On 22nd August Dave Rolfe and I were on site. Dave was having a good sort out of our storage as it had got a bit untidy, which was preventing us from finding items we need for the actual restoration project, and disposing of offcuts of some wood that we don't need. I carried on undercoating in the Thin Man's and a bit round the front of the cubicle. Below are a few pictures I took of the inside of 50030 that day: the first two show the radiator fan and its compartment which is suffering from quite severe corrosion in places. A recent news report deascribed the work done to free the radiator fan and its motor for lifting out to be refurbished professionally. Whilst it's away we can work on repairing the metalwork in the compartment. The final picture shows some of the internal refurbishment work we've been doing on the thin man's passage inside 50030. This is typical of the high standard of finish we are seeking to achieve for 50030.
On September 19th Dave, Wes Needle and I were on site. Dave made a start on the worst areas of rot on 50030's no.2 cab, while Wes made and welded in a new pipe bracket to replace a badly corroded one behind the centre desk panel in no.1 cab. This required the welder lifting in and out of the cab, and took the three of us to do it! He temporarily fitted the desk panels he's refurbished for the open afternoon on 25th September and refitted the AWS sunflower mounting bracket.
I carried on painting in the Thin Man's, and it's now completely undercoated except for the back of the door into the cab, which still needs a good clean.
Separately, a welder member of RRRG informs us that his personal cirucmstances should mean he can come on site in October to start welding work, initially on the cab of 50037. This is to allow him to "get a feel" for the structure of a Class 50 cab before starting work on the cabs of 50029 and 50030. Below is a gallery of pictures from the work today taken by me.
