Its not every day you move house with a  tram but that's what today brought.  Because of differing space needs for the Santa Specials at the Middleton we needed to move to the paint shop.   In the morning Mike Jim and I spent our time screwing down more upper deck floor latts and then after lunch we got ready to move the tram outside once the rain had stopped.

As you can see instead of 3 horses it was 4 person power however we still are amazed at how easily the tram moves.  Steve Roberts, the Middleton's Chief Engineer was worried about how it would negotiate the pointwork but everything went fine. We then dropped down the hill towards the workshop

As you can see it only just fitted.  Jim is seen checking that the doors will close.

At the other end the fit was even tighter.

It's a good thing that our spiral stairs fit between the buffers of the parcels van that the Middleton are converting to a coach.   Jim and I then got on with more floor latts and by the end of the day all of C side had been fitted and we made a start on A side before running out of screws.

After a short round of tidying up at Whitkirk we were down to Middleton early and immediately got started on preparing to move 107 outside so that we could erect scaffolding for putting up the handrail stanchions on the other side. 'Matthew Murray' was pulled out of the way for us and we then pushed 107 outside. I couldn't resist taking a photo of what it looks like with its upper deck seats on.

The portable scaffold was then put up on the far side and we got the stanchions installed shortly after lunch.   Jim carried on with the seat end plates and Ian rubbed down and put a second coat of paint on the stringers.  After lunch Mike and I placed orange 'railway type' safety fencing around the top deck which made the tram look very different.

 For the rest of the afternoon we moved the seats slightly inwards so that the seat backs can clear the handrail knobs when they are fitted. On C side where the latts had been fitted we had to take the latts up and will have to relay them next week.   All in all a good day's work.  Away from the tram much work is being done on the design of the handrails and the various stanchions and brackets for the staircases.

Another day that seemed to be going nowhere but we ended up doing quite a lot.  We started at Whitkirk, doing some tidying up while Michael finished off the pins for the C end drawgear.  Then it was down to Middleton witha  boot full of various items and the second dash. We then erected some portable scaffolding and after lunch started putting on the upper deck handrail stanchions while Jim worked on the seats and Michael started fitting the B end drawgear. The stanchions went on very easily once the measurements had been checked and the end result looks like this.

The blue card is for Paul to mark out the latts for the canvas.   The effect is good and next week we should get the other side fitted.  Jim got the first coat of undercoat on the stair stringers after rubbing down and the choclate brown gives it a different appearance.  After that Mike Waring, Jim and I lifted the A side saloon seats into position so that the end plates could be marked to shape.  I'd forgotten how good the seats look when they are installed.  All in all a very satisfying day.  We also spent a little time working out how the outer dash stanchions will fit so there is some more design work to do.  

Another very good day.   A full team turned up at Whitkirk in the morning and carried on with various small jobs.  Michael Cook started making pins for the draw gear and I had taken delivery of the stanchion brackets and stanchions for the upper deck handrails.   These had to be marked and drilled and prepared for painting.   Paul worked on the remaining long seat for the upper deck and the new stays of the correct pattern needed drilling. Meanwhile Jim put the dash stanchions onto the dashes. Then it was down to Middleton after lunch and work started in earnest.  Mike Waring and Richard put some securing screws in the upper deck seats and placed the last one onto the upper deck.  Paul and Jim started work on final fitting for the saloon seats.  Mike Cook started by grinding small pieces off the brake springs and various other fitting shop tasks. I fitted the drawgear at B end and then screwed the dash on.  This transformed the appearance yet again and we were even able to take a photo of the dash with the brake column propped into place. All in all a very good day. I forgot my camera but hopefully I will be able to post a photo in a couple of days.

A grey misty morning saw us at Whitkirk working on the dashes and floor latts.  The first job was to mark the modified dash stanchions then drill and tap them.  These were then trial bolted to the dashes and looked good.  Jim and Mike cut, drilled and countersunk more floor latts and got them rubbed down.  Paul arrived with the second long seat and we tried the new seat stays on them.  The seat backs were then fitted and after lunch it went with us to Middleton.  At Middleton Jim and Mike carried on fixing floor latts and Richard helped me by putting extra threads on various bolts to help fit the brakes.  After a bit of a struggle we got the brake hangers, blocks and rods fitted and then adjusted them.  It looks as if we will have to put some more thread on the adjusters but the tram looks better for having brakes on again.  The first long seat was taken upstairs and transforms the appearance of that end of the tram.  All in all a good day.