Beamish Power from the Past video

Beamish against a Steam Roller!

L53 Arrives!

26th may 2009

Beamish now has its first visiting tramcar! L53, the well known Eades reversible horse tram usually based at Heaton Park in Manchester arrived for its one week stay with us which will see it in passenger operation this Thursday and Friday. Luck visitors on Wednesday may also get a chance to ride it once testing and horse familiarity working is complete.

The tram is seen below on arrival then being unloaded. Due to the clearance underneath the platform, the body was swung to avoid fouling the ground. It then sat in the evening sun whilst we took photographs and mulled over its operation here.

My thanks to the Manchester Transport Museum Society for bringing L53 and for all their help and support in enabling us to host the car. We haven't worked out dates, but it must be the first horse tram to run in the region for over a century? Maybe the first Eades car for even longer than that as well as being L53's first appearance in a street for 106 years!

I hope readers will be able to join us over the coming days to witness the tram in action...

Water Cart progress (the wooden bits!)

26th May 2009

This morning Shaun delivered the completed wooden frame, one days work to him! Produced from left over timbers from the lamp cabin project, the wood is tanilised so Shaun has coated it with a dark wax to protect it. Square headed bolts with square nuts have been used where the originals were beyond salvage.

Below: A view of the completed frame.

Below: Shaun tightens up some of the forged fittings.

Shunting with Steam

26th May 2009
A burst of shunting activity in the colliery along with some extra 'mileage' upon which to run enabled John and I to shunt the NER Fire Engine Wagon and ex Ashington Coal Co side tipper out of the road upon which they have been marooned for some time. They are now on the siding allocated to non-running stock, in the company of the NER 8 ton coal wagon (with dumb buffers and very much a long-term project), Jacob, the South Pier crane and Malleable.

'Out and About' with traction engine and steam roller

26th May 2009

Last weekend was glorious and the museum enjoyed a good turnout of visitors. We had No.22 in steam on the Monday as well as the 1889 Marshall Traction Engine. As a bonus, on the Sunday visitors could witness Fiddler's first appearance in public at Beamish whilst we conducted shakedown trials following its overhaul.
Below is a sequence of shots taken during the day...

Below: Resting in the colliery yard after a journey around the site.

Below: One hole in the hose and where does the water go?! All over John!

Below: On Sunday evening we took both engines across the road to Beamish Hall and the newly opened Stables Bar and Restaurant. A popular site for diners as well as a welcome run out for our volunteer crews, who delight in talking about the engines!

Below: During Monday's operation the Marshall blew part of the pump gasket out (water side) so the decision was taken to return to base and let the engine cool pending replacement. Both engines will be in action from Thursday onwards for 'Power from the Past'. See the separate posting regarding the Manchester Horse Tram for more on this event...

Saturday Afternoon

23rd May 2009

A quick roam around the site this afternoon revealed much preparation for next weeks Power from the Past event...

Below: The Model Engineers work on their station area, including platform surface and fencing. The new nameboard, Dipwood Halt (from Ken Swan's old railway) is in place to the right. Opening day? Next Wednesday!

Below: Calling into the tram depot, the staff have completely stripped Sunderland 16's truck to liberate the motors and wheelsets, which are to be turned (probably the last reprofiling these tyres will take - the disadvantage of a long fixed wheelbase on our curves).

Below: In the Timber Store the Friends are progressing the SOS bus and I hear rumour they would like to finish it this year... Final bodywork is being completed and the seats are progressing well too.

Below: From the joinery shop comes this repaired sack barrow and replica wheelbarrow (another is underway). The latter is for the roadmaking display, the former for use in Colliery Engine Works.

Below: Progress by Friends volunteers on the AA Box and Police Box, both seen in this photo. Both are to be located outside this workshop as a focal point for regular displays by the Friends.

Below: The Case Tractor - a real workhorse and still as useful as it ever was, here being refueled by Robert Atkinson prior to taking another load to its destination. This tractor will be in regular use over the PftP event, moving vehicles and plant into place all over the museum site.

Road Engines Galore!

23rd May 2009

Over the last few evenings there have been a number of arrivals of engines in anticipation of the Power from the Past event next weekend.
First here was Michael Davison's Marshall Traction Engine 'Mary Margaret', seen below being unloaded using our JCB Tele-Handler.

Next was Guy Rutter's Fowler Steam Roller 'Rambler', this time being unloaded using a trailer winch (below).

Below: A bit of a shuffle this morning enabled me to pose the two visitors plus Fiddler for a photograph. Three down and at least six more to go...

Below: A contrast in Fowler Steam Rollers, on the left is 10 Ton Rambler, on the right is 8 Ton Fiddler. Built by the same factory but 11 years apart. Rambler is a single cylinder engine and its present owner is only the fourth in its lifetime. Fiddler is a compound engine.

