Furness Railway Trust blog

A belated Happy New Year to all our members and supporters! It has been a varied start to the year for some of our volunteers.
Our folk group, Live Steam, played their annual New Year’s Eve gig at the Engine Inn, Cark-in-Cartmel to a very appreciative audience. Representation from station volunteers at Cark and Kents Bank stations was a good excuse to include some railway songs in the set list.

The afternoon of the 5th January saw the arrival at the Ribble Steam Railway of the Railway 200 Inspiration Train which has been touring the country.

The opening ceremony of the visit was featured on the Tuesday evening edition of BBC’s Northwest Tonight programme and you may recognise some of those included on the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCxC8sjfEhU

A number of FRT members provided voluntary assistance during the four days that the train was open to both schools and the general public. Alan is seen here giving a presentation on Furness Railway No. 20 in the Partnership coach.

The train hauled, by 66 719 Michael Portillo, must have enjoyed its stay as it didn’t want to leave; it took six attempts to start the locomotive when it came time to depart on Friday evening! Overall, the visit was deemed to be a great success and it was good to see new members joining both the Ribble Steam Railway and the Furness Railway Trust as a result of the exposure to the public of the work of both organisations.

Elsewhere, members have been busy in the FRT shed preparing ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria’s boiler for its forthcoming Non-Destructive Test examination on the 19th January. We are pleased to welcome Dave Thomas who joined the gang last Wednesday and immediately joined the work on Cumbria.

Unfortunately, the shed’s air source heat pump heating system failed in December after a dozen years of reliable service, providing a challenge to everyone to keep warm. The good news is that the heating engineers have now been in attendance and the system is on the mend.

We are in December and heading fast towards Christmas, but still plenty of work to do before then!

Most efforts have recently been concentrated on stripping down the Trust’s ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria in preparation for the 10 year overhaul of its boiler. Ron Crowe, Ed Tatham and John Dixon have been working hard on this culminating in the chimney, cab roof and saddle-tank being lifted off the
locomotive last Wednesday, 26th November. As ever, Ade was in charge of the logistics of moving Cumbria round to the Ribble Steam Railway’s workshop, with assistance from Dave Billington, so that the overhead crane could be used.

The cab roof is lifted:

The saddle-tanks touches down on Stewart Waugh’s wagon:

Once these components had been removed it was then possible to start removing Cumbria’s clothing (as it is known), with John Dixon seen here cleaning down the running board after the cladding plates had been removed.

Meanwhile, Jon Dixon has also been working to spruce up 5643’s cab and Tim Owen has applied the first coat of British Railways gloss green paint to the outside of the bunker.

Following its boiler washout, Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 has been moved into the RSR’s museum for the Christmas period and the duration of the visit to the RSR of the Railway 200 Inspiration Train during the first full week in January.

Jo Booth and Dave Hughes have found a slot in their work schedule to take the front of Furness Railway No. 25’s cab into the paint shop to give it a couple of coats of red oxide primer.

Finally, don’t forget the FRT’s Christmas Dinner at 7pm on Friday evening at the Pig & Whistle on Blackpool Road, Preston..

The Furness Railway Trust’s rolling stock fleet has been arriving back off hire over the past few weeks. First to arrive back was Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 from the East Lancashire Railway on Tuesday, 21st October. This was followed by Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No.5 which returned from the
ELR on Wednesday, 29th October.

Saturday, 1st November saw Sam giving FR 20 a boiler washout, courtesy of the FRT’s fire pump team. Sam then went home feeling under the weather and since seems to have been suffering from ‘flu, along with Keith. We hope to see them both back soon.

Finally, ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria arrived back from the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway late afternoon on Tuesday, 4th November, being offloaded first thing the following morning. It was immediately shunted into the FRT’s shed where Ed and Ron began the process of dismantling items in
the smokebox last Saturday. Needless to say, some gas heating was required to remove stubborn nuts, but the blower ring and vacuum ejector exhaust pipes were successfully removed – next task, the blastpipe!

Alan had a long day out to Williton on Tuesday, 4th November to view progress on Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s boiler and to discuss options for the way forward with the major overhaul that it is receiving. He made it back just in time to attend and report back to the Trustees’ meeting that evening. Well done, Alan!

Alison is still collecting names for the FRT’s Christmas dinner which is taking place at 7 pm on Friday, 5th December at the Pig & Whistle on Blackpool Road, Preston. The menu is shown below to whet your appetite:

Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 arrived back at Preston last Tuesday morning after its appearances at the East Lancashire Railway’s ‘Rail 200’ and Autumn Steam Galas. As ever, it was well supported by the FRT’s working members who made sure that the loco’s paint and brasswork were polished. The photo below showing work in hand prior to it’s operation at the Autumn Steam Gala.

