40s Weekend in the Severn Valley

29th June 2009

Whilst in the West Midlands at the weekend I took the opportunity to visit the awesome Severn Valley Railway. A lifetime favorite of mine, this 17 mile railway runs along the Severn Valley between Kidderminster and Bridgenorth. It achieved national infamy two years ago when torrential rain caused extensive washouts of the line's formation, but it has recovered quickly and seems all the stronger for it.

Below: The main depot and workshops are at Bridgenorth, seen below. Here the heaviest overhaul can be carried out in the extensive workshops. In the photo is GW 28XX locomotive No.2857, currently receiving an extensive overhaul.

Below: First stop south from Bridgenorth is Hampton Loade, an archetypal rural station. As interesting without trains as it is with, it is also the closest point to the 'Mercian Way' cycle route which runs alongside the railway for two miles from this point and offers a different perspective on the passing trains.

Below: next south from Hampton Loade is Highley, seen here with 7802 Bradley Manner departing southwards with one of the two original GW sets of coaches on the line. Note the viewing gallery bottom left, this is the 'Engine House' - a museum/store of out of service locomotives but with some interesting interpretation based on the theme of the SVR's own history dating from the first preservation moves in the late 1960s. Included is a reproduction pub interior where the founding meeting was held, complete with a highly professional film about and featuring the founders.

Below: Inside the Engine House. A high level viewing gallery is provided, also the location of cafe, conference and education facilities. This is No.600, Gordon (named after the General, not the storybook character!). Incidentally it is the first standard gauge steam engine I drove!

Below: A view from the balcony of the front half of the museum. The building is curved to fit the site (former mine exchange sidings) and the floor is in blocks to allow for any settlement of the site. Visible is Midland Railway Compound No.1000 from the National Collection. Also on show here are 8F 48773, 15XX 1501, Standard 4MT Tank 80079, Hall class 4930 'Hagley Hall' and No.600 Gordon. Behind these to the left is a Post Office sorting coach, GW Mogul 7325 and Jinty 47383 plus a brakevan, coal wagon and box van. Beneath the walkway are exhbitions and shows on the railway and how it operates, what is involved in maintaining it plus smaller artifacts.

Below: During the event a Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a number of fly pasts over each station, here seen over Highley.

Black Country Museum

29th June 2009

Whilst in the West Midlands a quick visit to the Black Country Museum was possible. The last few visits have been in association with the visit of our Newcastle trolleybus (No.501), so this was a chance to have a good wander around the site.

Below: A general view of the town/village centre. Note the cinema on the left, on Sunday it was showing Charlie Chaplin films.

Below: The street as viewed from the other direction. The museum was pretty busy so this was a fortuitous moment when there weren't too many folks in the photograph!

Below: Wolverhampton Horse Tram No.23, in the back of the tram depot. The electric systems in the Black Country were narrow gauge (3 ft 6 inches), but the horse trams had been standard gauge. As a result this tram cannot be demonstrated (yet?) at the museum.

Below: The glorious WOlverhampton Sunbeam trolleybus No.433, outside the depot/village terminus. The smooth and rapid acceleration of these vehicles is impressive even today, especially for those used to rapid and quiet modern diesel buses. Quite akin to the shuttle buses on Newcastle quayside, which are battery electric.

Below: A favorite area is the canal wharf and boat yard, complete with narrow boats under restoration or stored. The one to the left is lettered GWR and is indicative of the wider interests the railway companies had.

Below: An exterior view of the tram depot, which has two roads and a solid floor for non-tramway vehicles. The tram and bus stops are on the left.

Below: A replica of a local garage, recently completed and enabling the display of numerous cars and pieces of garage equipment.

Below: A significant new development is 'Birmingham Old Road' (the Birmingham New Road runs alongside one part of the museum). Recently opened is the chip shop - incredibly popular and very fragrant! A whole street of buildings is being assembled, to their 1930s appearances and will include a milliners, butchers and garage amongst others. These buildings have all been relocated from the area and are faithfully rebuilt at the museum.

Below: The colliery winding and fan engines in action!

Below: The trolleybus at the other end of the route. Currently the longest UK trolleybus route in operation, followed by Sandtoft Transport Centre and the East Anglian Transport Museum. Beamish has sufficient equipment to extend the current length of wiring right around the site, to give some 1.5 miles of running, much on open roads. This would certainly be an attraction for operating these fast and quiet vehicles to show their full potential.

Below: No.49 meets No.34. No.49 has been little used in recent years owing to the poor state of the tramway track, but recent work on the infrastructure has enabled it to come back into operation once again. It was not in passenger service while I was there, but was being cleaned. To the left is a new storage building for the buses in the collection of the Black Country Museum Transport Group.

Below: The facade of a new display, a garage and showroom. Inside it is laid out in museum style, and includes well equipped workshops, ramps etc. Externally it compliments the period environment rather nicely, and makes a wonderful backdrop to photograph the transport collection against.

