Ruston, Proctor Portable Progress

31st March 2011

Stuart Hines (the Steam Engineer) was down in Suffolk recently and called in to see progress on the Ruston, Proctor portable which is having extensive boiler repairs carried out there. These are preliminary stages, with the boiler prepared for inspection and the parts needing replacing identified, specified (with the insurance company) and ordered.

Below: The firebox - remember this is a larger box due to the wood-burning nature of this engine. The stay heads have been ground flat ready for removal.

Below: The new front tubeplate, and to the rear the new smokebox door ring. The former has been made by Israel Newton in Bradford, who made Coffee Pot's boiler.

Below: A view from inside the firebox looking forwards. The two long rods running from the top of the view are longitudinal stays, which are secured to the backhead and tubeplate. The inner firebox has been removed, note the truncated stays to the sides.

Below: A view from the front, showing the ends of the longitudinal stays. The inside of the boiler appears to be in remarkable condition.

Below: The original inner firebox and front tubeplate.

Behind the scenes - tramway telephone exchange and clocks

28th March 2011

The Tram Group are currently diligently working on Mondays and Thursdays on 101, 114 and on various other jobs. These include maintenance of the telephone exchange used on the tramway, and the clocks that can be seen at tram stops around the site.

Below: An overview of the depot when all the trams and buses are at home. 114 and 101 are in a separate room to the right of this view.

Below: This is the motor-generator which is kept as a back up to the solid state rectifying set now used to provide the tramway supply. The motor receives ac current from the national grid, driving a generator to produce the 600v dc supply required for the tramway and trolleybus overhead. If we were able to generate our own electricity, we could supply ac to this and use it to run the tramway...

Below: Les Brunton resets the clocks - these dials indicate the position of the hands on the clocks out on site. The top dial is being advanced in this view.

Below: The Strowger telephone exchange, installed in 1992 and supported by the BTG and BT. Les is dialing up a test number which gives a reversed ring tone to indicate the exchange is functioning correctly. Behind him is the master clock which drives all of those around the site.

Below: The BTG had the foresight to stockpile extensive amounts of spare parts for the exchange. It would be great to continue the project started, and connect other areas of the Museum site together through the exchange (with 99 numbers there is plenty of capacity). We would love to hear from any potential volunteers who would be interested in getting involved in such work...

Newcastle 114 Repaint - priming and undercoating

28th March 2011

Below: Newcastle 114 is now beginning to wear a number of varied shades of primer and undercoat as the push to have it repainted in time for the GNSF carries on. There are some issues with the completion of the truck at present, which hopefully can be resolved so that it will also be completed in time.

A recent donation of material relating to Newcastle Corporation Tramways includes first hand testimony from Mr W. T . Dalton, a former Chief Engineer for NCT, stating that the Roker panels were cream (ivory) and the waist panels were the orange-yellow shade - further substantiating the decision to carry out this repaint and the research that you can down-load from the links to the right of this post. Phew!

We now have the paint on site and have agonised over the shades for some time - we are now happy with the colours selected and await feedback upon completion with interest!

Colliery Road Works

28th March 2011

Few recent visitors to Beamish can fail to have noticed the increasingly perilous state of the road through the Pit Village and into the Colliery Yard. Whilst actually very authentic, when wet it becomes deep mud and when dry it is a dust bowl. The pot holes have worked themselves into craters and this is uncomfortable to bus users, particularly the Access Bus. So, we decided to remedy the problem before the high season starts (this coming weekend!). The surface is being dug out and the material removed to make good some of the service roads on site. A layer of cambered crushed tarmac is then laid, spread and rolled. We will then be able to maintain this using the steam roller and barrows of spare crushed tarmac, to create an interesting performance throughout the coming season.

Work started this morning and is due to be completed by the middle of the week - here is a selection of views showing some very nice boys toys at work!

Below: A sequence of views showing stripping and removal of the old surface as well as newly laid crushed tarmac, rolled and compacted in place.

New Book!!! Beamish - 40 Years on Rails

28th March 2011

For many years I have been working on the ultimate transport guide to the Beamish collection.

