Left main image: After transport from the Blue Lagoon the navvy just after
delivery to the Ruston Bucyrus site.
Left – Film strip left to right: Left – Work starting on the project.
Middle – Assembled and ready to fire up. Right – Ray Hooley stands proud
alongside the Ruston 306 Images: Ray Hooley
restoration and testing. After cleaning and sandblasting, an inspection team
used ultrasound to check every inch of the boiler. The boiler would have
been a very expensive item to replace but luckily it passed all inspection and
was given its vital certificate. This meant it could be fired up again, but only
to a maximum pressure of 80lbs per square inch.
The only thing left to do was to re-fit the boiler and the 306 would be
complete. With new grey paintwork the machine and red oxide on the boiler,
it was back together and after initial testing it was fired-up. It worked and the
whole machine came to life, reviving the oldest steam navvy of its kind left in
the world.
Working
Original worker on the excavator, George Albon had visited the site and
climbed back aboard the machine that he first worked on in 1918. Working
the levers and controls to swing and work the bucket, he was filmed for the
Bygones programme and also interviewed at the time. “I’ve never seen it
look as good as this” he said.
Neglect
The jubilation of the restoration was short-lived however, when cracks
started to appear in the wheels and the turntable. The Rustons 306 was
once again silenced. The excavator was still an important part of our
excavation heritage and so needed to be preserved. It was then transferred
to the Museum of Lincolnshire Life where Ray Hooley had arranged for it to
be stored and looked after, but it stood for many years as a neglected exhibit
and was left to corrode in all weathers.
Mr. Hooley decided it needed a new home where it could be looked after,
so he donated it to the The Vintage Excavator Trust (V.E.T.) at Threlkeld
Quarry and Mining Museum in Cumbria, where it could be once again given
some care and attention and hopefully repaired. The V.E.T. took charge of
the navvy about three years ago and in 2013 submitted an application to the
Heritage Lottery Fund to help restore No 306 to working order. The steam
navvy was being stripped again for restoration.
Images supplied by Mr. Ray Hooley
Anglia TV produced a documentary in the Bygones Specials series in 1980
with the story of the rescue and restoration. The DVD is available called:
‘Bygones Specials Volume 2 – The Gracious Lady Comes Home and other
classic episodes’.
Left: One of the original team of men, who worked on the 306,
stands on the machine once again. George Albon on a trip to
the Museum of Lincolnshire life and is re-united once again
with the steam navvy. Image: Brian Juffs circa1980
Below: The Ruston 306 was on permanent display at the
museum in Lincoln. Image: Stephen Woodcock
where is it today?
to advertise telephone: 01462 834265 or go to the website: www.onthebuttonarlesey.co.uk
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February 2014
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