Full Steam Ahead!

I had no idea what to give Bob for his birthday. It had to be a; interesting and b; inexpensive. Then in the garage over the summer, I spotted a neglected box standing at the end of a shelf. It contained this…

…the Mamod Steam Tractor I gave Bob for his 40th birthday back in ‘95. He hasn’t run it for years – it needed a proper overhaul and clean-up. So I wondered if I could get it serviced. I checked out some internet sites – they cost around £150 now [what!!!] and even servicing them was going to cost between £25 and £60 [‘depending on replacement parts needed’]

Then inspiration struck – I have retired friend from church who is an expert on models and stuff.

Dave was brilliant – I was able to get the model to him, and he got it back into full running order – and through through emails and clandestine visits I have followed the progress of the refurbishment. And he didn’t need to buy any new bits.

 

For the past week or so, the model and its box and all the other bits have been lurking in the back of my car in a large Aldi freezer bag

 

This afternoon, I invited Bob into the Dining Room for a cup of tea – and there was the Mamod on the table. He has enjoyed making it run round the conservatory [in between the boxes of books and Christmas presents!]

 

 

So thanks Dave, for your help!

All the secrecy was very nearly thwarted twice. Once over half-term, we visited Thetford, and my brother asked why we hadn’t been to the Charles Burrell Museum – which is full of brilliant steam engines etc. I could hardly say “I am saving that for another holiday – I don’t want Bob to suddenly get the urge to dig out his steam tractor, it isn’t there!” And then last week, he announced he was going to tidy up the garage – and I thought “What if he notices it is missing?” But fortunately Bob had no idea what was going on!

[btw the ‘Peroni’ tee-shirt was Bob’s birthday gift from Steph]