Transport & Industry News at Beamish

The Great North Steam Fair - Invited Exhibits - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:46:00 +0000

Part 1: A selection of railway exhibits:

In anticipation of the Great North Steam Fair (April 12 - 15th) I will start to filter out some images of exhibits we hope will be attending - some await final confirmation and as ever these are all subject to availability...

Below: The Waggonway - the engines not in use during the event will be on display and hopefully available for photography.

Below: The Y7 will be in operation, but not quite as usual. If the next exhibit arrives as is hoped, then the Y7 will be moved to the Colliery area for the four days of the event in order to match it with Bowes Railway coal wagons and the chaldrons - this should create some great photo opportunities. 985 was one of the LNER built Y7s (rather than being a former NER H class) and as built it did have lower buffers (dumb) for working with chaldron type stock.

Below: We have asked if we can borrow the Bluebell's 1877 Fletcher Jennings 'Baxter' again.

Whilst still awaiting confirmation it would be the intention to operate the newly vacuum brake fitted loco at Rowley Station.

Below: We are building a new narrow gauge railway, of a more permanent nature, and booked to appear this April to inaugurate this line is 1877 built De Winton vertical boiler locomotive 'Chaloner' normally based at the Leighton Buzzard Railway in Bedfordshire. It is seen here at the Llanberris Slate Museum, photo by owner Alf Fisher.

Below: On the vertical boiler theme we are delighted to have Dave Potter and co's 0-4-0VBT (no longer geared!) 'Paddy' making its third visit to Beamish.

We are still working hard on readying SHDC No.18 (Lewin) for the event - it may or may not happen, but we'll certainly have a good go! The boiler passed its insurance company hydraulic and steam tests on Tuesday and is due to arrive back in the north east next week.

Coffee Pot - now or then???

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:27:00 +0000

The wonder of the 'App' has come to Beamish! Andy Martin has made this short film showing Coffee Pot No.1 at work during this February's half term. The computer trickery has enabled a wonderfully convincing archive feel to be captured - compare this to the real film showing Lewin and Coffee Pot No.17 working at Seaham Harbour and available on the Beamish YouTube channel.

All this needs now is some suitably upbeat music and a 'frightfully proper' commentary!

Dunrobin - a glance back to June 1970...

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:03:00 +0000

On the 18th June 1970 Ray Manning chanced across Fort Steele and found an expatriate there, in steam and operating on the 4km line there. He was welcomed by the staff and took a number of images in colour and black & white. Sadly Ray died recently but his photographs came into the possession of Peter Clark who thoughtfully donated them to Beamish. Here is a selection of those views. What is interesting (to me at least!) is that they show Dunrobin before the air brake conversion, thus it is free of the air pump. It is also interesting to note the buffer beam colour and addition of electric lighting. Dunrobin had only been in Canada for five years at that point. Enjoy these views (a full set is available on Beamish's Flickr site) - a great foretaste of what we will be able to enjoy in a couple of years time...

General News Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Its been another one of those weeks where lots of work hasn't produced so much to show on the blog, though hopefully I can change this soon with some interesting developments on a number of fronts... Behind the scenes I have been working with Tony Vollens on the planning for our new workshop facilities, which should truly transform our capacity to carry out work in house and will include a heavy engineering shop, machine shop, long term projects joinery (capable of dealing with tram bodies etc.), a machine shop, dedicated tramcar overhaul area and various improvements to the existing vehicle workshops and facilities. Our target is to open most of the facility in the early autumn.

Planning for the Great North Steam Fair has reached a point where we will shortly be able to announce most of the expected exhibits and as usual there will be a Flickr page to the right of this blog showing what is coming. Planning for the September event is also in hand, likewise the events for 2013 and even 2014!

We are looking to increase our fleet of period vehicles for use on (and off) the Museum site. I am currently looking for three vans, 1940s/50s and these will be used in place of modern vans currently fulfilling a role on site. I then aim to find as many as three more so that there will be a complete range of site transport available for diverse roles such as those carried out by the track team, attendants, handymen, gardeners and catering departments. The Model Ts haven't been universally popular with the Ton Truck doing most work and the rather better van seeing less use. We are working on improving this.

If anyone has a period van or even car (especially an Austin 7) that is in good condition and they might like to give us then I am all ears - the Morris Commercial was a good example of someone placing their pride and joy into a museum collection but being assured of its care and future use.

