As usual, there has been no shortage of things to do this week.
John Dixon has carried on and completed the work of demolishing the body of the CCT. 
This left only the task of disposing of the wood, which seemed to take a lot of labour – or perhaps it was just a case of people wanting to gather around a warm fire on a cold day!
Adrian did what he does best on Wednesday and started the job of dismantling the cylinder covers on FR 20.
Roger and Tim have been cleaning the motion and running plate whilst Alan has been inspecting the loco for the jobs that need to be done.
Fred has again been patiently cleaning down the exterior of FR 20’s firebox in order for it to be subjected to non destructive testing.
There was yet another riveting session on Thursday when another 50 or so rivets were inserted into the tender frames. 
It is reckoned that there are now less that 100 more rivets to be added before the tender is finished and a start can be made on the engine’s drag box. We suspect that Matt Gervis is hoping for a Christmas break before the latter is attempted to let his shoulder recover! Keith is seen here drilling yet another hole ready for a rivet.
The job of removing the cantrails from GER No. 5 has continued and is now on the last lap. It appears that the north side cantrail has yielded rather more swiftly to John Davis’s attentions.
There was good news from Embsay on Saturday when 5643 passed its steam test in the presence of the boiler surveyor and hauled the first of the Santa Trains there on Sunday. Thanks go to Keith, George and Fred for their efforts in preparing the engine.
Live Steam had a busy weekend playing three gigs in less than 24 hours during the Dickensian Festival at Ulverston. After another successful night at the Old Friends inn on Saturday evening, they went on to entertain the residents at Abbeyfield House after lunch on Sunday.
Tim took advantage of an Alan Middleton solo to join the residents and try out the comfy chairs – Alison reckons that he settled in very well and has threatened to make him a reservation for the future!
The band then went out in the cold to provide the Festival Finale on the Theatre Street stage later in the afternoon, attracting a good crowd in the process. This rather belied the rumour that they are always put on last to make sure that everyone goes home!
Looking forward, next Wednesday should see the arrival at Preston of the frames, cab, tank and wheels from the former Furness Railway No. 25. This should mark the completion of the task of gathering together all the known components from the engine.