THE FURNESS RAILWAY TRUST

Adrian, Fred and Roger have all been fighting to make the most dust, John's been working away at the east corridor end of the RMB, and Alan and John H turned up with some festive mince pies provided by Alison. 

The adjacent photo shows some of our members enjoying afternoon tea in an endeavour to ensure that the mince pie tin was emptied before being returned!

George appeared early on Saturday to remove some more tubes from Wootton Hall's boiler, and Keith and Russ Walker had a productive day outside to lay no fewer than fourteen timbers for the new point outside the shed. As can be seen from the photo, things are definitely beginning to take shape, and it is hoped to make further progress this week.

The main event this last week was the Christmas dinner, which was held last Friday eveing at Baffito's on Navigation Way at Preston. 

Alison managed to persuade a record number, twenty-one, to attend and all enjoyed a great meal in our usual private room. Well done to Alison and all the staff at Baffito's!

Adrian carried on attacking Caliban with both the new needle gun and also a motorised cup wire brush which produced a dust cloud reminiscent of a nuclear explosion. Alan and John H were seen retreating quickly to the other end of the shed!

On Saturday, Keith and George gave Russ Walker a hand in progressing the laying of the new point outside the shed, and George then continued to burn out some more of Wootton Hall's tubes. Keith has also been spending more time drilling holes in the buffer beam for the Hall's tender.

The RSR's Santa Specials once again kept Alan and Tim busy providing music, and Alison and Jen staffed the FRT sales stand.

Finally, tomorrow (Tuesday) sees the next Preston Brach meeting at The Ale Emporium, Fylde Road, Preston, commencing at 8 pm. A programme of steamy videos is being put together for the occasion.

Keith has been making further progress with the tender buffer beam for Wootton Hall, with more metal being cut and worked upon.

Adrian, Alan and John H have been busy again with Caliban, with Adrian making the most of a new needle gun - we wonder how long this one will last! Fred and Roger also joined the fray on Friday, creating another plume of dust.

Outside, we now have a photo of the first piece of the pointwork that has been laid outside the shed, now that the earthworks and boundary fence have been completed.

Yes this is the point of the whole operation! (Was that the best you could do? Ed.)

The commencement of the RSR's Santa Specials has involved FRT members, with Alan and Tim providing the musical entertainment and young Matthew and Wilfie doing a sterling job as elves. Keith has been driving, and Alison and Jen have been attending to the sales stall. Even the FRT's North London Railway coach has been dressed up for the occasion! (Maybe we could put a sprig of something with red berries on 4979 - then we could sing Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly?! Sorry, I'll get my coat.. )

Looking ahead, next Tuesday sees the second of this winter's branch meetings at The Ale Emporium, Fylde Road, Preston, commencing at 8pm - all welcome.

Live Steam had a long evening playing folk music at the Old Friends pub in Ulverston on Saturday evening as part of the Dickensian festivities.

After 36 songs(!), Tim's voice was rather frail the following day, but the trio of Alan, Tim and Pete successfully managed to negotiate an hour on the outdoor stage (pictured here) performing their traditional Sunday afternoon role of "sending the people home" to complete the commitments. 

Further progress was made on Wednesday on the road four track in the shed when Ed and Adrian moved and then joined up the lengths of rail in readiness for the point to be laid outside the shed. 

The contractors appeared on Friday to start erecting the fence, although they had not picked one of the best of days to do the job, as can be seen from the photo. Once the fence has been completed it will then be possible to lay the new point.

The major news this week is that the track on road four of the new shed was successfully straightened into its correct alignment, although not without a considerable amount of huff and grunt from those involved!

In the end it was decided that trying to move the track with Fluff on top was a step too far and so the 'birdcage' brake was moved back a few yards into the other half of the shed so that Fluff could be shuffled up and down the remaining track as required. 

All in all it was an excellent effort, although we suspect there will have been a few aching limbs amongst the crew that evening!

Outside the shed, the contractors have finished the earthworks required to lay the new point and are just awaiting the delivery of some fence netting of the right shade to erect the boundary fence in the new position.

Alan and John H spent some time on Wednesday vacuuming Caliban's frames to clear the dust, and then Fred and Roger came in on Friday to create, err, some more dust. Adrian has been notable by his absence over the past week or so, but we expect to see him back next Wednesday - yes, Adrian, the trackwork in the shed has been done, although there is still the new point to lay!

