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.