Another good day with visible progress.  Jim arrived with the modified screen for B end and we spent the first hour fitting that and marking where a few adjustments need to be made to shape it to fit the curves on the corner pillar.  When it was in we put the restored and varnished screen on the opposite side of the door frame and also trial fitted the door.  WOW it looked great to see an almost complete interior to one end instead of the ribs that we've looked at for so long, and with the newly gilded number 107  it lifted the soul.  Jim has done a great job. He then got on with sanding down ceiling boards and applying a coat of stain to alternate ones.  They will also look good when fitted.

Paul carried on with grinding and finishing the brackets.  These will be used for the landings and canopy bends.  I fettled the last bit of a door protector and dropped it into place then spent the rest of the day fitting the upper cantrails to the ends of the roof sticks.   Straps were then put over the body to pull it back into shape in the centre where it hs relaxed slightly.  Then a new lot of wedges were cut to finally fix the roof sticks into the upper cantrails.  The last job was to screw the C side upper rail onto the corner pillars and then screw down the little supporting pillars to the main cantrail.  This took us nicely to 4 O'clock. 

Away from the tram the axles have been forged in Sheffield and will be ready for machining at the end of August after heat treatment, shotblasting and ultrasonic testing.  The pattern for the side door runner has been made and I'll pick it up in the morning.  Also a start has been made on the drawings for the axleboxes.  Jim is going to have a good look at the seats on Chesterfiedl 8 and Dundee 21 at the weekend so that we can work out the assembly order.  All in all another good week's progress.  Hopefully I'll remember to take my camera next week and get some photos of the screens.

Hi everyone, back after a fortnight in the Algarve and riding Lisbon trams so back to work and sunny East Leeds. Four of us turned up during the day.  I finally fixed the runners for both doors.  Jim brought the first door screen that has been made from old oak salvaged from other doors; it looks great.  We did a trial fit and various modifications need to be made to the top of the screen so we spent some time sorting that out and also working out the order of construction for the interior and how we are going to make and fix the seats with the screens in. Then it was lunchtime. Meantime Paul got on with grinding the angle brackets that will support the canopies and the landings.  These have been laser profiled but need grinding to final shape.  During the morning the oak for the stair treads and risers as well as part of the platform steps was delivered.  This was all sorted out and the ceiling planks laid out so that they can be sanded and stained.  All little jobs but still progress.  I then spent the afternoon at Bernard's house sorting out the drawings for the axlebox and axles.  John Farline has done a great job on the CAD drawing for the axle so we should be able to get a quote for that soon.  Hopefully some pictures next week.

A very warm Wednesday but much got done.  Jim spent the day painting the inside of the tram below the windows on the back of the ribs. This area is now a light brown and has completely altered the appearance of the tram. Jim also brought the first refurbished door. We fitted one of the upper door hangers and tried it at A end.  With the bleached and varnished old oak and the brown interior it looked great.  With the door in place Bernard and I measured up for the side door hanger which is missing.  I have done a CAD drawing for the missing casting and it is now ready to send to the pattern maker.  I made the last two spacing pillars that separate the upper and lower cantrails and then screwed them into their mortises in the upper cantrails.  These are now ready to be fitted.  After lunch we solved the problem of how to fit the last pieces of timber at the end of the monitors next to where the door slides into its recess.  These are now fitted and waterproofed so that water in the monitor doesn't get onto the door gear.  All small jobs but good progress, which is more than can be said for the England football team.

Another day covered in grey gunge. Jim and I spent the morning getting parts prepared and mixing grey gloop from four cartridges of mastic. Jim carried on rubbing down and putting cellulose primer on the rubbing rails. Stephen arrived at lunchtime and after lunch we got the A side monitor canvas installed with plenty of grey gloop to keep it in place and waterproof it. This went a lot quicker than last week as we had put the pins part way through all the beading before we installed it. The confined space on top of the monitor makes hammerring the pins accurately, quite difficult.  We then covered the canvas with a final layer of waterproofer before putting a second coat on C side which we did last week. We also trimmed the C side canvas and it looks good. The drip rail can be fitted next.

Jim finished priming the rubbing rails and put a coat of white primer over all of C side which now is looking good all in one colour.

Away from the tram we have done our bit for the engineering industry by ordering two pieces of forged steel for the axles from a firm in Sheffield. These have a delivery time of eight weeks so I am hoping that the drawing can be ready for when the axles are made. The aim is to have the wheelsets by the autumn.

All this on a day when England got through the group stages of the World Cup, talk about agony and ecstasy.

A reduced team but another good day with a real piece of progress. I spent the morning tidying the workbench and assembling what was needed for the next job. Bernard arrived and surveyed the car to check for levels. The result of this is that we need to raise one corner by about 4mm. Stephen arrived at lunchtime and then we set to work to put the canvas on the C side monitor roof. We started by painting a thick mixture of mastic and turps onto the ceiling boards. Then we laid the canvas in place, painted more grey gunge onto the edges and pinned beading along the inner edge. Special steam bent pieces from the original were then put on the ends. The next job was to pin some half round beading on the outside top of the cantrail. After that we put a layer of gunge on the top of the canvas and plenty more around the beads. The last job was to screw a short curved rib on top of the A end to strengthen the ceiling to allow the door to slide though that area.  A good day's work.

All being well I will try and add a new picture gallery to show the procedure.