There is a cracking set of Dunrobin photos to put online shortly, taken in 1970, but until then here are a couple of views showing progress in recent days:

Below: Tony Vollens, while waiting for a timber order to arrive, has set about overhauling one of the chaldrons from the running rake. This has included new boarding and partial top rail replacement. Our longer term view is that we will always have a chaldron passing through the works, aiming for an eventual total of 12 running waggons (three rakes of four) plus one spare, a replica 'box' chaldron and a replica Londonderry brick waggon. This is on top of the waggon at the entrance building. This project would pretty much use up all the available parts and spares accumulated over the years and would enable the Colliery to look far more populated in terms of coal waggons, though this situation has certainly improved in recent years.

Below: Meanwhile, Lewin has not been forgotten and much beavering away in various parts of the country is taking place to enable the completion of the project sooner rather than later.

Dave Young has braved illness and a trapped nerve to keep his lathe turning and produce the components required to make the two water valves (of two different types) required to feed the injectors, which are currently a contract job for Graham Redfern. Dave will also tackle re-handling the injector steam valves and is busily pattern making for flanges as well as producing odd size nuts, bolts and studs to speed up the assembly of the loco. We are regularly visiting to paint various bits, Vince Allen working on the valve gear having spent considerable time realigning such things as slide bars etc (Lewin was very worn!). In Staffordshire the Hunslet team are manufacturing the cab, bunkers and tank and the boiler awaits collection from Derbyshire.

The photo below shows Dave's drawings of the water valve operating linkage along with the completed valve itself. At the heart of this is a commercial valve, altered to suit our purposes both operationally and cosmetically.

General News Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Below: The level crossing gates from Rowley have been moved to the Colliery Engine Works for Tony to overhaul. They have been suffering from rot for some time as well as damage caused by them not fitting properly when closed to road traffic. This is being corrected as well as the gates substantially overhauled.

Below: A close up showing the steel crossbars and areas of wood and metalwork removed for overhaul.

Below: Outside Tony has started work on repairs to the final Waggonway vehicle and is seen here propelling a new bottom plank into place. Note the other new wood and missing top rail which is also being attended to.

Below: Another 'action shot' showing how this plank fits in place and also the versatility of the chaldron design that such repairs are possible with relative (!) ease.

Lewin latest - w/c 5th February 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:37:00 +0000

Below: Progress is still ongoing, though this week not quite as visible. The cylinder covers (seen below) are now receiving the final coats of colour prior to the black borders being added and varnishing.

Below: Vince has done a lot of work on the brakegear. The original arrangement placed quite a lot of stress on the footplate, so this has been strengthened. The hanging links have been made and the push rod modified to include an elbow which enables us to use the same brake blocks (for which we have a pattern!) as are used on Coffee Pot No.1. I would also envisage using the same on No.17 as well as it is useful to be able to share such 'consumables' among the fleet.

Below: The footplate is today's subject for attention. The original was pitted, thin and had been butchered during the 1970s restoration. All three plates have therefore been replaced, with thicker plate to take account of the brake cylinder mounting (beneath). Meanwhile Dave and I carried on with painting the inside surfaces of the frames.

Below: New footplate valances have been made and literally inches of blown metal and rust cleaned away. With new plate added this area is far tidier and stronger than it had been up to now.

So, the work continues, still with an April debut in mind... The loco has also been requested by the Severn Valley Railway (accompanied by Coffee Pot) to take part in their 150th anniversary celebrations on the 19/20 May.

Glimpses of the Past...

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:29:00 +0000

Last weekend was the first 'enhanced transport performance' weekend of the year, which as posted here previously will see the first weekend of every month (except January) have a greater number of working transport attractions around the Museum, so as to showcase more of the motorcycle, bicycle, car, commercial, railway and horse drawn collections that we have (or those visiting us on longer term loans) at Beamish and so that enthusiasts or visitors who particularly want to see, say, Coffee Pot working, will have a good idea of when such operation can be expected to take place. These don't replace or eliminate working at any other time, just offer the chance to 'put a date in the diary'.

