Furness Railway Trust blog

Ade kindly performed the shunt that brought Furness Railway No. 20 and Great Eastern royal saloon No. 5 back into the FRT shed where winter maintenance can be undertaken.

A good clean of FR 20 would not go amiss and work is required to remove traces of burnt paintwork on the smokebox and smokebox door after its strenuous efforts at Blaenavon!

Work continues on the cleaning and stripping down of 5643’s frames. The above photo indicates the progress being made with the paintbrushes.

Finally, arrangements are currently being made for a non-destructive test of the boiler which will assist with assessing the extent of work required during the overhaul. It is planned that a second wash out of the boiler will take place this Wednesday now that the small tubes have been removed.

Keith visited Tyseley Loco Works last Tuesday and picked up the long-awaited brand new driver’s brake valve for GWR ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall. This should just about complete the cab fittings required for the locomotive.

Keith had also arranged to pick up two new steam heat valves for Wootton Hall which had been machined up, one of them being seen here.

Saturday saw all the small tubes removed from GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643. Just the six flue tubes now remain, and these will be removed this Wednesday.

And there was good news from Embsay last Thursday in that ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria passed an in-steam test following the repair to one of its eccentric straps by Andy Booth. The above photo shows the strap with the side piece of metal that had fallen away.

It was a down to earth week at Preston this last week as members spent much of their time working on 5643’s frames and components. Anne Burton and John Davis are seen cleaning up one of 5643’s sandboxes…

… while Phil Burton polished one of 5643’s coupling rods…

… and Ed chipped away at rust on the frames.

Finally for this week, over at Embsay, the eccentric strap on ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria that had been causing concern has been removed to reveal that a strip of the side metal had come adrift. However, the main bearing metal was still intact.  Andy Booth took the offending strap away to work some of his magic on it and it is now expected to be refitted to the locomotive during the next day or so. Thanks, Andy.

Just a short update this week after last week’s lengthy blog.

The boiler of Furness Railway No. 20 was successfully washed out on Friday as part of the process of winterising the locomotive. Sam had previously drained the boiler on Wednesday and loosened the plugs. Removing the bottom drain plug is quite a tricky task if you want to avoid an involuntary shower! The plug is located behind the injector which gets in the way of the rush of water and sprays it liberally in all directions. The photos show Sam gingerly removing the plug and then the aftermath!

Fred gave the newly acquired front right coupling rod for 4979 Wootton Hall a good polishing with his trusty cup wire brush.

Keith separated the superheater block ends from the rest of 5643’s elements in readiness to take them to Tyseley for the elements to be renewed.

Elsewhere, there has some tidying up in the shed and some more small finishing jobs tackled in the Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5.

There was no blog last Monday as many of us were busy attending the FRT’s Annual General Meeting at Preston on Monday evening. A full quorum was present, no doubt tempted by the last and main item on the agenda which was Alison’s catering! Needless to say, there were no long awkward questions that would have delayed us attending to the sandwiches, sausage rolls and cake. Thanks to all who attended and also to Alison for the food.

This last weekend saw the Ribble Steam Railway’s Gala take place where Furness Railway No 20 and the Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 were scheduled to appear, the latter making its public debut after an in depth overhaul. Wednesday saw the tables laid out in GER No. 5 for the first time.

This was followed by a final loading of equipment on the Saturday morning.

One or two of us felt quite emotional as the seats on the coach rapidly filled and it set off for its first journey. Alson gave us a wave as she went past.

RSR volunteers entered into the spirit of the occasion by dressing appropriately for the serving of drinks in the mornings and then cream teas in the afternoons.

A cake (yes, more cake) appeared at 12.50 on Saturday so that the 160^th and 125^th birthdays respectively of FR 20 and GER No. 5 could be celebrated. (And, yes, we did leave some for Ade who was driving on Sunday!)

The visiting engine for the Gala was Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST No. 750 Waleswood of 1906.

The weather was variable, the heavy rain testing the stamina of those in the open cab of FR 20 on Saturday afternoon, but the crowds turned up and the royal coach was sold out on both days. Trains ran to time, despite it being deemed the RSR’s most complex Gala timetable, and there were many lovely comments received from satisfied customers. Well done to all those involved.

