It is with the greatest sadness that we start this week’s blog with news of the death of John Houghton, who passed away in the early hours of Friday morning at the age of 82. John was a most colourful character who was founding chairman of the Lakeside Railway Society when, in 1968, it was formed out of the Lancashire Railway Circle, now 50 years ago. John led the Society through the formative years at Carnforth and then on to Haverthwaite where the volunteers played such a major role in preparing the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway for re-opening in 1973. He was also the joint owner, with Alan Middleton, of former Courtalds Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban which was the Society’s first steam locomotive. These were the groundbreaking and fun days of railway preservation when there was less intrusive legislation to dampen volunteer activities! This undoubtedly fitted in with John’s philosophy of life and, at the end of Sunday working parties, he was often to be found in the White Hart at Bouth, entertaining all with his strong views and stories. These activities obviously played a major part of John’s life at that time, although he was also heavily involved in local politics, being an elected member of Cattterall Parish Council until last year, worked for the British Aircraft Corporation at Salmesbury and was of course supported at home by his late wife Jean.
After 15 years as Chairman, John relinquished this role to Tim Owen and, surprising many, took a back seat whilst he looked after his mother. He was appointed a Vice President of the LRS and subsequently re-acquainted himself with Carnforth where, with Caliban‘s arrival for overhaul, he arranged the purchase of a PMV and spent many Sundays there working on the loco and, of course, drinking tea! Being a keen railway modeller, and having finished at BAC, John then opened a model shop in Park Hill Road, Garstang, and specialised in building bespoke model railways for customers. The late Geoffrey Thompson, MD of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, was one such customer and John became heavily involved along with Alan in the garden railway at Myerscough as well as the miniature railway at the Pleasure Beach.
Following the formation of the Furness Railway Trust in 1991, John became a trustee, a position that he held for many years. Once the FRT had moved to Preston in 2009, John started to take a more active role again, becoming a regular member of the Wednesday working parties, usually arriving at lunchtime with Alan and bearing some biscuits for communal consumption. With the construction of the new shed and lunchtimes now becoming a ‘family’ gathering amongst the FRT’s rolling stock, John would once again enjoy holding forth with members with his increasingly colourful tales of times gone by! John was both delighted and proud that the FRT had broadened its horizons and become self sufficient – the fact that it had all evolved from a group of train spotters was a point that he made in his article in the Spring 2017 edition of The Iron Horse. When the new mess room was purchased recently, John immediately went out and bought a sink, fridge freezer and other items for us to enjoy; he wanted us to have the best.
John suffered a minor heart attack in recent weeks, a worry to us since he had already had a previous more major attack, and he spent some time in hospital. Although he was seemingly on the road to recovery, he was clearly quite frail when Alan visited him last Wednesday. He was taken into hospital that evening suffering with breathing difficulties and died in the early hours of Friday, with cousin Richard at his bedside. Our condolences go to Richard and his family.
John made his mark with everyone at Preston (RSR as well as FRT) with his trademark hat, bow-tie and suit at working parties, always having time to talk with whomever he met. We will very much miss John’s company and his stories. Aye, and the biscuits….. We’ve just heard, in time to slip it into this blog, that John’s funeral will take place at Preston Crematorium on Friday 23rd at 12.15pm.
We are also sorry to have to record this week the death of former member Norman Moss at the age of 94. Norman served with the RAF in Ceylon early in his life, servicing Mosquitoes, before becoming a toolmaker at the Dick, Kerr engineering works in Preston. He became a regular member of the Wednesday Gang at Haverthwaite for many years, forming a duo with Ron Cooke to undertake the wide variety of engineering tasks that they were given. John and Jean Dixon attended Norman’s funeral on Friday. Our condolences go to Norman’s family.
Last Wednesday morning saw two low loaders with a carriage each in the car park at Preston. Tom Milner had arrived the previous evening in readiness to load up the second class North London Railway coach first thing on Wednesday morning for despatch to the Beamish Open Air Museum. 
Dale Calkeld then arrived with Great Eastern Railway Royal Saloon No. 5 which has been on hire to Beamish since April 2010. It had been restored to operable condition by members over the previous nine months in the polytunnel at Appleby. The Ribble Rail lads undertook the necessary shunting moves at Preston and the GER saloon was duly under cover in its new home in the unheated part of the FRT shed by lunchtime.
The North London Railway coach was duly commissioned into service at Beamish on Friday morning, sandwiched between Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1370 and the Duke of Sutherland’s saloon No. 58A. (Photo courtesy Beamish Open Air Museum.)
Back in our workshop, there was more work carried out on the RSR’s TPO coach on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Andy Morton came again and started to sand the south side of the coach and Alan Whaley also assisted, offering to appear again this week to help with applying filler. 
Mike, John Davis and Paul went aboard the ‘magic carpet’ to sand down the east corridor end whilst Roger Benbow undercoated the west end headstock. 
