Saturday 29th
January saw thirteen volunteers in attendance aboard 'Daniel Adamson' this
combined with a marked improvement in the weather resulted in another good
day's work being achieved.
Down below in the engine room John Huxley, Pete Irlam,
John Churchill and Wally Graham set to with enthusiasm in replacing the port
main engine LP slide valve, this had been removed to allow cleaning of the
valve itself, the seat and the spindle, the former to remove some rusting and
the latter to attend to some marking caused by the old gland packing material.
This work is progressing very well and a lot of progress has been made on the
port main engine, this of course is being replicated on the starboard engine.
Interestingly although the engines are outwardly identical, albeit mirror
images of one another, maintenance and repairs over the years have brought
about some minor differences to bearings and other components.
The careful
examination, cleaning and conservation work being carried out now, will in time
greatly assist in the full restoration of the engines to full working order.
There is a great deal to do, much of it unglamorous, but nevertheless essential
to ensure the efficient operation of the engines in due course.
Last week's
update mentioned the 'barring up' of the starboard wing furnace of the boiler,
to illustrate what it is involved John Broomby kindly took some photos of the
'before and after' appearance of the furnace.
For those who may not be familiar
with the workings of a coal fired boiler, these pictures hopefully show how the
'fire grate' is created using individual cast bars (as mentioned some 40 in
total, per furnace) and supports.
The result is basically a large version of
the cast iron 'grate' familiar to those recalling the days of a 'real fire'
The coal burns on top of the bars, while the ash falls through the gaps
between, the real skill comes in 'firing the boiler' so that the fire is spread
evenly throughout the furnace and the heat produced is used to maximum effect.
For most of
us these skills will need to be learned, so it is comforting to know that in
John Deakin we have our own resident expert, as former Chief Engineer of
'Daniel Adamson' and one proud to describe himself as a 'shovel engineer' he
has a lifetime's experience in operating this type of boiler as well as all the
machinery aboard, we are therefore very fortunate indeed.
Work on deck
also proceeded well this weekend, with further work up forward removing the
last remaining remnants of the wood decking around the base of the saloon and a
start was also made in removing the deck 'planks' over the aft peak tank top.
These were particularly rotted in places and were quite a hazard, once removed
access to the tank top is improved considerably, allowing the thorough cleaning
of this area and ultimately to the chipping and painting of the steelwork
below.
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Charity: 1104681 
