shunted the loco onto the road 2 pit to have the ashpan dropped. This same was carried out once it had gone dark with pannier 5764 after it brought in the final train of the day. Chris disposed after the engine was moved to road 1 adjacent to the platform.

Finally, once the Bridgnorth set had come in and been taken away back to Kidder by class 50 diesel (for use at the south end during Bridgnorth's isolation) 7812 service engine was disposed and left on the big pit on road 2.

Saturday

Following 2857's wheels being fitted to the chassis last week, the bogie bolster in the yard containing 2857's boiler was shunted to the boiler shop siding. This involved manoeuvring the other flat bed wagons with a four-wheeler no 66695 outside the boiler shop. Using the head shunt at the end of Hollybush sidings, we were able to move the flat beds into position with ease.

The steam crane from up the head shunt alongside the main running line needed to be shunted to the yard for mid week fittings work, which involved coupling it to 42968's tender, moving down into the yard, back out onto the main line and down into platform 2. At this point the class 08 shunter was attached at the north end. Once in the platform the 08 headed off, after screwing down the tender's brake, then the 08 shunter running round the tender, and then steam crane until it came back down onto the steam crane from the north end.

After coupling up to the cab end of the steam crane, we were picked out of platform 2, over the top of the loop, until we cam eot the home signal gantry, and then back down into the yard into road 3 splash pad, then to a standstill. Later 813 was also shunted around in the shed, first from road 4 to the oil stores pit, then back to road 4 and into the shed itself, positioned over the wheel-drop.

Finally, ready for a loco swap with Great Western pannier tank 5764 the next day, 42968 was lit up in early evening ready for the swap on Sunday afternoon. Two locomotives that will remain at Bridgnorth loco works over the November period are Great Western tank engines 5164 large prairie and 5764 pannier tank.