Furness Railway Trust blog

After five days of Furness Railway No. 20 operating trains at the West Somerset Railway, the party is over and members of Team FR 20 are now back home.

The locomotive was hired by the WSR, along with Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No. 3581 of 1924, Marston Thompson and Evershed No. 3, from the Foxfield Railway, to haul two VIP trains from Watchet to Minehead to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the opening of that stretch of railway on the 16^th July 1874. The first special ran on Tuesday, 16^th, the exact date of the anniversary, with a re-run on Saturday, 20^th.

On each occasion, the 0-4-0ST led the empty train from Minehead to Williton where it spent an hour in the yard before heading back to Watchet for the ribbon cutting ceremonies with FR 20 in the lead. The two locomotives worked well together, tackling the east bound Washford bank and the westbound climb out of Watchet with aplomb.

Both specials arrived back at Minehead a minute or two ahead of schedule, which on the Saturday was especially important as a main line special from Paddington, hauled by ‘Black 5’ 4-6-0 44871,was scheduled to arrive at Minehead at 1 pm. Over the five days, the two locomotives also worked many shuttle trains out of Minehead and over Seaward Crossing, passengers only being asked to give a donation for the ride. These were extremely popular and drew much interest from those visiting the railway over the five days of operation.

There was a large degree of input from FRT members during the visit, which made sure that FR 20 was looking at its very best and therefore attracted many favourable comments from the public and also on social media.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, for the initial steaming, turning the locomotive on the turntable and fitness to run exam took place on Monday, 21^st July in pouring rain (photo Mike Lanning) which soaked those involved to the skin. However, the weather then perked up and was generally good for the rest of the stay.

There was a day off from operations on the Friday which allowed a FRT party of nine to visit the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway in beautiful sunshine, followed by a trip to Woody Bay to see the rolling stock on the revived section of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, with a guided tour and steam cab rides on 2-4-2T Lyn in the platform, arranged courtesy of General Manager Stuart Nellams.

Mention must be made of the efforts of Alison Pinch who sold many souvenirs during the week. The new card reader worked a treat and certainly helped sales.

No date yet for the arrival of FR 20 back at Preston, however, it is due back in service at the RSR on Saturday, 10^th August. Thanks go to the people at the West Somerset Railway for their friendly welcome to all the FRT members. It is a lovely railway and definitely worth a visit for those who have not already ventured there.

The latest issue of The Iron Horse magazine is being proof read and should be with members shortly along with an invitation to the Annual General Meeting, which will take place at 7.30 pm in the FRT shed at Preston on Wednesday evening, 18^th September.

Finally, FRT member and RSR driver Ben Valentine, who spent the week helping out at Minehead, was offered a cab ride and a turn on the shovel on GWR ‘Hall class 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall last Thursday. FRT member Jimmy Dutton appeared and thought that we had TV star Piglet of the NYMR on board when he looked down the platform. There was a call for Jimmy to get a new pair of spectacles – but then two more people made the same error!

No blog next week due to more holidays!!

 

A last blog before FR 20 departs to Minehead this Wednesday for its summer holiday. We do not anticipate there being a blog next week.

Last Monday evening saw the FRT Trustees gather for a Zoom meeting. A key decision made was to proceed with the replacement of Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s inner firebox of which more details will be made public in the coming weeks.

Wednesday saw Jon and Sim working applying paint to the mess room roof. They have also put a top coat of red on 5643’s buffer beam.

Tim has been tackling the front of the mess room which has suffered some corrosion. He has also been painting the firebox cladding sheets for 5643 which will go back into storage now that the tortoise shell mudhole covers have now received the top coat as well.

Keith has been fabricating new boiler water trays for 5643 to replace the previous trays which had suffered from corrosion.

Finally, as some of you will be aware, FRT member Phil Steer’s Borrows 0-4-0 well tank No. 48 The King has returned to Preston after an extensive overhaul at the Flour Mill workshops at Bream. It had previously undertaken some running in trials at the Avon Valley Railway and had its first steaming at Preston on Saturday. Phil is pictured here with his locomotive.

A short round up this week.

The warm and sunny weather last week (where did that go to?!) allowed further work on the external paintwork of the mess room. Work has also continued outside on the cab and bunker of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 where John Dixon and Ed Tatham have been cleaning off old paint and rust. During this process the state of the shovelling plate in the bunker was called into question, so Keith set about cutting out some pretty thin metal which will be replaced.

Furness Railway No. 20 was back in service for Armed Forces Day at the Ribble Steam Railway, along with Great Eastern Railway Royal saloon No. 5 where customers were served with coffees, ploughman’s lunches and afternoon teas.

