Overhaul update

A sight we might soon see, but with an engine attached! Work continues on the smokebox door, replacing the hinge strap bolts with counter-sunk rivets.

...to produce these almost flush heads. Some grinding down is needed to obtain the final finish. The chalked 13268 will be replaced by this newly cast number plate, waiting to be drilled and painted.

Looking from the rear along the length of the smokebox to show the rear of the door, with the dart engaged in the horizontal cross bar holding the door shut.

The door’s inner liner, with the lower deflector plate bolted on and covers fitted to holes allowing access to nuts on the inside face of the door.

Attention has now turned to the valve rings, and the first job was to saw a cut in them. They are turned from cast iron tube so are continuous as received. There are four rings per valve head, and these are the cut eight for the right side.