Over the winter the opportunity was taken to straighten up and tidy the injector steam pipes running down the back head so that they meet with the valves vertically, rather than in the cranked positions erroneously set at the 2010 overhaul. Correction of this seemingly trivial detail is hugely welcomed by our engineering team, who had taken much pride back in 1978 or thereabouts in getting it to look ‘just so’, and for whom the twisted efforts, burning drivers hands next to the brake valve, was a constant irritation! The RH pipe was dealt with first, with the LH pair following later in the year. As part of this job the carriage steam heating system was simplified dramatically. The industrial reducing valve below the cab floor and its associated pipework was removed and a simple reducing fitting was fitted just below the shut-off valve in the cab. The original GWR lubricator shut-off valve, consisting of a tapered plug rotating in a matching hole, was troublesome. Any wear would form grooves around the plug which were very difficult to grind out, so the SVR has moved over to PTFE sleeves as standard, including on 2857. They are totally self-lubricating, lower on maintenance, smoother operating and make everything far more user friendly.

2020 saw the start of the Corona Virus crisis and most of the MPD Paid Staff were placed on Furlough from mid-March.

On 16th February we received some rather serious news from the SVR in that it was looking as if we had a loose wheel on the tender middle wheelset. There was a spare tender wheel set in the shed, being the one from 7802’s 4,000 gallon tender that had been fitted with a new axle, and so the Erlestoke Manor Fund were asked for permission to use this whilst the 28’s own was sent to the South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh for repair. We are pleased to be able to record our thanks to Terry Jenkins of EMF for agreeing to this. The SDR applied a 1000kN load (roughly 100 tons ‘in old money’) to each wheel, effectively trying to push the wheel along the axle, and measured no movement whatsoever. This gave a clear ‘No Fault Found’ situation and this was enough to give us the necessary assurance.