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.