It is indicative of accelerated progress that these pages are longer, and more numerous! We have never had a 'C' page for a year before! However, the wait for the new clevis pin for the handbrake rod was critical, because the security of the handbrake was non-negotiable in the mission to drive the bus, however briefly, to turn her around. Some other, important jobs were ticked-off the list to while away the time. First, the brake foot-valve required installing, with its improvised boot, so that the various pipework could be installed and checked over. Progress in the floor-traps area was also indicated, so primer and a first top-coat of chocolate-brown was applied. My fuel-oil can was replenished and the lift-pump and filters bled, the perfectly clean fuel arising from the process, about half a pint, was decanted into the main tank. Plenty of room there! The engine was started and run up but there was still a lack of 'engagement' from the gearbox. Time to check the basics. With the engine stopped, it is possible to 'blip' the start button and pull-in the latching relay without the starter turning, and without the engine running it is possible to hear the EP valve and air movements from the cab. Check! The next trick was to undo one of the gearbox air-lines so that the selection of a correct gear can be proved. Check! Everything perfect so far, but the lack of movement of the gearbox output shaft suggested that the input shaft wasn't turning either - and that could be a fluid-flywheel problem. Too much for one day, so I went home and read the book from end to end, so that on the next visit I would know how to proceed. First I had to find one of the radial filler-plugs. Turning the engine with a wheel-brace on the camshaft pulley nut is the simple option, but without an assistant to look down the trap while waiting for the filler-plug to appear meant that there was a fair bit of running about. Fortunately it only took three attempts, so I attached a socket-wrench through the flywheel housing-aperture and tried to undo the plug. Curiously, it put up no resistance at all. With a torch, I peered inside the fluid flywheel and there was no oil to be seen. Diagnostics vindicated! Rotating the engine so that the missing plug passed the bottom briefly released enough oil to show that some had been retained, and to collect a sample: straight, thin mineral oil at first guess, but utterly black and filthy. The plug was put back and the problem parked for as long as it took to put some undercoat on the floor-trap framing, and perform a trial fitting of the brake foot-valve and piping. Then it was a matter of seeking advice from the usual channels, who came up trumps again. London Transport, being conservative in these things, used engine oil for the hydraulic power steering and the fluid-flywheel. It made sense to buy oil in huge quantities and use it for everything, but engine oils contain additives that are not necessary for these applications. My practical preference is to use ISO 32 hydraulic oil, which is specified for the job, and isn't expensive. Reading about the fluid-flywheel brought me to the section on the gearbox, where the filler plug and dipstick are etc. Experience has shown that the gearbox on SM106 is filled with ATF, unusual but not damaging. I am advised that I must not replace that unless the gearbox is cleaned-out completely because they won't mix - and I don't want a gearbox failure on top of everything else.

The unbelievably smart, remanufactured foot-valve. Photo © J.Wilkins

Cleaning-up the flywheel housing area. Photo © J.Wilkins

A 20 litre can of hydraulic oil was soon sourced through my friend at Dragon Hydraulics, and a method of filling devised. It was actually very easy to use a piece of clean garden hose to siphon the oil straight from the can inside the bus, until it started to overflow from the 30-degree position of the filler plug. There was plenty of mess already, after necessarily draining the remaining old oil, and only a few spoonfuls of oil escaped (very low head for siphoning oil) before the plug was replaced and tightened-up. Being blasé about these things now, the only way of testing was to pressurise the auxiliary reseservoir, start her up and select a gear. You can imagine my relief and pleasure when the familiar drop in engine speed came on taking first gear (no accompanying lurch because she was up on blocks on one side, but not high enough for the wheels to spin). Selecting neutral was almost better, due to the familiar sound of the gearbox shafts spinning up under the drag from the flywheel. Where have I heard that before? "Everywhere there is a Wilson box", I hear you cry! As it was nearly time for my holiday to start, I just put another coat of brown paint on the traps-framing and went home.

My first electric bus-ride, a Switch Solo 0034 by Translink. Photo © J.Wilkins

SM106 moves under her own power for the first time in 30 years. Photo © J.Wilkins

After our holiday in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, there was a certain amount of 'backlog' to deal with, not least paying for the new clevis pin which had arrived almost on our day of departure, and cutting grass. But finally, there was just one big task: connecting up the handbrake rod, lowering SM106 onto her wheels and starting-up. The clevis-pin, jacking manoeuvres and pressurising the auxiliary reservoir took about an hour, but at last the moment came when SM106 drove tentatively out of the garage into a fine, warm September morning. It transpired that the handbrake would not hold in first gear, but second was fine, and I actually needed a bit of accelerator to progress up the gentle slope of my driveway to park on the turning head for a celebration photograph. Then it was time to try-out reverse properly before completing a three-point turn and dropping gently down to the front of the garage, lined-up carefully for the grand re-entry after a good tidy-up. I was (honestly) shaking as I climbed down and pulled the stop lever on the fuel pump. Thirty years of slumber broken at last! The ignominy of running out of fuel as I put her into the garage was not enough to spoil the day, and it meant that I was able to put her into position accurate to the inch under hand-propulsion. As before, fuel had been passing steadily from my fuel can through the leak-off pipe to the main tank faster than expected. What a day! I celebrated by starting the mower and cutting the grass - who knows when it will be a fit day again?

