Just back from the Karlsruhe Exhibition in January with James, we just about had time to unload the engines we'd taken before "Katie" turned up from Ravenglass.
We'd gone up to see the engine last summer - it's just about a rebuild rather than a recreation, the original frames (and, possibly, running board angle irons) were rescued from the sand dunes behind Fairbourne's engine shed in the 1980s. Since that time some parts have been made and loosely assembled, including wheelsets, cylinders and a boiler. The project has lain dormant for some years up at Ravenglass, it's now come to us to complete - work includes design and manufacture of the Heywood valve gear, new water tanks, steam brakes, all boiler fittings, regulator, smokebox pipework and door... the list is fairly lengthy! However once stripped and the parts already made assessed, we can make a start in earnest.
Watch this space, as they say.
