The Chassis Finished

  Here's me and Ged congratulating one another on a huge job well done - the completion of the woodwork repairs and replacements on the wagon chassis.

Ged has refused any payment for the work he has done - so much has he enjoyed doing it.

He, like others, has warmed to the wagon and is just glad to be able to help in its preservation, which would be an immensely costly business if it had to be done at commercial rates.

From above, the extent of the new woodwork can be seen.   Over half of the original chassis wood has had to be renewed.   The headstocks, or buffer beams and the main longitudinal member at the top of the picture have also been replaced but are painted black so do not look new at a first glance.

We have also had immense help from Settle Coal, Timberworks and from Wonder of Wood.    Settle Coal, besides bringing the truck from Aviemore and craning it into position, have been very generous on the hardware side of things.   Their collossal resources of engineering supplies and specialist tools have been made freely available.   Wonder of Wood have supplied much of the chassis replacement wood free of charge, and the remainder at well below cost.

It is quite humbling how Settle has taken the water tower project to its heart and is glad to be associated with it - in very practical ways.

Besides the enormous help in kind there is a constant stream of visitors saying how much they enjoyed the TV programmes.

All very encouraging and rewarding.