Defying Gravity - Raising the Roof

[To all loyal readers - an apology. Since originally publishing this article, I have been asked to revise the content. I hope that what remains is still of interest. I do try to present things exactly as they happened; Midsomer Norton's engineering facilities are not always as one would like and considerable ingenuity and determination are often needed to overcome challenges - that is what makes life interesting!].

5th November 2012, was a demonstration of how well the Midsomer Norton Monday Gang work together to overcome a difficult problem. Firstly, a picture of the end result!

Nigel's party trick!
Hmm, a bit like a spot the ball competition?

If you've followed the 'blog for some time, you'll know that Joyce had a new hat some time ago. The bright blue tarpaulin 'hat' has not lasted well and has been in urgent need of replacement by the metal cab roof itself for quite some time.

Ready for fitting

I'd made the cab roof ready for fitting in June 2012 but there it remained in the MSN goods' shed waiting to be manhandled into place. Being made of 3mm mild steel, it generally needed four people to lift it but to lift it from the ground to the top of the loco was never going to be easy. With no operational or accessible lifting machinery to hand, it really was going to be to hand!

Despite the rare good weather, I'd concluded that the roof was going to be in the shed at the end of the day yet again. However, I hadn't bargained for the determination of the Monday gang pulling together to take up the challenge. After a while, the original plan of sliding the roof up slanting ladders was looking a lot more feasible than I'd thought - and the weather was still beaming down!

Tools for the job!

Strapping the ladders to the loco cab side and attaching ropes to prevent them sliding away from the loco was an essential outcome of risk assessment. Likewise, pulling up by multiple straps as well as pushing up from below with plenty of hands was going to ensure that a single problem would not cause any undesired result.

And there you have it! Just like that!

The clue to Nigel's party trick!

I'd like to thank all the Monday gang who helped today, not forgetting Norman without whom many things would never happen!