Finally, Keith has been making progress on Wootton Hall's new right hand cab side, as can be seen from the photo here. Keith and George were back at Embsay on Saturday to work on the seal between 5643's superheater elements and the header following some earlier problems.

Keith started cutting recently arrived steel to form up a replacement panel for the second of Wootton Hall's cab sides. He had previously erected the right hand cab steps, as can be seen in the photo - unlike the Class 56XXs, the 'Hall' Class seems to anticipate very wide enginemen!

Keith and George were at Embsay on Saturday to re-pack 5643's glands and intend to be back there next Saturday to check over the new superheater elements which have needed some work to cure a leak at the joints with the superheater header.

Alan and Alison spent a wet and cold weekend at Locomotion, Shildon, for FR 20's last steamings there this year. It is reported that Alan spent his evenings in the campervan laying out the next edition of The Iron Horse magazine, which should be going to the printer very shortly.

Inside the shed, of course, there is the need to slew the track on road four back into a straight line. Just a minor problem is the fact that there is rolling stock on the track in the form of Fluff and the North London Railway 'birdcage' brake coach body and chassis. However, with plenty of muscle (Ed, Keith, Mike, Tim and John), and with the aid of three jacks, a good start was made on Wednesday, and by the time that it was agreed that we should 'jack in', so to speak, the project was half way to completion. The photo on the right shows Ed and Mike at work with a jack. On Friday, Keith was able to persuade the Amber Trains trainees to move and pack to its correct position the remaining track near the entrance to the shed. It just now needs another good session or two to get the two tracks to align with each other. 

Back inside the main shed, John started to tackle the last door post on the RMB. Once the outer skin had been removed it was possible to shake hands with the bottom of the door pillar - until it dropped off! John reckons that he would probably have given up at that stage if it had been the first door post that he had tackled, but having done all the others, it is a bit late in the day to do that. It's a good job that John has plenty of patience! He persisted on Friday and reconnected the corner post that had corroded. Meanwhile Mike did some more painting of the underframe and David painted another bogie side on Saturday.

There was more work on Caliban, where Alan probed the area previously hidden by the corroded running plate that he removed last week, and Fred made some more dust with his cup wire brush on Friday. 

First, some ground breaking news (literally) - the final paperwork for the transfer of the lease for a triangle of land just outside the FRT's shed has been completed. This will enable a new point to be laid to enable access to road four of the shed without having to resort to slewing the track. The Trust is very grateful to Total Lanfina  for their cooperation in allowing the RSR and, therefore also the FRT, to benefit from the land. 

A start to the groundworks has already been made in that the approach track to the shed has been lifted to allow contractors to move the fence and undertake the necessary earthworks to allow the new track and point to be laid. It is expected that the contractors will start work this next week.

The RMB overhaul has continued, with John completing repairs to the west end door surrounds, and the windows and underframe are continuing to change colour as paint is applied.

Alan's efforts to release the corroded running plate on Caliban

John continued his welding operations at the west end of the RMB whilst Tim continued putting undercoat on the window frames as well as finding more minor blemishes on the bodywork to fill and sand. Mike Rigg and Paul Newton were busy painting below, with some of the more inaccessible parts being reached, as can be seen from this photo.

Alan and John arrived to do some more work on Caliban, with Alan continuing his mission to drill out  rivets which are holding in place wasted parts of the running plate which need to be replaced. 

Fred spent Thursday performing his speciality act of cleaning 5643's smokebox at Embsay before bringing Roger and Bob to Preston on Friday. Fred and Roger were to be seen chipping away at rust on Caliban's frames whilst Bob, as a fugitive from such an unhealthy dusty atmosphere, spent his time attending to 'Hall' Class drawings. Keith was off work that day so was able to make a start on cutting some more components for Wootton Hall from the new sheet of steel that had arrived on Wednesday.

On Saturday, George and Keith went to Embsay to remove 5643's superheater elements, but failed to fit the new elements as the holes that had been drilled to fit over the fixing studs turned out to be too small. It was Sunday, when Fred joined Keith, that a suitable drill was acquired and the superheater elements fitted. More work is required next weekend to replace some pipework elsewhere on the loco.

Adrian, Alan and John H were back in action on Caliban, with John H using the needle gun to clean off the wheels; but the consumption of both energy and lunch led to an enforced afternoon doze! Alan was attacking Caliban with the drill whilst Adrian was wielding his angle grinder.