Away from the public eye, work has continued on stripping Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 as part of its overhaul, with Fred seen here cleaning up one of the eccentric rods.

And there is good news for those followers of Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban where the old saddle tank has finally been recovered by the Ribbe Rail Road Rail Vehicle and sent off to Bradshaw Sheet Metal for replacement, along with Caliban’s smokebox and the ashpan from 5643.

Alan and Sam paid a visit to Bradshaw’s last Tuesday followed by Keith on Thursday.

Finally, over at Embsay, one of Cumbria’ eccentrics has been removed following the discovery that some of the white metal on it had come adrift. It is hoped to effect a repair in the not too distant future.

There has been more progress with the dismantling of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 where the front buffer beam has now been removed.

This will enable access to the cylinders so that new liners can be fitted. Keith and Fred are seen here with the buffer beam which Fred has been attending to with his cup wire brush to remove old paint and rust.

Andy Booth made a start on removing the old tubes from 5643’s boiler on Friday, cutting them from the firebox end first.

The royal coach gang has been turning its attention to some of the smaller but still time-consuming fitting and snagging jobs on Great Eastern Railway No. 5. John Dixon has been re-fitting the brass radiator covers, whilst Sam has wired up the water tank pump in the kitchen which, much to the delight of Phil Bell and John Davis, enabled water to appear through the sink taps. Meanwhile, Anne and Phil Burton have been making mats to go just inside the entry doors of the coach in order to preserve the new carpet. Tim has given the step boards a coat of paint, not easy when people keep climbing in and out of the coach!

At long last, the coupling rod that was acquired from the Didcot Railway Centre for GWR 4-6-0 locomotive No. 4979 Wootton Hall was transported to the FRT shed by Ade on Wednesday, having arrived at Preston in the tender of FR 20 last Monday evening.

A reminder here to all members that the Furness Railway Trust’s AGM will be held in the FRT shed at 7.30 pm next Monday, 25^th September. Alison has promised to provide some food, so please ensure that there are enough of you to consume it all!

Finally, it seems that YouTube just keeps providing more good footage of Furness Railway No. 20 during its stay at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway, so you might wish to have a look at this:

The main event this week has been Furness Railway No. 20’s participation in the Blaenavon Heritage Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala this last weekend. Sam Middleton and John Dixon went down to Blaenavon last Wednesday evening in order to prepare FR 20 on Thursday for the steamings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were joined early Friday afternoon by Tim followed by Ade. Whilst Sam and John headed home on Saturday, Alison and Alan arrived on Saturday evening for the final day of the event.

Sam looked after FR 20 on Friday which enabled the others to have a ride in a 1910 former engineer’s saloon.

Sam then dealt with the inevitable pile of char in the smokebox.

With only four locos in steam, FR 20 was busier on the Friday and there is some YouTube footage here of it in action:

There was a very full programme of trains on the Saturday and Sunday with six locomotives in steam: FR 20, L&NWR Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054, Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Keighley Gas Works No. 2, Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 1857, Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Rosyth No. 1 and Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1219 Caledonia Works. There were two passenger train sets plus a coal train to keep the locos busy all day.

Needless to say, Alison spent some time taking some useful sales income on Sunday.

It is pleasing to be able to report that FR 20 steamed extremely well all weekend and, late Sunday afternoon, was called upon to rescue a train that was in trouble at Blaenavon High Level. Not surprisingly, a crowd gathered to watch the gallant 160 year old locomotive blast its way up the bank into Furnace Sidings station with the ensemble of two locomotives and three carriages behind it.

Needless to say, it was starting to get dark when Ade, Alan and Tim then set about preparing FR 20 for its journey home, removing guard irons and sand pipes and fitting lugs to the tender that could be used to fasten the loco on to the transporter the following morning. And then there was the loading once again of the coupling rod for Wootton Hall!

Fortunately, the journey home for everyone and the loco was without incident and Ade was on hand yesterday evening to shunt FR 20 into the running shed at Preston.

