Author: neil.smith@furnessrailwaytrust.org.uk

There is more steady progress to report this week at Preston.

John Dixon has been working on FR 20’s tender footplate. It was originally slightly short of metal on the up-curve next to the coal hole, which had previously been overcome with the temporary expedient (20 years ago!) of being filled with fibreglass. Over time some of the fibreglass has broken up and so a proper job is now being undertaken this time around.

Tim continues to prepare the tender tank and outside frames for painting whilst the brake rigging is also in the process of receiving a fresh coat of paint and Phil Bell is seen cleaning up one of the brake hangers.

Fred has been cleaning up some of the brake pins.

Meanwhile Roger has been undertaking a long overdue clear out of the rear storage box on the tender, reaching into areas where no one has dared to explore for years!

Fluff is slowly going back together and John Davis is pictured adjusting the cab foot pedal under the watchful gaze of Howard and John Dixon.

Ade has again been attending to the axleboxes on Caliban.

Keith has been shaping the injector delivery pipes for Wootton Hall.

Keith has also been over to Embsay where 5643 sprung a steam leak at a joint with the main steam pipe a couple of weeks ago. A loose stud was eventually found to be the cause of the problem and, after Keith had fitted a replacement, the locomotive was successfully tested this week. A wash out is now due before the start of the Santa Specials, so please let Keith know if you are able to assist.

 

It has been another week of working away steadily at the FRT’s ongoing projects.

Firstly we can report that, after a thorough clean and re-paint, FR 20’s front tender drag box is in the process of reassembly. The heavy buffing spring was lifted back into position and then the even heavier drag box cover plate was put back on Friday. John Dixon is seen here giving the matter some deep thought!

The engine spring that was removed from FR 20 the previous week was despatched to the spring manufacturer last Wednesday to act as a template for replacement narrower springs which George, after undertaking a complex calculation, has deemed appropriate for the job. Underneath the tender, John Davis and Phil Bell have dismantled the right hand tender brake hangers for cleaning and painting and to give access to the frames. This has created further work for Fred who will no doubt be pleased to learn that a new batch of cup wire brushes has arrived!

Ade has been busy fettling the axlebox lubrication on Caliban whilst there has been further progress on cleaning the frames and axleboxes on Fluff. Howard seems very happy at his work on Fluff.

And finally, Keith has been assembling more pipework in Wootton Hall‘s cab.

 

It has been one of those weeks where work has been steady but generally unspectacular in the way of results.

FR 20’s tender continues to be sanded down by Tim, who is taking the opportunity to sort out the odd blemish in the steelwork with filler that time did not permit first time around.

Work on the tender front drag box is progressing well with Roger applying a top coat of paint to the interior.

John Dixon has been putting top coat black to the draw bar, buffing spring and also the drag box cover.

Fred has been cleaning up the tender handbrake (foreground) whilst John Davis (left) has been cleaning up axleboxes from Fluff.

Tim, Alan and Adrian gathered to jack up the rear of FR 20’s engine in order to release a spring. This is to be sent away to act as a pattern for a narrower set of springs that will be more appropriate to the engine’s weight, which has reduced to 25 tons rather than the 36 tons it had been as a saddletank.

Keith has completed the metalwork for the new splashers for Wootton Hall, one of which is seen supporting one of its nameplates.

Keith was able to purchase from the Worth Valley Railway a second-hand ejector elbow..

.. and also second-hand firehole door mechanism for Wootton Hall.

There was also more work carried out on Caliban.

Finally, for those of you who use Amazon to purchase goods, you may be interested to learn that if you opt to use the Amazon Smile web site instead, you can make a small donation to the Furness Railway Trust on every item that you purchase. You should find making the Furness Railway Trust as your preferred charity a fairly simple task.

Work has continued on Furness Railway No. 20 this week. Andy Booth has completed his work on the tubes and we need to think about fitting blanks ready for a hydraulic test. There are a couple of corner firebox screws to attend to as well.

John Dixon has been creating a bar to be fitted on to the floor of the front tender drag box to support the buffing spring. He is seen here at work with the magnetic drill.

Phil Bell, seen with John Davis, has continued his work below the tender frames which includes the dismantling of some of the brake rigging to allow access to the frames and for cleaning.

Tim has continued the task of sanding down the tender paintwork.

Adrian and Alan have been engaged on the task of fitting new felt lubrication pads into Caliban‘s axleboxes.

We haven’t seen many photographs of Howard lately so here is one of him filing down a metal insert into Fluff‘s new running board.

John Davis has been cleaning up Fluff‘s springs.

Work has also continued this week on Wootton Hall‘s new splashers and the machining the newly white-metalled tender bearings, one of which is shown here.

A second-hand CNC machine, the purchase cost being subscribed to by the FRT, arrived at Preston on Wednesday and has been positioned in the RSR workshop.

The Ribble Steam Railway Diesel Gala took place last weekend and Class 14 D9539 hauled one of the evening trains for the Folk Evening.

Geoff Middleton was on hand to pipe in the last train.

Meanwhile brother Alan entertained as a one man band.