In addition, Keith and Anthony have been busy with Wootton Hall and Fluff respectively.

Alan and Alison were at Locomotion, Shildon, over the weekend, although the Sunday steaming had to be cancelled due to lack of available staff. Alan is currently back at Shildon to prepare FR 20 for two staff training days on Wednesday and Thursday, and Alison will be joining him again for the weekend's steamings, with Tim also joining them for Sunday.

Last night saw a gathering of the Trustees at Alison's house, with the main business being concluded by 10.00 (a record), although Any Other Business (Alison's sandwiches and cakes) lengthened proceedings rather longer! It should be recorded that Jim Kay made the trip all the way from Pickering for the occasion, and faced a very long journey back afterwards.

As well as the steamings at Locomotion, in connection with the Shildon Model Railway Exhibition, this weekend should see the new superheater elements fitted to 5643 at Embsay. Fred is starting the job on Thursday by cleaning out the smokebox, with Keith and George tackling the elements themselves on Saturday and Fred joining Keith to lend a hand on Sunday. Other volunteers would, of course, be very welcome.

Alan and Alison enjoyed a weekend with the Steam Punk enthusiasts at Locomotion, Shildon, over the weekend. Alan is seen here on FR 20 on a Locomotion Facebook photo, complete with those goggles around his topper! 

Alan and Alison are back at Locomotion yet again for another two days of steaming next weekend. Then hopefully they will be back in good time for the Trustees' meeting at Alison's house next Monday evening. Advance warning here, then, that the blog may be delayed next week.

John returned from his roofing exploits at home to find that the C&W gang had also taken up the same cause on the RMB which, despite the unseasonal intense heat of that day, received a coat of grey gloss. Painting that roof has been one of the longest known jobs in the history of the gang in that it was started way back in 2010 when the RMB first arrived in the RSR running shed. Unfortunately, it had to be moved outside before the job was completed, and  it was then decided that a different shade of grey was required as the decision had subsequently been made to paint the rest of the coach in red and cream livery.

This last weekend saw the annual Autumn Steam Gala at Locomotion, Shildon, where FR 20 was scheduled to be in service at the east end of all trains on both days. The duties on the other end of the train were shared, in two hour slots, by visiting engines Barclay 0-4-0ST Bon-Accord, Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Agecroft No. 1 and Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Sir Cecil A Cochrane.

The fireman's job on FR 20 was to keep enough steam to maintain vacuum for all journeys and then be able to haul the trains downhill; however, it was also necessary to act as banker when the smaller engines struggled either on the morning wet rail, the corner at the west of the line, or through lack of steam! 

Alan, Alison and Tim spent a happy weekend there enjoying the sunshine and were joined by Dickon Chaplin-Brice and Peter van Zeller on Sunday. 

The sun was so hot on Saturday that Alan decided that it was time to ditch the "Victorian" jacket - he reckoned that it had shrunk, although the accompanying photo of breakfast time suggests that Alison's cooking might have something to do with it!

Alan and Alison are back at Locomotion next week for the Steam Punk event, so don't leave your goggles lying about this week or they may be purloined!

Monday, 5th September 2016

Working parties are starting to show some recovery after absences during the summer holidays and the blog is somewhat longer this week, though perhaps not back to full strength just yet!

The RMB overhaul continues to make progress with David, Paul (see photo) and Mike wielding paint brushes on the underframe, Tom and Trevor rebuilding panelling inside, and Tim continuing to seek out blemishes on the exterior which need filling and sanding. John has nearly made it to the east end of the platform side of the coach with his welder.

Keith and George have again been busy working on Wootton Hall and work also continues on Fluff. Caliban has taken a back seat just recently because of Alan's visits to Shildon and Adrian's work commitments. Fred and Roger, however, continue to busy themselves with cleaning up components.

Looking forward, next weekend sees the Ribble Steam Railway's annual Autumn Steam Gala, which sees Grant Richie 0-4-0ST No. 272 make its debut in service. The following weekend is the annual Locomotion Autumn Steam Gala at Shildon, at which FR20 will be back in steam. The old girl is also scheduled for duties there for the subsequent three weekends.

The RMB overhaul has continued to make good progress with John moving on from repairing the servery window to renewing another door pillar. 

The filling sanding and priming of the bodywork has now caught up, while inside the coach, Trevor has been repairing the melamine panels whilst Tom has been sanding the servery window surrounds. 