Citadis 502 tram at Westmoreland (fibbing about its destination). Photo © J.Wilkins

Preparation and painting under way on the offside. Photo © J.Wilkins

I am not sure if I shall be pleased at the end of the gadding-about season. Maybe I shall be able to get seriously stuck-in to some bus work? Anyway, within 15 days I have visited every constituent country of Great Britain and Ireland! The last trip was a day in Dublin, which was very enjoyable and took in a run to Bray on the DART and on the most recent extension of the LUAS to Broombridge. Back on Welsh soil, the critical task now becomes that of finishing the paint job on the majority of the offside and rear bodywork, BEFORE the weather becomes too cold, damp and dark for progress. Realistically, September/October should provide ample opportunity, but who knows? Best get started, then! The first session was just tidying around and flatting down the entire body below the yellow band and in front of the emergency exit door (which was removed for ease of access). Another easy decision was to take out its glass and rubber so that my earliest exploits in Lincoln Green can be covered properly with the latest paint recipe, which will also restore the gloss and give a more uniform finish. The driver's cab bay was 'finished', but on examination had streaks showing through. "So it goes", as Kurt would say, and it too was flatted down. On the first decent day, and only just decent, the tins were opened and a mix was made up with slow thinners, and filtered as usual to remove 'bits'. Two and a half hours later the gloss was done, leaving us with the cab 'finished', bay 1 with two coats of green and bays 2-3 with one coat. The paint was a bit thin, but it flowed and finished well, so the streaky first coat was an acceptable compromise. The second consecutive day was more promising, so the remaining, original undercoat was rubbed down and the stripe masked-off (green of no kind has been applied to its lower beading so far). The loose hatches were also dug out, cleaned off and rubbed over with Scotchbrite. A warming and brightening trend was noted in the weather, so a fresh supply of green undercoat was mixed and filtered. Then it was time to get painting again! The first bay went well, but part way through bay 4 things started to go awry, and within 15 minutes we were engulfed in a deluge, with a sky so dark I was forced to work by the light of a couple of LED inspection lamps. Far from ideal, and luckily it was only undercoat. By the end of the afternoon the primer had covered all of bays 4-6, and I was almost exhausted beyond tidying up and going home. Tearing off the masking-tape was a joy, however. Fingers crossed for more warm-ish days!

Generally, over the last couple of weeks the weather and my timetable have been favourable, and eight days have been spent on the offside paint-job. One day was spent just rubbing-down ALL the existing green paint and undercoat (excepting the cab side), which was a good way to use a day that was useless for anything else. The following day was an epic, mind, with Lincoln Green applied to all six bays beneath the yellow stripe. Three and a half hours without a break! After that there was only the rear-end still showing undercoat. I had a cup of tea and sat watching paint drying - very satisfying. By way of diversion, I did some calculations on the back of an envelope. Ignoring the roof, the body of SM106 is 6% Canary Yellow, 11% doors, 30% glass, and 53% Lincoln Green of an approximate total area of 54 square metres. I also worked out that I only had five bays' equivalent of rubbing-down plus Lincoln Green to apply to the area behind the emergency door (two bays still require more than one coat), and that made me very happy.

The green tide advances steadily - note the loose panels in prep. Photo © J.Wilkins

The final coat of Lincoln Green - you can't detect the varnish! Photo © J.Wilkins

The vagaries of the mountain climate which attends my bus garage, and the weather forecasts which are often almost correct, but lacking any confidence have made that last few days a roller-coaster ride. However, it is virtually certain that a chill will set in soon, and we may have seen the last warm October day of the year. It was good that the last two days were fit for purpose, one day spent with Scotchbrite preparing for varnish on the cab and bays 1-3, and rubbing-down the green for a top coat of gloss on bays 4-6, and the next day applying those finishes (4 hours of brush-time). I am still amazed that a day with an outside temperature of 16° C and intermittent bright sunshine could emerge from a forecast of cloud and showers. You know what Kurt would have said, but it was almost perfect for the task, and I am now ready for real autumn to set in; we'll take our chances with the remaining varnish. SM106 looks lovely, and I will apply some more transfers to enhance the effect.

