A short update this week.
With the interior of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 almost complete, it has been time to move out of storage the seats and furniture that have been gathered for the coach. Some of the rubber chair leg feet were found to be absent, which had the potential for the new carpet to be damaged. Phil Burton has acquired some new feet and is seen here attending to the matter. Phil Bell and John Dixon made an early start to enable the gas fitter to attend at 08.00 on Friday morning. We are pleased to be able to report that the gas system is now passed ready for service. In anticipation of this, Tim has conducted axle pad exams ready for the coach to be moved further up the shed this Wednesday.
This next weekend will see FR 20 appearing at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway’s Annual Steam Gala together with visitors L&NWR coal tank No. 1054 and Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Keighley Gas Works No. 2. A number of members are travelling to South Wales this weekend to support FR 20 and also to prepare the loco for transporting back to Preston.