As expected, the progress this quarter has taken place in the machine shop and on the boiler cladding, where we are approaching completion of all the firebox cladding.

The Steam Manifold pipe cover that fits on top of the firebox has been completed, painted up to undercoat and placed in store. The upper side sheets have had all their washout plug sockets made up and riveted in place using copper rivets. These were used traditionally and we have followed this practice simply because they are easier to fit and work with. No doubt the "rivet counters" will be able to tell us whether we have fitted the right number!

The side sheets have been offered up to the firebox for final fettling to a stage where we are happy with the fit. The backs have already been fully painted, and the fronts can also be painted to undercoat at least, but it will all have to come off again to fit the insulation material underneath.

Just occasionally, we have been able to incorporate original metal into sections of the new cladding, and this was the case with the front right-hand shoulder which was especially troublesome to get right. Likewise we have saved time and work by being able to reuse pieces of original cladding around the rear corners of the firebox where it curves on to the boiler back-head. These sheets are all complex curves and require much effort to get them to fit properly. It was interesting to discover that original sheets have differed from the technical drawings obtained from York, and we have generally found that the correct approach has been to copy the original sheets, as these were adapted from the drawings to fit the locomotive.

With the back-head cladding already in place, we now have the whole of the back of the firebox covered in cladding, which makes this area look very fine. We are going to add an extra piece of cladding at the bottom of the firebox, a section omitted in the drawings, to reduce local cooling and thermal stress in this area when running tender-first. The reason for omitting this piece of cladding isn't clear, and we hope to find an explanation. In B.R. service, tender-first running was very limited, but on our railway P.& O. will spend 50% of her time running thus, and the need for some insulation in this area is more obvious.

Elsewhere on the loco, a lubricator splitter made for us on the West Somerset Railway needs a delicate and intricate gasket to be made to finish it off; not everything on a Bulleid Pacific is huge and heavy!

The Tender is presently stored at the far end of the South Headshunt in the Parish of Didbrook, apparently forlorn and forgotten. However, we have ventured down there to try out an experimental brake hanger we'd previously had made, and the combination with a spare brake block seemed to fit satisfactorily. We can now draw up our requirements to get a full set of brake hangers made.

In the Machine Shop, our broken-down Huron Milling Machine has been replaced by a second-hand machine which, although not as versatile as the Huron, can still do 90% of the jobs we need. It came, through an auction, at a very reasonable price that was a fraction of what we expected to pay. It is now wired up and earning its keep; we hope to dispose of the Huron machine as a source of spares.

We have made a start on machining parts for the Brake Ejector, whose casting is being machined off site. The brake ejector is perhaps the most complicated mechanism on the loco, and works on a similar principle to the injectors. The ejector uses a jet of steam to pump air out of the train brake pipe, thus causing the train brakes to release. To apply the brakes, air is let back into the pipe and the brakes come on. We'll be hearing a lot more about making parts for the brake ejector over the coming months.

Finally, many readers may recall seeing a device known as a "pinch bar" illustrated in an earlier edition of "The Cornishman". These are long three-inch diameter wooden poles with a metal tongue on one end, and are used for moving locos and rolling stock by hand. After fitting the coupling rods some time ago, we put a number of pinch bars to the ultimate test and moved a Bulleid Pacific by hand! It took a lot of weight and muscle power, and something had to give; one of the bars snapped clean in half! We have now found and bought a replacement, and its better grip on the rail is much appreciated by the Loco Department.