The loco is seen here at Summerseat with a train for Ramsbottom. The FRT’s Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 can be seen at the rear of the train.

The sales team also made sure that visitors had the opportunity to take away some souvenirs: Anne and Phil Burton are pictured with the sales stand on Friday, 17th October.

FR 20’s tender has now been filled with water in readiness to enable a high pressure boiler washout to be conducted using the FRT’s Coventry Climax fire pump once the spark arrestor and plugs have been removed.

Meanwhile work continues at Preston on the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 where there has been a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing some components being returned to the frames. Both injectors have been re-fitted, the right-hand side being seen here:

Some of the lubrication pipework is also now back in place.

Finally, we have left the big news of the week until last. The FRT’s Christmas Dinner is to take place at 7pm on Friday, 5th December at the Pig & Whistle which is situated on a main bus route on Blackpool Road, Lea, Preston. The festive menu offers two courses for £15.99 and three courses for £19.49.
Please let Alison know if you wish to attend.

There has been more work this week at Preston on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No 5643 as the ten-year overhaul continues. Ed is seen here entering the water space at the bottom of the bunker.

The outside of the bunker has now been painted in undercoat green.

Meanwhile folk group Live Steam played for Barrow Model Railway Club members and exhibitors at the annual exhibition on Saturday. The observant of you will notice that the venue was a brewery!

Sam and John Dixon made the trip to Bury on Saturday to clean and polish Furness Railway No. 20 which is scheduled to be in service at the East Lancashire Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala along with Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 this next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Finally, FR 20 and GER 5 are due to arrive back at Preston on Wednesday, 22^nd October. 

Sam has been incarcerated inside Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643’s boiler again in order to dismantle some of the internal pipework. He is seen here applying heat to one of the pipe clamps that was proving to be extremely stubborn. However, the task has been made a little bit easier as the boiler has been turned onto its side in recent weeks.

Work has continued on 5643’s bunker since it was re-fitted onto the frames. The inside of the bunker has had a coat of black paint applied now that refurbishment of the metalwork has been completed.

The outside of the bunker has been sanded down and remedial work undertaken.

Ron Crowe is seen here beneath the bunker during the process of re-fitting the right-hand water valve.

The other main news is that the Trust’s Austerity 0-6-0ST Cumbria is expected back at Preston shortly so that its ten-year overhaul can be progressed.

Don’t forget that the Furness Model Railway Club’s 62nd annual exhibition is due to take place this next weekend, 11th and 12th October, at a new venue, Chetwynde School in Rating Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, 10.00 to 17.00. Folk group Live Steam are due to entertain the exhibition staff on Saturday evening at the Ulverston Brewery premises.

There hasn’t been a blog for a couple of weeks due to holidays, but the work of FRT volunteers has continued. First of all, there have been a couple of working parties at Embsay over the last couple of weeks attended by John, Alan and Tim. Some good progress has been made in removing cab pipes and fittings from ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria although some of the backhead fittings may well need some further persuasion with the help of some heat.

Work has continued outside at Preston on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643’s side tanks. It seems however that Sim found a new use for 5643’s new ashpan whilst brother Jon works in the background.

FR 20 was in use on both days of the Ribble Steam Railway’s 20th Anniversary Gala on the 6th and 7th September. Adrian and Aaron bore the brunt of the wet weather on the Sunday with Aaron seen here looking very wet.

Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 was loaded up on the Sunday evening of the Gala for transportation to Bury for the East Lancashire Railway’s Rail 200 Gala the following weekend, followed by FR 20 the following day. Thanks go to Adrian for looking after the loading.

Sam and John went to Bury last Friday to clean FR 20, which was used on both Saturday and Sunday to haul three return trips between Bury and Ramsbottom with a Lancashire & Yorkshire saloon along with GER No. 5. In addition, FR 20 hauled a Saturday evening Fish and Chip Special which also had a Great Western saloon attached. No photographs of the event yet to hand but there are some videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Tx6nMedJk

Thanks go to the loco and sales teams for all their efforts over the weekend.

We have feedback from a couple of visitors that they were taken aback by the shine on FR 20’s paintwork.

It has been another busy week at Preston as the overhaul on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 continues. There were two pairs of legs to be seen protruding from the locomotive’s right hand side tank last Wednesday as further cleaning and painting took place.

