A Quiet Day at Shackerstone...

Hi everyone. Today I was at Shackerstone enjoying a quiet day around the site. The GWR 2-8-0 No3803 was in steam and pulling the four rostered trains of the day. In the engine shed, the green Class 08 diesel locomotive had come inside over the pit for some maintenance checks. At the back of the shed, "Sir Gomer" stood cold. The engine has been out of service since the beginning of July, having been replaced by 3803. The lack of use for the poor old gal' has meant that time has been allowed to paint her. The very tired green livery on the tank was rubbed down and paint stripped across the cab, smokebox, cladding and cylinders. The wheels are yet to be done, but they are in very good condition and so may be painted over. Myself & Dennis had a few hours working on the ex-Mountain Ash Peckett today. I stood atop some ladders, sanding down the filler on her saddle tank. With the old paint having been rubbed down, we use filler to fill in the bigger knocks and bruises. The filler is then sanded in line with the form of the metalwork in order to bring it 'flush'. The filler is then primed before painting, as is the rest of the tank. Below, a fairly poor shot of "Sir Gomer" shows the 1932-built engine in an almost WD Grey livery! The filler patches can be seen on the tank, half way through being sanded down...

"WD Peckett"

After about 2 hours I had finished the filler-sanding on the drivers side of the tank. The firemans side was already done and so myself & Reas headed off on other duties around the site. The weather was too damp today to paint but, with hopeful improvements in the weather on the way, the Peckett should be in black within weeks. Cheers guys, Sam...