A rather wet end to what has turned out to be a mainly moist
week.
Thursday saw the Permanent Way team in action connecting up
the right hand side of the loop with the mainline again. The line was connected
up and tested with a light wagon but wasn’t properly re-gauged due to the torrential
hail storm that hit Wirksworth, closely followed by snow. Re-gauging was to be
completed at the next available work day.
Today was blessed with torrential rain that persisted
throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. It did allow for some time
during the morning for a major clear up of the internal environment also known
as the loft, this turned out to be a worthwhile venture as many things that
were thought to have been lost were found! As the rain eventually did stop in
the afternoon it was decided that ZM32 should be pushed out to see if a small
leak of Diesel could be located. The Motive Power Engineers in charge of the loco
started the engine and within a matter of minutes found the leaking bleed
screw, this was tightened and the engine run up again to test it, fix
successful. The locomotive was cleared for a test run up the incline; the loco
was coupled to Manrider 102 and the test train did a return trip from
Steeplehouse to the passing loop above Recreation Ground Station.
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| The line reconnected at long last |
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| ZM32 and Manrider 102 finally make it to the loop |
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| The test train pauses at Recreation Ground Station |
