Finishing touches have been made to the boiler cladding with the completion of the boiler bands.  They were given a coat of varnish over the lining to help preserve the paint finish.  These bands cover the joints between the cladding sheets and are used to pull the sheets into alignment.  It took a couple of days work, easing the platework with rubber mallets before we were fully satisfied with the fit.  Where the cladding meets the smokebox at the front end, there's a curved strip that covers the edge of the insulation, and this too has been fitted.

After much research, we have found what we hope will be a suitable material to go under the boiler feet.  The boiler is bolted in place at the front end, whilst the rear end is free to slide backwards with expansion as it warms up. The boiler feet slide along the top of a material, not unlike that used for brake pads on cars.  In steam days, the material contained a high amount of asbestos, and finding a suitable replacement material which is non-combustible (the feet are right next to the fire grate) has taken some time.

The two sandbox filler pipes on the fireman's side have been fitted, and the fitting of the other two remains to be done.  This will be the last crucial task needing completion before the boiler can be finally lowered.  Whilst we still have access, more of the inside of the frames has been re-painted where the paintwork was beginning to look a little tired.

The internal parts for the blower valve have been made, allowing the complete valve to be fitted to the boiler backhead.  The operating handle and mechanism has also been fitted, as it runs across the full width of the backhead and several other things need to avoid it.  The blower valve sends a jet of steam up the chimney, which draws the fire and helps to prevent a blow-back occurring.  This important feature on a Bulleid loco allows the blower to be operated from either side of the footplate, so either the driver or fireman can deal with a blow-back without the need to walk in front of the fire hole door.

All the components for the ratchet mechanisms on the mechanical lubricators have been made and fitted, and we were very pleased with their smooth operation when they were turned by hand.  The drive linkages for the ones on the fireman's side have been reconnected.

A good start has been made on replacing the parts stolen in July, and we have received castings for the outside Big End bearings and the internal components for the Brake Ejector.  All these components need to be machined, which is where the bulk of the cost will be.  Needless to say, we don't want to chance history repeating itself, so all these components are being stored off site for the time being.

Now that we have the tender in the main shed, work has recommenced in earnest.  A major achievement has been having all the welding undertaken on the front brake shaft; a company local to Toddington carried out this specialist work.  The shaft has received its first coat of paint and is ready to be fitted.

Work has continued on fitting the draw gear with the eyebolt guide currently the centre of attention.  This fits on the rear face of the tender's front drag box.  A drilling template has been made, which matches the eyebolt guide.  This was then fitted in position on the drag box and will allow the holes to be accurately drilled in this rather inaccessible location.

A start has been made on a fabricated design for the six tender brake beams.  The design follows principles that have been used on the 'new build' Brighton Atlantic project on the Bluebell Railway.  The four beams in our possession were retrieved some years ago from scrapped London tube trains, but we found they were too long.  The forged ends have been cut from the beams and machined to shape so they can be welded onto new beams once we have had them made.

Finally, we are most grateful to the GWSR plc for successfully negotiating a good settlement of our theft claim with the insurers, but there is no doubt we'd prefer to still have the original parts at Toddington, rather than a nice cheque!