The welcome news that FR 20 had passed its hydraulic test has turned thoughts as to the practicalities of conducting a steam test out of the frames. It is hoped that the boiler will be shunted around to the RSR running shed sometime this week in exchange for a brake van. 
This is all subject to the availability of Ade who is assisting Ribble Rail this week. Ade is pictured here trying his hand last week with the RSR’s recently acquired four wheel drive fork truck.
Work has continued on some of the smaller jobs on FR 20. Tim has finished painting the modified spring hangers and has also done some careful refurbishment and priming of the tender buffer beam so as to retain appropriate signs of age and work use. John Dixon has straightened up the smokebox lamp bracket.
John then set about giving the bottom of the ashpan a much-needed clean and paint.
Keith has taken advantage of some better weather to cut some more metal from Wootton Hall‘s tender tank.
Paul Balshaw has continued buffing up 5643’s rods whilst Phil and John Davis have been busy painting new steelwork for Fluff.
Finally, Paul Newton has at last managed to put some gloss paint on the slats for the formerly derelict platform seat.
The cleaning work inside and outside the frames of 5643 has been completed which has allowed work to focus on the valves and pistons. Both pistons have now been split from their respective crossheads and examined by Keith who determined that new piston rings were required. Keith is seen here dressing off one of the rings prior to fitting.
The heavy work involved in releasing and re-installing the pistons required additional assistance which was provided by George, who came up from Derby on two occasions over the past couple of weeks, however, both pistons are now back in place and connected to the crossheads.
Work on cleaning up and repainting the cab floor steelwork continues which is Fred’s forte. Fred and John Dixon are seen cleaning up outside the shed on Friday after Fred’s latest work which saw off yet another cup wire brush.
The end of the main thrust of cleaning on 5643 has enabled Phil, John Davis and Paul to return to the overhaul of Fluff. Phil and John are seen here with yet another new sheet of steel.
We were pleased to see the return of Ed after a short spell in works. He spent a very busy day tidying up the garden area and cutting back undergrowth that was coming through the adjacent fence.
Meanwhile, Alan has cut two new joint rings for the cylinder covers which have been carefully fitted.
Alan and Ade then spent most of last Wednesday struggling to fit the left hand cylinder cover, finally succeeding after discovering that one of the studs hadn’t been properly screwed in and was not square with the rest.
We are pleased to report that, after much fine tuning, the new springs are now in place.
The annoying slight bulge towards the front of the right hand valance has been removed with the aid of some carefully applied heat and the use of a clamp to straighten the metal.
Finally, the ashpan has been cleaned, painted and the ejector ring repaired and re-fitted by John Dixon.
Finally, Ade has also spent some time freeing off and adjusting the nuts on Caliban‘s brake rods. Incidentally, contrary to what you might think from the photo, we can confirm that Ade has now had his post lockdown haircut!
The maintenance work on 5643 has continued with the valves now removed for cleaning. Keith has been measuring them to ensure that they are still a good fit with the valve liners.
Elsewhere the less glamorous work of cleaning has made more headway with Phil Bell trying to get to the far distant parts in the motion.
John Davis also found himself doing some cleaning, probably wishing he hadn’t chosen to wear such a light-coloured T shirt!
Whilst Fluff has temporarily been banished to the unheated part of the FRT shed during 5643’s stay, the little diesel hasn’t been forgotten and Keith and Phil are seen preparing to cut a new piece of steel to replace this old rather moth-eaten relic.
The weather last Friday was pretty good so John Dixon took the opportunity to clean out FR 20’s ashpan prior to giving it a new coat of paint.
Fred came in on Friday again wielding his trusty angle grinder with cup wire brush. This time he joined Tim in removing old brittle paint from FR 20’s right hand valance.
Alan and Ade conducted a further hydraulic test on FR 20’s boiler on Wednesday after successfully making a new dome cover joint last week and Ade can be seen here working up some pressure. A formal test for the boiler surveyor has been booked for the 12th October.
John Dixon finished finding or making the new studs for FR 20’s steam and blast pipes and had them fitted on Wednesday. He is seen here applying a die nut to one of the studs.
Friday saw young Matthew join the gang having started a fabrication and welding course at college. He was quickly put to good use operating the hoist to lift one of the new engine springs into position for another test fit.
Keith has removed 5643’s valve and cylinder covers as he starts the valve and piston examination.
Finally, Fred was with us on Friday to continue his work cleaning up and painting the cab floor metalwork.
Alan and Ade removed the dome cover from FR 20’s boiler with the assistance of Ribble Rail staff and the hi-ab. They then prepared a new joint before the dome cover was replaced and fastened down.