Offside fleet name attached and emergency door re-fitted. Photo © J.Wilkins

The inlet and outlet piping to the brake foot-valve. Photo © J.Wilkins

My concern for the painting-environment was well-placed, and cold weather DID intrude, but the task was completed on time and ready for the next boat to arrive two days later for winter storage. Said boat was parked fairly tightly against SM106 because the bus is occupying a somewhat diagonal berth, having been brought in forwards. This restricted working space, but hardly matters a jot because the work is now done! One minor issue is that there was insufficient room to swing the emergency door closed, and it cannot be attached unless it is in the wide-open position. "So it goes", as Kurt was wont to say! The other job of applying the fleet name and 'bonnet' number was not affected at all by the restricted space. I almost had a wreck on the 'N' of COUNTRY due to cockling of the backing film as I worked, but was able to unstick it and reattach it straight without great difficulty. Any letter which closes as it is attached is at risk, however carefully you try to work systematically downhill at all times. I cut LONDON into three sections after it was taped in position, specifically to prevent the problem of working on long transfers. Needless to say, it was fine, but I'll probably forget to do it next time as I hope it will be a while before that job comes around again. The 'bonnet' number was laid out carefully on a board and the five separate items taped together before positioning it on the body. It was good to see a proper fleet number again for the first time since 1979! Finally, the tare weight transfer was applied to the nearside behind the exit. I realised when looking at the PRV reference picture that I also need EMERGENCY EXIT on the offside door. Drat! Due to a late start, that activity took until lunch time, so I had a while to recuperate before getting underneath for the first time this month, to insert the split-pin in the handbrake clevis and finish that job. Then it was back to the brake foot-valve piping, which turned out to be as horrid a task as I had feared. The problem is always one of alignment, and the apparent impossibility of inserting both ends of any pipe into their unions simultaneously. I needed to slacken off the valve fixings even further before there was enough play to get all eight unions connected at the same time, and was able to tighten each up progressively. The nuts on the studs which hold the valve were also a trial, being very difficult of access. In the end the top nuts were turned with my socket ratchet using an extension bar, ONE click at a time! A good dollop of grease was put on the valve operating rod and the boot pushed home and clipped. Job done for the day, and we are now ready for some more air-pressure testing.

A serious attempt at re-hanging the emergency door was more successful, and by applying a bit of force to the neighbouring boat trailer the door was closed. Putting the glass back in was a doddle. Definitely something else that I am better at these days! Looking at the pictures (or the bus) showed just how bad the rear wheels look with their rust and flaking paint. The good news is the outside of the pair is just a spare rim in Barnsley condition, and the other is one of a smarter pair of pukka SM rims that were painted (without deep preparation) so long ago that they have deteriorated a bit. The bus was therefore elevated and the pair dismounted, which just showed how mucky the hub was. In the deep past, the hubs were dismounted in order to change the leaking seals, but I took a short-cut with one of them and did not dismount the grease trap. I could not face drilling-out and then replacing the steel rivets a second time, and the greasy crud was less abundant. As ever, my sins have found me out and the lack of sufficiently aggressive preparation has resulted in poor adherence of the paint. I have done my best to address the light corrosion and started the painting repairs. The brake drum had already been removed, of course, for brushing and painting. Possibly a waste of time, but it looks more loved and makes me feel better. I also measured the pads thickness, which is adequate according to the book. Although there has been a bit of progress, the problem recently has been to put effort into SM106 in the face of stiff competition from mere bricks-and-mortar. Tolerable weather has seen the pair of rims cleaned-up and painted in undercoat and topcoats and the whole trio re-mounted on the hub. Lowering the rear wheels onto the ground was swiftly followed by raising the chassis at the front to allow the fettling of the front, driver's side spring shackle, which has a 'fix-me' flag dangling to remind me to sort it out properly. I shall have to look at my notes and technical books to find out why it wasn't 'finished' previously, and what is needed to sort it out. I also played with the connectors for the automatic chassis lubrication pipes, which are in a bit of a state, and by virtue of buying some BSP connectors I managed to get a full set connected to the front springs. Historically, one was converted to a grease nipple, but there was no sign it was ever used! With the front wheel dismounted, I have also had a look at the drum and the filth around the king-pin and brake adjuster. The liberal dosing of oil has attracted a mass of road-dirt which I have started to clean off. Amusingly, it is obvious that oil is flowing very slowly under gravity from the lubricator to the swivel manifold, so I am not expecting anything 'horror-show'. The brake drum is tightly retained as yet, so I need to find some BSF bolts to break the seal.

The offside rear hub, cleaned and undercoated. Photo © J.Wilkins

Rail Blue lives! An alternative heritage railway scene. Photo © J.Wilkins

By way of diversion, I spent a couple of days away - booked for a DMU-driving day and following gala, but modified due to cancellation of my 'experience' a mere five years after it was booked and paid-for due to the intervention of the Covid Emergency and other stuff on the East Lancs Railway. I had a railtour of Lancashire instead and travelled almost exclusively on Sprinter trains from Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly via Blackburn, Colne, Preston, Blackpool South and North. Most enjoyable and a good prelude to meeting up with Keith, Steve, Paul and the team for a curry. The following day starred DMU classes 104, 105, 122 and HST, which made a very welcome change to the usual stock! Then back to Wales on a 197. What larks!