The first report - John Wilkinson

The first week started with the loco at the Nene Valley Railway having completed its commitments there. Jon Pridmore and Huw Parker had prepared the loco and DCR supplied 56311 to haul the loco in light steam to Barrow Hill with Dave Court and John Wilkinson carrying out footplate duties for DCR on Tornado ably assisted by Huw Parker as owner's representative. The run to Barrow Hill was uneventful with an arrival approximately ten minutes early.

Dan Howden, who has provided engineering assistance to the Trust before, has been contracted to be used when necessary with dismantling and engineering tasks within the budget set for this winter maintenance.  The following day, Jon Pridmore and Dan Howden headed to Southall in the van to collect items required for the winter maintenance from the container.

On Wednesday Jon and Dan commenced work by splitting the loco and tender, the tender has been turned and placed on an adjacent road in the roundhouse so it can be used to provide the head of water required for the boiler washout that will take place shortly. Dismantling of various systems that are fastened to the cab then proceeded with removal of the seat units and disconnection of the electrical system in order to lift the cab off the loco to give access for removal of the cladding around the firebox. This will give access for stay replacements to take place once we have agreed a plan with the boiler inspector. At the same time John drove the van to Darlington to collect the cab lifting beam from DLW.  The remainder of the week was used to complete the work required to have the cab ready for lifting.

Tornado, separated from her tender, stands near Blue Peter - John Wilkinson

The C Exam has also commenced, one or two minor issues have emerged so far and these will be logged and dealt with through our normal procedures.  John has started to identify tasks that can be put in the hands of volunteers as the overhaul progresses and approaches are being made to appropriate individuals to allocate jobs. Diana Hurfurt from the sales team was involved with the support crew on Nunney Castle during its restoration and offered to help with Tornado. Diana has taken a job that needs doing under the front of the tender, an area that gets a lot of water ingress due to regular wetting of the coal on the footplate above, the area gets very dirty and is prone to corrosion. Cleaning this area, needle gunning to remove any corrosion and repainting is a task that will require care and attention as there are numerous pipework and cable runs which could easily be damaged.

With Jon Pridmore supervising, Tornado is prepared for a cab lift - John Wilkinson