Apologies once again for the inconsistent publication of the blog. We are hoping that the effects of the winter ailments are now mainly behind us!
First of all this week, a big thanks to all those of you who have made such generous donations to the Trust whilst renewing membership over the past couple of months. With so much potentially expensive work going on at the moment it is really very heartening to have such support from members. It is very much appreciated.
The overhaul of 5643 has continued apace with the coded welder Ian Massey paying a visit last Wednesday to commence work on 5643’s boiler, focussing on some wastage at the bottom of the front tubeplate. A further two visits are expected in the coming weeks to finish the tasks requested by the boiler surveyor.
Ron Crowe is pictured here drilling out one of the firebox backplate stays, one of 300 stays to be renewed.
A set of special die chasers has been purchased for the purpose of manufacturing new stays.
Work has also continued on cleaning and painting the frames and attachments with Jon Dixon seen here cleaning the bottom of the smokebox saddle prior to painting with high temperature paint.
Finally, Keith has picked up from one of our machinists the refurbished ‘J’ cock, one of 5643’s cab fittings, the original body for which having been unfortunately damaged during the process of dismantling.
As ever, most of the resources have been devoted to the continuing overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. Phil Bell and John Davis have been grinding down the exterior heads of the stays that need to be renewed on the boiler and Keith has been in the firebox to attack the stays from that direction. The result is that Ron Crowe has now drilled out and removed the first stay with many still to come!
Other members have been busy continuing the work of cleaning and painting the frames, including Ed…
… while Jon Dixon has been wielding the paintbrush on the wheels.
Anne and Phil Burton have continued their work on the chairs from Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5, a photo here showing one of the chairs reupholstered in horse chestnut leaf moquette as an example of how they would look with this pattern.
Finally, elsewhere at the Ribble Steam Railway site, Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 2013 of 1950 has arrived, having been purchased by Furness Railway Trust member Jimmy Dutton, who also owns Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST Linda.
The cleaning and repainting of the main frames of 5643 has continued, assisted by the frames being jacked up to release the radial truck wheels which are now ready for despatch for reprofiling of the tyres.
Phil Bell has been producing replacement drawers for Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5, the wood for which has been stained and received its first coat of varnish.
Phil and John Davis have also been re-assembling Fluff’s brake hangers and brake blocks.
Finally, our folk group, Live Steam, made its annual New Year’s Eve appearance at the Engine Inn, Cark-in-Cartmel with George coming up from Derby to assist Alan, Tim and Pete. Despite Pete and Tim being under the weather, the evening seemed to go down well with the audience and a useful addition to funds was earned.
Our boiler surveyor, Adam Wright, visited the FRT shed at Preston on Friday to inspect the boilers of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 and Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban. There was good news and bad news with the verdict on 5643 being pretty positive. It had already been planned to renew the 5/8” boiler stays, which was agreed with Adam along with some protective surface welding of the front tubeplate and a few sections of the boiler barrel. Adam is seen above inspecting the interior of the firebox through one of the large mudholes.
Elsewhere, John Dixon has been catching up with a couple of jobs. Firstly, he has been preparing some steel hangers for the fire pump suction pipes, which should help to keep them safe and away from potential damage.
Secondly, John has been attending to the wooden box which sits on FR 20’s running plate alongside the right hand smokebox. The box had sustained some heat damage whilst the locomotive was running up the steep gradients at Blaenavon, which is now being rectified. For similar reasons, Tim has now completed the re-painting of the smokebox door and the right hand side of the smokebox.
The lifting of 5643’s frames has allowed access for cleaning the back of the wheels. Sam is seen here busy cleaning one of the wheels.
Tim and Alan had hoped for some relief from the playing of Christmas songs on the RSR’s Santa Specials through the offer of help from Graham and Bernadette Dixon. Unfortunately, both Graham and Bernadette both went down with ‘flu after the second weekend and so Tim and Alan had to complete the final weekend on their own. Alan is seen here being wheeled away for recovery by Alison after performing on the second train on Sunday.
Finally, Sam (pictured right) had his first firing turn on a Santa Special and is seen here with the rest of the crew waiting for a group photo to be taken.
The cast frame for Great Western Railway 0-6-2T 5643’s radial truck
The Trust has been donated a number of chairs for Great Eastern Railway
It has been another week of steady progress with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. There has been some fastidious cleaning of components taking place as can be seen by this photo of one of the axlebox bearings and keep.
Fred has been concentrating on cleaning the radial wheels before they are sent away for re-profiling.
There was some good progress on the overhaul of GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 this week. Ed Tatham is seen here jacking up the rear of the frames on Wednesday so that the radial wheels could be released.
Once the wheels had been released the chassis was then partially lowered.
Keith and Sam worked on Saturday to dismantle the radial truck so that the wheels can be sent away to be re-profiled.
Friday saw a short notice visit from Jim Kennedy and son to undertake a non-destructive test on 5643’s boiler. The white dye penetrant that was used can clearly be seen. We are pleased to report that the initial results were positive, but we await a visit from the boiler surveyor to confirm the extent of work required on the boiler during its ten-year overhaul.
Wednesday saw the arrival of a gift wrapped package that was delivered from Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Inside was a four cylinder Perkins diesel engine with twin disc torque converter for Fowler 0-4-0DM Fluff, which had become surplus to requirements at the Pleasure Beach but which should give new life to Fluff. The FRT is extremely grateful to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for helping out the Trust in this way.
Finally, Tim has set about beautifying Furness Railway No. 20’s smokebox after the lower paintwork had been burnt away during the locomotive’s climbs up the steep gradients at Blaenavon’s Heritage Railway this summer.
Work has continued on the frames of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. Ed is seen cleaning paint off the running plate.
Jon Dixon has been catching up with some painting underneath.
Sam has been attempting to remove the nuts that hold the rear cylinder covers in place, the bottom nuts being particularly stubborn. John Dixon has been applying some gas heat to loosen them off.
Elsewhere, Phil Bell has been working in the kitchen of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 to replace missing drawers. Keith has been applying some more two-pack primer inside the tender of Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall and is intending to conduct another water test shortly. Meanwhile Tim has been attending to the ‘ploughed field’ surface on the exterior of the water tank. Much of the left hand side has now received a skim of filler which has been sanded. A first coat of primer is being applied which has the added benefit of highlighting areas that need further attention.
As predicted in last week’s blog, the wash out of 5643’s boiler took place last Wednesday. We were able to welcome Sim Dixon for his first working party who, along with twin brother Jon, coaxed the fire pump into life after some tender care. Both Sim and Jon were members of the Lakeside Railway Society fire brigade in the early days at Haverthwaite and they also owned two wartime fire tenders, one of which they still have.
Ade had pulled the various rolling stock out of the FRT shed to enable to the wash out to take place, FR 20’s tender supplying the water as usual. Given the distance involved, there had to be an established signalling system between Sam, who was wielding the hose pipe, and Sim and Jon who were controlling the fire pump. Alen Johnson was on hand to hold the hose in place for Sam.
Andy Booth came to Preston on Friday with the aim of removing the six flue tubes from 5643’s boiler. These were expected to be stubborn, being screwed into the firebox tubeplate. Andy can be seen at work in the smokebox…
… whilst Sam gave assistance from the firebox.
Andy gets the first of the flues on its way out.
The flue is then pulled out of the boiler by John Dixon and Keith.
A final view as the flue makes its way into daylight, to be followed eventually by the other five flues. A good job done.
Finally, John Davis has been cleaning 5643’s cab and has repainted the cast plate which warns crews of the perils of looking or walking alongside the cab.