Dave Rolfe, my son Robert and I went to Rowsley on Sunday 28th June (Dave was also there the day before), this being the first working party for about 3 months since the national lockdown was put into place.
I took to site a number of items of anti-virus PPE and at the request of Peak Rail, our new working procedure required to take account of social distancing and other anti-COVID measures.
We put plenty of oil round the ex-50008 engine which awaits lifting into 50030, and barred it round, having barred it round quite a lot, we put a mark on one of the teeth and then made sure we barred it round a complete revolution, I'd guess that it was barred round at least 3 complete revolutions with no trouble whatsoever.
Dave lubricated a few bits on the bogies, and Robert and I flatted down some rust that was coming through on the cab side of 50030, and then primed it. It needs some cellulose putty in places, or possibly filler. We generally avoided doing anything that was bad enough to warrant welding, but some areas of the cab will need cutting out and welding since we last painted Repulse about 15 years ago.
I also made a point of getting back in touch with Ian the welder and we agreed that he would come back on site within the next few weeks to do work under the headcode boxes and various other areas of the bodyshell of 50030. We intend to resume wehre we left off on making arrangements to transport the power unit lifting beam up to Rowsley and to get the power unit lift done this summer. Any working members (or new volunteers!) who would like to come on site following the easing of the lockdown restrictions - please get in touch with us. We need you to read and sign our new Risk Assessment and Method Statement which have been made necessary by government guidelines. We now hope this will mark the resumptino of regular working parties and we hope to keep you up to date on progress.
