All the gear, no idea?

Well, as Christmas bears upon us and the year draws to a close, after only a couple of months of ownership I can put my feet up and enjoy the festivities knowing that kit-wise, 326 is now pretty much complete. After a quick (!) trip to west Wales earlier this week, I returned with pretty much all the things that I need to complete the kit as carried during Op Fresco (i.e. the kit that would have been on it when it was cast and sold of by the Home Office in 2005 that has since gone walkies). A pry bar, hearth kit, axe and pick axe all made the journey home along with a spare dynamo (just in case there's a drama that the new regulator doesn't cure and if the dynamo has lost its polarity) and a few other bits. A few items need a little TLC (so a good soaking in coke for the rusty bits) but that can wait for the new year!

Happy Christmas!

Is that a ground monitor in your lounge or are you just pleased to see me?

Now term has finished, finally found time to nip down to LW Vass in Bedford to collect my early Christmas present. There, nestling forlornly in a corner of one of their stores was my ground monitor. These weren't part of the kit carried in 2002/3 on Op Fresco (the point at which 326 will stay in terms of colour and kit) but they are apparently good fun....

Rhys' ground monitors in action

We'll skip over the bit where I put it in the back of the MG and then closed the boot with the keys inside (a couple of their mechanics, some small wedges and a long wire.....).

He threw a nozzle spanner and some more nozzles in too! Anyway, it's now in my lounge on display until I can put it in my friend's garage with the rest of the stuff. Not that I mind as it does have a certain industrial beauty!

Ground monitor with kit, serial number EFS 0056, still with most of its protective coating on:

Unused nozzle spanner - if you look through the protective layer, you can just make out the ER cypher and date - 1-54:

Nozzle detail:

Dunno about Nate Dogg and Warren G but I also had to regulate...

Well, back from another weekend on the south coast and it's a good 4 degrees cooler here in Rutlandcestershire. Came back via Dorset to see a very nice chap with some GG spares. Shopping list isn't too bad at the moment (I could quite easliy go mad in a supermarket sweep kind of style!) but I did bring home a solid state voltage regulator for 326. These were procured by TNT when they maintained the GG fleet at Marchington and it was apparently intended that a good proportion of the fleet, if not the the whole lot, would receive these more reliable solid state regulators to replace to old 1950s versions fitted. So, anyway, having bought them they were never fitted and were sold off when the fleet was sold in 2005.

The one I have still has a tag on allocating it to a vehicle - PGW 206. No idea where PGW 206 is now...

Here's the old one in situ. A handsome 1950s bakelite box but not that effective now:

Here's the new one:

It even has a backing plate on with holes which match the current holes in the dash! Good thinking.

PGW 206 - where are you??

I also returned home to find this latest eBay purchase had arrived in the post. So now I might be able to understand how the pump works......!