Over the weekend of Saturday 23.08.08. and Sunday 24.08.08. we had a bit of a shed shuffle at Freckleton. The main purpose of the shuffle was to provide a central working area in the shed for major work on 2 - 4 vehicles, (and a bit of a general tidying up).
Saturday involved the moving of vehicles, (with approval and a lot of help from Peter Walton), from the shed onto available space on Peter's land. Once there was space in the shed, vehicles and equipment were moved to their new locations - this took place over both days and chairman Ray was seen on more than one occasion wiping sweat from his brow after some heavy work on buses with no power steering. The movement of 'bits' from one place to another and general tidying up will continue over the next few weeks.
The move went quite well with minimal damage. Unfortunately, due to the speed of the movements, and the work involved (and the position of the sun !!), I was unable to take photographs of all the vehicles involved. After more years than I wish to remember, I still have not been able to get a photo of the Weardale Leopard !.
A few photos:
[
attachment=237] A view of the part-empty shed.
[
attachment=238] [
attachment=239] 377 - seen still undergoing restoration.
[
attachment=240] The Lytham Lion.
[
attachment=241] 209 (2700) - seen resting in the corner by the brew room.
[
attachment=242] A rare view of Lancaster 881 - she doesn't get out very often.
[
attachment=243] H196DVM - A Van Hool bodied Volvo B10M of Bank View Coaches (on loan to Peter Walton). No relevance to the shed shuffle - but it was there.
[
attachment=244] 452 - back in the shed on Saturday evening.
[
attachment=245] Leyland National 372 - being reversed back into the shed.
[
attachment=246] 1686 - presently undergoing a re-paint
[
attachment=247] 2100 - now mobile again with replacement chassis bits. Bless.
Further photos of the shuffle:
[
attachment=248] New floor on upper deck of 2100.
[
attachment=249] Scout Atlantean 5 (PRN145).
[
attachment=251] The back row: 2413, 1467, 1349, Lytham 25, 1399 and the Kent Tiger.
[
attachment=252] 2413, 1467, 1349 and Lytham 25.
[
attachment=253] Lytham 25, 1399 and the Kent Tiger.
[
attachment=254] A view of the shed from the top door.
Vehicles visible are: 2413, 1467, 1349, Lytham 25, 1399, Morecambe & Heysham 72, Bolton 122, Scout 5, Harrington Contender JFV527, unregistered SCG Atlantean and Standerwick 25.
[
attachment=255] 209, the brew room and 2413.
(Atlantean 1481 can be seen through the door just right of centre of the photo).
[
attachment=256] 209, the brew room, 2413 and 1467.
Monday, 25.08.08.
Work on the shed shuffle continued today. Most effort was put into tidying up and cleaning the inside of the shed.
Chairman Ray, (who really likes the challenge of a vehicle which does not have the luxury of power steering), assisted Mike out the back moving the truncated remains of former 1935 Hants & Dorset Leyland Tiger TS7, ARU179, to make room for 1399.
Neither ARU nor 1399 had power steering. But then, apart from Mike giving a push or pull with the fork lift truck, neither vehicle had power.
Ray was a little surprised to find that ARU didn't have a full steering wheel - the ravages of time have left only the spokes - (well, some parts of them), no outer rim.
Needless to say, steering ARU was something of an effort.
[
attachment=257] [
attachment=258] Ray and Mike positioning ARU.
In the first photo, Ray appears to be looking for the remains of ARUs steering wheel whilst Mike, on the fork lift, realises with some relief that the bit of metal he has seen on the rough ground to his left is not part of ARUs steering wheel but is in fact a wheel nut from a long since broken-up RE.
In the second photo, the remains of the steering wheel spokes are almost clearly visible.
I'm sure that Ray would have found the job easier if he had have worn his gloves.