Rain Rain Go AWAY!

Just a quick update this one.

As the title says rain has had an impact on progress however work has happened, just a delay in writing it up.

Keith has cleaned and primed the two discharge pipes and they look better without the amount of oil and dirt that had accumulated. These will be undercoated, along with the all the brake gear and other pipe work which is sitting in primer.

Meanwhile a rather difficult job has just been started. The valve and casing were covered in years of dirt and when the valve was turned, yet more oil came out. This was cleaned up, then all the dirt was scrapped off, then the whole item was hosed down then cleaned back with a grinder/brush and to finish it off, primed. This took a whole day to complete, which is rather surprising meaning I thought it would at least take two days to fully clean. It now too awaits its turn for undercoating.

Next update will have pictures all being well.

Yet more oil

Work is still concentrating on dis-assembly of the gear under the sole bar. So far the east side brake rigging and the west connecting pipe with lid have been taken off.

Keith has cleaned the vast majority of the brake gear and so far most are sitting in primer. During this process we did say good bye to one of our grinders, but to say it had last since late 2012 is pretty good going.

Today's progress was in two forms. Keith spent the morning cleaning yet more brake rigging, mainly anything not done which seems to be the small items. Meanwhile underneath, the two release valves and the east connecting pipe were taken off, much to the surprise of yet more oil still in the pipe. This was again collected in any spare container we could find. Also this is an interesting task, as some bolts are actually stuck in place till other items are dis-assembled.

Copyright Tommy Lees 2014

The photo above shows the west release valve. If anybody has or knows of a spare then please do get in touch as we ideally need one for our other project at present A6071.

The afternoon work today concerned the ever so tough job of removing four bolts, that connect the T pipe with the barrel. The problem was they were a mix of bolts. No two were the same which made moving them tricky. Never the less, with an adjustable spanner, a metal pipe, 7 smaller spanners and two team members using their lunchtime energy, the job was completed in an hour and a half. Who ever put the bolts on knew what they were doing.

Copyright Keith Lloyd 2014

The Photo above shows A6581 from the east side, showing the missing brake gear and the amount of weathering which has occurred. We have tried to take as many photos as possible as the Shell Lubricant Oil writing is fading quickly. 

update

Work is now well underway. The brakes on the east side have been disassembled. Keith on Saturday cleaned the brake shoes and the break Handle. These are now sitting in the red oxide primer.

On Tuesday, work concentrated separating the brake bars from the wooden strengheners, something that was somewhat difficult on one, especially as there was no way to grip the pin on one set. This was dealt with by using mole grips, a couple of spanners and penetrating oil. All 4 of these bars have now been cleaned up and also sit in primer. These will be undercoated and glossed in due course then put in storage, possibly for a year as work on the sole bar will now be under way.

We still need to dismantle the pipe work, however I am assured the bolts have received oil and should be easy to move come Tuesday. Work on Tuesday will be mainly around the removal of the rest of the pipe work, we may even clean it up ready to go on.

As you can tell, a lot of work is scheduled for A6581, with a possible completion around 2016/7. Any help will be greatly appreciated.