Quick progress update
27 May 2005 - thanks to Ben Williams for this article
Dave and Mark spent the weekend at the Colne Valley Railway this weekend andmyself and Vince joined them today - a lot of progress has been made onceagain.
Yesterday they managed to sort out all the electrics in the Matisa andpractically re-wire the whole machine as it was thought to be easier tostart from scratch so they knew what was going on. All was ok and lights andsirens etc were all fired up (probably for the first time in years!) Thesenow just need to be reconnected to the control panel which needs to bere-fitted with the new switches and guages.
Today we cleaned out the rusty channels in the window openings inpreparation for the new windows to go in. We are currently still sourcing aprice for 5mm polycarbonate material to go into all 12 windows along withnew seals - this could be one of our largest outlays of cash so far but Ithink it is important to get this right on a machine with so many windows!
We also cleaned up and threw out some of the old plywood panelling from theinterior that had become warped as a result of water damage.
Some new headlights and door handles were fitted.
The missing engine componants continue to be fitted quickly with only a fewremaining parts outstanding. The gearbox transmission is still causing someproblems but we hope to have something sorted out soon.
The paintwork on both sides was re-sanded to try and elliminate anyblemishes that were still showing through the grey primer. As a result oneside is a bit patchy again now with yellow, bits of red (from old BR doublearrows painted on at some point in the past) and white primer (from its lastrepaint) now showing through again! Its getting a lot smoother now though!
Depending on timescales of delivery we may have some windows to go in on thenext visit (!) and a start will be made on the Permaquip which has so farbeen a bit neglected! We want to try and get the cab watertight again firstwhich involves sorting out the roof where water has been getting in, as wellas the front glazed panels of course. It also needs a couple of newbatteries and a general wash down and repaint but it is thought to be inbetter mechanical condition than the Matisa.
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