Locomotion at Tyseley

29th June 2009

Locomotion arrived safely at Tyseley last Wednesday and took part in three days steaming as part of the venue's open weekend. It is amazing how small it looks when alongside the more conventional standard gauge products of Swindon and Darlington!

Below: On its own road, turntable behind. Note the stand to the right, promoting Beamish.

Below: Bob Fielding in appropriate attire tends to Locomotion's needs!

Below: A constant stream of interested enthusiasts and visitors questioned Bob, Michael and Dafydd on the engine and about Beamish.

Below: Inside the works was a collection of GW motive power under overhaul or repair.

Below: A1 Tornado was present, and I believe was posed with Locomotion on the Thursday press event. Its frames were laid down at Tyseley before it moved to Darlington.

Below: A nice surprise was the presence of Penryhn Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST 'Lilla' from the Ffestiniog Railway. In steam but clearly not moving!

Track and Tram Progress

25th June 2009

Today has been another gloriously hot day and a number of projects have made some significant steps forward...

Below: Sunderland 16 has been reunited with its truck. Mel and Tony from the Beamish Tramway Group have been in working on the air brake system and tomorrow the varnish will be applied to the areas where the paintwork has been repaired. It should be available for testing next week and maybe back in service by the following weekend.

Below: A great stride forwards on the railway renewal - at last the mud is hidden! The new field drains have been installed and the route ballasted, as seen here looking eastwards from the footbridge.

Below: The concrete wall on the right (the Carriage House) will need something to hide it before we reopen to the public in this area, possibly a stone or brick facing. Otherwise, looking from the other direction this will be a good shot for photography (charters and access by permission only I should add!). The clearance of trees and vegetation in the vicinity greatly improves the appearance here.

Below: Another view looking eastwards and showing the impact of the tree clearance. The stumps on the left will be removed and the embankment burnt in time honoured railway fashion.

Below: A general view showing the cutting from the station and how much the vista has been opened up through the clearance of trees.

Not shown in photographs, because there is no visible difference, is the completion of varnishing the blue and red water cart. I should be able to reassemble this next week now that Davy has finished off the varnish (2 coats). Sign-writing will still be required, hopefully to be applied before the cart heads to Newcastle in July with the steam roller for Tyne & Wear's 75th anniversary celebrations of the Discovery Museum.

The British Commercial Vehicle Museum

24th June 2009

Whilst visiting Banks, the opportunity was taken to visit the British Commercial Vehicle Museum at nearby Leyland. This is a museum devoted to the history of the commercial vehicle and includes many beautifully restored commercials from the passenger and road haulage world. Here are a selection of pictures taken in the rather dark environs of the museum building.

Below: This impressive Scammell 100 Ton Tractor was built for hauling massive semi-trailers, being one of two units produced at the time. Loads moved included 170 ton transformers! This lorry ended its working life with Pickfords.

Below: This Leyland is one of numerous vehicles, predictable perhaps, from this manufacturer on show.

Below: 1905 built B6 Fowler Showman's engine 'Sunny Boy 2' is presented in superb external condition. It is not known what the boiler is like, nor the mechanical status, but a label on the gauge glass warns that the blanking plate inserted into the injector pipe must be removed before steaming, suggesting it has steamed as part of the collection. It ended its working life as a road engine with the haulage contractor Edward Box.

Below: In 1896 James Sumner built a steam powered lawnmower, the start of a business that was to grow and develop into the famous Leyland Motors. This is a replica of that lawnmower (I think the original is in the collection of Rural Life at Reading), which incorporates some original components from a machine found at Repton College. I really like this - what a way to cut the park grass at Beamish! Obviously hills might be an issue, as would manoeuvring such a large and unwieldy beast. It is fired by paraffin, with an eccentric driven fuel pump supplying the fuel to the burners.

Below: An overview of part of the hall, with examples of ERF and Bedford lorries prominent.

Below: This is an 1896 built horse drawn bus, built for the Edinburgh and District Tramways Company. These were the lessees of the Edinburgh Corporation owned tramways and omnibus services. A similar arrangement existed in Newcastle and many other towns and cities. The bus was restored for the closing ceremony of Edinburgh's tramway system in 1956. I must admit to a growing interest in these horse buses, so often operated within the same licences as the horse trams and sometimes used in conjunction with them to provide greater route coverage.

A visit to Banks

24th June 2009

Yesterday a group of us headed for Southport and a visit to the village of Banks where the workshops of Johnsons and Charles Hudson are located. Charles turned out Michael Davison's Marshall traction engine so often seen in this blog - a testament to his skills. He is now working on Guy Rutter's Wallis Advance steam roller, a companion to Guy's Fowler 'Rambler' also seen in these notes before.
The origin of the works are in threshing contracting, and the feel is very much of a steam workshop, with numerous engines in receiving varying degrees of attention. Commercial vehicles and vehicle recovery also play a part in the business.