Tim carried on with filling and sanding the north side of the coach, with filling assistance from David on Saturday.
John Dixon has again been busy fitting out the kitchen in the new mess room and hopes to finish connecting up the water supply next Wednesday, once he has purchased even more pipe and fittings!
Adrian and Alan were seen assessing the packing required to lift Caliban‘s frames last Wednesday and Keith was planning to be at Embsay yesterday to carry out a wash out on 5643’s boiler which has now been entirely de-tubed by Andy Booth.
This next Saturday sees the visit of a Pathfinders rail tour to the RSR on Saturday afternoon.
Work has continued apace on the RSR’s TPO where Andy Morton paid a visit on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for giving a regular hand with the project from this next week. He is seen here with the statutory number of onlookers whilst he works.
John Davis and Paul fitted a new piece of wood above one of the TPO shutter doors on Friday and Tim has once again been busy with the filler and sanding machine. Roger appeared on Friday to continue painting the frames.
Ade has been attacking the grime on Caliban with a needle gun, and can be seen here working on one of the hornguides.
Fred has been making dust once more, this time cleaning up 5643’s blast pipe. Fortunately the weather was good so the dust stayed outside!
John Dixon has continued his work on the new kitchen in the mess room where the sink unit has now been fitted and the drain connected. Will we see some running water next week?
Finally, the welding on Wootton Hall’s tender frames has been put back a week and is now scheduled to take place on the 9th and 10th February.
Thereafter John soon had the drain pipe installed and the trench was immediately filled in with the JCB.
Friday saw John doing the delicate task of cutting out the hole in the work top for the double sink to be fitted.
Work has continued on the RSR’s TPO where the initial assumption that the bodywork was in relatively good condition has been somewhat contradicted by the fact that Tim has now applied the best part of two large cans of filler and a can of fibreglass – and he hasn’t yet started on the south side of the vehicle!
Paul and John Davis have just about finished their works on the south side double door and are seen here fitting a new retaining hole surround.
Meanwhile Roger Benbow has continued to paint the bogies and frames.
Fred filled the shed with dust on Friday as he cleaned up 5643’s superheater header ready for some machining.
Keith and George spent Saturday cutting and trimming metal for the top of the tender frames for Wootton Hall whilst Derek recorded their work on video for posterity.
And finally for this week, David spent Saturday painting a signal post which will shortly become an exhibit in the RSR museum.
Mike is seen here last Wednesday with the statutory assemble of onlookers drinking tea whilst he attempts, in vain, to drill a hole. 
Paul took up the cause on Friday and was more successful, only breaking one drill bit in the process!
Good progress is being made on the bogies and underframes and Fred is seen here in action with his paint brush.
The new worktop is seen loosely in position awaiting adaptation to accommodate the double sink. It is planned on Wednesday to dig a trench outside for the drain, although the weather conditions look a little wintery this week!
The first photo shows the completed concreting under the east end shed doors which was laid just before Christmas. There is still plenty more to do in the east half of the shed, but the more immediate task has since been to continue the installation of the kitchen in the new mess room. As John Dixon is both our head of concreting and chief plumber, it is a case of one job at a time. 
We then need to dig a channel outside the mess room to allow a pipe to be laid to a nearby drain manhole. Once this is achieved, new tarmac can be laid there as part of the overall plan to create a new playground.
John David and Howard Fletcher are seen here examining a corroded and ill fitting door whilst, below, Ade is seen demonstrating his method of fixing the problem – with a hammer! 
Tim has continued with the filling and sanding, Paul with the renewal of rotted woodwork, and Fred and Roger have continued to clean and paint the headstocks and bogies.
Alan Ogden made a welcome re-appearance from Devon to refurbish Fluff‘s fuse box.
Keith has continued to assemble more steelwork on Wootton Hall‘s tender frames as can be seen from this view of the rear of the chassis. Some more components for the locomotive, which have become available recently, have been purchased, including these two rear valve head cover castings which cost £60 each.
The smaller items cost £60 each whilst the larger casting cost £180 each.
Finally, Live Steam played their last gig of 2017 at the Engine Inn at Cark-in-Cartmel. Both Alan and Tim were suffering for the excesses of singing on the Santa Special Trains at Preston but just about managed to sing without too much coughing and spluttering!
After more materials were requisitioned on Thursday, the job was finished on Friday morning and it should be possible to remove the shuttering this Wednesday. 
The photos show the gang concreting and John Dixon levelling off and then brushing off the finished concrete.
Tim continued the long task of filling and sanding the north side of the RSR’s TPO vehicle on Wednesday and then Fred and Roger spent Friday painting one of the headstocks and a bogie side.
Staying with the TPO, the new water filler cover has now been fitted.