Despite snow there were a number of things to see on Saturday including Coffee Pot, the 6T Wallis steam roller, Marshall 'Mary Margaret' and horse drawn deliveries (seen below delivering wood to the shed we store lighting-up material in at the Colliery). Colin Slater supplied the shot of Coffee Pot - something of a classic scene but not one much exploited by photographers...

Dunrobin - Phase 1 of project announced

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:45:00 +0000

A year since I first met Dunrobin in the flesh and eight months since it returned to the UK we are very pleased to announce that the first phase of the restoration of this 1895 built locomotive will shortly commence following the awarding of the boiler overhaul contract to the Severn Valley Railway at their Bridgnorth works.
Readers of this blog will recall that the locomotive as sent directly to the SVR upon arrival from Canada and that a comprehensive strip down and examination was embarked upon to make sure that the boiler and other aspects of the overhaul to come didn't contain any (or many!) nasty surprises. A competitive tendering process followed the issue of expressions of interest (the Pre Qualifying Questionnaires) and preparation of a detailed brief by myself. The work has been broken into phases to suit the potential funding available, largely drawn from Beamish's income and surplus from the past year. The Severn Valley Railway produced a tender which was competitive and comprehensive and as a result, Phase 1, restoration of the boiler, has been awarded.
Work on the boiler will be extensive and includes the following: New boiler barrel sections, new front tubeplate, new smokebox (though retaining the front, door and chimney), replacement foundation ring, outer wrapper side sheets, all stays (longitudinal, side and girder types), replacement of the LMS type washout plugs, relocation of the fusible plug and numerous other items requiring attention. This will be a comprehensive project resulting in an as-new boiler, though incorporating the original copper inner firebox (which was fortunately in good condition though will be completely dismantled and re-rivetted).
So, what of the rest of the loco? The main areas of work to consider are replacement of the cylinder block (the original being life expired and it is deemed prudent to replace it at this stage in Dunrobin's Beamish career), heavy overhaul of the frames, work on the wheels (including turning to UK profile) and repairs to the tanks, cab and bunker. There are also numerous small jobs to attend to and, of course, the re-application of the glorious deep green livery originally carried when owned by the Duke of Sutherland.

As can be seen this will continue to be an exciting and comprehensive project which will result in a locomotive restored to the old main line standard MT276 and which will hopefully delight visitors to Beamish and other heritage venues in the UK for many many years to come. It represents a major commitment by the Museum and do remember if you are visiting that all of the proceeds from the gate, shops, tea rooms and chip shop all goes towards projects such as this one. It is also anticipated that the Museum's own development trust will be able to contribute to the scheme.
In parallel we are working to overhaul and recommission the Duke's saloon, No.58A, again to a very high standard - greatly aided by its already very good condition.

The million dollar question - when will it be finished? Well, as with all steam locomotive restoration projects there are many caveats to any date we might suggest, but the spring of 2014 would seem to be realistic assuming continued availability of funding.

Meanwhile, work on the restoration of the Lewin is reaching its climax, the Forcett coach restoration should be complete this spring, the Hodbarrow side tipper restoration is nearly finished and progress continues on the 1913 Ruston portable. Add to this the new workshop developments (which are now being planned in detail), some forthcoming news from the tramway and the looming Great North Steam Fair event and it can be seen that there is plenty of interest to the transport enthusiast at Beamish at the moment!

Newcastle & Gateshead tramways map

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:31:00 +0000

Newcastle and Gateshead Official Tram Services Map

We were recently able to purchase this wonderful folded guide to Newcastle and Gateshead tram services, dated April 1923 and showing both systems - note the absence of the Tyne Bridge at this time! Andy has scanned the image and using some trickery you can view the whole map or zoom in and roam about it. The paper is very thin and the reverse, details of routes and fares, shows through. However, this is a fascinating document and though costing rather more than the original 1 penny, it is a great addition to our collection.

Unintended logo

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000

For those who subscribe to this blog I apologise for the appearance of some sort of large orange symbol at the top of each post update - work is in hand to remove this as it is not intentional!

News round-up

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:29:00 +0000

It has been a busy couple of weeks with progress on several fronts but primarily a focus on various projects and research subjects that will manifest themselves in due course. However, work on various current projects continues and below is a summary of some of these:

Below: Hunslet at Statfold Barn now have the parts to fit to the tank and cab of the Lewin and this week will receive the final drawings to enable work to progress. The boiler is now ready for testing and at Vince's we have completed painting the external parts of the frames and the driving wheels. This week the plan is for him to assemble the motion, make the running plates and perhaps trial fit the sandboxes. Work is also required on the bufferbeams so that I can get the timber cut to make these. Back at Beamish I am working on the cylinder covers, which will also include black border lining in the finish.

