We've had the excitement of steaming the boiler at Detling and dangling it from cranes in Toddington yard, but now it's time for the hard graft of fitting (or re-fitting) about 1001 parts to make P&O live again.  So it's been a quarter largely of preparation for the next stage of the restoration, and there'll be a lot more work of this type to do as we go along, but at least we're seeing some parts going on for the final time.

After its return from Detling, the boiler wasn't looking its best, and it last received external attention as long ago as 1997 when it came back from Roger Pridham's boiler works.  Before we fit the cladding for the last time, therefore, the external surface is being cleaned down to remove loose debris that has accumulated on the stays and rivet heads, and it will then be given a coat of heat-resistant silver paint.  So far the whole of the fire-box has been treated, which is the fiddly bit with all those stay heads.  Work is now progressing on the barrel.   New studs have been fitted in the foundation ring in anticipation of the boiler being finally lowered on to the ashpans and secured.

The holes in the water gauge mountings have been opened out to match the uneven spacing of the stud holes in the boiler, and the water gauges have been fitted in place.

New fitted bolts have been manufactured for the rear boiler feet to replace the damaged ones already there, and we'll be replacing them one at a time.  The brackets for the handrail stanchions have been finally fitted on to the boiler, with all except one now in position.

When we made the backhead cladding, it seemed strange that the drawings show the cladding stopping about a foot short of the bottom of the boiler, this area below the footplate being left exposed and not insulated.  When running backwards, this area must be in the full slipstream and the localised cooling must cause considerable stress in the plate work.  We took the decision to make a change and have made an extension piece to the cladding to cover this area.  If it subsequently transpires that it is in the way of something, it can be removed.

The large heavy plate at the back of the loco was twisted during shunting operations without the tender.  We had considered attempting a repair using heat and jacks but decided that it would be easier to replace the plate completely as this will give a better quality job when it is finished.  A drawing was prepared showing the outline of the plate and this was sent to profile cutting company.  We're very pleased with the quality of the cut plate, and the old plate has been cut away, leaving the back of the loco looking very odd and rather bare.  Final adjustments have been made to check the fit of the plate and we now need to prepare the welding surfaces before we can call in the welder to permanently fit the plate in place.

On the valve gear the long job of replacing all the bearing bushes is nearly complete, with just one left to tackle.  Most of the pins for the valve gear are ready also, with just three still needing further work.  Sustained progress continues to be made with burnishing up the valve rods.  We found after many years that the protective grease covering the rods has done its job and they are in quite good condition.  We are about two thirds of the way through this task.   The die blocks have been fitted up to the expansion links and machined to match their pins, and slipper blocks have been similarly treated.  On the right hand side of the loco the face of the crank pin has been dressed flat, and the four studs have been fitted in anticipation of replacing the return crank.

The job of the atomisers is to mix the cylinder lubricating oil with steam, so that it is fed into the cylinders as an atomised spray.  The atomisers are intricate devices containing a number of very small valves and springs.  We've been working on the final assembly of these units, fitting the new stainless steel springs and ball bearings.

We are now at one of those rather awkward moments that often happen in a project of this complexity, where a few important jobs need finishing before a whole mass of developments can take place, and that oh-so-elusive first steaming can take place.  Quite a number of the remaining jobs need the services of skilled fitters, and they don't come cheap.  So if you feel willing to buy some shares in our project, and help bring forward that great day of the first steaming, just get in touch via the website, and we'll be very happy to sell you some!