on the button issue 18 | Page 7

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 | February 2014 | 7