Below: Tony Vollens has been busy in the engine shed working on overhauling the Waggonway train. He and I are also starting the planning for the new workshop development, which will form our 'Regional Heritage Engineering Centre' and which is being supported by a private funder. This work is due to start in the spring, meanwhile there is a backlog of repairs and maintenance to carry out in readiness for the season ahead. The painters are currently working on the steps and decking for the Gallopers and will soon drop onto the Waggonway train once the new timbers have all been fitted as required.

Below: This photograph was a recent e-bay purchase and shows Gateshead 52 at what I take to be the Teams terminus (?) of the route with which this tram was synonymous. It is a very good image and dates from late 1939/1940 - adverts were restored in 1942. Thanks to John Henderson for information on the image.

Forcett Coach - Further progress January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Below: I called in at Stanegate last Thursday to see the Forcett coach and Ian Yates has also sent some further images showing progress. Below are seen the various brackets for the steps and a selection of grab handles. All have been cleaned and primed. Final colour is a darker green.

Below: This view shows how the end posts are being repaired...

Below: This is a close up of those repairs, showing how as much original material has been retained as possible, with new material grafted, secured and glued in place. The completion of these items adds stiffness to the end of the coach and enables thoughts to turn to repanelling this area.

Forcett Coach Progress - January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:16:00 +0000

Here are the latest views of progress on the Forcett coach's restoration at Stanegate Restorations & Replicas, as sent through by Ian Yates who leads the team there...

Below: This is a close up of a dry fitting of one end replacement cill.

Below: This view shows the cill from the other angle, with the corner post removed for repair.

Below: This dramatic view showing the guard's end with end removed - including the headstock.

The roof is supported by the new sides. This graphically emphasises the extent of the work being carried out as part of this restoration.

Below: An idea of the condition of some elements of the coach! This shows the disintegrating headstock with the buffer to the left.

Below: This is the replacement cill end, shown against the original which is being used as a pattern.

Lewin latest - week ending 20th January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Below: Another productive week on Lewin! On Tuesday I called in on Alton Engineering who are rapidly bringing to a conclusion the restoration of the boiler. This had originally been overhauled by another contractor, but since then a number of areas of work had been identified which required additional attention (including repairs to grooving on both inside and outside of the firebox plus replacing some quite inappropriate boiler fittings and dome cover, the latter with the original!). A new smokebox (of rivetted pattern) and chimney have also been made, a spare clack pad blanked off and numerous other smaller jobs carried out. The boiler is now ready to test before being submitted for statutory inspection and testing and then returning to the north east. Exciting times indeed!

Below: The face of Lewin! The smokebox handrails remain to be fitted (using components made by Dave Young) but there is now no mistaking the identity of this engine! The original dome cover, which was discarded during the 1990s overhaul, has been resurrected. The reason for its previous replacement was that the top 'flare' was perforated upon arrival at Beamish in 1975 and later appears to have completely broken off. Rather than repair this, it had been seen as easier to replace the dome cover. This was done as a turning rather than casting, welded to a flange. In this overhaul, the original has been machined to create a flat top then a pattern made and casting produced and machined to exactly fir the dome and thus restore, completely safely, the original shape and profile. It also restores the proportions of the Salter safety valve balance and arm in this area. Photos of the casting and pattern appeared in an earlier Lewin posting.

Below: A view of the backhead. Note the Salter spring balance for the safety valve. New try cocks have also been fitted.

Below: A close up of the steam turret/fountain (or steam manifold, depending on your favoured terminology). The safety valve is within this casting, the arm providing the leverage from the spring which is contained within the brass tube to the left. This arrangement is known as the 'Salter' type, after Salter springs and balances who manufactured the scaled components. The manifold casting is a new component, itself replacing a replacement component which had been fabricated in the past and wasn't suitable for this restoration. The manifold not only contains the safety valve but also supplises the two injectors, steam brake, blower and pressure gauge.