John Dixon has fabricated and fitted a replacement flange for the tank which will form the connection to the balance pipe.

Thursday saw the arrival of a very large crane which re-fitted 5643’s bunker to the frames in pouring rain.

The crane was then used to flip the boiler 90 degrees before replacing it onto the lowmac wagon for new patch screws to be inserted.

Friday saw the Ribble Steam Railway welcome Hunslet 0-6-0T No. 2409 of 1942, King George, on loan from the Didcot Railway Centre, having previously been hired by the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The locomotive is expected to provide cover at the RSR for the remainder of the year.

FR 20 is scheduled to be active in the RSR’s 20th Anniversary Gala this next weekend before departing to the East Lancashire Railway next Tuesday along with Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5.

Finally, a reminder that the FRT’s Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.30pm this Wednesday, 3rd September, in the FRT shed at Preston. Alison is once again kindly providing refreshments.

It has been time to catch up with some maintenance jobs on Furness Railway 0-4-0 locomotive No. 20. Alan is seen working on the fireman’s side water valve which had seized up on the 16th August causing the operating lever to break. Fortunately, there was no problem with the driver’s side injector and the locomotive continued in service that day. The seized water valve is relatively new but has now been replaced by the previous water valve which has been repaired.

John Dixon had noticed that one of the tender brake rods was rubbing against a wheel and this has been removed, straightened and refitted. Tim has also taken the opportunity to adjust the tender brakes. FR 20 is due to operate the Ribble Steam Railway’s passenger service this next Saturday, 30th August.

The recent movement of the components of the former Furness Railway No.25 has allowed access to them with the result that Paul Balshaw has wire brushed the exterior of the smokebox and painted it with red oxide primer.

A crane has been ordered for this next Thursday, 28th August in order that GWR 0-6-2 No. 5643’s bunker can be refitted to the frames and then the boiler lifted and turned through 90 degrees in order that new patch screws can be fitted. This latter procedure is likely to be repeated shortly to allow further new patch screws to be fitted on the other side.

A working party is being organised to go Embsay next Tuesday, 2nd September, in order to dismantle Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST locomotive Cumbria in readiness for a boiler lift.

A reminder that this year’s Annual General Meeting is scheduled to take place in the FRT shed at Preston at 07. 30 pm on Wednesday, 3rd September. There will be refreshments served aft

The highlight of the last fortnight has undoubtedly been the FRT’s participation at The Greatest Gathering at Derby on the 1st , 2nd and 3rd August which, in effect, had become the birthday party celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Railways. The event was massive, with 140 exhibits on site plus sales stands, carousels, Ferris Wheel, a model railway village plus entertainment. There was good coverage on local TV, including some whistle blowing on FR 20 by the presenter.

https://youtu.be/_3vZ9DX2_nc?si=cLTHLkYDJkitS2Ow  

The team assembled on site on Thursday, 31st July to set up the sales stand, with Alison, Phil and Anne seen here.

Furness Railway No. 20 needed cleaning and prepping to be in steam by 10.00 on 1st August to blow its whistle with others to welcome those waiting at the gate. Around 40,000 people attended over the weekend. Sam, Ade and Alan are seen with No. 20.

The crowds soon appeared to gain cab access with FRT members on hand to explain the locomotive’s history and the layout of the cab.

Aaron soon developed a good line of patter which also encouraged visitors to purchase a copy of the recently published FR 20 book, copies of which were displayed on the side of the tender.

Live Steam folk band performed twice a day singing railway songs in the large ‘G’ shop where trains are assembled.

All in all, the event proved to be very successful and it is unlikely that we will see anything similar for a long time to come. FR 20 is due back at Preston tomorrow, Tuesday, 12th August and is rostered for service on Saturdays 16th and 30th August. The following photo shows FR 20 being shunted at Derby after the event by non-other than a huge Class 93 locomotive.

Back at Preston work has continued on the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 with Ron Crowe and Paul Balshaw removing the handrail from the smokebox. This is to enable the boiler to be turned on its side for new patch screws to be fitted.

The 2nd Class North London coach body that has been stored at Jim Kay’s house in Blackpool for many years finally made it to Preston last Tuesday where Adrian was on hand to do the necessary shunt and arranged for it to be placed on a PMV chassis that had been accommodating various components of the former FR 25.

The latest edition of The Iron Horse has been mailed out with details of this year’s Annual General Meeting, which will be held at 7.30 pm in the FRT shed at Preston on Wednesday, 3rd September.