With the steel now cut to size for the battery box and clamped in place, the next task to undertake was to weld the steel into place, a task which we pencilled in for Saturday 11 October. Your blogmaster vacated his comfy bed at an ungodly hour of the morning after working a late shift, stopping off at the excellent '2 Sams cafe' at Hill Top (near Eastwood) for a most excellent fry-up and a brew, before meeting up with Gary Crosby and Robin Tilston at Hearsons Coaches to discuss tactics. Plans afoot, we loaded Gary's minibus with the necessary tools, including the welder, and proceeded to enjoy a second brew before setting off to the home of 2599 (if anyone is noticing a theme here, certain bus enthusiasts tend to function better after several gallons of coffee!!)
Once there, we grouped up with our leader Paul and set to work. Gary and Robin being the mechanical experts, they cracked on with welding the support beams into place around the battery box, while myself and Paul kept busy by starting to catalogue items in preparation for further sale in a bid to raise further funds towards 2599's restoration.
Behind the scenes, your blogmaster has been negotiating a deal with a good friend to take delivery of further items of bus memorabilia to sell on and raise funds. These have very kindly been offered to the group by John Murfin, a retired Trent driver with many years experience under his belt at Belper Depot, who is most keen to see these items generate some finances for the group's cause and allowing us to progress even further with 2599's restoration. On behalf of the group John, your contribution is very much appreciated.
It was also during this visit to the farm the group were acquainted with the delicacy of the bacon & egg 'banjo'...as we have mentioned before, Gary's minibus comes equipped for all scenarios, including a grill and a kettle! The key to success with a bacon & egg 'banjo' is a particularly runny yolk, and after being introduced to this delicacy, it was decided that our leader himself should be let loose to cook up the next batch (assisted by associate and fellow group member Paul Gaunt), and we are led to believe their efforts did not disappoint!
Now sadly your blogmaster had to disappear and actually do some work for a living (shock horror), however Gary and Robin very kindly supplied photographs of the almost finished article after they had finished welding and painting the steel beams to the battery box. And all I can say is wow...it looks a lot better than before! All that remains now is to coat the beams in rust-proofing silver and put the floor back in place, before we can announce another job well done.