Below: Meanwhile, Dave Young has, in one week flat, repainted all of the motion for Lewin, done extensive work on the oilways and then fitted the oil pots. The latter has not been without difficulty - see the last post on this subject. These items can now be returned to Vince for fitting onto the locomotive once the frame painting has been completed...

Volunteer Projects update

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:11:00 +0000

Below: Colin Slater, who assists in coordinating the work that the Friends workshop volunteers do at Beamish, send through these photos of a 'typical' Saturday's work (this is by no means it in its entirety however!).

Here work on the buffer straps for the side tipping waggon are being worked on.

Below: There is generally at least one cycle project underway in the workshops, something that looks likely to remain the case in the future and thus provides a steady stream of work as well as an outlet for the expertise in this field.

Below: Test brackets (as shown in earlier posting) are offered up to the DoS saloon 58A. This photo amply illustrates the work required to reconstruct the lower step on the coach.

Below: Work has started on assembling the Adams Car Elevator, with two of the angled castors being fitted to the new channels in which the wheels sit.

Below: Some time ago a small cannon (!) was obtained from another museum. Whilst the cast barrel is in good order, the carriage was not and an entirely new one has been made out of oak and is seen here being assembled prior to painting. Needless to say this is one of the few exhibits for which we don't have aspirations of operating it!

Lewin Latest (week ending 13/01/12)

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:07:00 +0000

As the work to complete Lewin accelerates towards its conclusion (I hope!) in the late spring, I thought I would cover the progress on the restoration on a searchable thread within the blog, titled 'Lewin Latests (date)'. Hoepfully this will assist those wishing to follow this project specifically and who can use the search facility on this blog to more quickly locate what they are looking for. So, what happened on Lewin last week...

Below: Davy Sheen has repaired the original ashpan for No.18 (to give the Lewin it's more correct identification), which has included extensive patching of the front end as well as straightening the ashpan door and providing a more suitable location for the damper lever to locate onto. It is seen here pending painting (which will smarten it up but inevitably burn off in time - I can't think of many ashpans that aren't a red rust shade after a few years work).

Below: Meanwhile, over at Hetton, the first coats of NER (well, LNER!) apple green colour have been applied to the wheels, disguising the rather vivid high build undercoat shades. The frames should receive their first colour, 'Morrocco Marroon' next week.

Below: Vince has made replacement cylinder cladding as the original was pretty bent and battered and had been affixed to the loco using some very rough and ready welding (this probably dates to the 1977 'restoration' but may reflect later 'keep it running' practice at Seaham Docks). These will be removed, probably home, for painting and application of at least the first stages of the quite elaborate lining on these items.

Below: Dave has been busy in his workshop, trial fitting the rather lovely lubricating pots which he made, and discovering that they were something of a 'rattling' fit! Hal Weetman, Lewin's former driver, recalls requesting the oil pots be replaced by grease lubricators during the loco's last few years at work (so late 1960s). He admits that he realised that this wasn't a progressive move and that within days he regretted asking as the grease would not follow the oil ways and so he had to still apply oil anyway! He also adds that he hadn't the heart to ask for the oil pots to be refitted and so Lewin ran with grease 'stauffers', something it retained in the 1977 restoration. Thanks to Dave's skill at making the patterns and machining a full set of oil pots (of Black Hawthorn design, from a drawing by Graham Redfern who re-equipped Black Hawthorn 'Wellington' at the Tanfield Railway with a set) Lewin now has not only better looking and more accurate lubrication, but will also have a better supply of oil for these important moving parts.
Dave has approached the fitting of these parts in two ways. In some cases he is able to make a bush that has an oversize outside thread to fit into the worn threaded holes in the rods. This has an internal thread of correct proportion for the oil pot:

Below: Dave's second approach to the problem has been to silver solder the pots into place where this is possible. This example is shown below (in fact this is the other end of the coupling rod also shown above).

So, much still to do and a narrowing window to do it in! On Monday I will be visiting the boiler and hopefully shortly afterwards the superstructure fabrication will be agreed and work on that will commence at Hunslet's works at Statfold Barn. The foundry has the patterns for the injectors and our new Regional Heritage Engineer will produce the timber buffer beams. Once the boiler arrives at Vince's then reassembly of the engine can make much more progress and the myriad parts already prepared can be fitted. Next Friday afternoon is earmarked for another painting session, so I will report next weekend on another week of Lewin restoration progress...