Mike has been away for a couple of weeks but Paul and David have continued the work on the frames and can be seen here cleaning up the original gas compartment cover.

The FRT's potential Olympic synchronised cup wire brush angle grinding team of Fred and Roger have once again been busy cleaning Caliban's frames.

Alan and John H also made an appearance last Wednesday to work on the loco, although the heat appeared to have a detrimental effect on progress after lunch as can be seen from the photo...! 

Keith has been making more progress with Wootton Hall, as can be seen from the photo of the assembled cab steps. 

Bob has again been working on the drawings for the project and can be seen here educating Matthew on the finer points of the General Arrangement drawing.

George has been cutting out more tubes from Wootton Hall's boiler and has erected a fan system to ventilate the boiler whilst he is at work - George can be seen here setting up one of the fans. 

Keith, meanwhile, has been finishing off the creation of the crinolines around the boiler and has been manufacturing new items for the loco. He is seen here cutting new metal to form the backing plate to the cab steps.

John D has continued to weld up new metal on the exterior of the RMB and Tom and Trevor have now been able to re-fit both servery windows. The filling and sanding has continued and some gloss black paint has at last been applied to the west end corridor entrance and door. 

Down below, the replacement gas compartment cover has now been successfully trial fitted by Paul and Mike and new handles have been created, ready to weld on. David has also been chipping away at the rust spots on the main underframe.

Fluff has also been receiving more attention from Anthony, where the fourth cylinder has been identified as the culprit in preventing the engine being turned over.

5643 and Cumbria have continued to turn their wheels at Embsay and Shackerstone respectively. FR 20 was the focus of attention this last Monday when Alan, John, Fred and Tim paid a visit to Shildon on a very dirty day out to prepare the boiler for a dry inspection by the BES surveyor this Friday. They were joined there by member Brian Goodfellow. The Gang can be seen moving the ashpan, which doesn't seem to get any lighter! All being well, another visit will be made next Monday to re-assemble the boiler in readiness for a steam test. John won't be able to make it, so let Tim know if you a fancy a trip over to the north east. We meet near Junction 36 on the M6 at 8 am.

Back at Preston it has been a case of carry on as usual, with work taking place on all the current projects.

Tom is seen here laughing as John removes another part of the RMB for renewal. The second photo shows the replacement piece of steelwork tacked into place - John seems to be getting quite good at this! You can see from the phot the quality of the finish on the other, already completed, bar window.

Paul, back from his holiday in the south west, has carried on work on the new gas compartment cover and is seen here doing a spot of tin bashing. No doubt Mike will be back this week to give him a hand. Tim has been undercoating the west corridor end as well as some hoovering of the shed floor in readiness for the AGMs. The chairs have also received a wash.

Ade, Fred and Roger have again been cleaning down the frames on Caliban and John H has been causing everyone to walk around with ear defenders - not because of his line of conversation, but because he has been in action with the needlegun again! And Anthony has been doing some more renovation on Fluff. Meanwhile, yet another heavy sheet of steel has arrived to keep Keith occupied on Wootton Hall.

So, on to the aforementioned AGMs and an EGM, to be held in the new shed on Tuesday evening, 19th July, starting at 7 pm. Time to reflect on the Trust's activities of the last year and to look forward to future activities. Will there be anyone new elected as a trustee, or will it be the same hands as before? Why not come along and find out? See you there!

Andy Booth has fitted a patch screw in 5643's firebox to replace the lap rivet removed for inspection at the request of the boiler surveyor. The boiler was subsequently filled with water and then satisfactorily steamed.

There were still some stay nuts to replace so, at Keith's request, six new die nuts were procured from South Coast Steam on Thursday, arriving at Preston on Friday in time for Keith's weekend visit to Embsay; we guess that's what they call in the trade "just in time" procurement! 

As a result of all this work, the steam test for the boiler surveyor took place today and - good news - 5643 has been given a new ticket having successfully passed the formal inspection.

John has again been busy at Preston repairing the first of the servery windows on the RMB, with the assistance of his "supervisor", Tom. Both are seen here, happy at their work.

Trevor has continued with the re-fitting of interior panelling. 

With the boys "down below" still enjoying what we hope are stress free holidays in the south west, Tim has been making further progress in filling and rubbing down small indentations in the RMB's exterior bodywork, with plenty more red oxide being applied.

