Month: July 2026

Work at Preston recently has continued with the overhauls of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 and Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria.
Keith, Dave, Ed, Ron and (new boy) Graham have been working to fit the crossheads on 5643, discovering in the process that some machining of the crossheads is required since the fit of the pistons in the re-lined cylinders is somewhat tighter than before. This leaves less room for play in the motion, which of course is a good thing, but has necessitated some adjustment to enable the pistons to travel freely. Dave, Graham and Keith are seen lifting one of the slide bars into place.

Cumbria’s saddle tank has received undercoat red and Paul Kelly is seen marking out the areas of black lining which has since been applied.

Jon and Sim have started the process of applying undercoat to the cladding sheets.
Meanwhile John has continued his re-build of Cumbria’s ashpan, which had become heavily distorted. John tells us that the end is in sight for this project.

Some work still continues on the laborious task of cleaning old paint from the saddle tank for former Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 25. Ed is pictured taking a break from the job.

Finally, members should now be receiving their copies of the latest edition of The Iron Horse, which comes with an invitation to attend the Annual General Meeting on the 9th September.

Where did June go? Time for a catch up on FRT news.
Just for a change, we start with news of some work on the former Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 25, now in the form of a saddle tank as it worked at the Barrow Iron & Steel works. The frames and saddle tank are now situated nearby the FRT’s shed and the recent good weather has allowed Paul Balshaw to spend some time cleaning off old paint from the tank.

Dave and Ron also did some maintenance work, seen here freeing off one of the spring hangers.

Meanwhile, Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 was back in action at the Ribble Steam Railway on Saturday, 20th June where it was rostered to haul the combined service and dining train, including the FRT’s Great Eastern Railway royal saloon. This coincided with what is becoming a very popular Steampunk event. The Furness Steampunkers brought their impressive banner which features an image of FR 20.

FR 20’s mileage continues to build up and we have recently taken delivery of some much needed new brake blocks for the engine. It is next rostered to operate at the RSR on Saturday, 25th July.

Whilst the chassis and boiler of ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria are away for overhaul, the remaining components continue to receive attention in readiness for re-assembling the locomotive on their return. Sim, Jon and recent recruit Paul Kelly are seen here sanding down the saddle tank.

John continues in his efforts to straighten out and repair Cumbria’s ashpan.

Great Western 0-6-2T No. 5643’s crossheads are in the Ribble Steam Railway’s machine shop where Keith and Ron have been setting up the machine that will adjust the profile of the crossheads.