During January and February our favourite boat was stripped of all its running gear, ballast, coal, and other items and finally the boiler and engine were lifted out. I was quite sad, I had become very attached to that delightful engine, I knew all its moods, its noises and rattles, each had a message.

The boiler is now with C.H. Thompsons in Oldham where it will have a good going over and a few mods. The old engine is in the museum where it will be cleaned up and offered for sale. My next job is the general arrangement for the pipework which I shall discuss with the fitters at Thompsons.

At the end of February President was towed by Enterprise, with the generous help of Howard Worth to the Shed at Dadfords shed at Brierley Hill. Within a week it was lifted on to the bank and the back cabin stripped off.

At that point the Museum director Ian Walden and myself went for a look see. Shorn of all the upperwork the extent of the corrosion was revealed. What we saw left us in no doubt that we had timed the restoration just right. The work is now progressing, and, from what I have seen so far, I can assure you all that President will be as good as new, in fact I believe better.

I have previously explained that the new engine will run condensing, which means that the exhaust will be diverted into a surface condenser, thereby moving one stage closer to the original set up. To do this we need 2 pumps, one to circulate water through the condenser and the other to extract the air and water from the condenser.

I had decided that our best option was for two Weir vertical feedpumps as they are extremely reliable and take up the minimum of space, assuming we could source them. Once again our Chairman Dave came up trumps. He recalled a nursery which many years ago used Weirs to feed the boilers for the greenhouses so he went visiting and there they were, just as they were years ago when they turned the steam off for the final time –untouched. He acquired them and brought them up to Brian Empsall's home in Lichfield where he has a dream of a workshop We have now stripped them to find they are in very good condition and, after some TLC and a swift shot blast, they should do the trick. Weir Pumps have been very helpful and sent copies of a handbook for their pumps. I have a book which gives all the info about these pumps which is dated 1919. As their pumps have brass connecting rods we think they are very early models.

The story continues with The Tale of Two Pumps 

Dave Stott