Ah, the romance of steam!
30777 undergoing steam test at Carnforth
30777 has just passed her main line boiler & mechanical inspections. The washout and cold-exam took place last week (in pouring rain) and the in-steam exams were carried out today, (in pouring rain – there appears to be a bit of a theme going on here). The locals assure us that it is actually “liquid sunshine – so good you could bottle it”, and over the summer we have seen plenty of the stuff.
With the exams out of the way, Lamiel is getting ready to head south for the winter – to Southall. She will inhabit the spot recently vacated by 70013 inside the shed at Southall. She is due to work a trip at the weekend (Gloucester for Steam Dreams www.steamdreams.com) and on Wednesday (Salisbury, also for Steam Dreams) – full details of both trips on the events page as usual.
Meanwhile 45305’s frames are still inside the shed at Loughborough, while her boiler is undergoing overhaul at Tyseley.
D6535 and D123 have had a busy month, with diesel galas and various other jobs meaning that they have both had several days work.
The support coach is still progressing, but anyone who can spare time to help progress it even faster is entreated to offer their services to Tom or Hugh, because we’d like to get it finished soon – there’s no place like home, and a hired coach is no substitute for our own coach.