This is still some way off, and other books will jump the queue, but thanks to the involvement of Roger Darsley and Middleton Press, there is now a book to cover the collections and give a historic overview of the Beamish railed collections and development of the tramway and railways over the last 40 years. Middleton Press has published our book 'Beamish - 40 Years on Rails' as part of the Great Railway Eras series and it is superb! They have done a wonderful job, like Roger, in bringing this, and my chaotic and long winded initial drafts to fruition. The book is mostly in colour and features the developments at Rowley, the Colliery, Waggonway and Electric Tramway along with other activities (such as narrow gauge, visits away and the trolleybuses). Each area is covered, mapped and follows the developments in chronological order. There are about 49 tramway photos, the rest are railway, so a good balance is featured. The J21 and other engines that have left also play a part in the story.

We should have it on sale in the shop shortly (£15.95) or it is available from your usual source of Middleton Press titles...

Power from the past 2011

23rd march 2011

I realise that we still have yet to hold the Great North Steam Fair, but as there seems to be some internet 'buzz' about proposals for Power from the Past (1 - 4 September 2011), then I thought a short heads up on plans would be of interest.

The event is to be a themed one, like our Corporations & Contractors event in 2010. It will be called Circular Tour - Riding for pleasure and will deal with transport used for fun, or heading for fun! The title is clearly derived from the 1920s Blackpool Corporation activities, but this is not a Blackpool themed event! There will be a strong presence from that resort however.

The tramway will have a theme of circular tours, and also trips to the races etc. The railway will deal with travelling on holiday, there will be horse drawn charabanc rides and a selection of appropriate buses is planned. There will also be a strong array of steam and working demonstrations which support the event, though not all can tie directly in with it (such as the Colliery - a recreated holiday there would only be accurate if we closed for the day!).

I am currently in discussions for a wide variety of exciting exhibits, and some blog followers will have seen from various sources that we are in talks with the Tramway Museum Society regarding borrowing their Pantograph car, Blackpool 167. I am also looking at one other visiting tram for the occasion (excluding the resident LTT's 101 and Heaton Park's 6, the latter might still be with us). I am also hoping to bring in some unusual railway locomotives plus create some really good working displays around the site involving steam and more unusual internal combustion on road and rail...

As ever, watch this space for details of what's proposed (as always, subject to the usual caveats about availability), but I'll leave it until after the GNSF before I report any further on PftP...

Note - more exhibits are being added to the Flickr pages every day for the GNSF - the line up of exhibits is likely to reach a half century...

Below: Blackpool 167, seen at Crich during 2010.

News from David Young's workshop

22nd March 2011

I called in at Dave Young's workshop today to collect the newly restored gas engine and potato chipper. He is making terrific progress on all fronts (as well as having completed fitting a bypass pump to the Steam Mule), particularly Lewin, as these photos show...

Below: The brass firebox bezel for Lewin - this was previously in a poor state, with many layers of paint covering it, many dents and some tearing. This is the state of play today! So far Dave has spent in the order of 35 hours repairing, beating and polishing it, with more to follow!

Below: Here is the new clack valve for Coffee Pot No.1 - this replaces the previous two, which are poor (porous) castings, and is to a reduced height to enable an easier arrangement of pipework.

Below: Here are Lewin's sandboxes - cleaned up and ready for the sanding mechanism to be fitted.

Below: And finally, the completed gas engine and chipper - we'll aim for a test run later this week...

Springtime at Beamish

22nd March 2011

A quick roundup of a spring Monday at Beamish:

Below: The Fergie tractor was at work in the Pockerley area, volunteer Dick Atkinson being engaged in the fence/hedge works associated with the St Helens Church project.

Below: A start was made yesterday on the rebuilding of St Helens Church, from Eston, which is to be located in the fields below Pockerley Old Hall. An impressive array of plant moved onto the site in order to grade the land and prepare for the construction of the foundations.

Below: Meanwhile, Newcastle 114 was receiving the initial undercoats in the tram depot...

Below: Alongside 114, work on fitting roof reinforcements to Sunderland 101 (the Balloon) was underway with Peter Barlow drilling the roof hoops to enable rolled angles to be bolted to them - this provides the required strength to mount the trolley-planks to, which are in turn subject to very high forces from the boom - whence the need to strengthen this area.

Below: By the end of the day 114 was looking rather different...!!!

Friends Projects Update

20th March 2011

As ever the Friends have been busy carrying out a wide variety of restoration and conservation works on Beamish's behalf. Here is a quick rundown of them, which is by no means the complete list!

Below: The SOS bus is now receiving the detailing to its paintwork and it looks (and smells) terrific in these final coats of paint. Hopefully we'll see it out on the road at the Great North Steam Fair, though it has an alarming appetite for fuel (petrol)! In the foreground is a wheel from the 'Happy Days' charabanc (horse drawn) which is currently being repainted with a hoped for return to service later this year.

