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A spring Saturday at Whitehead

Whitehead is a busy place these days. Carriage 303 is under overhaul in one of the engine sheds. In another shed, No.4 is being fitted with new safety equipment to allow her to continue running on the modern railway. In the workshop, two steam locomotives are in pieces under heavy overhaul. Semaphore signals are being repaired and assembled in preparation for signalling our yard. The newly delivered Atlas excavator was being put through its paces with the track gang. Two diesel locomotives are being coaxed back into life, a six wheeled carriage is having major repairs done to its bodywork, and even IVAN is being worked on in preparation for this year's train rides.

Our photographer didn't get a chance to document every job, but here is a flavour on what went on . . .


RPSI Photonews Image At Whitehead work has continued with several items of 3 foot gauge rolling stock for County Donegal Railway Restoration Limited. Here our loco officer (MBE) makes some adjustments to the wiring of one of their ex Bord Na Móna Ruston diesel locomotives.
RPSI Photonews Image From left to right - Brian, Peter, Ruston, Falcon.
RPSI Photonews Image Dave takes the Ruston for a test run on the "Burtonport Extension", a short length of 3ft gauge track laid out the back of the Locomotive Workshop.
RPSI Photonews Image Another unusual piece of equipment at Whitehead is this ancient compressor. It is to be dismantled to provide engine parts for our two similarly antique coal loading shovels.
RPSI Photonews Image IVAN, subject of much publicity last summer, has now been fitted with this replica stove, cast in our own foundry at Whitehead The bull wire holding the sliding door on is only a temporary job until a rolled piece of steel can be fitted.
RPSI Photonews Image IVAN's original "youth team" had diversified to cover many projects. Here, IVAN's main protagonist points out a freshly painted signal pole, the first of many that will soon be planted in the yard at Whitehead.
RPSI Photonews Image Another IVANneer spent the day in the workshop helping with the fiddly job of adjusting No.461's inner firebox wrapper to fit the foundation ring. Here Nelson and Dave confer on their next move.
RPSI Photonews Image Parts of the copper sides of this wrapper have been replaced and welded to the original crownsheet. A new inner backhead and heavily repaired firebox tubeplate will be rivetted to this wrapper, before the complete inner firebox can be replaced in the boiler. However, before any of that can happen, the old foundation ring must fit the new side sheets! Dave and Nelson confer on a technical point.
RPSI Photonews Image Out along the platform, the site gang were dismantling a track panel with their new Atlas road-rail excavator, recently aqquired from NIR. From left to right are Alan, Robin and Dermot. 
RPSI Photonews Image Edward spent the day in IVAN tidying, sanding and painting some parts that had never quite been finished. The stove looks quite small in proportion to the rest of the van, but we are assured that it will put out more heat than you might expect!
RPSI Photonews Image The stove still awaits its protective coat of blacking.
RPSI Photonews Image The chimney, only awaiting a coat of paint before it can be considered finished.
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