Caliban's frames have been the centre of attention from a mixture of needle gun and cup wire brushes as John H, Adrian, Roger and Fred have made further progress in removing rust and old paint this last week. 

Meanwhile Alan has been giving the boiler some more attention. 

We mustn't forget Wootton Hall where Bill Norcross has been busy manufacturing 36 new bolts for eventual use in fastening down the smokebox to the saddle.

Looking forward, a reminder that the AGMs of both the old and the new FRT charities - and an EGM of the old to discuss its dissolution - will be held in the FRT shed at the Ribble Steam Railway at Preston on Tuesday, 19th July, commencing at 7pm. And its Tom's birthday again!! 

After some trials using the folding machine, it was decided that trying to work with a 2mm sheet of steel was going to be beyond them. However, Keith has managed to find then a lower gauge piece of steel for them to use and we will follow their progress over the next week or so.

Other than that, there is little much new to report, apart from the fact that Tom and Trevor appeared on Wednesday instead of Friday to accommodate Trevor's domestic arrangements, and John has now finished welding up another of the windows on the RMB.

As predicted in last week's blog, Caliban's boiler has been moved inside the FRT shed where work can continue in good working conditions.

Member Ed Tatham's road roller is now operational again after considerable work to its firebox. It is seen here on the RSR's car park at Preston last Wednesday where various people had a go at driving it, with varying success!

Keith continues to rebuild the back end of Wootton Hall, and the adjacent photo shows another section that is being welded up by John Stewart. Keith and Fred are off to Embsay this next weekend to prepare 5643 for its annual boiler examination and, hopefully, to look at the newly manufactured superheater elements.

Of course, some members have been diligently taking shelter in the FRT's shed at Preston from that yellow thing in the sky. 

John has acquired some more welding wire and has continued his mission to repair the steelwork around one of the RMB's windows, whilst Paul and Mike (who had returned from his two weeks of holiday) were once again busy down below, including cleaning up and painting the battery and gas boxes. 

The interior of the RMB is starting to look a little more organised after the efforts of Trevor and Tom, although a clearout of paint and other items will be required before the job can be completed.

There was also more progress on Caliban on Wednesday with Adrian and Alan dismantling items and John H doing the vital job of providing more chocolate mini doughnuts. Anthony Jolly and others have also been busy with Fluff's engine.

For those of you wondering when the next edition of The Iron Horse will be available, Alan spent yesterday laying it out ready for the printers and it should be taken in there later this week.

Elsewhere at the Ribble Steam Railway, we are pleased to be able to report that Grant Richie 0-4-0ST No. 272 of 1894 was successfully lit up for the first time since its painstaking restoration at Preston. Being built in Kilmarnock, it not surprisingly seems to have similar attributes to Andrew Barclay locomotives, but that is another tale! Well done to all who have worked on this rare little machine.

Mike and Paul continued their work beneath the frames of the RMB, and Tim has almost completed the necessary sanding and filling around the heavily welded toilet area. The latter has required some "sculpturing" to bring back the original shape, but it now looks pretty much as it used to with a coat of green anti-corrosive primer on it. 

Tom and Trevor made another appearance on Friday and have been refitting interior panels where John has completed the welding on the steel body and Tom has also been applying filler to the window frames. 

Meanwhile, in a quiet moment, Tom let slip that he has "taken the huff" over the  photo in the blog a couple of weeks ago of Alison with her other, rather younger, sales assistant! Obviously there is still life in the old dog yet!!  John has had a week off welding as he has had the builders in at home to renew the window fascias and soffits at Dixon Towers. He will no doubt be back this next week to continue his metalwork with renewed vigour!

Adrian and Fred have been working on Caliban, with Fred making his usual cloud of dust with a cup wire brush on the buffers and bufferbeam. Fred also tried to free up one of Caliban's couplings, with a little help from Trevor. A little more WD 40 and some heat is needed we think.

Keith has been ploughing on with the reconstruction of Wootton Hall's drag boxes. The almost completed tender drag box can be seen here, in readiness for riveting to the frames. Well done, Keith.

Next Monday evening sees a Committee Meeting taking place at Alison's house, so the blog will probably be a day late. As mentioned in last week's blog, there will be two lots of accounts and reports to review as well as all the other customary business to conduct, but it is to be hoped that the meeting will end the right side of midnight!

