Wednesday 26th July a nice start for outside work.

Time to press on with the water gate valve exhibit and extensive de rust, clean and paint required but it is too heavy for the sand blast cabinet as the cast base is a two man lift. The oil left in the top section has done it's job and a week later the handle now turns.

a selection of wire wheels in the drill was a good starting point on the base section and the remaining bolt parts needed punching out to enable better cleaning.

A coat of black rust prevention paint makes it look better.

Then onto the top section a simple task if the nuts and wedges will come out it was a heavy lift and was nearing the bench stability limit. It came undo and one wedge drifted out but the though that the handle and screw would pull straight out of the top this was a serious error of judgment.

Greg in the mean time had been sorting some paint out on the front of the Scammel Scarab where it had started to lift and peel on some joints.

After fruitless knocking up and down the gate thread shaft still refused to come out so Greg suggested a press in the engine workshops this would also help free the seized brass nut in the gate. So it was a long trip with the wheel barrow

The press also got no movement and the valve was too big to fit the way we planned the task.

but the brass nut came out of the gate

A long wheel barrow push back and break out the oxy propane torch to heat the casting and displace the rust as the inner guide is a separate casting so should come out and hopefully reveal a keep on the screw so it can be removed.

The gate nut and casting got cleaned up and it now slides freely to allow for any misalignment.

The plan is all painted up and gate control free to turn with a gap between top and bottom section so the working mechanism can be seen and mount it on a stand for visitors to try out in the museum.

 after a week off Wednesday the 19th was a dry start that warmed up so time for outside working.

first task was broom propulsion to clean out Taylors office the pay office and Foss Cross as the trees had been loosing seeds and it was looking untidy so may discourage visitors going in.

A quick check on the Morris showed Greg had been busy with this time consuming job

The rear crossmember is assembled and painted ready to be welded in.

The Scammel Scarab is still hit and miss on starting up so a wiring check and tidy up of the battery leads the cut out switch is now mounted on the seat frame and fragile wiring removed or replaced..

78019 came past bellowing steam.

The water tower valve beat us using spanners with the rust that had formed with over 100 years of being below ground but the large angle grinder with a 2mm cutting disc got in deep enough to cut the bolts and rust out.

Due to the weight of the iron castings it was decided that the pipes would be better removed and than they could sold in the Trust shop as up cycling items for a garden or alike.

Even after cutting through the remaining rust held it all solidly together so a large chisel and lump hammer were needed to separate the parts

Whilst working 78019 came back past looking like it was having fire problems

once all separated and split the valve could be lifted by two people into a car and taken around to the workshop area, this is the top screw with the gate valve removed but the screw is seized solid so now inverted and soaking in oil hoping it will release and there is still with one bolt seized solid in the casting.

The free bolts have had a session on the wire wheel and 100 years of corrosion damage is easily seen but the nuts will not screw on more the 1/2 a turn.

now soaking in oil and lanolin to see if the rust in the threads will break down and soften.

The major castings will be worked on next week so the valve can be assembled and working for visitors to see and use.

 Wednesday the 5th July a dry start but a heavy shower popped over.

Catching up first Greg has been busy on the Morris floor and the new channel is cut to size and fits nicely the one mount needs plating as the bolt down area is thin from corrosion but it is progressing..

Winchcombe station needed a barrel stand for beside the newly built Usk building so this one got wire brushed with a rotary tool then painted.

As it is diesel gala this weekend the Scammel should be running but although we have a good spark from the king lead there is little at the plugs and running the hand near leads and distributor cap and get a shock so new cap, arm and leads the job should be done.

The Cheltenham tramway line we were given does not clean up as easily as hoped but is is getting there with a lump hammer and chisel

It is not clear to see in the pictures but the base of the right hand groove has grey metal formed into it possibly to aid noise control with steel on steel.

The large angle grinder with a cutting disc was use to cut through the nuts on the water valve pipe joints by going down the bolt the remaining nut was easy to chisel right to tighten and then they opened up and fell off followed by an application of the sledge hammer proved the bolts were very solid as they bent or peened over rather than move out

so the next thought was angle grinder again and cut into the joint to lessen the rust and hopefully get the bolts cut to separate the pipe sections o it is more manageable as a display in the area.

There was plenty of dust but disc wear meant we had to give up

After all this it is still solidly rusted solidly together so new discs needed for a deeper cut.

A stroll up the yard and we were able to fit the floor section in the carriage connector corridor this need de rusting and painting now.

A constant problem on railways is dirty carriage windows from the brake dust and engine these distract from the passengers enjoyment of the journey by train so Greg has been trying things out and it seems phosphoric acid works well so carriage and wagon are going to get some and do more testing themselves.

 Work on rebuilding the Morris Commercial cab subframe.

The rot under the floor is extensive, reconstruction is necessary so the cab can be securely mounted.

Ian Carpenter an amazing engineer on the GWSR fabricated a sheet metal trough section from estimated dimesions, and it fits.

The profile to fit snugly along the rear of the cab will be ground to fit.