Below: Inside the workshop various projects can be seen in progress. Dominating the scene is the road sweep, now with shafts in place and a new toolbox being fitted. In the foreground is the reverse of the running in board for Rowley Station, which will now read Rowley rather than Beamish as it did previously, and before it blew down in January. The Friends are also refreshing the station furniture as part of the same work.

Below: Setting up lathes for various jobs, the provision of a new machine (following a generous donation of the equipment) having enhanced the facilities available.

Below: The Case tractor at work, here providing the support for the Rowley works...

Below: ... and these works in progress as a new post for the running in board (or nameboard to some) is fitted and levelled up.

Add to these the construction of new benches for the top of the bank by the offices and the chip shop environs, completion of rebuilding the flat trucks for the Engine Works, continued overhauling of bicycles and the preparation of chip choppers (say that fast!) for the chip shop.

Busy times indeed!

Site wide news and updates

18th March 2011

This week has been as busy as ever, but with a lot of behind the scenes work, whence less than usual on the blog. Work continues on Newcastle 114's repaint and Sunderland 'Balloon' 101's commisioning. Off site we are in talks with the contractor regarding progress on the Ruston Proctor Portable, which now has the tubeplates formed and delivered from Israel Newtons. This is a slow burner project however, and progress will be reported here as and when it happens.

Next week should see some developments re Lewin, but the main focus of attention is the work required to get Dunrobin back to the UK, and carrying out the various updates of the Safety Management System and rule books ready for the new starters who come in later this month.

Meanwhile:

Below: This new wilderness was once the piles of track, scrap and rotting timbers that formed our 'PW yard'. We now have some tidy stacks of rail, no scrap and no rotting wood. Best of all we can see the space upon which a 100ft shed is proposed for construction, to form a locomotive depot and beginnings of a new period area with an industrial feel in this area. We desperately need a pit too, so that is planned for this space also.

Below: Today a steady arrival of four wagons has been taking place. These are new loans from the Bowes Railway, and will replace the existing three wagons already here. For the record, we have B39 and 49 plus chaldrons L12 and L829 (which are actually long-term loans from Beamish to Bowes!). These will operate with Baxter and Coffee Pot at the GNSF in April, and stay through to the Power from the Past event in September - for requested motive power watch this space!

Below: With the chip shop works drawing to conclusion, I thought readers might appreciate these views of the more industrial side of the project... This aspect shows a new street, and the rear of the chip shop.

Below: This lean-to will house the restored Spennymoor chip van, which will move in once painting of the shelter is completed. Note the salt glazed wall cappings - very much a north eastern colliery village feature, a theme which runs right through this project, from chimney pots to ground surface.

Below: A view from the south, showing the section dedicated to eating, and toilets.

Below: The inside of the 'eating bit' is panelled out. Note the blacksmith made roof ties and some superb carpentry.

Below: Inside the brick bit, the chip shop proper, tiling has started. This is the period preparation area where the gas engine will be installed.

Below: This is the main section, with two working coal fired ranges. The tiling has yet to be fitted here, but will include some beautiful decorated tiles, as seen in the second photo.

More GNSF exhibits confirmed!

16th March 2011

Some more confirmations for the Great North Steam Fair have been put on the Flickr site covering the event (to the right of this post), including A Clayton traction engine, Aveling steam roller and another 2 foot gauge locomotive - Jack. This is Nick Williams' loco and is currently receiving the finishing touches to an overhaul

Below: three photos of three exhibits, headed by Jack (seen at Knowle Hill - thanks to Nick Williams for the photo). Also seen are Alan Borthwick's 'Ayesha' and Anthony Lister's 'Louise'.

We are still awaiting several more entry forms for invited exhibits for this event, so keep an eye on the Flickr page for updates, which I'll flag up here too...

Chip Shop Chipper - finished!

15th March 2011

Here are the latest photos from David Young showing the chip chipper and gas engine complete and ready for collection. They will shortly be installed in the chip shop and be available as a demonstration piece for the staff to show visitors - they won't be the means of chipping large quantities of potatoes!

Chip shop latest

15th March 2011

Progress on the chip shop is now focussed on the internal works, with the external landscaping and paths virtually complete. Here are some photos showing the progress to date, and what a lovely sun trap it will be! The shelter for the chip van is underway and I will post some images when this is complete.