(Note - I prepare these notes on my laptop at home, which seems to have a fundamental disagreement with Blogger resulting in numerous additional spaces and rather wide gaps between text and photos - I have tried to edit these out but, as in so many other aspects of our lives, apparently computers know better than us and we are but their servants...!!!)

From Dave Young's workshop...

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:27:00 +0000

Below: The latest addition to the Steam Mule 'assemblage of steam bling and ornamentation' (!) is this small water pump. Dave Young built it from scratch for a project he had in mind many years ago but recently unearthed it and overhauled it as a potential candidate for the Steam Mule. It might be used as an additional (fourth) means of delivering water to the boiler, though an alternative idea is to use it as a means of drawing water into the main tank. Either way it adds a steam pump to the engine enabling further training elements to be incorporated into the Mule. There is no urgency to fit it but Dave did carry out a steam test, as shown here...

Below: Meanwhile, a large (and heavy!) assemblage of rods are scattered around Dave's workshop, these constituting pretty much all of the valve gear, connecting rods and coupling rods from Lewin. Whilst work can progress on painting the frames at Vince Allen's works, Dave can progress in the comfort of his own workshop on these items. They have been overhauled in anticipation of reassembly, but are rather easier to paint when off the engine than on it! This view shows the connecting rods (to the fore) and coupling rods (to the rear). They are nice wrought iron lumps, one of the connecting rods bearing the scars (and repairs) following an altercation with a large rock on the north beach at Seaham in the 1960s. Hal Weetman was the driver and recalls the day. The rod was removed and taken to the blacksmiths at the Seaham works for repair, meanwhile, as Lewin was rather short of water and immobile on the beach the tank was filled with seawater! Hal recalls that once the rod was refitted, they beat a retreat to the main docks to fill with fresh water, the engine priming dreadfully and frothing all of the way!

It is nice to know a little history behind one of Lewin's many battle scars!

From the workshops...

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:35:00 +0000

Below: The restoration of the water cart by the Friends volunteers has taken a great step forwards after they rapidly dismantled it and dispatched the tank, which had areas of heavy corrosion and perforation (not conducive to water retention!) evident. The repairs were carried out by a local contractor and are superb, as the photo below shows. The patches are almost invisible from the outside and are amazingly neat inside.

Below:The area around the lid was also removed and new metal welded in to create a new edge and firm base for the casting and lid to be secured to.

Below: Elsewhere in the workshop a jig has been made to trial the brackets repairs for the Duke of Sutherland's coach, No.58A. As may be recalled, the step brackets were rather brutally modified in 1950 so as to ensure the coach ran 'in gauge' from the Scottish to the Southern region when Dunrobin and 58A moved to New Romney. The upper brackets survived and will be repaired to include the lower leg and fork to support the bottom footboard. This will be replicated once the brackets are all overhauled, repaired and replaced upon the coach.

Below: The Friends team working on the Hodbarrow side tipper have made good progress on the chassis and it is seen here complete with the axle pedestal castings fitted in place - this is now a very heavy lump! The pedestals include a block of resilient rubber to act as a crude damper/spring (something widely used on Robert Hudson built wagons after the First World War). In February I hope to order the final bits of metalwork needed for the tipper body, which will enable its completion and hopefully its appearance at our showcase event, the GNSF in April.

Daimler CC Replica Bus Overhaul

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:17:00 +0000

Few visitors to Beamish lately will have failed to notice how hard the bus fleet is working. There are some long term plans to expand it, but in the meantime a programme of work has begun to overhaul and improve the existing trio of vehicles.

First off for this year is the now quite aged Daimler CC bus, built in 1987 and showing signs of 24 years hard work at Beamish! If this is compared with what an original's actual working life was, it can be seen we have done very well with this bus as very little has been done to it over the years. The chassis donor was a Renault normal control truck, and a spare chassis is held in stock 'just in case'. The engine off the spare is now installed in the replica but otherwise it is pretty much as built. The condition is sound, though the paintwork is poor and there are various small defects to remedy. A mechanical overhaul, particularly of the braking systems, has commenced and a full repaint will follow, probably in March. The livery, like the trams, has been chosen to create some interest and will be the 1914 onwards 'Northern' scheme of all over crimson/maroon with gold leaf lettering - per the SOS bus. Northern celebrates its centenary in 2013 so maybe the Daimler and the SOS can find some role in those celebrations.

