Today was the day of the big shunt where the vehicles in the Hopetown workshop were re-ordered ro enable the J72 to be steamed and later for the J27 boiler to be delivered.
None of the vehicles had moved for a while so there was a degree of uncertainty as to what we might find when we tried to move. Fortunatly there were no surprises.
After preparatory work and oiling up, the J27 and tender were extracted and parked on the running line. The shunting crew then went for lunch whilst the J72 fitting crew completed the fitted of the side rods to the locomotuve; an excellent piece of 'just in time' production. The J72 was then hauled to the head shunt for the next stage of sortiing.
At he end of a long day all vehicles had moved and were safely back in the workshop in the correct order, with the J72 ready for a steam test on Thursday.
Many thanks to all who contributed to a very successful day.
