Monday, 10th February 2025

As mentioned in last week’s blog, work has started on some of the winter
maintenance jobs listed for Furness Railway No. 20. With the left-hand
motion dismantled, Alan is seen measuring up components with a view to
eliminating the undesirable side movement around the little end that has been
apparent in recent times.

Alan measuring up FR 20's components


Ron Crowe has been helpfully cleaning up the motion.

Ron Crowe cleaning up FR 20's left hand slide bars


Andy Booth has been tapping out the fusible plug holes in FR 20’s firebox
which will increase their size by 1/16”. New plugs are on order.

Andy Booth working in FR 20's firebox


Work has continued on the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No.
5643 with rust being removed from the side tanks in readiness for new paint.
It should not be too long now before work on fitting new cylinder liners takes
place.


Member Jo Booth appeared last Wednesday with his scratch built ‘O’ gauge
LMS ‘Pacific’ No. 46222 Queen Mary, a quite amazing piece of work
considering he only started on the project last August.

Jo Booth's new pride and joy


Sam Middleton, Chris Rycroft, Jimmy Dutton, and Mike Stewart spent Saturday at Cheltenham on a
BESTT tubing course. Sam is seen here at work. We are pleased to report that
all have received certificates of competency.

Sam at work on the BESTT retubing course


Finally, RSR overhauled Peckett 0-4-0ST Hornet made it out on to the main
line and into Riverside station on Saturday as part of its shake down
programme.

Hornet on test

Monday, 27th January 2025

Work has again continued with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 with Ed and Ron reaching the landmark stage on Saturday of drilling from the outside all the firebox stays to be replaced. There is still work to be done from the inside of the firebox before the holes can be reamed and tapped.

Another shunt of the shed has taken place and Furness Railway No. 20’s engine has been split from the tender in order for it to be squeezed into the heated part of the shed, above the pit, to enable winter maintenance to take place. 5643’s chassis is now at the west end of the shed to allow work to replace the cylinder liners to take place.

FR 20 in the FRT shed split from its tender

With the Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s boiler away at Williton for the fitting of a new firebox, attention has turned to repairing the cab and readying it for painting. A skim of filler is being applied to improve the surface of the metalwork. 

Work in progress on Caliban's cab

Sam took a trip to Embsay yesterday and found the Trust’s ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria in service.

Cumbria in service at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway on Sunday, 26th January 2025

Finally, the Ribble Steam Railway’s workshop has turned out Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1935 Hornet of 1937, which was being warmed up on Saturday in the sunshine in readiness for a full steam test, hopefully this week.

Hornet being warmed up on Saturday, 25th January 2025

Monday, 20th January 2025

Another couple of weeks have gone by and the stay drilling team of Ed and
Ron is closing in on the last few stays to be replaced on Great Western Railway
0-6-2T No. 5643’s firebox, which are being drilled out from the outside.

There is still some work to be done on clearing the holes on the inside of the firebox,
which Keith will do with the gas torch, but that side of the project is now
nearing completion. Thursday saw another set of stay holes tapped and ready
to receive new stays, with Chris Rycroft being assisted by the FRT team.


Elsewhere, with Caliban’s boiler away receiving a new firebox, it’s time to
ensure that other elements of the project are brought up to speed. Tim has
been sanding down the back of the cab, applying filler where necessary, whilst
John Dixon has been cleaning up the threads at the bottom of two of the cab
stanchions.

John Dixon uses a die nut to clean up the threads on one of Caliban's cab stanchions.


Meanwhile, Keith has been fabricating a new bracket to hold the steam heat
pipe on the front of Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979
Wootton Hall.

Keith fabricates a new bracket to hold the steam heating pipe on the front of GWR No. 4979 Wootton Hall


Members should now have received the latest, Autumn/Winter 2024, edition
of The Iron Horse along with membership renewal letters.
It is good to see so many subscriptions arriving in the Trust’s bank account
already – many thanks.

Monday, 6th January 2025

A Happy New Year to all our readers. We hope that you have had a pleasant and peaceful time over the festive break.

We are pleased to announce that the Trust was notified of a legacy of £10,000 from the estate of the late David Rimmer, our former long-standing Treasurer and Trustee who died last April. We are sure that David would have appreciated the timing of the notification and the Trustees will no doubt wish to allocate the money to progressing one of David’s favoured projects.