Below: A view of the Daimler a couple of years ago. As part of the overhaul it will be returned to its solid tyre wheels, which will vastly improve its appearance. These were originally fitted for the buses launch in 1988 but were later removed and replaced with pneumatic tyres to cope with the then very poor road conditions on the Museum site. Now that these are much improved, a return to solids will follow. The Daimler should be in action in its new livery for Easter (and the following weekend at the Great North Steam Fair...).

Below: This shot from the Museum archive shows a similar Daimler in Northern livery. The company had its origins in the Gateshead & District Tramways Company, who began a number of bus routes to serve its tramway termini. These proved so successful that a separate company was formed, the Northern General Omnibus Company. As a result the buses were repainted into the new livery, as seen below, and as will be recreated at Beamish this spring.

Also receiving attention this winter is the Access bus. In 2012/13 the other replica bus, currently in London General Omnibus Company livery will receive a similar overhaul to the Daimler, and also be re-liveried into an appropriate local scheme...

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Happy New Year to all blog followers! After a break I have returned full of ideas for the year ahead, which certainly looks to be a promising one.

What can we expect in 2012? Well, two big events (April and September - the latter reinstated as a four day event after initial thoughts reported here that it would be reduced to two days).

Both will feature visiting railway locomotives, narrow gauge locomotives, trams, traction engines, cars, cycles etc. etc. There is also the return of the Lewin to steam to look forward to (I hope for April, but looking less likely at the moment - we will try though!), possibly the Ruston Portable

and maybe a few other interesting arrivals in the year ahead (on all forms of rail...). The Forcett Coach should be completed in the spring, we are now gathering our energy for a major redevelopment of the workshops which should greatly improve both output and self sufficiency.

Later in the year we should be able to reveal something of our long term planning strategy, see progress on Dunrobin and the DoS coach 58A, commence the improvement of facilities at Rowley Station and continue to increase the transport activity across the whole Museum. So, certainly exciting times ahead and as ever, you can read it here first!

I should also add that the blog can be considered definitive - I do occasionally have quite odd conversations regarding the transport at Beamish and this blog - as the Keeper of Transport I do take quite seriously the idea of reporting the news from the Museum to those who are interested, and also producing something that can be relied on for the historical record. It is an official blog and one that I keep as part of my role here - there have been some who have informed me of what we are doing or going to do (in their opinion) that has come as news to me and I can assure readers that what you read here really is the truth! That said, here are some photos taken over the Christmas holidays to start of the new year...

Below: Whilst visiting the January Sales in Manchester I called in at MOSI where Agecroft No.1 was in steam and operating over the Y shaped demonstration line there.

Below: I also had a recreational visit to the Severn Valley Railway - very wet and pretty cold, so very atmospheric! Here is visiting BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T 80072 at Kidderminster Town station.

The Christmas season has been exceptionally busy at Beamish (or maybe this is the norm when it doesn't snow?!) and the clear up is now in full swing. We are still open (closed Mondays and Fridays) and whilst Rowley Station operations have stopped until Easter, the Tramway is still running everyday and more than likely you will see the Balloon or Gateshead 10 in action (these now being the favorite winter trams as I hear it from the operating department).

End of 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:46:00 +0000

The blog (well, me!) will be taking a break for the next week or so. I'd like to thank everyone for following these musings and ramblings and can assure you all that 2012 holds much of interest, excitement and development regarding all of the Transport & Industry activities at Beamish!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Lewin - Painting the frames

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

Below: Not Lewin but relevant as it is the same workshop - this is the crankshaft from the Ruston portable seen on a lathe at Vince Allen's premises. It has been cleaned, painted and is now receiving attention prior to fitting of a new flywheel plus new eccentric straps (for which Dave Young has made the pattern and which were seen in an earlier posting).

Below: I'm trying to spend some time with Lewin at the moment. With the New Year likely to bring an influx of bits, including boiler, tank, bunkers and cab (so quite big bits!) I thought we ought to start painting the bottom end. After cleaning and de-greasing it has received a coat of grey primer (as seen here)...