A shorter blog this week, but still enough we hope to let you know that work has still been progressing at Preston with all our current projects.

Mike and Paul have continued to work on areas below the sole bar of the RMB, and we can highlight just one of the challenges that can be found when working 'down below'. 

Mike came across a jagged, non load bearing,  metal backing piece to a gas switch, which could do some mischief to anyone catching their skin on it. The solution chosen to put matters right was to replicate the lost corroded area of metal with a well crafted application of fibreglass paste, and then to sand and paint it to make it look like new. 

The photos show Mike in full creative 'bodge' mode and the finished result, barring the paint. 

Paul, meanwhile, can be seen patiently undercoating the nearby bogie. 

John has been making more progress on welding new metal on the other side of the RMB, and the finished job around the centre door can be seen. It just needs some grinding down of the weld, filling, sanding and painting to finish the job.

Alan has been across to Embsay to inspect 5643's firebox in advance of the annual boiler exam. As anticipated after last year's inspection, some work will be required and it is hoped to be able to arrange this after the end of May.

Keith has, meanwhile, been making further progress on Wootton Hall.

Behind the scenes, the 2015 annual accounts for both the old unincorporated Furness Railway Trust and the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation have been passed to the Trust's Independent Examiner for inspection, and the Committees are due to meet on the 23rd May to finalise and approve the Trustees' Annual Reports. 

The paperwork for this exercise has doubled in size because of the transfer of the assets and undertakings of the old FRT to the new CIO FRT part way through the financial year, on 1st December - this date was planned to coincide with the VAT accounting period to at least enable a smooth transition on that front! A date for the AGM will be set shortly and notified to all members.

Last Wednesday saw a meeting of the new and the old. 

We welcomed new member Paul Newton to the team and Mike Rigg set him to work on one of the RMB's bogies, where he seen here with a paint brush and some red oxide. Always wise to start from the bottom, they say, and this certainly seems to be the case with Paul. We look forward to seeing Paul as a regular member of the Wednesday Gang and hope that he enjoys our company.

Also paying us a visit was early member Neil Glover, who is seen here with Adrian and Keith. Readers of the very early editions of The Iron Horse will recall seeing Neil in photographs, when he started the Haverthwaite Fire Brigade. Also calling in to see us again were Tom and Trevor Bradshaw. Trevor is making a good recovery from his recent illness and hopes to be back with us soon on a regular basis.

As usual, more progress was made on the RMB, Caliban, Fluff and Wootton Hall. Another photo is included here from John's welding album.

5643 was scheduled to appear at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway's Branch Line Gala over the weekend, which appears to have received plaudits from those who attended.

More working parties at Preston this next week. 

There have, as usual, been more working parties and progress on the rail vehicles in our collection. John D has been busy with the welder again on the RMB.

And  Mike has been making the sparks fly, grinding down John's weld whilst Tim has once again been applying the filler and sanding it down; he has even got to the stage of applying some paint around the much welded toilet area of the steel panelling.

There was the usual gathering at The Ale Emporium last Tuesday evening for the final session of the winter season of Preston Branch meetings when Alan produced some previously unseen video of Furness Railway No. 20's visit to the north east in 2008 which saw it operate at the Tanfield Railway, Locomotion, Shildon and Beamish. It was a groundbreaking tour for FR 20 which has of course made Shildon its second home as well as since visiting Beamish again as well. There then followed video from Derek Milby which contained comprehensive coverage of main line steam tours in the north west during 2015 and early 2016.

There was more progress made on our projects at Preston working parties over Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. John (or should we now christen him Sparky?) is seen here cutting up metal to insert in the side of the RMB. Tim has been applying lots of filler, but realised that he was a lower league player when Richard Pearson (visiting from Locomotion, Shildon) confessed that they had used around thirty cams of filler on Deltic "King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry" when it was there recently for a repaint!

Alan has been working on removing corrosion from one of Caliban's valves, seen here at the milling machine and then polishing the surface after machining. 

Keith has again also been making good headway with "Wootton Hall", assisted by George on Saturday. 

In fact there has been a pretty good turnout of working members this week with visits also from Mike, John H, Anthony, Fred, Roger, Bob and David. 

The adjacent photo shows some of the gang  on Wednesday, plus member Ed visiting to check up on progress.

The RSR's Steam Gala on Saturday and Sunday, featuring visiting Peckett 0-4-0ST "Teddy",  saw Adrian, Alan and Tim in action on the footplate whilst Alison and Tom attended the sales stand. 

