New two-foot coaches and some more of the gardens

George Sholto under wraps in the locomotive shed

Now that most of the boiler-related work has been done on George Sholto, it has been transferred to the locomotive shed where it is sitting under a plastic sheet. The next task will be to fit the driver's cab and saddle tank before finishing off all the remaining little jobs.

This makes room in the workshops for construction of two new carriages for the two-foot Nursery Line. As Bevan can pull three of Bressingham's five two-foot carriages, a couple more are needed to enable both George Sholto and Bevan to operate together. It also means that if one carriage has to be taken out of service for repair, the operational impact is considerably reduced.

Jack

Meet Jack

This horse was started back in June when it came off the Gallopers as Dick. Much like any other horse coming off at the moment, there was a lot of rot and Brian really does strip them down to get rid of it. As more horses get restored, the condition of them should get slightly better as the worst ones are being prioritised. Just don't mention the ostriches and cockerels — Brian's dreading those — something to do with all the detail in the feathers!

50th Anniversary Weekend

No. 2789 The President

To celebrate fifty years since Alan Bloom first started Bressingham Steam & Gardens several former Bressingham exhibits and stars joined some of the current and lesser-known ones for a glorious weekend of steam (and some diesel!)

George Sholto progress

The new cab has been fitted

Back at Bressingham after the naming ceremony I found that I had a couple of hours to spare, and sticking my head in the workshop found that Phil had started work on fabricating the saddle tank for George Sholto.

The cab that a couple of weeks ago was being made has now been fitted to the chassis and is being finished off.

I was expecting that I would come in one day and it would all be complete, so this was a pleasant surprise for me.

A name at last

After many months in the works, the horse with no name has now been called Flora after Alan Bloom's wife. With just two more coats of clear lacquer to be applied, Flora should be back on the Gallopers by next weekend.

In the Beauty Parlour Jet is also very nearly finished too and should be joining Flora in time for Bressingham's Fiftieth Anniversary celebrations.

At long last a name

Jet — this image clearly shows why the name had to be short