Work has now started in earnest on the continued restoration of Thurso Railway Business Car No. 27.

Our first week was marked by the erection of a beautiful new smoke stack over the range in the galley. We can now have heat on our trips.

The second week was spent repairing the damage created when the car was removed from the car shop and the new stack hit the top of the door opening. Car 27 now has a shorter smoke stack.

In order to ensure that the stack was not too tall we decided to run the car out of the building. We sent out a flag (Paul Churcher) to protect the crossing from wood chip trucks and got to work with the pinch bar. Car 27 rolled nicely out of the shop and came to a grinding halt right over the crossing.

Yes the new stack does clear the building and after pictures it was time to get the car back in the building. One hour later, we finally were able to get the door closed!  We now know it's slightly uphill into the car shop, sufficiently severe that no amount of pinch bar and people power would move it.

As the come-along inched the car back into the building, everybody was praying that we wouldn't meet a wood chip truck which could demolish three years work in as many seconds. As it was, the only vehicle that had to be stopped was that of the security guard. He asked if the car was meant to be outside and in reply to the answer "Yes", he merely shrugged his shoulders.

He knows we're crazy.