Over at Embsay, Cumbria made a successful return to traffic with the Sunday dining train (thanks to the Embsay loco group’s Facebook for the picture) while 5643 is lined up for a few repairs this week.

Finally, don’t forget the annual Barrow Model Railway exhibition which takes place at Barrow’s 6th Form College this weekend.

After an enforced break of a week, there is plenty to look back on over the past fortnight.

Further work has been carried out on FR 20’s boiler by Andy Booth and it is hoped to have the job of expanding and beading over the tubes finished this next week. The tender has received plenty of attention with John Dixon leading the task of examining and cleaning up the front drag box. First it was necessary to remove the curved fall plate, the bridging piece between the tender and the engine.

Once the tender floor plate had been removed, there was then the more difficult task of removing the thick plate directly above the drag box which could not be moved until both the draw bar pin and the buffing spring pin had been removed. The latter was found to be seized in the lower base plate and so it was time to call in Ade, who has “previous” in taking apart those things that don’t want to come apart! With assistance from Tim also, the pin was finally extracted late last Wednesday afternoon after many applications of jack, heat and a sledgehammer. Ade is seen here at work with the latter, watched by John Dixon, Keith Brewer and Neil Glover.

It was then just a case of getting four pairs of hands to remove the main plate and to expose the drag box for the first time in over twenty years.

Once two of the buffer guides and the buffers had been removed, Roger then assisted John last Friday in the task of cleaning up the drag box.

A coat of bright orange primer was then applied.

Meanwhile Tim has been sanding down the one of the tender sides and Phil Bell has been cleaning the tender brake rigging.

Fred has been busying himself cleaning the tender springs and hangers.

Keith has been cutting out new sheet metal for Fluff‘s running board.

This was then successfully lifted into position and fitted.

Paul Balshaw commenced the task of jacking up Fluff last Wednesday so that the wheels could be removed and axleboxes examined.

Phil Bell is seen moving the wheels once the frames had been jacked high enough.

Keith has also been concentrating his time recently in manufacturing new splashers for Wootton Hall.

Over at Embsay, Cumbria passed its statutory cold boiler examination on 16th September and, after re-assembly of its fittings, was given a test steaming last Thursday. This confirmed that the recent efforts of Charles Adams and his team had been successful in resolving the passing of steam through the regulator valve when closed. Also tested was the brake valve which had undergone a rebuild by Barry Gambles of South Coast Steam. Disappointingly, the newly acquired regulator quadrant fell at the first hurdle with the end stop coming adrift.

This has now been successfully repaired and re-fitted.

We now await the formal steam test with the boiler surveyor after which, all being well, there will be a carefully monitored return to service. In the meantime we show a photo of Cumbria whilst shunting during its test steaming.

A reminder that the Ribble Steam Railway’s Diesel Gala takes place next Saturday and Sunday with a Folk Evening next Saturday evening.

More good progress was made with Caliban last Wednesday with Alan tackling the job of scraping in the newly re-metalled bearings.

With the vision of the locomotive being lowered back on to its wheels in the not too distant future, Ade was checking the spring support pins.

Also achieved last Wednesday, in good time before the lowering of the loco, was the lining out of Caliban‘s wheels.

As forecast in last week’s blog, Ade conducted a shunt which enabled Fluff and FR 20, complete with tender, to be positioned on road three of the heated section of the FRT shed in readiness for the winter work programme. Fortunately it was possible to do the shunt whilst the rain held off and FR 20’s frames made a rare appearance out in the open.

The new line up in the shed is seen here.

Phil Bell, Fred and Roger soon got to grips on Friday with the task of cleaning up FR 20’s tender frames and brake gear.

5643 has been in operation at Embsay but unfortunately suffered a leaking mudhole gasket on Saturday. After a number of ‘phone calls and texts, fresh lead mudhole joints were supplied on Saturday evening from Tim’s strategic store in his garage. Mrs O was extremely surprised that the lead rings were found by Tim in a matter seconds whereas the more normal search for bicycle pumps, inner tubes and helmets always takes many times longer!

FR 20’s tender chassis was duly reunited with its wheels last Wednesday although the blustery wind did its damndest to try and make life difficult for us.

However, patience paid off and, after a successful struggle in damp conditions to re-fit the brake gear, the tender was shunted around to the FRT shed late afternoon after Ade had shunted around some more coaches for the RSR.

The good news is that the tender appeared to roll well after the work to convert its bearings from brass to white metal. We hope that this is a good omen for the future. Other news on FR 20 is that Andy Booth has made more progress in beading over the tubes in the boiler and hopes to complete the task this week.

With FR 20’s tender wheels now tucked under its frames, Ade wasted no time in bringing Caliban‘s wheels into the FRT shed for the newly white-metalled bearings to be scraped in.

It is now intended to rearrange the line up on road three of the FRT shed this coming Wednesday so most of Friday was spent in tidying up the shed in readiness for the shunt. Whilst you don’t get quite the same satisfaction from doing this kind of housework, it should make life much better for us as we move towards this winter’s work programme. We show here a last look at the FRT shed before items are moved around, with FR 20’s boiler (left), Fluff‘s frames (foreground), Caliban (distant left), FR 20’s engine frames and Wootton Hall‘s tender frames (distant right).

