Monday 12th August 2024

Plenty of people turned up to see FR 20 hauling the trains at Preston on Saturday, 10th August.Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 returned to Preston from its slightly extended seaside holiday at Minehead at 9.30 pm on Wednesday evening and was unloaded the following day. There was just time therefore on Friday to put back guard irons, sand pipes and other equipment as well as give it a thorough inspection and clean before it re-entered service on the Ribble Steam Railway on Saturday. Thanks go to Sam, Alan, John and Jack for their help and contributions to ensuring that FR 20 looked sparkling for those who came to ride behind it.

Ed giving the photograher a dirty lookWork continues on the overhaul at Preston of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 where Ed has been cleaning out the tanks, a dirty job as you can see from the photographs. Needless to say, he was then accused of giving everyone black looks!

John Dixon warming up the rivets on Thursday, 8th JulyThursday saw Chris Rycroft, John Dixon and Keith riveting some new steel angle to the frames under where the bunker is situated. John is seen warming up the rivets…

The rivets in place……which can then be seen securely in position.

Keith preparing some more holes for rivetingSome more riveting is still required and Keith is seen here preparing the holes with a drill. The new steel angle can also be seen in situ.

Sim painting the mess room roofFinally, Sim and Tim have continued their work on the repaint of the mess room, with Sim seen here giving the roof a coat of paint.