Austerity No 9 - A new spring was purchased for the R.H. front buffer, as the previous one was broken. This spring was protected with primer, undercoat, and black finishing, inserted into the buffer, compressed, secured with a cotter and split pin, and reattached to No 9. The frame now has a complete set of buffers.

The wheel sets, unfortunately, still have to be sent to RPSI, but work will continue on the axle boxes. It’s been rather quiet with the crew assigned to other duties, but…

CR 828 continues her residence on the Spa Valley Railway at Tunbridge Wells. She’ll be there for at least most of 2024. It is refreshing to see and hear how much she is appreciated and respected at her temporary home. The people at Tunbridge Wells know that she’ll celebrate her 125th birthday at the end of August; they hope to mark this milestone during a special event on the last weekend of that month.

The Spa Valley’s engineering team have carried out a fair amount of maintenance on the loco during the first quarter of 2024. This has included attending to the dreadful metallic packing on the valve rods. Although the Caledonian Railway could be congratulated for a lot of forward-thinking and engineering innovation, its metallic packing did not fit those categories. With that sorted, 828 will hopefully see a fair amount of use over the next few months and continue to fly the Saltire as reliably and effectively as a Caledonian Railway locomotive should. If any members are in the south-east of England soon a visit to the Spa Valley is recommended.

Iain Smith, Roddy McRae and Doug Scott.