Steve Priest

Colin Clarke for my money

Well, we didn’t manage it by Christmas, and after an abortive attempt in early February ( we went over with a lorry, but by then the surrounding land was much to soft ) we were successful a few weeks later. Belmont was moved in one piece and is now stored on private land I apologise if some have got the impression that restoration was imminent, unfortunately there are no funds available at the moment. Whilst perhaps the overall condition is somewhat better than I had expected it is still in an appalling state, and restoration would be a major undertaking, certainly considering the sort of money that butties change hands for. However, on the positive side, the prime objective was to get Belmont out of Snibston so that she wouldn’t be scrapped, and this has been achieved. Restoration may be a long way away, but at least what is left of Belmont still exists, and the potential is still there. Steve

Hello, Yes, the delay was due to us changing foundries in an attempt to get castings with a better finish than the ones that we were using, ( getting patterns back, altering them, replacing lost ones, supplying them to the new foundry, lead times et al ) and I am happy to say that I received a batch of castings this afternoon and they are indeed much better. We can now make more ranges and smoke boxes. As to the eye-watering price please bear in mind that there are four cast components to each smokebox plus fixings, and that they take a couple of hours each to clean up and assemble. I would hope, however, to be able to cut this down as the castings are a lot cleaner than the previous ones. If this helps anyone please pm me. Steve

Ah! I’ve just realised what I said, the flanges on the bulkheads would have been fitted when the original roof was de- riveted, so they aren’t original either - that just leaves the pigeon box flange.

Of course, I remember, you had a look around it when it was for sale, I think the only original bits are the pigeon box angle and the flanges across both the front and rear bulkheads

Yes, that is the essence of it. Pure conjecture, but I imagine that roof may have dated from when Planet was converted to a trip boat at Earlswood in the ‘60’s

All the G.U. Motors were built with two engine room slides, Joshers only had one. When the Petter PD2s were fitted to the G.U. Motors the stbd side slide was welded up to make space for the air ducting. Planet’s engine room roof had largely been replaced, and only one slide (port side) was fitted at that time, we subsequently replaced it again a couple of years ago, and the current owner decided to stick with one slide then as well. As for Star, the welded steel cabin and engine room was too high and the roof was too wide, we lowered the sides and fitted a new roof around 14 years ago which made it proportionally correct, although still all welded. We fitted two slides at that time. Aquila’s engine room, which is completely new (apart from the doors) was also built with two slides as I was trying to make it as accurate as I could. I also riveted (rather than bolted ) the engine room roof on as per original - the front bulkhead unbolts to get the engine out.

Nope, that’s the cable

Yes, it may well be, it was a quite a common fitting

Aquila’s throttle, the standard G U type

Sorry chaps, I had a look yesterday and we haven’t got any left. We will having some more made, but the foundry that we use is very busy so at the moment I couldn’t put a timescale on it Steve

Yes, I did get a batch cast some time ago and I think that we still have some in stock. I will check tomorrow and let you know

Regarding the Tomlow range, yes, we are still producing them, but we decided to change foundries earlier in the year, and whilst I had expected to have a batch of castings by now (in fact, I had expected to have finished the ranges by now), I am still waiting. There aren’t as many foundries as there used to be, and the good ones seem to be very busy. I would have to admit that I haven’t pressed them as hard as I might have done because of all the other things going on, but rest assured that we fully intend to continue to produce them in both two and three door versions, supply Midland Chandlers, and retail them ourselves. In comparison with the Epping, the grate size and firebox capacity is the same, the body of the range is very similar, but the top has an overhang on the front and sides which means that they need a space a couple of inches wider than an Epping, so they are probably not suitable for the O P’s needs Steve

Nope, all that is for is to rest a plank on, although I would admit that it will be of much more use whilst I am replacing the plate work rather than chopping it off

Ok, it is, as most of you know, the Star, ex Water Rambler. I have been cutting off the top bends which were fitted some years ago and will be replacing them with something hopefully more convincing. I took some photos and thought that we might have some fun with it. The second photo is more or less back to where waterways cut it, I might try to post another photo when the work is finished Steve