The Wickham set winterised but still outside - hopefully soon indoors for the rest of the winter.
Feeding time at the zoo? We didn't expect to be having lunch outside in November.
The 'Unit-specific work' section below gives a flavour of the work that has been carried out on our railcars.
Cravens restoration project with one side almost entirely in primer now. After a burst of activity in the summer, progress has slowed on the bodywork whilst we tackle various jobs on the running fleet.
Our vehicles have a hot air heating system and, in the case of the Cravens car, the ducting is built into the floor (underfloor heating is nothing new!). Unfortunately the asbestos people took it all away many years ago. New ducting was designed and fitted earlier in the restoration, but we never got around to insulating it ... until now. Some metal plates are being folded up to support insulation under the new ducting.
Class 108 interior livened up with some 'fairy lights' and tinsel for Siôn Corn duties.
In fading November light, the class 108 stands ready for 'Siôn Corn' duties in December.
Two new recruits with two alternators to clean down, check and paint up ready for refitting.
Explaining the finer(?) points of carbon brushes and slip rings in a late 1950s alternator.
Greasing the fan drive shafts on the bench before refitting. A lot easier than doing it under the vehicle.
Fan drive / compressor assembly on its way to be refitted to 51618. Quite a weighty lump. They are peculiar to the type of vehicle, with only one of the type operational in recent years.
A lifting table makes the job easier, though there's quite a lot of other 'stuff' to navigate around.
First one refitted - plenty of room under there when the radiators are missing.
Arranging to fit the other one by committee?
Fan assembly taken off the radiator for a proper cleaning. Looks like the first time it's been done in quite some years.
Radiator fan assembly gets attention from the steam cleaner while it's all in bits.
Most of the stepboards on the trailer car, 56223, were smartened up with a fresh coat of paint. The lower one needs replacing. More 'homework'!
While the brush was out the battery box covers were painted as well.
Dismantling brakegear on 51618 so that the vacuum cylinder can be taken out for overhaul.
Some things just don't want to come undone easily after several decades.
Dismantling the vacuum cylinder for overhaul. It doesn't look too bad compared to some others that we've done. Hopefully we can reassemble, test and refit it next time.
Thanks to John Joyce, Andy Lowe and Mike Martin for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.
The Wickham strays into unfamiliar territory to retrieve 56223 and put it back on our road in the shed.
In keeping with our usual tradition, the whole fleet was winterised shortly after our operating season finished at the end of October. That involves checking the antifreeze concentration in the engines, topping up with more antifreeze if necessary, and draining the toilet water tanks.
Measuring the antifreeze strength to figure how much more to add just in case we get a long cold spell during the winter. Do we get those any more?
Mostly it's a case of adding a couple of litres to counter any dilution that has occurred during the running season and restore the correct strength.
The 'Unit-specific work' section below gives a flavour of the work that has been carried out on our railcars.
A bit of 'bling' for 56456: door handles and grab handles re-chromed.
Christmas approaches: the interior of the class 108 part way through the process of being decorated for the 'Siôn Corn' specials in December.
The first class section of the class 108 part way through receiving its Siôn Corn decorations.
Oil & filters change for 51618. Almost 50 litres per engine.
The front and driver's side of 51618 looking very shiny once more, after a coat of varnish.
Fan drives, alternators and various other bits stripped off 51618 for attention. The fan drives have been thumping about a bit for some time due to worn rubber mounts.
The glamour of preservation ... steam cleaning the underneath. Somehow the fallout seems to end up on whoever is operating the steam cleaner.
Some of the produce from underneath sees the light of day for the first time in 40 years or more. Here the two compressors and fan drive gearboxes await attention from the steam cleaner.
Fan drive mounting brackets. The rubber bushes had deteriorated after (at least) 40 years of heat and oil and that was the cause of the fan drives thumping around.
Drawing out the remains of one of the old bushes using an improvised 'puller'.
Fortunately some "new" bushes were in stock, so we didn't have to go hunting around to get some made.
56223's fibreglass cab roof was starting to look a bit 'manky', so it was time to sort that out.
Sanded back to the original fibreglass, now 65 years old, and a bit porous in places.
Mixing resin for the cab roof. The kitchen scales probably won't be the same again!
Freshening up the grey while we're at it
First coat of white resin on the roof, and grey on the rest, to match the rest of the fleet.
Thanks to George Fletcher, John Joyce, Andy Lowe, Graham Parkin and Martin Plumb for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.