Putty in One’s Hands

The phrase “putty in one’s hands” means very easy to influence, control, or persuade; like soft putty that can be shaped however you want. That’s wonderful...until you try that with 130-year old window putty that needs removing from the 20 window frames on NER diagram 15 coach No.2051. Quarrying granite with a rubber spoon is easier!

After a slow going morning session the Thursday team did a bit of research which suggested that heat guns or infra red heat guns would soften it. We don’t have any infra red heat guns (or lasers, or light sabres) but the standard heat guns worked a treat and the team made great progress.

The putty job stopped at lunchtime because we have a self-imposed rule of no heat guns after lunch; that way if any errant spark or other burning is taking place the team have the opportunity to spot it and properly deal with it before home time. The team left excited about what might be achieved next week.

You will see Stores Van No.2 and NER 7-compartment clerestory No.818 in the images; a reminder if one were needed of the team’s ability to turn out high quality restorations.

Keep an eye on this blog for updates on this and similar coach No.131. There will be quite a lot of visible progress on both coaches in June as well as other rolling stock news as we keep the momentum for the J21’s (sorry, C Class) arrival and NER 175.

More to follow soon…… stay tuned!

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An Illuminating Find!

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