Friday, October 31, 2014

Gas gas gas–steam steam steam.

Herbie has an ickle tiny gas leak somewhere.  Not much but enough to fail the BSS which was carried out by Trevor Whitling yesterday.  Nevertheless I was reasonably pleased for two reasons. One, that he confirmed that all the electrics,  fuel lines, safety equipment and gas appliances and heating and ventilation were of a good safe standard, and two, that the one fault he did find i.e. the drop in gas pressure under test, was something that only an expert with the proper equipment will be able to find, so I am absolved from having to attempt it personally. (Hooray)  He has given us the name of a good Gas Safe registered man locally and will liaise with him after the man has found and fixed the leak to pop back to confirm the readings and sign us off.  That’s the benefit to us of using Trevor as he lives in Crick.  So another quick dip into Herbie’s so called sinking fund and we should be done for another four years.  Despite the fact that Trevor had to fail us, he carried out a much better inspection than we have had previously and explains well what he is looking for and I would recommend him unreservedly.  Nice bloke too.

We had to shoot off home immediately after the inspection because today we had an appointment on the Watercress Line steam railway in Hampshire.  Readers may recall me mourning the sad death of our very good friend Pete last year.  Pete was a keen volunteer in the railway carriage works at the line and today we remembered that by taking a trip on the line and at Ropley where he worked, his son Matt rode the footplate of the working locomotive Lord Nelson and shovelled the remainder of Pete’s ashes into the fire box as we prepared to pull away from the station.  Pete would have been tickled pink at the thought.

If you like steam trains, the Watercress line is a good one to visit as you can get up close and personal to some fine working locomotives and there is lots to see at the workshops.  The ride from Alresford to Alton and back is attractive too.

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