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If you’re reading this then it’s a fair bet you like old motorcycles and it’s probably a reasonable assumption you can appreciate other forms of transport too. Actually, given what I hear when I’m out and about, I know there is a crossover of interest between our steam titles for instance and OBM. Basically, if we’re involved in any kind of mechanical or practical hobby, such as old motorcycles, then we can understand what makes enthusiasts involved with bigger things, like traction engines as an example, tick. Which is why, like most of the people in the building, I was watching with interest as a special visitor arrived in our car park. With an all up weight of over 100 tons the steam loco Bahamas was on its way to Birmingham for a refit. The lads over in the steam department had a word with the people involved in the restoration and the result was this magnificent 1930s machine ‘overnighted’ at Mortons. There are a few similarities between restoring a loco and a motorcycle, though I doubt boiler making features highly in our world, okay yes I can see you at the back there, reminding me there are steam motorcycles around. However, the restoration principles are similar. The structure of the machine has to be checked for integrity, the components for wear and the assembly tolerances checked. The only difference is the physical size of what you’re dealing with. As with motorcycle engineering, there are a lot of skills fast disappearing, skills that would once have formed the backbone of our industrial heritage. Some skills have been replaced by technology, wheel tapping – an old crack testing process involving tapping a loco wheel with a hammer to hear the sound it makes – for instance is now done by ultrasound. However, in the rose tinted world of classics, this isn’t nearly as cosy as a lad in a boiler suit and boots, with a flat cap on, casually – but expertly – tapping a wheel to hear it ring true. Tim Britton, Editor