Such is the pace of activity here that it has been a while since I posted an update regarding the side tipping waggon restoration. Here is a photo showing the rapid progress made in assembling the new oak fame for the chassis. New stay-rods are fitted and the bearing blocks placed ready for securing. A first coat of paint has also been applied. The wheels will shortly be delivered to Allen Engineering for repairs to the flanges and tyres, which have perished in two spots through standing in a puddle and wet earth for many years. Once completed these will be painted and fitted to the waggon to enable it to become a rolling chassis once more, ready for fitting the cast iron support stanchions for the body. I am hopeful the work will be completed for the waggon to appear at next year’s season opener, the Great North Steam Fair, and it will then become an ash waggon for Francis Street’s cottages, enabling re-use of this material in ‘ballasting’ the Colliery Railway to further enhance its industrial appearance…