Wednesday 23 October 2013

Mirror Finish!

Well Bill has done it, the boiler cladding is all but finished. The stainless steel bands look fantastic and we must now finish the building around it to keep up the quality appearance! He must be thanked for the single handed effort he has put into this project. 


Sunday 20 October 2013

Trimming + Appeal

Well today was at times a wet one but between the showers the volunteers managed to get a few jobs done! John was busy cutting the edge of the bank where the reeds had begun to creep towards the grass. This was then later loaded onto empty railway wagons and sent down the line to be dumped. 


Graham has made further progress with his pump putting the main pulley wheel and drive gears in place. It turns beautifully and will I am sure be a great exhibit when finished. 



Bill has been busy with the paint brush, the boiler is now finished in a fine deep red! It looks stunning and will now be fitted with mirror finish stainless securing bands.


Elsewhere some new signs have appeared on the Westonzoyland Light Railway! With Jason's vinyl cutter all those little sign jobs are slowly being completed. A stop, look, listen sign has been added to the level crossing and one whistle sign installed on the approach to it. This will of course be followed with others as time goes on.




The truss roof has also been delivered, this was supplied by Crendon Timber Engineering for a very good price. Hopefully we can get this up soon however.... We are I'm desperate need of scafolding! Do you know anyone who might be able to lend the Trust scafolding to do 3 x 7m runs with one lift. It would need to be for a few months over the winter in order for us to get the roof on, water tight, tiled and all timber work completed. If you can help please contact me at jason.keswick@wzlet.org







Sunday 13 October 2013

Wash Out!

This Sunday saw a less productive day! The committee of the Trust had a meeting all afternoon to discuss end of year items. John cleaned the boiler tubes, Adrian did some weeding and Bill continued work on the boiler. All looked rather wet by end of play and most were gone by 4pm! Hopefully more news later in the week when the truss roof turns up! 

Friday 11 October 2013

Hayward Society Visit

Today we had a private steaming for a prestigious society that was formed in 1976 with the aim of furthering the association of those involved in miniature railways from 7 1/4" to 21" gauge. The Hayward Society is limited to 100 members so it was with great pleasure that we entertained 70 of them today. With an 11am visit, members were up bright and early starting on site at 8am, lighting the boiler at 9am in order to give the two hours required to get up to full working pressure. Our guests were shown around and were also fed and watered by the amazing all lady team in the tea room. The Trust is very grateful for the help they put in. Some pictures of the visit are below, perhaps you are part of a group or society that goes out on trips? We have very favourable non-steam and steaming prices and these can be found on the website. www.wzlet.org








Wednesday 9 October 2013

Misc.

So many different jobs being worked on at the moment! It's difficult to know where to start. Bill has been busy working on preparing the boiler cladding for final paintwork. The galvanised steel has been coated with an etching primer. A section of final top coat has been applied with a very nice shade of gloss red. Around the back of the boiler he has been putting efforts into provide a safe working platform for maintaining the various fixtures and fittings on the boiler. Utilising an old industrial metal ladder we had from our old vertical boiler you can now climb up onto a timber planked section running the length of the Marshall. We await to see the paintwork finished and when a surprise might be in store for Bill... However you will have to keep your eyes peeled on the blog for an update on this later.



With a hydraulic test of the air receiver discussed in the last post completed, it was lifted off its cradle and placed on its side work will now begin on cleaning all the old paint from it taking it back to bare metal and then re coating in a zinc rich primer and a top coat. We can then get the fittings cleaned up and where nessesary replaced before having an inspection from our qualified pressure vessel man!


The pair of railway points in the courtyard have become rather imbedded with soil and gravel so Alan had a good clean out and got the mechanism clear to ensure smooth operation, this is last place we want a derailment... Most embarrassing with hoards of visitors watching your every move!


Utilising the new steel sleepers we have partly put together a 6m panel of 30lb rail as a test. The rail will need drilling for fish plates and some will need to be trimmed to tidy up the flame cut ends. These components are a lot heavier than we are used to! These will then be used to replace existing 14lb rail to allow larger visiting locos and future public operation. 



Graham's has been busy putting his lister deep well pump back together now it is all fixed down on its base! the piston and rod has been installed as has the main body with a fair bit of effort. The next step is to assemble all the remaining components and then look at mounting the electric motor to drive it! Nearly there so watch this space a video will be uploaded to youtube! 


And finally, the old Crossley air receiver has now become a sign! A suitably official parking sign vinyl has been added to the outside of the tank directing our visitors across the level crossing into the car park!