Restoration diary

​Carl Looker and his daughter Sofia put a third coat of black on the radiator room floor, than cleaned four of the rear mounting plates for the rad fan resistors which go above the walkways alongside the rads. There are three each side. The plates were only very lightly corroded as they get covered in dust and debris drawn in through the rad grille...

​Dave Rolfe and I were at Rowsley on Sunday 8th October: it was not the most successful of days but we got a bit done.We tried to take the radiator breather pipes off 50029, but she absolutely refused to help her sister and wouldn't relinquish said breather pipes. The bolts were just too rusted and tight, and the access to the bolts very restr...

On Sunday I went to Rowsley to see Dave Rolfe and catch up on what's been happening, unfortunately no pictures as my car was so full of stock after a sales event that day that the camera wouldn't fit in it!I'm pleased to say the radiator room is very close to being finished, the only tasks that need doing before the radiators can go back in in are:...

​19/6/2017 Deborah Stokes and I completed the rail grey topcoating in the radiator compartment, Dave Rolfe refitted another part of the radiator shutter actuating mechanism, while Wes Needle carried on in no 1 cab, refitting panelling to the driver's desk, though not without some effort as the panels were warped from storage and previous rushed fit...

This post is to continue from the previous article rounding up the progress RRRG has made in the first half of 2017.As we had lifted the radiator fan and its motor out of 50030 in order to remove the radiators themselves for overhaul, it seemed a good idea to get this sent off for overhaul at the same time as the radiators were being d...

As we approach the halfway point of 2017, it seems like a good time to to look back at what RRRG has been doing this year and our progress to date.The major work (and expense!) this year has been on the overhaul of the radiators for use in 50030 as we progress towards at least being able to fire up the engine in this locomotive. Along ...

Whilst we have the radiators removed from 50030, attention has turned to the radiator compartment inside the bodyshell with the aim being to refurbish it as quickly as possible. The reason for this is that we have the refurbished radiators back in our care, but we quickly decided that the best place to store them was where they came out from - name...

Most of our efforts since Christmas have concentrated on preparing the radiator compartment for the return of the radiators now they have been repaired. It's been all hands on deck to clean up years of accumulated debris, attend to lots of corrosion, especially around the blower duct on the floor and the electrical trunking that runs either side ju...