It has been a potentially difficult few months for the project during the summer, as our engineering team leader, Andrew Marshall, was in hospital for some time following an operation. Not that a small matter like that has kept him away from the loco. As soon as he was feeling well enough, volunteers were visiting his bedside armed with drawings or small castings being worked on at the time. (It made a change from grapes or chocolates!) Later, workers brought him from hospital to Toddington where he was able to give further instructions from the limited comfort of a wheelchair. Andrew is now out of hospital, and the project owes him a huge debt of gratitude for such a level of dedication, as a result of which the restoration work has carried on almost unhindered.

Once again, the boiler cladding has provided the high-profile progress. The latest area to receive attention is the throat plate where firebox and boiler barrel join. We were able to recover sections of the original B.R. sheet for the right hand side from our "not to be scrapped just yet" pile, and the most complicated section was salvageable, with repairs. The left hand sheet was made up from scratch by the technique of making up the sheet in sections, tack-welded together when they were on the loco to ensure the correct shape was achieved. They were then taken down and fully welded, with considerable work needed to dress the welds and smooth out the sheets so they appear to be one continuous piece, rather than sections joined together.

The completed sheets are superb, and it is especially pleasing to see that the new left hand sheet has a better finish than the B.R. original on the right hand side! To complete the fabrication, pockets have been tack-welded round the holes for washout plugs and mud-hole doors. A start has been made on making and fitting the crinoline straps which fit around the firebox and cover the gaps between the cladding sheets. Although not painted, these straps make a very nice finishing touch, and give the firebox a more 'tidy' appearance.

The next 'fiddly' bit to complete will be the cladding over the Steam Manifold Shut-off Valve on the front of the firebox. In order to get this right, we have fitted the valve in position, taking care to protect the mating surfaces which have been prepared and should be steam-tight. The valve is very heavy and was fitted in three portions to make life easier. Even so, the main valve body required three people to lift into position. Once this valve was in place, the last of the boiler crinoline hoops could be fitted in position up against the dome ring. The drawings for the cladding over this valve are not at all clear about the exact shape required, and some other restored locos look very odd in this area. By examining old photographs, we have produced a profile for this valve cover, which should make it blend nicely into the firebox.

As predicted last time, we have been continuing to make parts for the Brake Ejector. A lot of time has been spent on machining the small and delicate parts for the Vacuum Relief Valve, which fits on the underside of the Brake Ejector and is used only rarely by the driver when it is necessary to destroy the vacuum in the tender reservoirs.

We have been able to restart work on making parts for the tender, with the all-important draw-gear receiving some attention. We managed to salvage the original drawbar for the loco, and the Eye-bolt which forms part of it has been machined to remove corrosion damage sustained whilst in the scrap yard at Barry.  Cab and backhead.Having reduced the outside diameter slightly, we could now start work on machining the casting for the Eye-bolt Guide which had been in store for some time. The Eye-bolt and Guide lie within the tender, and the drawbar passes through to the locomotive, connecting the two and taking the entire weight of the train behind the loco. Two safety links are provided also, to hold the tender and loco together in the very rare event of drawbar failure.

Finally, the Autumn Steam Gala provided us unexpectedly with a chance to see into the future with a Merchant Navy locomotive, No. 35005, "Canadian Pacific" working trains for the weekend. What a magnificent sight it made - the sheer size and power, the distinctive three-cylinder beat, and the haunting Bulleid whistle echoing over the countryside. A bit of judicious identity swapping would probably have been possible during the Gala, using P&O's nameplates and numbers, but having the real thing running will be better! If you have been inspired to help speed the day when our own Merchant Navy loco takes to the rails just contact Pete Mason, P&O Society chairman, via Toddington Station.