Carriage was bolted together this morning (apart from two of the bolts.......I ran out of nuts) - and I slid the axles through, popped the wheels on and installed the barrel. The trunnion sockets will be steel-lined, with a retaining mechanism on each side which centralises the barrel trunnions. The barrel will be able to be removed by unlocking the two devices, then slid out. As you can see - it will have no trunnion capsquares on the top of the sidecheeks. The breast block and saddle block / elevating system have still to be made and installed - likewise any of the ironwork. The whole caboodle, once all the fittings have been fitted, will weigh around a quarter of a ton !
I've got to have those wheels sandblasted....... That's one of the next jobs.