News isn’t always about the big things; sometimes the news is about a lot of little things, the activity recently for 5305 Locomotive Association has been like that recently, lots of little jobs, but nothing major. A quick round-up of the jobs goes like this:


Now that Dick and Dave have finished off the welding on the bodywork, Gary has been putting filler into all sorts of little bumps, dents and imperfections on the coach, then sanding it off, then noticing another dent, bump or rough patch and starting again. The coach bodywork is starting to look good as a result, but it’s a slow repetitive process and the idea is that when he’s finished you won’t be able to see where he’s been.


The team have also been busy inside the coach. Now that most of the panelling and beading has been re-installed, there is much less clutter in the coach, so Malcolm recently had a really thorough tidy up, followed by a sweep through. We can now see where we are heading. The centre vestibule is so nearly finished that the plan now is to finish it off completely as a matter of priority. Steve has nearly finished fabricating a shelf for the water boiler, the kitchen is taking shape and now that the guard’s compartment is clear of stored components, we can begin planning the racks for hoses and other equipment.


Dick has turned his attention back inside the shed and spent Thursday sorting out cotters for the frame stretchers on the Five. Not a big job, but it turned into a long one because like many other tasks on a steam locomotive, you can’t just get parts off the shelf; we had a few, but Dick ended up having to make or modify many of the cotters to suit the holes.


Alison has been layering up paint on the lubricators and on the running-board where they sit. Of course, once they are back in situ on the locomotive they will be vulnerable to every stray boot: most people working on a black five know that the lubricators make an excellent step which gives you the little bit of extra height needed to reach the top of the boiler. So once the lubricators are finished and re-installed we will have to get in a bumper supply of bubble-wrap to protect them!


Dave went to York this week to give 70013 a water change and some routine maintenance ready for her last main line run of the year (see the events page for details) and her appearances at Locomotion in Shildon and at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. While Cromwell has been at York she spent a bit of time inside the museum starring her heart out for the visitors to the museum, near the entrance to the workshop, as well as the time she spent in the service bay (which is visible to the public via a window from the Warehouse) and of course, the occasions when she passed by the outside of the museum during the Scarborough Spa Expresses, and the other railtours she did from York.


While Sir Lamiel is not required by the GCR for duties, we are taking the opportunity to fettle the injectors and various other fittings. The GC have requested the loco for more work in the next few weeks, so you will have a chance to see her in action again soon.


The Peak and the Class 33 are busy this weekend, which is the GC’s Diesel Gala. The 33 will be working with the 4-big. Both locomotives are also seeing a fair amount of other use on the GCR, particularly the peak with the testing and training work which has been underway all summer.