Tom, seen here closing doors on the North London Railway coach, also gave plenty of visitors guided tours of the FRT shed alongside Frank Masson.

Finally, the bus situation has now marginally improved for people wishing to visit the RSR following the cuts and rearrangement of services. The No. 75 has now been resurrected, although only runs every two hours along Chain Caul Way. On the alternate hours, the No. 80 runs to Navigation Way and, of course, the No. 89 operates generally every 20 minutes to McDonalds, leaving you with a ten minute walk.

The major engineering job of the week, however, centred on our shed's white circular dining table, which had mysteriously disintegrated - we know the culprit!

As you will see from the adjacent photos, it took the might of the FRT's engineering dept to put matters right. No heavy sandwiches allowed in future.

Also on the agenda this week is a talk that we have been asked to advertise at the Lakes College at Lillyhall near Workington. Rob Davidson, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, will be talking about the highs and lows of developments in the rail industry, why changes are made and asks whether this is done for the right reaons. It is billed as a thought provoking talk for those in the industry. It is at the Lakes College on Wednesday evening from 6.3opm and advance booking of the free tickets is advised (you can do this via the link on our Facebook page.)

A little bit further forward, next weekend sees the Ribble Steam Railway's Steam Gala with guest loco, diminutive Peckett 0-4-0ST Teddy (pictured here) making its first appearance at Preston, before it heads off to Locomotion, Shildon for the summer. The FRT's second class North London Railway coach is also rostered for duty at the beginning and end of each day on Victorian specials. 

Public transport to the FRT's base at the Ribble Steam Railway has taken a turn for the worse with the axing of the No. 75 bus service, which used to stop a matter of yards from the main gate.

This service has succumbed to the cuts in Lancashire County Council's subsidies to local bus services and the last bus ran on close of service yesterday. 

The nearest bus service to Preston city centre is now the No. 89 from McDonalds, generally every ten minutes during weekdays and Saturdays, and every 20 minutes on Sundays, during the day.

We show here a photo of a couple of snifting valve castings which Andy Booth has offered to the Trust at £75 each. Keith is looking for sponsorship for the purchase of these items, so please let him know if you can help.

Caliban has seen further dismantling of its components, the Wednesday working party marching on a full stomach after the late, but much appreciated, arrival of Alan's birthday cakes. Adrian, Alan, Sam and John H were kept busy, with Alan cleaning up the valve faces and Ade demonstrating to Sam how to take things apart! 

Fluff was again the subject of the diesel gang's attention.

Keith has once more been busy making new components for Wootton Hall's drag boxes. He is seen here drilling holes in the engines new rear drag box back plate - quite a substantial bit of kit to have to reproduce. Derek made an appearance and was able to see the products  of the new gas cutter which he has sponsored.

With the RSR's Diesel Gala in full swing at the weekend, the shed received occasional parties of visitors, led by Frank Masson, who must surely now be thinking of applying for his Blue Badge from the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides. Frank, bless his cotton socks, always remembers to highlight the donation box attached to Wootton Hall!

Although Cumbria is staying put down at the Battlefield Line in Leicestershire over the winter, the handbrake has made an appearance at Preston as the bottom threads on the handle have become worn causing the brake to unwind itself involuntarily unless chocked. Bill Norcross is now manufacturing a new threaded bar which, we hope, will rectify the problem.

Alan and Alison have been across the Pennines once more this last weekend to accompany FR 20, which has been in steam once more at Locomotion, Shildon. The wintry weather was a challenge on Friday, but Alan faced the additional challenge of getting home today after the southbound M6 was closed for most of the day following a serious collision between two lorries in the Lancaster area.

Monday 22nd February 2016

Work continues at Preston on all fronts.

As seen from the photos in last week's blog, Keith has continued to make progress on Wootton Hall's drag boxes, although he has now decided he needs a longer piece of track for the new toy - the gas cutter that is, not 4979! The current 1.8m length isn't quite long enough to do all the metalwork that is needed.

Birthday boy Alan decided to go off with Alison for a visit to Ravenglass last Wednesday, so we had to do without any birthday cake! 

However, the hungry crew soldiered on in his absence; John made further progress on welding new metal on to the RMB whilst Tim did some more sanding and filling. Adrian again did what he is most famous for, and did some more dismantling of Caliban.

