Wheeling the Wagon

Sunday 19th June saw us ready at 5 p.m. after the last train ran. We shunted the coach set out of the siding by the wagon's home ready for the crane to come in.



While I've been away on holiday Ollie has fitted the springs to the hangers on the frame. He had to try out each spring to find where it would fit, despite all the dimensions being the same he found that springs would not simply fit on any set of hangers. I arrived on Sunday to find that all the springs were in place.



The axle-boxes were all greased and fitted to the axles and they were placed on the rails ready to receive the frame. The last job to do while we waited for the last train was to grease the channels in the axle-boxes for the guides, and to put grease on the tips of the guides themselves. All was ready.



The strops were in place and we were ready to go.



The last train ran, the carriage set was moved out and the steam engine put on shed, then Gordon brought the crane up and we fitted the shackle...



...hoisted it up...



...and moved it along to the wheels.



Despite the slow movement we had to steady the frame which rocked a little as the crane moved back along the track.





Positioning the frame over the axles.



It's not very easy to get the axles in the right position. When we'd lined up one end we found that the axle at the other end was about 2 or 3 inches too far out, so we had to move it back.



The axle nearest on the left was located, Ollie guides the W iron as Roger steadies the axle box - they have a tendency to capsize as they are very top heavy.



The blades of the axle-guide ('W' iron or horn-guide) drop into the slots in the second axle-box with help from Roger and Ollie.



Now we line up the third axle-box...



...and it drops into place...



...and the last one goes in.



The whole thing sits on its springs and wheels.



Off come the strops and...



...Ollie is the first to step onto the newly wheeled frame...



...and off again.



With the tension of getting the thing in place gone, we relaxed.



Part of the crew stand by the wagon: Roger, Ollie, Stuart and Marcus.



Slightly over-exposed but looking good.



Ollie can't resist trying out one of the brake fittings.

Putting the wagon onto the wheels took 12 minutes. We'd reckoned on a lot longer but some careful preparation and planning, and clear, quiet instructions during the process meant it went sweetly forward. A very satisfying feeling.