It’s been almost 6 months since this blog was last updated and things have moved on quite a lot. There was a pause in proceedings whilst the Trustees and the WSR PLC assessed the situation together and the Trustees made plans for the remainder of the restoration project.
It became clear that much as the team at Williton would have liked to restore the boiler of 4561 it was quite simply a step too far, given their current and predicted workload. It was therefore agreed that the chassis would remain at Williton but the boiler would go to an outside contractor with Ryan and his team still closely involved in the decision making.
So following an extensive tender and due diligence process it was agreed that the boiler would go to Riley and Sons in Lancashire. On 18th April the boiler was collected and taken to Riley’s.
On 21st May, Trustees received notification that the firebox has been removed along with the lower part of the steel back head. The images below are from Rileys and will be discussed at the next Trustee meeting on 10th June.
Meanwhile, work on the remainder of the locomotive continues at Williton with a volunteer team led by Mike Wightman doing much of the work under the watchful eye of Ryan Pope.
Some very shiny new bolts have been made and the loco is now back off its wheels for the detail to be completed. As with the rest of the WSR home fleet, 4561 will be greece lubricated and so the old top feed lids will not be required and new tops will be fitted to the boxes.
First published on the WSRA 4561 restoration blog.