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.