Water Cart Progress

23rd May 2009

Just before I post the updates on the water cart, I have been sorting through the patterns David Young has made for Coffee Pot No.1 - laid out it is an impressive quantity and has made a volunteer contribution worth thousands of pounds to the project (part of the match funding agreement). Add to this the time to machine the resulting castings and one can readily appreciate David's contribution to the project to date.

Below: This morning I applied the first topcoat of 'Union Blue' to the primed and undercoated fittings and tank ends. Note the wheels, now in topcoat care of Davy Sheen, to be varnished when we receive new supplies.

Below: Wheels in (left) red oxide primer and (right) the high-build bright red undercoat. Tow coats of the former and three of the latter provide a base for three coats of coachpaint and two of varnish (see photo above for the final colour).

The cart is very nearly finished and once sigh-written, will be varnished and commissioned to run with Fiddler and other engines in the very near future.

National Tramway Museum 50th Birthday

23rd May 2009

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations taking place at the National Tramway Museum to mark their half century at Crich, Derbyshire. Whilst in the area, a quick visit was made to the Midland Railway Centre at nearby Butterley. Here a number of developments continue, including the new station buildings being created at Swanick Junction. Nearby is the enormous building which forms the museum and workshops for the railway, which appears to be undertaking some contract work for the national network.

Below: The new station building at Swanick Junction.

Below: Caprotti valve gear fitted Standard Class 5 No.73129, restored at the centre and seen alongside an impressive pile of ash! Just to the left is visible one of the MRC's Midland Railway 3F 'Jinty' locomotives, masquerading as Thomas.

Below: Two views taken inside the museum building showing the vintage train, headed by the NRM's Kirtley 2-4-0.

Below: Elsewhere on the site is the Princess Royal Trust's well equipped workshop and depot housing their mainline support coaches, the L&Y dynamometer car (recently restored and looking superb), Standard Class 4 Tanks 80080 and 80098 and Princess class No.46203 'Princess Margaret Rose'. The workshops are spacious and well equipped - quite the envy of us at Beamish!

Below: On to Crich, where after a formal reception we were invited to witness a recreation of the arrival of the first tram to arrive on site, Cardiff water car No.131, fresh from a full restoration at the museum. It was paraded slowly past before being unloaded in the depot and entering service.

Below: Cardiff Horse Tram No.21 has recently arrived at Crich on a short loan from the Museum of Wales. It is seen here on the traverser.

Below: With an eye on the forthcoming visit of L53 from Heaton Park, here is another original Eades Patent truck, in the exhibition hall at Crich and illustrating the simple turntable upon which the body is mounted.

Below: The day also saw some 'rare' cars out in the open, including Sheffield 189 (acknowledged as the catalyst for the Crich site being found), Edinburgh 35 and Hill of Howth 10, the latter having a very rare appearance away from the exhibition hall. Its originality renders it a particularly precious exhibit in the collection.

This was clearly a great day for the museum and something to celebrate. My thanks the NTM for the opportunity to be there.

Rolling and Railing

22nd May 2009

The last two days have been pretty frantic as various preparations are put in place for the Power from the Past event as well as the summer season in general.
Firstly we had the steam test of Fiddler at Vince's workshop. This had vexed Vince somewhat when first a gauge glass cock began weeping badly then the new jointing on the manhole door sprung a fairly impressive leak. All sorted, the engine passed yesterday evening.

Below: Two photos take outside Vince's workshops during the test.

Much to my delight, Vince arranged with Stuart Ritchie to deliver the engine the same evening, so it arrived in steam at about 8pm, just in time to catch the evening sunlight (below). It was a great opportunity to take the engine out so a happy couple of hours followed running around the western end of the site.

Below: The roadmenders hut, complete and just waiting for the sign-writer to apply the wording 'Beamish R.D.C' to each side. An ideal store for the gathering equipment for this display. Note the runners to enable convenient movement with the fork-lift truck.

Yesterday and today we were luck to have two fitters from Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service at Durham. They are commissioning the 1933 built Armstrong & Whitworth diesel electric locomotive. It was fully restored at York (it is a loan from the National Railway Museum) but never run. Within hours the Gardener engine was running very sweetly and so they set to with the electrics. These are working well but come the time to inspect the motor, the brushes (there are 12) were discovered to be missing. A quick run to the Team Valley Trading Estate to Team Motor Rewinds saw 12 brushes pulled out of their spares box which we can modify for the AW. Hopefully it will move under its own power next week, just in time for the event! Phew!

Note: All the above photos were taken on my phone - apologies for the lower quality than normal of the images!