This last weekend has seen what was scheduled to be the last major event for the Furness Railway Trust this year, with Furness Railway No. 20 booked to appear at the East Lancashire Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on the 11th, 12th and 13th October. As with all these occasions, there needs to be some advance preparation and Phil Burton, Alison, Ade and Anne were busy in the mess room last Wednesday sorting out sales stock and, incidentally, taking the opportunity to get rid of some long out-dated items that were taking up unnecessary room.
Ian Massey was with us once again on Wednesday, seen here working on Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall’s tender where more new plate has been welded in.
Outside, Sim and Jon were applying some red oxide to GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643’s cab roof.
New axle pad oilers have arrived for 5643’s driving wheels this week.
And so to Bury where Alison is seen with the FRT’s sales stand, which she looked after on Friday and Saturday. Phil and Anne appeared on Sunday to continue with the sales to the many visitors to the Gala.
FR 20 worked either on two Mark 1 carriage shuttles to Ramsbottom, seen here with former RSR resident L&Y ‘Pug’ No. 19…
… or operating brake van rides top and tailed with recent Ribble Steam Railway resident Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1969 JN Derbyshire.
Seen again, at Bury Bolton Street station. Photo kindly shared by John Earnshaw Photography, with thanks.
Gremlins struck on Friday afternoon when a noise from FR 20’s right hand side suggested that an examination was required. It was decided to miss the loco’s turn on the evening fish and chip special to Ramsbottom and head back to the shed where removal of the front right hand cylinder cover revealed that a small gap had opened up been the piston and the retaining nut. An 80 thou’ bronze washer was quickly machined up by Bill Beverage and fitted. Matt Hainsworth is seen refitting the cylinder cover on Saturday morning (with Bill looking on) and, after what was the equivalent of a Formula One pit stop, the loco was quickly back in service with the 11.37 brake van trip to Burrs. Our thanks go to Matt, Bill and Andy Booth for their assistance in getting the loco back on the road so quickly.
The ELR had also brought in former Bury resident BR 9F 2-10-0 No. 92134 seen alongside FR 20 at Ramsbottom on Saturday evening.
Needless to say, there is some excellent coverage of the ELR Gala on the internet, with this particular video giving plenty of attention to FR 20, including 20 blowing a lovely smoke ring – see if you can spot it!
Thanks go to all the FRT team, including Sam and Ben, who put in so much time effort over the weekend and who also ensured that FR 20 gleamed for the large number of visitors who had come to see the loco at the Gala.
The recent better weather has allowed progress outside the shed on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643’s side tanks, bunker and cab roof. Inside the shed, Keith has started to reassemble 5643’s radial truck and, with the new axle pads for the driving wheels received, it should now be possible to lower the frames. Having completed the reaming out of the remaining first batch of stay holes in the firebox the previous Thursday, attention was now turned to completing the riveting work elsewhere on the loco on Friday.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday saw final preparations for the departure of Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20, which left Preston by low loader to go to the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) for its forthcoming gala appearance after lunch the following day. John Dixon and Sam were at Bury in order to re-fit the guard irons and sand pipes, fill the tender tank and to light a warming fire.
The run had not been advertised and was even a surprise to the signalman at Bury when the engine appeared. However, two Mark 1 coaches were duly collected and moved to platform 4 at Bury Bolton Street station, where tea was duly taken by all concerned. Andy Booth’s Hunslet 0-6-0 tender loco Douglas was also in the station with the five coach dining train, which left at 12.30.
It had been decided to stop at all stations on the way to Ramsbottom to ensure that there would be no problems in re-starting the train on the gradient, and the opportunity was taken to photograph the train in Summerseat station.
Ramsbottom was duly reached in a time of 25 minutes without breaking sweat, so it was time for another cup of tea (what, more tea? Ed.) and a chat with Responsible Officer for the day, Richard Law. Once the dining train had passed through Ramsbottom on its way back towards Bury, it was time to complete the return trip, this time non-stop. It was decided on return that there was no need for a second test run and so the carriages were deposited back into the siding and FR 20 returned to the shed. All in all, a very satisfactory day.