Today the tank was lifted and turned onto its back so we could use the ‘squeezer’ with the hydraulic power pack to close up the 50 rivets that secure the base of the tank to the tank frame/angle iron.
The rivets need to be flush on the underside, so one of the jobs on Tuesday is to grind them down so that the underside can then be painted with the epoxy.
Once the epoxy has dried we can stand the tank back up and all being well finish off the last remaining rivets along the top and bottom edges next Saturday.
It is the first time that we have seen the underside of the tank since all of the welding has taken place, hence the burn marks in the epoxy paint which have now been cleaned off.
Report and pictures by Paul
This work needs funding please could you help to keep up this progress moving forward. Please click the link to donate https://wsra.org.uk/donate-to-wsra-locomotives/