Anne and Phil Burton took the opportunity to staff the sales stand and also try out the new card reader that has been purchased by the Trust. The latter seemed to be a success, encouraging sales that wouldn’t otherwise perhaps have been made by cash.

FR 20’s activity at the weekend was its last before embarking on the long journey next week down to the West Somerset Railway for a week of operation. It is planned to give the locomotive a good clean and check over this week before it goes on its seaside holiday.

Apologies for the lack of a blog last week. Unfortunately, Blog Towers 1 was hit by one of those viruses that seems to be doing the rounds and it’s now arrived at Blog Towers 2! Anyhow, that has not stopped others from carrying on the good work at Preston.

The return of the reprofiled radial wheels for Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 has allowed the truck to be re-assembled, ready for inserting under the frames at some point in the future.

Phil Bell has made a welcome return after his spell in main works and has fitted some new handles to the drawers in the kitchen of GER No. 5.

With apparent renewed energy after his layoff, Phil has also been lending a hand to remove stay heads on the firebox of 5643.

Finally, Furness Railway No. 20 is due to appear in service at Preston next Saturday with Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 in connection with Armed Forces Day. Its last turn in operation was on Father’s Day on Sunday 16^th June, with Ade driving.

We start this week’s blog with the breaking news that Furness Railway locomotive No 20 will be visiting the West Somerset Railway from 16^th to 21^st July to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the opening of the line between Watchet and Minehead. Full details of the event can be found here. There will also be other visiting locomotives including the very recently outshopped Great Western Railway ‘Grange’ 4-6-0 locomotive No. 6880 Betton Grange. A press release is also available here. Let’s hope that we have some decent weather that week!

Some of you who have visited Preston in recent times will have noticed that the paintwork on ‘FRT Towers’ (our portacabin mess room) has started to look jaded – probably because we have been giving priority to painting our rolling stock. However, with the odd gap in the rain appearing during our very British summer, Sim has made a start on cleaning the roof of muck and rust and has been giving it a coat of red oxide. Hopefully the weather will allow the job to be completed before winter!

Back inside the FRT shed, there has been more work on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. Ian Massey spent some time welding up the inner smokebox ring last Wednesday.

Tim has been rubbing down the firebox cladding sheets which have now received grey undercoat on the inner faces.

The next task will be to rub down and paint the outer sides of the frames. John Dixon is seen here removing the vacuum pipe to enable full access to the frames. The steam heat pipe on the other side has also been removed for that same purpose.

This next weekend will see Furness Railway No. 20 in service on the Ribble Steam Railway with Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 joining in on Sunday, Father’s Day.

With the May Bank Holiday holibobs now over, we suddenly seem to have found ourselves in June. Just a short update this week as several of our volunteers have been away seeking warm weather.

Work has again been concentrated on the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. The driving wheelset that had its balanceweight rivets secured is receiving a coat of paint.

Simeon Dixon is seen cleaning the radial wheelset, which has recently returned from tyre turning at Bury, in readiness for a fresh coat of paint.

John Dixon has continued his work outside the shed cleaning the bunker ready for painting, and has also been preparing the internal cab lockers for painting when external weather conditions have put a stop to the bunker work.

Keith has been preparing a new piece of angled steel to fit across the frames to replace some corroded steelwork that was formerly under the bunker.

We have also received the good news from Embsay that Hunslet ‘Austerity’ saddletank Cumbria has passed its fourteen months boiler examination and steam test. This should see it steaming well into 2025.

GWR 0-6-2T 5643’s radial wheelset, which returned from the East Lancashire Railway last Monday after its tyres had been re-profiled on the wheel lathe, was duly positioned behind 5643’s frames last Wednesday, ready for it to be returned to its rightful position.

John Davis has been busy grinding off more stay heads on 5643’s firebox, this time on the backhead.

Keith has been fettling up 5643’s manifold ready for re-fitting when required.

Meanwhile, John Dixon has started work on cleaning up 5643’s bunker. We hope that the recent warm dry weather will continue to enable him to complete the work without too much down time.

Over in the Ribble Steam Railway running shed, several FRT members have been assisting the FRT’s Mike Rigg, who has for some time been in charge of the Mark 1 coach fleet. BSK 35128 has been undergoing intrusive investigation to its end crash pillars, which has meant removing corridor end platework. As can be seen, Tim has been using his creative skills with body filler to hide the joins in the new platework.

No blog next week, so we will see you again after the holidays.

There was good representation from the Furness Railway Trust at former Treasurer David Rimmer’s funeral at Allerton a week last Wednesday. The family was very grateful for the opportunity to meet Davd’s friends afterwards at a local inn and to learn a little more of David’s many activities with the FRT.

There has been more progress at Preston with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643, with a variety of jobs being tackled. Painting and cleaning of the inside motion is just about complete and Ed can be seen here cleaning rust and paint from one of the water tank filler apertures.