Below: Alan Bulmer, boiler inspector, was carrying out a number of inspections, including to this McLaren traction engine.

Below: Guy Rutter's Wallis being reassembled. Extensive work is being carried out to this engine by Charles Hudson.

Below: A view from the read or the Advance, showing new bunkers under construction.

Below: Also in the works is Ian Craggs' Fowler T3 steam roller, ex Whitby Council and still bearing what appears to be its original paintwork! Much work has been carried out on this engine, which is also receiving a complete restoration but mindful of its amazing originality. It had just passed its hydraulic test.

Below: A view of the new inner firebox on the T3 roller, showing how robust these boilers are in their construction - plenty of stays, both crown and side.

Below: This is the Advance again - the regulator is the smaller handwheel, an unusual feature on an engine but which proved to be very effective on the Advance rollers, which also featured a tandem engine unit and no flywheel - this was to minimise 'dwell' when reversing during rolling operations which could cause a depression in the surface. The faster the engine could reverse, the shorter the dwell. As a flywheel is designed to store energy, such a device would preclude the rapid reversing and so the two cylinder arrangement was developed.
At some point, a lever reverser was fitted and the lettering on the rear casting was obliterated in places. George has rewelded these letters, and I defy anyone to tell which ones they are such is the competence of this job!

Locomtion Leaves...

24th June 2009

Last night Locomotion departed for Tyseley (Birmingham) where it is taking part in their annual open weekend. It will be in steam but not on passenger duty. The hope is to pose it alongside Tornado as a contrasting example of East Coast steam power! Unlike Puffing Billy, Locomotion was able to retain its chimney in situ, a great aid to preparation for working at Tyseley.

Around and about the museum

22nd June 2009

Under a threatening sky and in oppressive heat the various projects in hand proceed apace.

Below: As the 360 digger retreats eastwards down the railway cutting, removing the mud and spoil, a start has been made on ballasting the route. This is the first time the railway here has seen stone ballast and whilst ash ballast is appropriate, particularly on an NER branch line, it is hopeless in a poorly drained setting with annual leaf fall adding to the mush.
A perforated drainage pipe is also being installed to remove the water draining down from the embankment sides. Progress is good and the Komatsu team has made major inroads into vegetation clearance as well as preparing to start reassembling the railhead to follow the works along the route.

Below: Tram 264 noses into the scene as preparations are made to move 16s truck (foreground) around to the workshop road for replacing under the body.

Below: Though an agricultural project, Dave Sheen has single handedly rebuilt this chaff cutting machine which was recovered in hedgerow condition and has required complete dismantling, repairs, repainting and reassembly. It is hoped to see this driven by steam in the not too distant future.

Below: Dave Young has completed machining the front chassis bracing and pedestal for the steam mule. He is now making patterns for the rear axle supports. An outcome on funding for this project is still awaited.

Below: The chimney has been removed from the steam roller to enable us to clean the blast pipe. Poor steaming and a lack of 'chuff' suggests that the blast pipe nozzle is blocked and results in the cylinders having to pump steam clear, as well as do their designed work. We'll clean this up this week and test the results next week...

513 - Running again!

22nd June 2009

News is filtering from Blackpool that 513 will be running at the Lancastrian Transport Trust's 'Totally Transport' event in Blackpool next Sunday. As a reminder of this superb tram, on long term loan from Beamish to Blackpool, here are two excellent photographs from Jason Cross, taken in 2007 during an enthusiast trip using the car.
It is likely that given the changes at Blackpool, which will reduce the heritage fleet considerably, 513 will have to depart the seaside town. We are looking at options as it is still regarded as too modern for Beamish at this time. But never say never and there are some exciting possibilities for 513 in the future...

Birkenhead Tramway

22nd June 2009

I called in at Taylor Street depot on the Birkenhead Tramway, home of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society, yesterday. This is a lovely tramway, running between the depot and Woodside Ferry Terminal, partly on the public highway and partly on reserved track.

A nucleus of local trams has been restored for use on the tramway, supported by a Lisbon tram and two Hong Kong built cars, built specifically for this tramway.

Below: On the left is one of the Hong Kong cars, on the right is the imposing Liverpool 762. Both are parked in the tramway area of the Taylor Street depot.

Below: The current restoration project underway is Warrington 2, the lower deck seen here.

Below: On the left is Wallesey 78, lifted off its wheelsets to enable these to be reprofiled - much akin to our work on Sunderland 16. On the right is Liverpool 'Baby Grand' 245, on loan from Liverpool Museums and currently subject to an HLF bid for its restoration to working order.

Below: Liverpool horse tram 43 in the road vehicle display gallery. I have a growing interest in horse trams and particularly with regard to a former Newcastle car which we are considering as a future restoration prospect.

Below: Another view of Liverpool 245.

Below: A recreated garage display inside the depot.