The Christmas and New Year festivities have not halted progress on the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 where work has continued on the removal of old stays from the firebox, with little now left to do in this respect – just the more awkward ones!

Our folk group, Live Steam, performed a well appreciated gig at the Engine Inn at Cark-in-Cartmel on New Year’s Eve, although the atrocious weather unsurprisingly reduced the size of the audience. Even so, some welcome funds were raised for the Furness Railway Trust and also the Bahamas Locomotive Society for which guitarist Pete Skellon is a Trustee.

Tim, George, Alan and Pete at the Engine Inn, Cart-in-Cartmel on New Year's Eve

Finally, some of you will have noticed that the FRT’s old website has been taken down because it had become out of date. The good news is that Chris Rycroft has been working with Mike Rigg to produce a super new website. Although still being worked up to full size, readers are now invited to have a first glimpse of the FRT’s new presence on the web. Our grateful thanks go to Chris for his skill and imagination in producing something that is very different.

link to the new website!

Monday, 23rd December 2024

We find ourselves once again heading towards the end of another year, one that will be memorable amongst other things for successful visits with Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 to the West Somerset and East Lancashire Railways, some excellent progress with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643, the despatch of Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s boiler to Williton for overhaul as well as the production of new castings for its motion. Volunteers have met new challenges with boiler work on 5643 and also overcome, with some difficulty for the more elderly, the art of getting out of a deep Premier Inn bath.

The past couple of weeks have seen more progress with drilling out stays on 5643’s boiler (the vast majority now done) and the tapping of stay holes of which over 100 are finished and mostly fitted with new stays – just the caulking to do.

The batch of 550 new nuts has been received from Williton, with Keith seen here testing one on a stay.

Keith plays with his nuts


5643’s main steam pipe has been away for shotblasting and three of the engine’s driving wheel springs have had their holes re-bushed to give a better fit.

Keith checking a new bush on a spring

They have then been re-fitted on to the locomotive.

Keith Sim and Ed re-fit a spring

Sam has removed and cleaned FR 20’s washout plugs and the ashpan has been removed for Sim to clean and paint.

Sim puts the finishing touches to FR 20's ashpan

Jon has been giving the Coventry Climax fire pump yet another overhaul, this time including a full clean, emptying of the fuel tank, and the fitting of new leads. This will hopefully reduce the lead time in getting this 70 year old machine into action when boiler washouts are arranged.

Jon giving the Coventry Climax fire pump yet another service

The latest edition of The Iron Horse magazine is with the printer and should be out early in the New Year.

The Ribble Steam Railway’s Santa Specials concluded yesterday, with Ade driving Bagnall 0-6-0ST Courageous on its last day in service before a 10 year boiler overhaul.

Courageous saying goodbye

There will be working parties at Preston on Friday, 27 th , and Saturday, 28 th December. The normal Wednesday/Friday/Saturday pattern of working days will re-commence on Friday, 3 rd January.


Finally, our folk group, Live Steam will once again be performing at the Engine Inn, Cark-in-Cartmel on New Year’s Eve, so do come along if you are in the area.

Best wishes from the blog team go to everyone for a merry Christmas and a very prosperous and productive New Year.

Monday 9th December 2024


Work at Preston has again focussed on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. Ed and Ron have been drilling out some more stays.

Meanwhile, Sim, John Dixon and Keith have refitted the main brake shaft
prior to the vacuum cylinder being fitted. Needless to say, if there are two
trunnions to be fitted, the first attempt will see the trunnions the wrong way
round, but all is sorted now!

John Dixon has been tidying up the paintwork on the frames, attending to
those odd areas that seem to have been missed.

The lockers that are located in the cab have been refurbished and are now
gleaming. No dirty rags allowed in here!

    Monday 2nd December 2024

    It has been a busy couple of weeks since the last blog. Firstly there was a big
    shunt around in the shed which allowed the chassis of 5643 to be placed over
    the pit where the driving wheel springs have now been fitted. John Dixon is
    seen here taking advantage of the empty centre road to do some sweeping up.

    550 brand new firebox stays have arrived for Great Western Railway 0-6-2T
    locomotive No. 5643 from the Williton workshop of the West Somerset Railway.

