The southern headstock has now been removed, exposing the dire state of this half of the chassis. The two central longitudinal members have fallen way. The three iron rods in the middle of the wagon are (centre) the drawbar, which takes the entire load of the train between the draw hooks and the two longitudinal tie bars. These serve to tighten the chassis and will be replaced with new ones.
Below, is the fundamental problem with the chassis - one of the two main cross members is totally rotten at both ends. Temporary repairs at some time have prevented catastrophic failure of the chassis. We shall remove those and renew the failed cross member.
Below, is the fundamental problem with the chassis - one of the two main cross members is totally rotten at both ends. Temporary repairs at some time have prevented catastrophic failure of the chassis. We shall remove those and renew the failed cross member.
Despite the rot, someof the tenon joints are in good shape (below) though the corresponding mortices have rotted.
Another morice and tenon joint about to separate:
One end of the rotten cross member:
And the other:
Today's other job is to remove the brake mechanisms on both sides of the wagon - to restore the mechanisms on the bench and to make for easier access to the chassis.
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