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June has been a bit of a quite month for us with group members away on holidays and of course the heat putting plans on hold. Roger seems to be having more fun than he should replacing the lower section of bodywork. This section is rather fiddly as its cut out around the sand filler box. This area will look fantastic once the tumble holme skirts are then refitted Having had a new section of steel welded in under the old boiler filling area, Micky grinds off the last bits ready for it to be primed Roger Marks up the next area of the bodyside to be cut out, as you can see just above his arm there are two bad area's of rust. The eagled eyed amongst you will also notice the top part of the engine room window cut away ready for replacing.

Upon stripping the loco down, this corner of the window frame was found to have been a BR bodge from years back, sadly the bottom corner had been cut to short and was filled with sealant with over the years and let water in causing damage to the wood frame below. With the new section welded in, a piece of plywood as seen in the bottom corner was used to mark up the exact place it needed to be cut so its flush up against the window. One of the few cabside panels that has had the bottom 6 inches replaced on it due to corrosion. Now sporting a nice shade of green its awaiting to be refitted More steel work being replaced on the west-side of the loco. This has been drilled out along the bottom edge and then plug welded to the frame. As can be seen from the picture, pressure is being applied to the area whilst the welding is taking place. Who doesn't love a bit of shinny brass?, Both No2 end horn grills being test fitted. The new door frame base and uprights now in place and given a coat of primer One area that was left from being cleaned up and primed and awaits to be cut out and replaced. And just like magic, the area pictured above has now been replaced along with another section to the left of the sandbox. The No2 end drivers side roller blind fitted back in place, the inside of the box have been given a coat of cream paint The new hinge fitted into place holding the roller blind box to the loco, not the best of jobs to be doing on a red hot Sunday during a heatwave. The new slots for the roller blind handles and the water trays fitted to the drivers side marker light box, Upon stripping the nose down around the No2 window screen we discovered that one of the brackets was missing the protect the water nozzle from damage was completely missing, So like Magic, one was made and delivered to site a few days later. One of the tail lights all stripped down and having new gaskets made for it. One of the No2 end nose doors cleaned back to bear aluminium ready for priming Two rubbed down and primed front doors More steel work added to the west side of the loco. The section has been tacked in ready for welding at a later date. More sections of the bodywork being prepped and measured up for new steel The No2 end wiper motor's all cleaned down and primed. Tim caught in action cleaning the No2 end horns up ready for painting Now sporting some green undercoat and ready for some bits to start being fitted back onto it. Its amazing to see the progress the group has made in just 6 months with a handful of people. Now sporting some green undercoat and ready for some bits to start being fitted back onto it. Its amazing to see the progress the group has made in just 6 months with a handful of people.

Work so far in April has focused around getting the cab stripped back to a bear frame and giving it a deep clean and assessing all the pipe work that's normally hidden under the cab floor. The frame work has been cleaned, rust treated and given a few coats of paint to help protect it for years to come before we look at putting the new floor sections down. The second man's side has been rubbed backed down and has uncovered a fair bit of original green paint work which has been hid away for many years. Original red oxide primer and BR Green hiding under where the foot rest is normally bolted on Undercoat being applied to area's of the cab The frame work has been given a coat of black gloss to help protect for years to come, once some repairs to the small step wall are carried out (at the bottom of the picture) this cab can then start to be fitted out with new flooring. Work has continued on the cab front area mainly around the tops of the marker light panels. This area has suffered badly with water ingress over the years which seems to have come from holes being drill into the body to secure the overhead live wire enamel signs. The require the horn funnel to be removed which sadly wasn't a five minute job as the two bolts nearest to the middle doors are not accessible from the inside. A decision was made to cut the horn out from the front and just replace a larger area of steel with new fittings on the back to hold the funnel and grill back on the front. A new section of steel welded in around where the horn funnel goes, not the easiest of areas to repair but another job ticked off the list. A nicely cleaned up horn grill showing its had a very hard life with rather a few hammer marks on it. With the No2 in cab progressing really well the same can also be said with the west side of the loco. Large areas of steel work have now been replaced starting from behind the No2 end working our way back to the No1 end.. The three bodyside grills have been removed to gain access the the rotten area's behind where the filter trays sit These grills will be made up as new item and them welded into place on the loco. Members of the team tackling the area around the three bodyside grills. As you can see new steel work has been added in around the boiler access steps.