John Dixon continued and completed his work drilling out wasted or broken studs which secure the blastpipe and main steam pipe.
Alan had picked up Caliban‘s valve spindles from IRS Surfacing Technologies at Burscough. They had been metal sprayed to counter corrosion and then ground back to size. From the finished job they looked brand new.
There has been more attention given to 5643 with Paul Balshaw cleaning up the rods.
Phil Bell focussed his attention beneath the cab floor, which has been removed to allow access.
Fred came in on Friday to clean up some of the cab floor steelwork
Keith has given John Dixon the job of refurbishing a second-hand GWR cab seat and then creating another for Wootton Hall.
Lunchtimes these days are a little strange with members spacing themselves out either in the mess room or the shed. Here we see John Davis, Paul Newton and Phil Bell suitably socially distanced (no, we didn’t say spaced out!).
The steam chest cover and tail rod bushes for the valve spindles have been re-fitted to FR 20, with Alan seen here at work on the matter.
A number of steam pipe and blast pipe studs need to be replaced either through wastage or breakage. John Dixon tried to remove one of the blast pipe studs using some heat.
Unfortunately, the heat treatment failed to make any difference so John is seen here (successfully) drilling out one of the broken studs.
The magnetic drill was much in demand last Wednesday when Ade also took the opportunity to start drilling out smokebox rivets on Caliban‘s boiler.
There has been further cleaning of 5643’s motion and frames.
5643’s main brake shaft was removed by team Bell and Davis with a little help from Keith and the lifting table. It is a sizeable chunk of metal that has to be respected!
Continuing Great Western news, Keith has been spending more time shaping the new injector delivery pipework for Wootton Hall.
Work on 5643 has continued at Preston with Keith dismantling more brake gear under a much cleaner locomotive after all the recent work between the frames.
Phil has then been further dismantling items and cleaning them.
Fred and John Davis had another cleaning session on the right hand frames on Friday and are seen here dutifully observing the yellow distancing markers on the floor.
Work has also continued on FR 20 where the removal of all the spring hangers for machining has allowed further cleaning and painting of the frames to take place. John Dixon is seen in a most inelegant pose repairing the blastpipe retaining studs – we suspect he won’t be thanking the photographer!
John appeared after the Covid lockdown with some homework, a couple of lamp bracket converters for FR 20 for such things as DO NOT MOVE signs.
Keith has fitted the first piece of firebox cladding on Wootton Hall, carefully allowing for the attachment of the four cone ejector.
Finally, Ed appeared the previous Wednesday and did a splendid job in putting the nearby garden to rights after it had suffered some lockdown dereliction.
The new springs for FR 20 are still in the course of being fitted, with John Dixon seen here positioning one on to the frames. Further examination of the spring hangers suggested that there has been a small long standing mis-alignment between the spring hangers and the centre pins which support the springs. All the spring hangers have now been removed to enable them to be machined and, hopefully, a perfect fit obtained.
5643 was moved on to the pit outside the RSR running shed on the 7th August which enabled the ashpan to be given a thorough clean. John Davis is seen at the bottom of the cab steps feeding a hose pipe into the cab.
Keith’s arms look suitably grubby after the ashpan cleaning.
Once this had been done, Phil went underneath to undertake some pressure washing between the frames.
Last Wednesday Keith was in the process of replacing the heavily corroded driver’s side cab step plate.
Wootton Hall is now sporting a brand new right hand brass cab window frame which has recently been cast.
Ade fetched around the new engine springs for FR 20 from the RSR’s plant room where they had been in store since delivery during lockdown. Ade caught Tim ‘springing’ into action with a sack truck.
After which Ade lifted one of the new springs into position for a test fit.
Elsewhere on FR 20, John has been upgrading some of the tender brake pipework.
Work has also continued with the cleaning of 5643 and Phil is seen here working in the pit.
Keith is also seen here surveying 5643 for future work from the pit.
He is seen here awaiting final adjustment to his harness….
… and then atop 5643 cleaning its chimney.
Over in the running shed some of the FRT’s team have been installing refurbished seating on the RSR’s TSO no. 5036 and doing a very good job by the looks of it.
Fred tackles the smoke box…
John Davis the left hand side…
and Phil the right hand guard iron.
Finally, we were also pleased to note the resumption of passenger services at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway on Saturday. A special effort was made to clean the FRT’s ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria for the occasion and the gleaming loco is seen here with a passenger train, courtesy of a photo from the Embsay Loco Dept Facebook page. Well done to all concerned for a great effort!