When I started off today I had a set of things I wanted to do:

1. Add the external steampipe from cab to smokebox

2. Remove the moulded coal rails

3. Add the handrails

Happily I can say I achieved all three....

The steampipe was the easiest bit to do. I had to drill 1.6mm holes into the cab front and the smokebox to get it to fit, and then gently file down the tank filler cap it runs past to get a smooth fit.

Moving on to the coal rails the first step was to cut down through the rails themselves to the level of the bunker both fore and aft, and the take a small sawblade and slip it down the side of the lowest rail and gently work it back and forth to make a cut. Once going I could work a little harder and get a decent amount of material out with each pass of the saw; at the same time working the saw up toward a vertical position to cut through. Once I had cut through to the underside with one little cut, I could move the saw to the vertical position and start working forward to the cab and back to the rear of the bunker. I had to do this twice of course, for both sides, and then again to cut through the rear of the rails. The front end was a little more involved as, as it turns out, the cab/bunker bulkhead runs right below the very front edge of the rails.... so I had to make that cut from the underneath of the bunker... and when it had been made I had a sizeable residue at the front of the bunker still to remove (I used a decent heavy duty file for this bit).

Then I turned to the handrails.... I had thought this would be a simple operation (and to a certain extent it was) but I did struggle with needling the wire through the handrail knobs. I still have the handrails at the front of the tanks to do.... I managed to loose one or two of the knobs in the pile of the carpet (which were replaced using some plastic ones I had to hand in the spares box). I also had to make the one compromise that I always have to make- the handrail doesn't make that distinctive set of curves around and over the front of the smokebox. I just can't form the curves for some reason...

The final little job I managed today was to form new safety valve levers- I did this by taking a short length of brass wire, putting a 180-degree bend in the middle and then gently with pliers putting an 'S' bend in it about a quarter of the way in from either end. Simple but effective!