THE Mid-Hants Railway’s (MHR) contract overhaul of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust’s Peckett ‘R3’ 0-4-0ST Kilmersdon (1788/1929) continues to make headway at the railway’s Ropley works.
Since the former Kilmersdon Colliery loco arrived at the MHR last March, the Ropley engineering team has wasted no time in getting the Peckett stripped down, and various components overhauled or repaired. In the boiler shop some wasted sections of the outer firebox wrapper, just above the foundation ring, have been cut out and replacement pieces cut and formed ready for welding in.