Author: Mike Rigg

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 6^th December. Would anyone else wishing to attend please let Alison know as soon as possible – see last week’s blog for details.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.