Transport news updates...

23rd April 2010

Below: Blackpool 4 will be in service this weekend - the last chance to see it running in green livery before the repaint continues...

Below: Work on the colliery railway has recommenced, and will include track repairs, extensions and general landscaping. This 360 machine has been hired to carry out the more arduous aspects of the work!

Below: In the colliery engine shed Lewin has been shunted forwards to enable the first chaldron waggon to be built in the space made available.

Below: Vincent Allen was in today to carry out some of the mechanical adjustments on Coffee Pot - using this Scammell tractor as his run around!

Below: Vince and his father Frankie at work on Coffee Pot.

Below: The B Type bus replica has been brought in for a replacement lower deck roof to be fitted, entailing the removal of the upper deck and giving it this rather odd appearance!

Sundry updates

22nd April 2010

Below: Rambler basks in the evening sunshine. I am likely to be out road rolling with Rambler on Saturday. A new construction access road to the rear of the Town Park needs consolidating and rather than hire in a modern machine it was suggested we use steam!

Below: Work has started on the resurfacing of the rest of the perimeter road around the museum. This is more involved than the previous job as it also entails laying a curb between the road and tramway. Work is progressing rapidly however and soon broken springs and rattling cars will be a thing of the past - on the site anyway, all the local roads to Beamish have suffered terribly over the winter and aren't much better than this!

Neville Whaler's Photos of PftP

20th April 2010

Neville Whaler sent through a selection of photos from the weekend/event and it is nice that these feature some of the people involved!

Below: Renishaw and crew - left to right: Michael, John and Richy.

Below: Renishaw climbs past the rear of the town.

Below: Neville's view from the signal box (where he was demonstrating to the public).

Below: Another day and a slightly different crew: Michael, John, Michael and Ernie.

Below: Renishaw at the watering point behind the town.

Below: Across the daffodils...

Below: Ian and Jonathan shunting with Coffee Pot.

Below: Me (standing) and Stuart with 131 in the Town.

The event attracted just under 10,000 visitors over the four days, a figure we are very pleased with. The weather was generally good and we were certainly lucky in this regard!

On the right of this page...

19th April 2010

Readers of this blog will probably have noticed that to the right of the main stream there are various options to view photos on flickr and YouTube etc. Andy Martin has recently joined the staff responsible for these, and with Chris Craig will be working on putting even more material on the Internet. I've poached a couple of views to show you the sort of thing you might find there...

Below: Rambler speeds past Blackpool 31... or so it seems!

Below: I love this photo of 31 at dusk - a timeless scene.

Dave Hewitt's PftP Gallery

19th April 2010

Dave Hewitt kindly sent through some of his images from the PftP event - starting with my favorite (below - ten engines in steam visible!) here is that selection...

Coffee Pot (seen above) is now temporarily withdrawn to allow completion of its paintwork and a number of other mechanical jobs to be carried out. It was a very popular performer at the PftP event and will soon settle down as regular motive power in the colliery area - there is now a plan to extend the railway over this season, and there is also the chaldron project underway...

PftP - Day four and the clear up begins!

19th April 2010

Well, its all over now. Probably one of Beamish's biggest ever events, certainly the biggest transport themed one and it seems to have been a resounding success. The weather was superb and held until Sunday afternoon when light rain set in. Operationally things went very well with only a couple of delays caused by the need for emergency services to attend - things which can (and do!) happen on any day of the year. Here is a last selection of photos from me of the event, but I will add a selection taken by Dave Hewitt in the next post.

Below: 'How to dismantle a narrow gauge railway' (title borrowed and adjusted from the U2 album!) - the steps involved in clearing the 2 foot gauge line up, within an hour! The track was then stacked onto flat wagons and rolled into the shed - the trainset is back in its box. Until next time...!!!

Below: A short film of Kerr Stuart 3114 being loaded aboard Graham Morris' lorry...

Sunderland 101 - latest photos!

18th September 2010

Latest photos by Philip Higgs from the Blackpool paintshop... 101 is likely to arrive at Beamish in mid-June.

Chaldron Restoration - 1

18th April 2010

Work on the restoration of the chaldron waggons has commenced. As was described in earlier posts, we have received financial support from the PRISM fund, AIA and Ken Hoole Trust to record the Londonderry waggons, restore two and overhaul four from our collection. Alan Milburn has been contracted to carry out the physical work, whilst Dave Potter (Bromstead Services) will carry out the full survey and production of CAD drawings. I have carried out the research and compiled a gazetteer and typology. A 7mm scale model is also in development. The goal is to have a 'chaldron fest' (!) at the Great North Steam Fair in September.

Alan is going to carry out the restoration in the colliery engine shed, and has started dismantling the first of the waggons, No.1219 as seen below...

Progress on the project will be recorded on the blog as usual.

Below: A sequence of photographs showing 1219 being dismantled.

PftP - Day three!

17th April 2010

Day three has passed, bright, sunny and warm. We have been tremendously lucky with the weather and visitor attendance has been excellent with the site busy and activity across the museum pretty much all of the time. Here is a short selection of photos plus a film from the day:

Below: A typical scene in the town with 'Vintage and Veteran Traffic' in abundance.

Below: The 'home fleet' performed superbly - a real highlight being Mary Margaret on the thresher and baler set - a lengthy and heavy 'train' which provided some spectacular sights. There is a film later in this post of her ascent of the colliery bank, but the top - gear ascent of Pockerley bank later in the day was equally impressive, sadly my camera let me down at just that moment but I'm sure we'll recreate the scene another weekend!

Below: The Friends had (and ran) the SOS bus which is very near to the end of a long and extensive restoration - one to very much look forward to and maybe something for the Great North Steam Fair in September...

Below: Steam lorries galore! Having now driven this Sentinel S6 I am totally smitten with the sophistication of these lorries, which are unlike any other steam engine to drive. It would be nice to add one to the home fleet!

Below: The dry weather and long hard climb up Pockerley bank did result in some spark throwing setting the vegetation alight (also at risk from brake sparks from descending trams). A matter of seconds work by the fire brigade dealt with the fire and services were little interrupted.

Below: A clip of Mary Margaret's climb out of the colliery. This is a seriously steep hill - though it is totally flattened by the engine in this film!