Cleaning tubes...

With only two weeks to go until the season starts at the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway all the locomotive groups are making their final preparations. The first job of the day was to shunt P&O out of the shed over the pit.

Once this was complete we were tasked to finish cleaning out the tubes. As I was the youngest I was volunteered to go into the firebox armed with a hover and an inspection lamp. Luckily for me P&O's fire hole door is on the generous side. Here is the view from the outside...

Here is the view from the inside...

The next thing I needed to do was to climb over the brick arch to the firebox tubeplate (below) with hoover and light in hand to clean up the soot being pushed through. After we pushed the brush through about half of the tubes I realised that there was not alot of soot coming out. After double checking with the locomotive group it turned out the job had already been completed. Once we had cleared everything away it was time for lunch.

A few weeks ago we removed the valves from 4270 so they could be inspected and they are nearly ready to go back into the valve chest. Before they can go back in, a little prep work was needed to clean up the valve cover faces and the studs. I wire brushed the faces and the studs before Richard ran a die nut down the studs. Here is a before and after shot. Some rag was placed inside the valve chest cavity to prevent any dust and dirt going onto the liner. 

Before cleaning

After cleaning

Richard ran a die nut down all of the studs whilst I gave all the nuts a quick clean before re-assembly. To prevent the face rusting again we coated it with a smear of steam oil and the studs in a graphite paste. Hopefully the valves will be going back in and the covers back on, so 4270 is a step closer to steam.

GWR Top Feed

The winter maintenance continues at the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway. One of the first jobs I was asked to help with was to give the cab floor of 'Foremark Hall' some attention. For this I was teamed up with new volunteer, Nick. We started to wire brush the steel plate with the grinder to remove the surface rust.

We then thoroughly brushed and cleaned down the surface with spirit to make sure it was free from grease. Once that had dried we gave the floor a coat of red oxide paint.

There was also lots of activity going on in the shed and one of the jobs I had a quick look at was the re-building of Dinmore Manor's valves.

Once Angela, pictured above, had these built back up, I was asked to remove Dinmore Manor's safety valve bonnet so that one of the top feeds could be inspected, as it was reported to be slightly passing. There are six brass screws which hold the bonnet in place which are screwed into the cladding. Five were easily removed but one had stiffened up due to the cladding moving through the expansion and contraction from when in steam and not.

After some patience and perseverance I managed to slowly remove the brass screw without damaging the head and lifted the bonnet clear to leave the top feeds exposed.

The next job was to slacken off the top nut (green), undo the stud (pink) which holds the surround for the valve down and then undo and remove the cap (yellow) completely giving access to the valve (red) inside.

The part being replaced is marked in red above which simply lifts out. There was a spare already prepared so it was simply a case of lifting the old one out, giving the inside a quick clean and putting in a new copper washer to improve the seal. I then replaced the valve (red) and tightened it all back down starting with the cap, then the stud and finished by tightening the top nut.

The last job was to put the bonnet back into position and screw it back down with the brass screws. Fingers crossed it will stay trouble free.