Unexpected Surprise

A very cold Monday 2nd Feb. started with an attempt to repaint the cab roof. The first problem was that the paint was so cold it had the consistency of Tar! Leaving the paint tin in hot water for a while turned its contents back to liquid.

Problem solved so I thought but only to be thwarted by 7109 being chilled to the core overnight in Midsomer Norton's goods shed. As soon as the paint touched the cold metal, it went back to tar and couldn't be spread. I gave up at this point.

Nigel (co-owner) appeared with two sheets of the cold steel to make a pair of superheater steady plates something like in the drawing below (apologies for the low resolution). These are screwed to the boiler top plate around the superheater tubes to eliminate leakage of air into the boiler's superheater space every time there is a 'chuff'. Each 'chuff' is supposed to draw air up through the fire not in via the leaks! I'll come back to this another time.

Superheater steady plate drawing

We had a visit from Mr S., an S&DRHT member whom I'd not met before. I showed him over 7109 in my usual manner. He remarked that he followed the blog and enjoyed seeing the progress. To my great surprise, he delved into his pocket and produced a modern version of the item below to make us a donation. This immediately paid for the just-purchased cold steel mentioned above!

Oldie but Goodie

Many thanks Mr S. May more visitors such as yourself please come and see us at work and be shown 7109's secrets! (If you can't visit in person, there's always this as an alternative!).

Work continued with attempting to persuade the boiler cover to fit. I have to admit that part way through the afternoon, I had to give up due to the cold. When the entire loco is freezing cold, every touch of the cold metal, whether it's feet or hands, loses a little more body heat. I'd run out!

Next Saturday 7th Feb. 2015 is the Sentinel Drivers Club AGM for the group of stalwarts who support all things Sentinel, including 7109.