Overhaul update
A general view across the workshop shows the engine to the left, coupled wheels ahead of it with the pony truck just out of shot to the right, and the almost finished tender in the background. Things are coming together in more ways than one!
The linkage to the cylinder taps has been fitted below the cylinders on both sides, so the operating mechanism is complete from the cab all the way through to the taps themselves, with all components now correctly positioned.
There is a lot of pipework on a steam engine and finding out where individual pieces go can be challenging: it is not unlike assembly a multi-piece three-dimensional jigsaw. These are but two of the steam heat pipes to the front of the engine; they are a SVR assembly from 1990 as the engine did not have this facility in BR days.
It took effort to find where these two pieces went, together with their next piece forward between the frames, but witness marks where the bracket has made contact confirm their location.
Things are different on the driver’s side since a different type of injector is being fitted, and the old pipework doesn’t line up. Some judicious bending, as betrayed here where the heat needed to form a bend has damaged the carefully applied paint, shows that some can be made to fit.
In most cases, new pipes being made. A strange thing is that the water from the tender enters the front of the injector, while the feed to the boiler exits at the rear. Some tight bends are therefore needed.
The view forward from behind the buffer beam. The injector body is to the left behind the cab step; right is the bracket to carry the connection from the tender, the flange of the water regulator valve just visible in front of it.
The same area from the front. This time the regulator valve is partially hidden by the jack.