Mid-Hants Railway Loco Shed

Recent News

Recent News from Ropley Motive Power Depot: showing work-in-progress of interest to the steam railway enthusiast
Reports and photos by your webmaster, or by others where acknowledged

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6th February 2004: Inside Ropley loco shed today
Bittern's cladding progresses
Work has started to prepare #35005 Canadian Pacific for retubing
	Cyril Gardner prepares a coach vestibule for varnishing
Ron Fulker lends a hand with the coach interior Five photos (6th February 2004): Tony Wood

3rd February 2004:

Steve and Roger have rolled the first new sheet of cladding for Bittern.
Steve deburrs the edges

Photo (3rd February 2004): Tony Wood

3rd February 2004: Ropley Engineering Manager Clive Holliday reports on progress with the job of re-tyring #92212 driving wheels

27th January 2004:

Queen of Scots set reassembled in Ropley station

Photo (27th January 2004): Tony Wood

27th January 2004:

In the view inside the shed (20th January 2004) you can see Ian Kirby working on the rhs expansion link of Bittern
He explains what he did, and shows how easily it now moves, in a movie (27th January 2004, 899KB): Tony Wood

24th January 2004:

Still dark outside, and only some of the shed lights are on but here's the front of Bittern.

I'd gone into the shed for some cotton rag to clean Bodmin for the day's service train, and in the rags-box found a Laura Ashley cotton dress, white with a small blue pattern, wide skirted, cut on the bias, Size 10, 'Made in Wales', which proved ideal when cut into three. Pleasing result

Bodmin movies shot today on the footplate

Photo (24th January 2004): Tony Wood

Did you miss anything?

20th January 2004:
Bittern's shape revealed. Roger Ventin grinds flush the countersunk screws on the front streamlining

0th January 2004: View inside Ropley shed today
Photo (198 KB, 20th January 2004): Tony Wood
Ian is getting Bittern's rhs expansion link to operate freely, Brian (red boilersuit) cutting brackets to mount Bittern's airbrake cylinder near the middle motion, and Michael and Dave mounting the renovated buffer° on the Black Five. The Class 11 is arriving to take #73096 out to test the TPWS - see below)
°Photo (later, 20th January 2004): Ken Grinstead

TPWS has been installed in #73096, and was successfully tested today, using a test rig in the four-foot, and the Class 11 shunter for motive power
The driver's TPWS control box can be seen between the regulator handle and the reverser

Frank Boait was out in light rain this morning measuring the horn-guide alignments on the 9F, using the traditional piano wire
The driving wheels have been re-tyred, though not yet re-profiled
Six photos (all 20th January 2004): Tony Wood