Re-profiling of 5643’s radial wheelset on the East Lancashire Railway wheel lathe at Bury has been completed with the wheelset arriving back at Preston today.

Talking of the ELR, the railway has just announced that Furness Railway No. 20 will be visiting for their Autumn Steam Gala on the 11^th to 13^th October. FR 20 is also scheduled to be travelling elsewhere this summer, but details are still to be announced by the host railway. Last Wednesday saw FR 20 out of the running shed at Preston for its ashpan to be re-installed and a warming fire to be lit after its cold examination by the boiler surveyor. It was then successfully steamed for the boiler surveyor on Friday so is now back in ticket.

On a totally unrelated subject, last Saturday saw the launch of Live Steam guitarist Pete Skellon’s book “Bahamas” at the Kents Bank Station Library. This is Pete’s fourth book (the others all having sold out) and has taken him nine years to write, telling the tale of how Jubilee class 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas was saved from the scrapyard, as well as describing its working life with the  LMS/BR and then its time in preservation, including its stints on the main line. Our folk group, Live Steam, first met up with Pete when they were invited to play in a marquee at Dinting in 1988 on the occasion of the first steaming of Bahamas after overhaul and also marking the 21^st Anniversary of the Bahamas Locomotive Society. It was a memorable evening and we have been glad to be able to re-acquaint ourselves with the BLS volunteers on a number of occasions since then, including at Blaenavon last year. Back to the book, it is, as you would expect from Pete (he was a technical writer at the Barrow Shipyard), a high quality product which not only relates the history of the locomotive, but tells the story of the people who have preserved and looked after this splendid machine. Priced at £35, it can be obtained through the BLS web site for £39 including postage. However, Tim will be able to obtain copies direct from Pete (saving the postage) for delivery to Preston and, if there is enough interest, a batch will be purchased on trade terms. Please contact Tim in the first instance.

The radial wheelset of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 was
despatched to the East Lancashire Railway last Wednesday where the tyres
will be reprofiled on their lathe. Ade retrieved the wheels out of the Furness
Railway Trust’s shed at Preston through some neat manoeuvring with the fork
lift truck.

The wheelset was then hoisted aboard the lorry which was handily equipped
with a hi-ab lift. The lorry also returned two springs to the ELR and picked up
two wheelsets belonging to FRT member Stewart Waugh which were also
going for re-profiling of the tyres.

Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 is due back in service on the RSR
this next Sunday for the serving of cream teas. It has previously been using a
battery borrowed from one of the Ribble Steam Railway’s carriage fleet but a
brand new battery has now been purchased for the vehicle which Sam fitted
last Wednesday.

Some further progress has been made by welding contractor Ian Massey on
replacing steelwork in the tender tank of Great Western Railway 4-6-0 No.
4979 Wootton Hall. Keith is seen here drilling a new piece of steel to be
welded in the floor of the coal space.

The above photo illustrates that there are still some more areas to be tackled
on each side of the coal space.

We start this week’s blog with the very sad news that David Rimmer, former Membership Secretary and then (extremely) long time Treasurer of both the Lakeside Railway Society and the Furness Railway Trust, passed away at the age of 80 last Thursday, 18^th April, after being diagnosed with cancer. David was a guard, booking office clerk and locomotive cleaner at Haverthwaite during the earlier days and became a stalwart of the Carriage and Wagon gang. He was also involved in the restorations of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 and Furness Railway No. 20 as well as being a keen supporter of the Wootton Hall project. David’s presence at Preston was reduced in more recent times as he took on caring for his brother John who had suffered a stroke. However, although retiring from being Treasurer and a Trustee at the end of March 2022, he continued to look after the Gift Aid claims for the Trust. His loss will, we are sure, be keenly felt by all those who have worked with David over the best part of 50 years.

David’s funeral will be held at 2. 45 pm on Wednesday, 1^st May at Springwood Crematorium, Springwood Avenue, Allerton L25 7UN. His family hopes that as many as possible of David’s friends will be able to attend. Our sincere condolences go to brother John, sister Judith, brother in law Mike and the rest of David’s family.

Last Wednesday saw FR 20 being given a boiler washout in preparation for its forthcoming cold inspection by the boiler surveyor on the 3^rd May. Sam was in charge with the hose.

John Dixon fed the hose to Sam whilst Jon Dixon operated the fire pump which he had coaxed into action after giving it a full service.

Ron Crowe has been drilling out more studs on the firebox backhead of 5643 whilst Keith has been removing more stays, seen here clearing stay debris from the foundation ring of the firebox.

Once he had finished his work with the fire pump, Jon Dixon took on painting 5643’s buffer beam with undercoat red.