After the excitement of seeing FR 20 enter traffic on the 23rd October, it has been back to work in the FRT shed this week.
Further progress has been made with the temporary fitting of boiler cladding sheets to Wootton Hall.
First, Keith had to remove handrail stanchions to enable the cladding to be fitted. Needless to say, after many years out in the open, the stanchions needed some heat treatment before they could be unscrewed and removed.
Although of fairly thin steel sheet, they are heavier than you would think when it comes to lifting them up on to a locomotive boiler.
The photos show the number of people required for lifting the second of the right hand cladding sheets.
Sam stands alongside the second fitted sheet.
With the upper superstructure of Fluff now virtually complete, Phil and John Davis have been turning their attention to the side rods, which seem to have suffered from the weather on one side. However, after the application of a thin layer of filler applied by Tim, John was soon able to apply a coat of primer.
Finally, the saga of the fire pump continues with Roger spending some time trying to obtain a spark from the plugs. The pump has been brought into the FRT shed where it is hoped the drier atmosphere will assist the magneto to do its job.