We are sorry to have to start this week’s blog with the sad news that Andy MacGregor passed way last Tuesday night, having been in care for some years after having suffered a stroke. Andy was a prominent working member of the Lakeside Railway Society, becoming a fireman and tackling all sorts of jobs during his time at Haverthwaite. He also joined in the busy social life that we had in those days. He joined British Rail’s S&T department and, after living at Crewe, Shirley and Timperley, finally returned “home” with his family to Kendal. We send our heartfelt condolences to wife Gill and sons James and Robert. We have not yet received details of Andy’s funeral.
Work has continued at Preston on the overhaul of Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5. John Dixon has bee re-fitting the rain strips on the roof.
Ed, John Davis and Roger have continued their work in cleaning old varnish from interior woodwork whilst Phil has replaced some of the corridor ceiling which had been damaged by water ingress. 
Fred has started the process of painting the gas lamp housing lids ready for them to be re-fitted.
The Trustees held a short meeting last Tuesday evening (yes, it lasted less than thirty minutes) at which they approved expenditure on a new dustless sanding machine, new filters for the fume extractors and also the machining of a new screw and nut for Wootton Hall’s reverser.
Finally, there has been a request for Furness Railway No. 20 to haul Ribble Steam Railway’s trains over the Jubilee weekend and so time was taken by Sam last Wednesday to clean up a headboard dating back to L&HR days made for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.
John Dixon has now completed the re-fitting of the cornice mouldings on the upper sides of Great Eastern Royal Saloon No. 5 which meant the he and Tim were able to apply a 50:50 mix of canvas bonding paste and boiled linseed oil to the whole of the canvas on the roof last Wednesday. Friday then saw the gas lamp bases being fitted from under the roof in readiness for the upper sections to be fitted at a future date.
John has since been assembling the roof rain strips for fitting.
The torpedo vents have been painted undercoat white, again in readiness for fitting.
Furness Railway locomotive No, 20 arrived back at Preston safe and sound last Thursday morning after its successful visit to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. Ade was on hand to shunt it around to the FRT shed where it now requires a clean to remove the inevitable road film gained on its journey. The opportunity has been taken to remove the water from the boiler and a full washout may be carried out depending upon what is found when removing the bottom wash out plugs. The observant will notice that the locomotive is now facing west rather than east, the outcome of having to re-route the low loader under a low bridge to avoid using the overbridge at Quainton which has now had a 3 ton limit imposed. The chimney of the loco therefore needed to be placed adjacent to the neck on the low loader instead of above the rear wheels.
Work has continued both inside and outside Great Eastern Railway Royal Saloon No. 5. Work is progressing well on removing old varnish from the interior woodwork and those concerned are to be congratulated on their perseverance. John Dixon has been fitting and sealing the upper wooden gutters which also help to retain the roof canvas in place. The next job will be to apply a mix of bonding paste and boiled linseed oil to the canvas on the roof.
Tim is making slow but steady progress on preparing the outside of Wootton Hall‘s tender tank for eventual painting.
Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 set off from Preston last Wednesday morning for a trip south to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre for the Spring Steam Gala there. Alan and Alison departed the following day, Tim on Friday morning and then Ade early on Saturday morning, all staying at the Premier Inn at Aylesbury. Alan spent Friday with our long term friend Frank Boait ensuring that the locomotive was back in one piece after the re-fitting of the sand pipes and guard irons and then Saturday saw steam being raised on FR 20 and the usual fitness to run examination. There was then time to shunt the three vintage carriages to be used and to take some photographs in the sunshine.
One of the most notable things when boarding the footplate was the presence of black ovoids in the tender, made from compressed coal dust from the Ffos-y-Fran surface mine in Wales. There were warnings that a good wood fire was necessary as a base to getting the ovoids to burn, but in fact there were no problems as long as the ovoids were given time ‘to cook’ before heat was required. There was, however, some clinker on the fire grate at the end of each operating day, but that did not appear to affect FR 20’s ability to steam!
Sunday was the quieter of the two day Gala and Alison, who had brought down some FRT merchandise with her, needed to shelter from the fresh breeze and showers in the waiting room.
However, warmer weather on the Monday brought out more visitors and there was a constant steam of passengers for FR 20’s vintage train rides. People seemed very impressed with the appearance of the locomotive and Alison, now in a prominent place on the platform, was able to take a tidy sum for the FRT.
Ade, Alan and Tim took in turns to assist on the footplate which allowed a chance to explore the extensive site and view the other four locomotives in steam. Sam and John Dixon visited on Sunday and we have yet another of our Seats of the Week photographs when Ade, John and Tim sampled the splendid miniature railway which has a home on the site.