Forcett Coach Progress - January 2012

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

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

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)

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...

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...

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

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!

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!

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

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...