31 August

A slight change of plan from last months anticipated actions. We did as planned put in the front framework around the cab, level and straighten the front bulkhead and support the remains of the cab. Alas not much more can be tackled here now until the upstairs goes in and provides the necessary support. So we decided to tackle the staircase and conductors area before moving on to the upstairs flooring, purely to make it easier to work on the floor and in addition to fit back a number of the original panels to make sure everything is fitting as it should!! As you can see the results are pretty good. All the panels that have gone back on are originals that were all in good condition and generally required sanding down and etching before going back into their rightful place. All the kick plates are again the originals and some of the wood supports are but alas most of the other wood was beyond re-use. Next month hopefully the flooring and last of the staircase will all be in place, unless of course we have another change of plan!

1 August 2007

Welcome back after the enforced break! With a gradual catch up in commercial work we got back on RT 8 at the end of June and have been making steady progress and as you can probably see she has moved ‘barns’. As can be seen the most obvious addition is that of the downstairs ceiling, which is now largely in place, all the wood in the ‘red’ looking primer is original wood in case you were wondering. The interior light fittings have also been, cleaned checked and re-fitted as have all the original conduit wiring sections of the lights and the bells. It’s interesting to note one of the conduits leading to where the push button bell in the ceiling will be as 2RT2’s never had the downstairs bell chord like their later sisters. The cab has also been an area where work has finally commenced. Because the support for this all comes from the top deck and the front bulkhead and as we have had to remove and repair much of the front bulkhead (which is now finished) the cab has sunk and sunk. We therefore have now removed all the windows, glass and reusable pans and are currently working on this front framework around the cant rail so we can commence the upstairs framework which will then provide the strength to hang the cab from once again.

The next stage will see the front framework finished and the cab ceiling and canopy finished. We will then be laying first the very thin aluminum and then the wooden floor boards to start work on the top deck, once these are in position then the brackets and vertical framework can start going in. Hopefully by the next update on or around August 31 the top deck will be starting to take some form of very limited shape.