The previous Wednesday at Preston had been spent in moving the stored chairs and tables into Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5. The coach was then moved over the pit to allow inspection and oiling to take place and then into the outer shed to enable 5643 to be re-positioned and its boiler to be moved into the main shed.

GER No. 5 was then moved into the RSR running shed on Saturday and a satisfactory brake test performed using the steam locomotive of the day. The 125 year old vehicle is now scheduled to make an appearance at the RSR’s autumn Steam Gala on the 30th September and the 1^st October.

A short update this week.

With the interior of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 almost complete, it has been time to move out of storage the seats and furniture that have been gathered for the coach. Some of the rubber chair leg feet were found to be absent, which had the potential for the new carpet to be damaged. Phil Burton has acquired some new feet and is seen here attending to the matter. Phil Bell and John Dixon made an early start to enable the gas fitter to attend at 08.00 on Friday morning. We are pleased to be able to report that the gas system is now passed ready for service. In anticipation of this, Tim has conducted axle pad exams ready for the coach to be moved further up the shed this Wednesday.

This next weekend will see FR 20 appearing at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway’s Annual Steam Gala together with visitors L&NWR coal tank No. 1054 and Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Keighley Gas Works No. 2. A number of members are travelling to South Wales this weekend to support FR 20 and also to prepare the loco for transporting back to Preston.

The Bank Holiday weekend saw Furness Railway No. 20 successfully return to service at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway in time for that railway’s 40^th Anniversary Celebrations.

FR 20 successfully completed four return trips along the length of the main line on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Rosyth No. 1 working from Big Pit to Whistle Inn Halt with a Mark 1 TSO coach and a brake van; the latter replicated the opening day train formation in 1983.

Fortunately the rain held off, apart from a few showers, and the two coach trains were well filled with passengers. The first train on Saturday morning was standing room only. Some video of the weekend can be seen here:

The hard work work hauing the coaches up the incline from Blaenavon resulted in the smokebox and its door losing some of its paint. Opening the smokebox door found a deep pile of char that filled four wheelbarrows!

Back at Preston, last Friday saw an action plan being agreed with our qualified gas fitter for piping gas into the kitchen of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5. Phil Bell will take this forward. The banquet chairs have been brought out of storage for cleaning and some TLC, whilst Phil and Anne Burton have been devoting some time to giving the vacuum gauge a good polish.

John Dixon is seen repairing one of the brass radiator covers from GER No. 5

Work has also continued on GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 where Sam and Keith have been removing the braking rigging. A shunt of the shed is expected tomorrow (Wednesday) to swap the positions of 5643 and GER No. 5.

We start this week’s blog with the very good news that Furness Railway No. 20 underwent a successful test run yesterday on the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway following repairs to its right-hand front cylinder cover, piston and motion. Alan, Andrew and Sam Middleton made the journey down to Blaenavon to help prepare the loco and to witness the test. The above photo shows a spotless FR 20 approaching Whistle Inn Halt at the top of the line.

The second footplate view is of the loco descending back to Furnace Sidings with Alan centre. FR 20 is now scheduled to operate at the P&BR’s 40^th Birthday Celebrations this next weekend on the 26^th, 27^th and 28^th August. It is also due to appear alongside L&NWR Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054 at the Gala on the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th September. Our thanks go to Ryan Pope and the people at the West Somerset Railway who have arranged the repairs.

And while we’re talking about FR 20, we should point out that this very day marks the old girl’s 160th birthday!  Happy Birthday!

Back at Preston there is more good news in that the new carpet was laid in Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 last Friday. The photos show the carpet in the two saloons. As you would expect, it makes a big difference to the vehicle.

The previous Wednesday, Anne and Phil Burton had completed the reupholstery of the guard’s compartment and John Davis has completed the upholstery on the last door. There are, however, still quite a few jobs to complete, including the kitchen where our gas fitter is due to attend on Friday.

Finally, work has also continued on the overhaul of GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 where Jon Dixon is seen suitably togged up whilst removing old paint and rust from the frames.