    Last Friday saw Chris Rycroft and John tapping out sixty stay holes on the
    left-hand side of 5643’s firebox.

    Keith has since been trimming the stays to size and fitting them in readiness
    for caulking up. As will be appreciated, the tapping out of such a number of

    stay holes and fitting of stays is likely to keep working members busy for some while.

    This next photo shows the top two rows of stays in place, below the silver
    paint line.

    Next we are sorry to have to report that Alison has been confined to bed after
    taking a tumble at home. Needless to say, Alison hopes to be with us at the
    Ribble Pilot this next Friday evening for the FRT’s Christmas dinner. Guests
    are asked to arrive in good time to allow a prompt start at 7 pm.

    Finally, some of you may have noticed that the FRT’s web site has been taken
    down with a placeholder notifying people of how to contact the Trust. A new
    web site is under construction and it is hoped to have this available very
    shortly.

    Monday 18th November 2024

    Firstly this week, a view of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643’s newly cleaned and painted chassis, now lowered onto the wheels. We are just awaiting a shed shunt to get the frames over the pit before fitting the remaining two springs.

    5643's cleaned and painted chassis

    We have all been pleased to welcome back Ron Crowe after his recent bereavement. He is seen here tapping out the main steam pipe flanges on 5643.

    Ron Crowe tapping out the main steam pipe flanges on 5643

    Jon and Sim spent quite some time last Wednesday giving the Coventry Climax fire pump yet another service in order to coax it into life.

    Jon and sim giving the Coventry Climax fire pump a service

    Saturday saw the fire pump in real action, after a little more coaxing(!!), with Sam seen here directing a high-pressure jet of water around the foundation ring of Furness Railway locomotive No. 20, with John and Jon acting as signallers to the fire pump operator. Two other boilers on site were also treated to a washout before Sam retired to put on some dry clothes.

    Sam direct a high pressure jet of water around FR 20's foundation ring

    Finally, it is pleasing to see that twenty members and guests have already registered to attend the Furness Railway Trust Christmas dinner at the Ribble Pilot at 7 pm on Friday 6th December. Would anyone else wishing to attend please let Alison know as soon as possible – see last week’s blog for details.

    Monday 11th November

    At last, the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643
    has reached the point where some re-assembly is starting to take place. The
    frames have been lowered fully onto the wheelsets and six of the eight springs have been re-fitted. Keith and John Dixon are seen here lifting a radial truck spring into position with the help of the gantry crane.

    John Dixon and Keith Brewer lifting a radial truck spring into position

    Outside, the bunker has been lifted off the ground to enable the bottom to be inspected, cleaned and painted – John and Keith are seen surveying the bunker in the photo below.

    John Dixon and Keith Brewer inspect the bottom of 5643's bunker

    As many of you will already be aware, the bitumen freight traffic from
    Haverton to the Total Lanfina plant at Preston has ceased, the last train
    running onto the Ribble Steam Railway on Friday, 1st November. The occasion was not without incident as the inward train from Haverton slipped to a stand on Copy Pit bank and was 195 minutes late on arrival behind the Colas Class 56 locomotive, No. 56 105.

    56 105 crosses Strand Road with the final Haverton to Preston tankers

    The extended delay must have been some of a disappointment to the many
    photographers who had turned out for the occasion, but it did allow the Ribble Rail staff and others to photograph the three Sentinel diesels, which had been specially turned out for the occasion, in various positions.

    56 105 and the three Sentinels at exchange Sidings on 01.11.24

    Progress, Enterprise and Energy at the Exchange Sidings 01.11.24

    Enterprise, Progress and Energy at the Exchange Sidings, 01.11.24

    The photographs appear here courtesy of Adrian Tomkinson who was on RR duty that day.
    Finally, it is that time of year when we must mention the ‘C’ word. Yes, the
    annual Furness Railway Trust Christmas Dinner will take place at the Ribble Pilot pub on the Docklands at Preston at 7pm on Friday, 6th December. Please let Alison Pinch (07846 072409) know if you wish to attend and let her have a £5 deposit along with your choice of food. The Festive Lunch and Dinner menu can be found on the Ribble Pilot website.