There is disappointing news this week in that Jim Hanmer and Alan Preston are having to abandon their current attempts to resurrect Fluff‘s engine, mainly because of the difficulty in tracing replacement components. The engine is being reassembled in its current state and we will have to consider whether it is worth further pursuing the repair of the existing engine or perhaps finding a suitable replacement. In the meantime work has continued in rebuilding the platework and assembling other components, with Phil Bell giving the newly fabricated cab sides a coat of red oxide.

Finally, on the sales side, Alison informs us that she now has a brand new badge depicting Caliban for sale. Please contact either Alison or Alan if you would like to purchase one, with a special members’ rate available.

As we head into the Autumn period there are signs of things starting to come together with some of our projects.

Wednesday saw FR 20’s tender axleboxes being re-assembled and mounted on the journals. This is in readiness for the arrival of a crane this next Wednesday morning when it is planned to place the tender back on its wheels.

This exercise will not only enable the cleaning down and re-painting of the tender and attention to the brake gear to take place in the coming weeks, but will also allow room in the shed for Caliban‘s wheels to be accommodated so that the bearings can be scraped in. Once this is achieved we can look towards lowering Caliban back on to its wheels as well. After that it will be the turn of Wootton Hall‘s tender wheels to come in for its axlebox bearings to be worked upon.

We include a photo this week of Keith silver soldering a flange on to a piece of Wootton Hall‘s injector pipework.

Over at Embsay there has been significant progress with Cumbria. A new regulator gland has been cast and machined following the discovery of a fracture in the old regulator gland. This has now been fitted and packed along with a replacement regulator quadrant.

The regulator has been reassembled in the dome after much work to remove side play and to ensure that surfaces are compatible. The hole in the link rod has been opened up to receive a new pin and the main and pilot valves modified to suit. The boiler surveyor will be undertaking the cold inspection of the boiler on Thursday and, subject to a satisfactory report, the boiler will be reassembled for a steam test. Fingers crossed! We are indebted to Charles Adams and Andrew Hirst for their work on Cumbria in recent weeks.

A quick Bank Holiday update before settling down on the sofa for the last time with Demelza this evening – last edition of Poldark for those that don’t watch it.

Andy Booth has completed the expansion of the tubes in the FR 20’s boiler and has been beading them over in the firebox. He will return to complete the job early in September. Meanwhile, Fred has started the job of giving the boiler a coat of paint.

FR 20’s brake rigging has received a couple of coats of paint and it is planned to reassemble the tender axleboxes shortly ready for the tender to be placed back on its wheels. Roger has again been on his knees painting the boiler cladding or, as we are assured by John Dixon the correct term is, clothing.

Alan Vipond has been machining Caliban‘s newly white metalled bearings ready for them to be scraped in.

Ade, who spent most of last Wednesday shunting carriages, has fitted one of the spring hangers with one of the newly manufactured pins.

John Dixon has been making a new bench for a pipe bending vice.

And Phil Bell has continued his work on Fluff‘s cab platework.

Finally, over at Embsay a hydraulic test has been successfully completed on Cumbria to test the ‘J’ pipe and fireman’s side injector delivery pipe. A boiler washout was being carried out this last weekend in preparation for the loco’s boiler survey.

 

We arrived at Preston on Wednesday to hear the distant sound of a steam chime whistle and later found out that it was none other than 70000 Britannia on a northbound run through Preston to Carlisle. Just for the record, here is a photo of the loco heading back south through Lancaster at speed with The Lakelander just after 5 pm.

Tim and John Dixon virtually completed the painting of FR 20’s frames, motion and wheels on Wednesday. John is seen here painting some of the motion.

The fresh gloss paint on the frames and motion now gives it a smart appearance.

Finally a painted and lined out wheel.

Roger came in on Friday and started the task of cleaning and painting the internal surface of the boiler cladding sheets.

John has been preparing some new wood to be inserted on top of the front buffer beam where previous area of oak had perished.

Fred has continued to work on cleaning up the smokebox and we have a rare photo here of him having a ten minute breather.

Andy Booth is expected to have started today the task of expending the tubes and beading over the ends in the smokebox.

Work continues apace on Fluff with John Davis drilling holes in the newly inserted steel stretcher plate between the frames.

Phil Bell has continued the task of drilling holes in one of the new cab sides.

Ade has been testing the fit of the first of his newly fabricated axlebox covers for Caliban. First of all he hoisted a test axlebox into position before heading off to the bench with a file to start the process of modification!

We are glad to be able to report that Bill Norcross is back from sick leave and he is seen here setting up to drill some holes in a brass flange for Wootton Hall.

Paul Newton came in on Friday to continue his work on the L&NWR seat from Preston station.

Finally, we have news from Charles Adams at Embsay that the machining of Cumbria‘s main and pilot valves is almost complete along with the lapping in of the ‘J’ pipe face.