Adrian is continuing to work on Caliban‘s motion and Howard is seen here fettling one of the loco’s new sand box covers.
Keith has been undertaking some more metalwork on Wootton Hall and was joined on Saturday by George to prepare the new extension pieces for the tender frames for welding.
John Dixon was once again diverted from fitting out the mess room kitchen, with compacted ash having been laid in the six foot between roads 3 and 4 in the unheated part of the shed during the week. After a long discussion which eliminated many options, it was decided that there was no easy way to get ready mixed concrete in from a lorry. Therefore the best way forward was to mix it manually in the concrete mixer. Ed and John therefore got on with the job of making up the shuttering and cement, sand and aggregate have now arrived for mixing on Wednesday.
Mike and John Davis have created a replacement filler cover, seen here on the right.
Keith is seen here making sure that all areas have been adequately covered before they are put back outside.
Alan had a trying weekend as he managed to lock his keys in the car at Preston on Saturday (very late arrival home) and his central heating has packed up!
The tracks at the east end of roads three and four in the shed have now been packed which has enabled John Dixon to lay some Visqueen against the rails to stop concrete sticking to them and causing cracks when drying. It also stops the concrete from seeping into the four foot, which isn’t going to be concreted. Ash has now been laid to top up the levels in the six foot and the job now moves on to the shuttering phase.
Mike has been lettering the gas compartment doors for the RMB, surely one of the very last jobs remaining on the project. 
Tim has been busy sanding the RSR’s TPO coach and Mike and John Davis have been tackling the replacement of one of the water filler covers. Fred and Roger have continued the job of cleaning and painting the headstocks and bogies. The proofs for the graphics have been received and approved. It was only during this process that it emerged that the dimension panels at the opposite ends of the coach differed, one stating that the width was 2.74m whilst the other showed 2.83m! We have plumped for 2.74m so at least they will be consistent in future, if incorrect!
Adrian has once again been working on the job of cleaning and painting Caliban‘s motion whilst Alan has achieved success at last in removing a stubborn pin from one of the motion retaining collars.
Wootton Hall‘s tender wheels were grit blasted on Saturday and two of the wheelsets had received the attention of David’s paint brush by the end of the day. 
Keith has continued to work on the replacement steel sections for the front of the tender which are now held in place prior to welding at some point in the future.
The RSR’s Santa Specials started this last weekend with Alan and Tim providing the music and various other FRT members assisting. Alison and Jen staffed the sales stand and Alison took the opportunity to photograph Tim’s latest Christmas hat – we’re not sure that Father Christmas will approve of the two legs poking out of the top of the chimney which suggest that he (Santa, not Tim!) has feasted on too many mince pies!
Tim has begun the task of sanding down the sides whilst Mike Rigg and John Davis have been attending to the end sockets which allow access to the water filler pipes. A new cover will be required for one of the sockets. Mike and John have also been removing the seals from around the sliding doors in order to allow access for painting. 
The new replacement warning sign has been affixed to the new gas compartment door and the paint touched up. 
Fred has been cleaning up the bogies with a wire brush and has removed the redundant steps (the bogies came from a different vehicle) whilst Roger has begun the task of applying primer.
And Ade has been attending to Caliban‘s motion, seen here cleaning out one of the holes.
John Dixon has continued the task of fitting out the kitchen area of the new mess room and has found that Wickes now have a kitchen sale as well as a 15% discount because they are reorganising the store! 
Cue the purchase of a new three metre work top!
Two new cabinets for the storage of paint have arrived and been filled and lights have now appeared in the 1st class North London Railway coach which is currently being used to store materials.
They then performed for an hour and a half at Abbeyfield in Ulverston early Sunday afternoon before being joined by George on the out door Theatre Street stage at 4 pm to close down the Dickensian Festival in fine style!
One of the last tasks has been to cast a replacement fibreglass warning sign for the new gas compartment door underneath the frames. Mike and Paul set to on this job on Wednesday afternoon, using the mould that was created some weeks ago, and Mike is seen here on Friday with the results of their labours. Isn’t it great?!
In fact they got carried away, and have also cast a new battery box sign and a replacement weight numeral for the North London Railway coach at the same time, so the replica signs production unit can be said to be well and truly up and running! John Davis and Paul had another production run with spare resin on Friday.
Tim completed the painting of the RSR TPO vehicle’s roof on Friday and Fred and Roger continued to clean the buffer beams (picture above) and bogies (picture below) respectively. 
The replacement graphics for the sides have now been ordered by Karl Latham and should be ready in the next two to three weeks. We just need to rub down, repair and paint the body sides of the vehicle!
Friday was spend trying to understand the instructions for a newly acquired base unit whilst testing the heating system in the mess room! 
Quite conveniently, the local Wickes warehouse is having a 15% discount sale during alterations, so John is under incentive to complete all further purchases before the end of the sale on the 4th December!