Talking of dismantling, Fluff's engine cover has been taken apart and it looks as if we will need to order some new sheet metal to enable the growing diesel gang to re-assemble it. 

The cab also needs a makeover as the years standing outside in Lakeland and north eastern weather has taken its toll. 

The good news is that the engine appears to be in reasonably good condition and Anthony Jolly has managed to acquire a manual for it. The photo shows Liam Diamond at work on the cab with a drill.

We hope to have news of the efforts of the Friday and Saturday working parties in next week's blog.

David arrived at Preston last Wednesday with the promised gas cutter that was mentioned in last week's blog. 

This was finally put into action on Saturday when Keith and John Stewart started to cut more metal for Wootton Hall. It looks a great piece of kit. 

Incidentally, the internet is a wonderful facility for searching for such specialist tools and, after some shopping around, it was possible to reduce the cost by a massive 80%! Tim should be pleased! (Again.)

John finally managed to weld his newly fabricated door pillar on to the RMB. Next task is to weld on some replacement steel to cover the door pillar and then hang the door in the right place!

John H, Alan and Adrian have spent more time removing components from Caliban - it keeps Fred and Roger busy cleaning them up (the components, not John, Alan and Ade!) and applying primer.

The weekend saw Alan and Alison head over to Shildon for the first of FR 20's steamings this year.  Alan and FR 20 can be seen in action on a video on Locomotion's Facebook page.

It will still be some while before Trevor is able to drive and come back to work with us, but it was good to be able to see them both after their absence from our working parties.

The left hand valve cover on Caliban was removed last Wednesday with Alan applying the heat and Adrian poised to crawl underneath to remove the nuts with a spanner. 

Once achieved, Alan was able to join John for a bite at the new (OK, second hand) table in the shed! 

Fred and Roger were kept busy on Friday cleaning up more of Caliban's components. Meanwhile, young Anthony has been cleaning more paint off Fluff as part of his work to restore the loco.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) sees the next Preston Branch meeting when steamy videos of steam in the North West and on Heritage Railways will be the subject matter. As usual, the gathering will take place at 8 pm at The Ale Emporium, Fylde Road, Preston.

Tomorrow should also see the arrival at Preston of the former Foxfield water crane which has been in storage at Haverthwaite for many years. The RSR intends to erect it after it has received some restorative work.

John has been busy with the tedious task of repairing a door frame on the RMB whilst Mike has acquainted himself with the needle gun to blast away scale on the bogie cross bearers. Mike has also been able to make a start on undercoating the sides of the bogies - see adjacent photos.

Meanwhile, more progress has been made on stripping Caliban, the team being strengthened by the appearance of Sam Middleton last Wednesday, and again on Saturday. The right hand piston has now been removed and, by the end of Saturday, the right hand valve chest cover had also been removed along with the cylinder drain cocks and linkage. The branch pipe from the steam chest was also dismantled.

However, it seems that the occasion was all too much for our birthday boy, and he is seen here fast asleep whilst work on Caliban goes on around him. (Thanks, Ade, for the photo!)

Anyhow, despite a lack of input from one member of the gang, Caliban is still gradually being dismantled, and the adjacent photo shows the cylinder covers off on the fireman's side.

Welcome to the second blog of 2016 - January seems to be disappearing fast!

There is plenty of work going on at Preston as usual. 

John is back in full swing with his metalwork on the RMB and Tim is still busy with the sanding machine, filler and paint pot. Mike has taken on board the task of cleaning and painting the bogies and has already made a good start.

Caliban's components are still being dismantled in order that they can be freed up, cleaned and painted. The pin through the reverser and quadrant took a bit of shifting, but has now been removed after a bit of persuasion (see photo) - everything now moves freely after some attention from Fred with the emery paper. 

Roger meanwhile is applying the primer paintbrush to anything that comes his way.

John H has finished cleaning off Caliban's front buffer beam, Alan has been trying to free off cylinder covers, and Adrian has been dismantling slidebars.

You will no doubt be pleased to read that some useful progress has been achieved in our shed at Preston over the festive period and the first week of the New Year.

Keith and George have been working hard on Wootton Hall. Keith has been piecing together new drag boxes for the Hall's engine and tender and is seen here drilling holes in a yet another new piece of angle for the front tender drag box. George has been removing the bolts that hold the smokebox on to the saddle, which needs some heat to enable the nuts to be turned.