31463 body work continues to be the focus of our work at the moment using the needle gun on the body to get the bulk of the paint off and then follow with a sander before we start to paint. ‘A’ body side is almost ready to be painted. When the temperature rises it will need a final clean then we can start building the layers of paint. The engine room door and grills have been removed, the grills have started to be rubbed down and some have received their first coat of paint.
No. 1 cab paint preparation is almost complete with only a couple of bits to needle gun / wire wheel. The nose cover has been stripped of paint and welding repairs on the nose frame have been completed.
At the moment although we are in a shed we are doing battle with the weather due to the body being so cold so when the temperature rises the body has moisture and this puts a stop to sanding and painting so we’re having to pick our days for these tasks.
All windows have been removed and put into store.
We’ve also removed both headcode boxes so these areas can be prepared for repainting before being plated over.
Lamp brackets on both cabs have been removed, stripped and painted.
The loco cooling system has been drained as it was water only and with the temperature drop we don’t want any freezing damage.
The removed drivers foot step from no. 2 cab has been cleaned and so has the frame behind it and after paint can be refitted.
Recently 31463 and 37009 were swapped round in the shed, which has given us access to no. 2 cab so paint stripping has started on here. On this cab we have a suspected broken spring in the second man buffer, so we initially have removed the driver buffer. This is going to our contractor who will strip the buffer, inspect / test the spring and then we know the condition before ordering parts.
31210 has been on charge, which has allowed the oil priming pump to run and the engine be barred over.
There’s been some reorganisation of our stores to accommodate the removed glass and the future removal of more grills.
