Friday 23rd
Attendance: 5

Today we needed to shunt everything ready for the lift of D5705 the following day. Once the days steam engine had left the depot, 20087 was used to shunt out the DMU's located on road 6 siding, then empty the adjacent siding to enable the crane to slew round. 37418 was then shunted in on top of the crane as it was having its Power unit removed on the same day.

D5705 was then shunted up opposite the stands, and the 75t ex Eastliegh breakdown crane shunted in front of it. After a spot of lunch, the team then set about blocking the rail crane. The outriggers were jacked out and a bed of hard wooden packers built up underneath, then the out rigger screwed down on to them. With this done, it was decided to call it a day and chill out for the rest of it as we had a big day ahead the next!

Saturday 24th
Attendance: 6

Everyone was up and on site by 8am, Mortimers crane hire arrived and began setting his crane up at the south end of D5705. He built up the special spreaders that had been hired in for use and slung them up ready. Lee Kenny in the meantime had fired up the Rail crane and was busy lifting the Jib into position and slewing round to be able to pick up the slings and spreaders. Both cranes got into position over each end of D5705. Andy Hardman who was the controller for the whole operation, then called a brief for all involved before we actually lifted.

At around 9 am, the ropes were attached to the 'ships keys'lifting arms on D5705 and the weight gently took. Slowly she went up and there were no snags or issues as she went higher. Once clear enough of the bogies the hoist was stopped and the instruction given to slowly slew across to over the stands. This again went smoothly and soon D5705's body shell was hovering over the stands. With it in roughly the correct position, we began to hoist the body shell down towards the stands. They were stopped short so we could see how it was all lining up. It was apparent that the ex BO end was going to cause a small problem with the way it would sit on the stands as the centre pin would foul.

It was decided to Drop the CO end on to the sleepers and stand then look at the Bo end further. With this done, the BO end was dropped nearer to the stand. It was decided to sit on side on the bearer pad and the other on the original jacking pad. With this the gang then set about looking for suitable packings for both sides. 10 mins later they came back with some suitable packings, these were placed and the the BO end gently let down on to them. The weight on both ends was then gently let off and the whole assembly allowed to settle. Once satisfied that it was safely sat down, the ropes were removed of the lifting arms and the cranes proceeded to move them away from the body shell.

The rail Crane was then packed up, the packings put away and out riggers jacked back in ready for shunting away.
The Mortimers crane, then set up alongside 37418 and Steve Beniston and his team set about removing the roof section, header tank and power unit. Both Bogies from D5705 were rolled down to the end of the siding up next to a wagon, then the old Class 15 tarp was put over them both. The tarp was then also pulled over both ends of the body shell on the stands and secured. The rest of the day was spent assessing the underside of the frame, and other odd little jobs being done for D8233 & D5705.

A superb few days and all went successfully. Many thanks go to the following Andy Hardman for stunning Method statement and Risk assessment writing and superb control measures on the day, Lee Kenny for inch perfect 75t Rail Crane driving, ELR for providing the Rail Crane, Keith Mortimer of Mortimers Crane Hire, Steve Beniston his other half and Mr Mirlees!