Month: September 2024

A short catch up this week.

The Ribble Steam Railway Autumn Steam Gala took place this last Saturday and Sunday, so there was considerable effort made to prepare and clean Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 so that it looked its best for the occasion.

The Gala saw the first publicised appearances of newly overhauled Borrows 0-4-0 well tank No. 48 of 1906 The King and Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1969 of 1929 JN Derbyshire. Both of these locomotives were in ex-works condition and worked back to back for passenger workings, being accorded by some the nickname the ‘Preston Double Fairlie’. With other home-based locos Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2680 Courageous and Grant Richie 0-4-0ST No. 272 also in steam, along with the chance to ride in the FRT’s Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 and partake of tea, coffee, ploughman’s lunch and cream tea, there was plenty to see and do. In fact a number of visitors were noted to have spent both days at the Gala.

There was also a large second-hand book stall in the FRT shed which raised some welcome funds and it was a great opportunity to meet up with friends and visitors and display the current work being undertaken by the Trust.

All too soon the Gala was over and it was time to start preparing FR 20 for its trip to the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. There will then be a test steaming and run up the line before the Autumn Steam Gala there on the 11th, 12th and 13th October.

There has been plenty happening this last week.

Wednesday morning saw Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s boiler being loaded onto a hi-ab lorry… …which swiftly departed to Bradshaw Sheet Metal near Bolton to pick up the smokebox before heading off south to the Williton workshop of West Somerset Restoration which has been contracted to fit a new inner firebox, fit new tubes and conduct a hydraulic test.

Having despatched the boiler it was then time to fill the large skip that had been delivered, with John, Tim and Ed loading two sets of boiler tubes (5643 and Caliban), two sets of superheater elements (5643 and 4979) and 5643’s flue tubes. Needless to say, the work in the hot sun was interspersed by the odd cup of tea!

The hi-ab lorry arrived at Williton late afternoon on Wednesday where the boiler was unloaded and a tank for a GWR 28XX tender (not belonging to the FRT) took its place.

News of the arrival of the boiler at Williton was shared with those attending the Furness Railway Trust’s Annual General Meeting, which took place in the FRT shed at 07.30 on Wednesday evening. After the formal business of the day had been transacted, members were able to partake of the splendid buffet that had been laid on by Alison and explore the shed and see progress on the Trust’s locomotives. They were also able to browse and purchase the large number of second-hand books that have been donated to the FRT in recent times. Our thanks go to Alison for providing the buffet, which was very well received.

The hi-ab lorry set off from Williton before dawn on Thursday to deliver the tank to Tyseley Locomotive Works and then pick up the new superheater elements for GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 and the second-hand coupling rod that had been purchased for GWR ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall. These were delivered to Preston around 2 pm that day, being received by John Dixon.

Friday saw John, Keith and Tim assemble to tidy up the shed, stack the superheater elements and bring in the coupling rod.

This next weekend sees Furness Railway 0-4-0 locomotive No. 20 and Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 in action at the Ribble Steam Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on Saturday/ Sunday, 28th/29th September. It is planned that there will be five locomotives in steam. The FRT shed will be open to visitors and there will be a large second-hand book sale in the shed.

Finally, we received this week the latest West Somerset Railway Journal, which features some recognisable ‘old timers’ on the back cover celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Watchet to Minehead Railway.

Another very short blog this week.

We have taken delivery of a large metal recycling skip this last week with a view to weighing in redundant tubes, superheater flues, superheater elements and anything else that doesn’t have any useful purpose. This should keep us busy for a few hours!

Caliban’s boiler is scheduled to be picked up on Wednesday morning for its trip to the Williton workshop of the West Somerset Railway where it will receive a new inner firebox. Ade has been in today to move 5643’s side tanks out of the way for the booked hi-ab to lift the boiler. Hopefully the hi-ab will also be able to bring back the first batch of stays for 5643 that we have ordered from Williton and then pick up the superheater elements for 5643 and a coupling rod for Wootton Hall from Tyseley. It will also be transferring a GWR locomotive water tank from Williton to Tyseley for someone else, so no mileage wasted here! (Don’t ask how many telephone calls and emails this has taken to organise!)

Finally, a final reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held in the FRT shed at Preston at 7.30 pm this Wednesday, 18th September. We’d love to see as many as possible of our members there.

A short blog this week.

There has been further work on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. John Dixon is seen busy with the welder with one of 5643’s side tanks. Some of the water baffles for the bunker have also been fitted.

Keith has been fitting new footplate supports to the tender of Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall.

Work on refreshing the FRT’s mess room in on the last lap in between the rain showers with Sim applying undercoat yellow to the corner posts.

A first reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held in the FRT shed at Preston at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, 18^th September.

Finally, for those travelling to the Ribble Steam Railway by public transport, please note that Preston Bus No. 100 bus service from Preston station to McDonalds on Pedders Lane (every 15 minutes) has been replaced by the Nos. 19 and 20 which each operate every 20 minutes, so in theory a bus every ten minutes – plus of course Nos. 74 and 75 operated now by Archway Travel.

There has been more progress with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 over the past couple of weeks. Ian Massey has now removed the second, right hand, cylinder liner, the gouging rods making a spectacular light display.

Once the top of the liner was cut it was necessary to apply brute force to remove it. John Dixon and Keith are seen hauling it out of the cylinder after Ian Massey had persuaded it to move!

Chris Rycroft has been reaming out stay holes in the side of the firebox, with assistance from John Dixon, using a borrowed air drill.

This piece of equipment proved to be very efficient and, with much more work of this nature required, a search was conducted for a suitable second-hand drill – new drills, if you can find them, are very expensive. Fortunately, Sam and Chris identified such a drill and a price agreed. The drill arrived last Wednesday with Sam seen cutting open the packaging.

This new yellow bit of kit was quickly tested and is now ready for action.

Outside, John Dixon and Ed Tatham have been beavering away on the bunker and tanks, removing rust and, in the case of the bunker water tank, applying fibreglass and two-part epoxy paint sealant. Also trying to avoid the seemingly persistent unsettled weather have been Jon, Sim and Tim during their mission to spruce up the exterior of the mess room. It is hoped to reduce the many shades of grey to one of gloss grey if the weather is fine this next week.

Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 is due to operate the Ribble Steam Railway’s service this Saturday, 7^th September.

Finally, there was a test outing of Borrows 0-4-0 well tank No. 48 of 1906 on Saturday in readiness for its appearance at the RSR’s Gala on the 28^th and 29^th September. Judging by the smile on owner Phil Steer’s face, the test must have been successful.