Sadly 401 has been out of service for longer than we expected whilst we are waiting for the delivery of some new fusible plugs before the loco can be steam tested and re-enter service. After the locos boiler washout the opportunity was taken to carry out some extra jobs:
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| 401s blowdown valve crank handle - this has had the curve removed and shortened slightly |
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| Ready for welding |
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| Michael cutting a section out of the blowdown valve's operating handle in order to shorten it |
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| Annealing the copper washer which sits in the centre of the blowdown valves gasket |
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| The blowdown valve, crank and handle re-fitted - the crank was originally fitted in a different position and with the addition of the curve in the crank it made it very difficult to operate. As can be seen in the top left the vacuum ejector pipe doesn't allow the handle to be pulled up very far, so the crank could not be operated properly as it was pulling into the body of the blowdown valve instead of going up over and opening. Probably worked ok in its working life when it wasn't vacuum fitted |
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| Blowdown fully open, now much easier and safer to operate |
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| The locker in the cab has received a clean out, needle gun and re-paint, seen here in primer |
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| After undercoating (sadly no photo), it was given two top coats of white gloss |
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| Another minor job, repainting the metal plates on the cab floor (after photo below) |
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