Below ... and is now receiving the undercoat layers for the final livery - the green will be much less lurid! The frames are a rich brown/plum/maroon shade beloved of north east industrial locomotive painters and follow evidence in colour photographs of Lewin that they were various shades of red at various times in its life. Work will continue over the holidays...

Depot Road 4 - Trackwork completed

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:31:00 +0000

Below: A superb effort by the track team with assistance from other members of the Facilities department saw the concrete to encase the new depot Road 4 rails laid on Monday. This was poured, dressed off then left to set.

Below: The first tram to venture along the new depot tracks was Sheffield 264 which was slid across on its traverser plates and re-railed. It is seen here going where no Beamish tram has gone before...!!!

The wonder of the internet: Gateshead 10 and the Forcett coach.

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Below: I was recently trawling the Internet looking for background information or any new photographs of trams/locomotives/rolling stock in the Beamish collection when under the search 'Grimsby & Immingham' this picture turned up. It was taken by Bill Wright on the 18th October 1965 from a train passing through Clay Cross. As has been seen on these pages before, for some time in the 1960s G&I No.26 was stored there following its withdrawal from service on the Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway in 1961. It was, of course, previously Gateshead 10, one of a number of similar cars sold in 1951 when the system closed. 26 was listed by the British Transport Commission (BTC) as of national significance and was earmarked for a future railway museum of the nation's railway (and transport) history. Clay Cross served as a store for many of the items for this collection (later to become part of the NRM/National Museum of Science & Industry) as well as being the National Tramway Museum's off-site store.

What is terrific about this photograph is that not only does it show 26, but next to it, under the tarpaulin, is the body (on underframe) of the Forcett Coach! This shows clearly that it was mounted on its original underframe but sans W irons, axleboxes and wheelsets. This adds to our knowledge of the Forcett Coach (No.179) at this period of its life.

This leads me to a thought - 2013 is the 40th anniversary of the Beamish Tramway and the workshop schedule is planned to allow for some work to ensure Gateshead 10 is in fine condition for some planned celebrations. This will inevitably involve a repaint. It is therefore possible that we might be able to consider running 10 in BR green as 26 once again...
There has been some suggestion of this idea before, and ideally we would be looking for sponsorship to help towards the costs of the repaint which would be timed to allow for a debut at the 2012 Power from the Past event on September 1-2 2012 and then some running through the autumn in that guise. This really is a maybe but it would seem to be an ideal opportunity to recreate this lost identity. If anyone is in favour of this, and could even offer some support, then they can contact me via the comments section on the blog...

As 26 it would need to have the advert boards and destination boxes removed as well as the repaint into green. A finishing touch would be to fit lamps on the roof at each end as carried on the G&I. Such a repaint would form the basis of the later repaint into Gateshead livery - rather like the process that was carried out on Blackpool 31 when it temporarily masqueraded in its engineering car guise as No.4.

General News Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Beamish Museum Curator of Transport) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:22:00 +0000

Below: To start this post here is a morning photo of Sunderland 16 heading into service - quite nice weather, unlike this evening!

Below: The Rowley Station volunteers have completed the path leading up from the level crossing and have done a superb job. Guided by a professional street mason the work has produced a durable and accessible path on what was previously quite difficult terrain for visitors with mobility impairments. The group now have several other jobs lined up...

Below: While at the station there was time to admire the NER serpent bench recently restored by the Friends.

Below: Undergrowth clearance is going well, making excellent progress given that it is one volunteer working as and when he can on this mini-project. The effect makes an enormous difference to the railway in this area.

Below: David Young has completed the patterns for Lewin's injectors, as seen here. The core is also marked out with painting still to be completed (black for core material, yellow for machined areas and red for the rest).

Below: Dave has also completed a pattern for new eccentric straps on the Ruston Proctor portable engine.

Below: Meanwhile, inside the tramshed the rails are laid and are now being bonded and fastened down before concrete is poured to complete the work (planned for next week). 264 can then regain the rails and what would be Road 5 be cleared for buses etc.

Below: Friends projects continue apace, with lettering of the second shipping box underway.

This will provide for fuel storage at the Fairground.

Below: A couple of views showing progress on the Hodbarrow side tipper...

Below: Impressive dismantling work on the street watering cart! As can be seen below the tank requires quite extensive plate repairs but this implement is in otherwise generally good order.

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone with information on H. Bushell & Son, its manufacturer...