The Bank Holiday weekend saw Furness Railway No. 20 successfully return to service at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway in time for that railway’s 40th 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 40th Birthday Celebrations this next weekend on the 26th, 27th and 28th August. It is also due to appear alongside L&NWR Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054 at the Gala on the 8th, 9th and 10th September. Our thanks go to Ryan Pope and the people at the West Somerset Railway who have arranged the repairs.
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.
Firstly, Furness Railway No. 20 has been re-assembled after repairs to its
Secondly, at long last and after some struggles and enforced learning, the
We are pleased to report that work on the repairs to FR 20’s motion has been progressing well at Williton, courtesy of West Somerset Restoration, following the fusion welding of the right-hand piston head and cylinder cover. The piston head has now been reunited with the piston rod and both cross head cotters fitted after the necessary machining. It is planned to reassemble the motion on FR 20 at Blaenavon this Wednesday after which the locomotive will undergo an in-steam test.
Back at Preston work has been progressing steadily on the overhaul of Great Western 0-6-2T No. 5643. We were pleased to be joined by Jonathan Dixon who was given the task of cleaning down part of the frames.
Jon has not been the only member working on this task and the results so far can be seen above.
Following the issue of a new cup wire brush to Fred last week, he has been making best use of it by removing old paint and rust from the reservoir on 5643’s vacuum brake system.
Bob Thomson has continued his work on 5643’s regulator valve.
Keith is seen here removing some stubborn nuts from one of 5643’ radial spring hangers.
Firstly, FR 20’s front right hand cylinder cover and piston head should now be back at Williton after repair, for machining. We have the above photograph, courtesy of West Somerset Restoration of one of the old crosshead cotters (left) and a new crosshead cotter fitted snugly into place. So things are progressing with the repair and re-assembly of FR 20. This has obviously given the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway confidence to advertise FR 20’s participation in their three-day Gala on the 8th-10th September.
Back at Preston the dismantling of GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643, in connection with its ten-year boiler overhaul, has continued with the removal of its vacuum cylinder, which has been plucked out from within the frames.
Sam is seen here working to remove one of the radial wheel springs.
Meanwhile Fred has once again been busy removing old paint and dirt from components. As can be seen here, he doesn’t ask for a new cup wire brush until the old brush is completely bald!
Work has also continued apace on the completion of the restoration of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5. Anne and Phil Burton have been working on upholstering the guard’s compartment.
Whilst John Davies and Tim have been busy fitting the remainder of the chenille on the side panels of the east saloon and corridor.
Sam has completed the wiring of the lights and Phil Bell has started to lay the linoleum on the kitchen floor. John Dixon has been removing old wood and nails from the corridor floor.
He has then commenced the job of laying a plywood base in readiness for the fitting of the new carpet.
Finally, FRT Members should now be receiving the latest edition of The Iron Horse magazine.
Back at Preston, work has started in earnest on 5643’s rolling chassis which is now located in the main FRT shed. Removal of the bunker for the first time in preservation has revealed some wasted angle support which is now being cut away so that it can be replaced.
The boiler is now in the outer shed and work on descaling it has also commenced. It is expected that the tubes will now be removed in August.
Ade has once again been working on Caliban and is seen here fitting the valve rod covers.
Meanwhile, John Davis spotted some unwelcome rot in the corridor floor last week which John Dixon can be seen cutting out.
Over at Embsay, Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria has been having a boiler wash out. Matt Anderson has taken the opportunity to remove the grate and fit an ashpan sprinkler, which can be seen in action above. Looks good!
The second photo shows the arrangement in the cab.
The big news this week is that GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643’s boiler was lifted out of the frames for assessment and repair in foul weather last Friday afternoon.
Part of the operation involved removing the ashpan from underneath 5643’s firebox before it could be settled down on the weltrol. Keith is seen here applying some heat to release the retaining bolts.
Prior to that, Caliban’s boiler had been lifted to a position alongside the shed to make way for 5643’s boiler on the weltrol. 5643’s bunker has also been lifted off for inspection and repairs.
Other work has continued on 5643 with Ed descaling one of the tanks in between the showers last Wednesday.
Upholstering of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 is still in full swing with a glimpse here of work on the new foam bench seat in the guard’s compartment.
John Davis has removed the carpet in the east saloon and is seen removing a door step and unwanted tacks from the floor.
John Dixon has been giving the royal loo a good clean…..
…..whilst Tim has given the loo seat a coat of varnish – think he got the better of the two jobs!
Not sure who/how Keith is identifying as this week, as the current vogue goes, but he (other pronouns are available) is seen here setting up the gas torch.
He (They?!) then set about removing another stubborn smokebox retaining nut in readiness for the boiler lift.
John Dixon has been fitting the remaining lights in Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5.
Finally, the chaise longue in the east saloon of GER No. 5 is almost complete, courtesy of Anne and Phil Burton. Meanwhile, John Davis and Tim have been fitting moquette in the guard’s compartment of GER No. 5.
The replacement light fittings and door handles for Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 have now been delivered, courtesy of 3D printing technology.
John Dixon has been occupied making adjustments to the light holders to accommodate the slightly different sized glass that had to be used for a couple of the lights.
The upholstery team of Anne and Phil Burton have been making good progress with the new cushions for the chaise longue. Only another two cushions to go!
Many are naturally asking about Furness Railway No. 20 which suffered a mechanical failure on May 20th at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway. The damaged right hand cylinder cover has been despatched to Cast Iron Welding Services at Coalville for assessment and we await their verdict. Back at Blaenavon the front buffer beam of the locomotive has been removed to facilitate access and to enable the necessary motion repairs to be undertaken. We are grateful to the people at Blaenavon and the West Somerset Railway for their assistance in furthering the repairs. The above photograph of FR 20 minus its front beam was kindly supplied by the P&BR.
Back at Preston, the work to prepare GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 for the removal of its boiler has proceeded apace. As the photo illustrates, all the cladding has been removed and most of the smokebox retaining nuts have now been removed.
Alen Johnson has started the uncomfortable job of removing the concrete from the smokebox.
Meanwhile Keith has been busy re-painting the inside faces of the cladding and also the crinolines. All being well it is hoped to be able to arrange for a crane to remove the boiler in the next couple of weeks.
There have been a couple of steps forward in the restoration of Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban where a replacement piston head has appeared courtesy of Russell Walker. In addition, John Dixon and Sam recently had a fruitful visit to the National Railway Museum where they we able to obtain drawings for the missing motion brasses. It looks as if John is going to be busy making patterns in the coming weeks.
The first of the seat bases for the chaise longue in the east saloon of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 has been re-upholstered by Phil and Anne Burton; only another four bases to go!
John Davis has been tackling the job of preparing the royal toilet fittings for a coat of varnish.