Furness Railway Trust blog

It has been another busy week at Preston for working members of the Furness Railway Trust.

Wednesday was tidy up day after the shed had been opened to the public during the Ribble Steam Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala. The unsold second-hand books now fit on the bookshelves in the mess room and so the table is clear of boxes! The opportunity was also taken to clear out some sales items that were long past their shelf life.

The recent better weather has allowed progress outside the shed on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643’s side tanks, bunker and cab roof. Inside the shed, Keith has started to reassemble 5643’s radial truck and, with the new axle pads for the driving wheels received, it should now be possible to lower the frames. Having completed the reaming out of the remaining first batch of stay holes in the firebox the previous Thursday, attention was now turned to completing the riveting work elsewhere on the loco on Friday.

Meanwhile, last Wednesday saw final preparations for the departure of Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20, which left Preston by low loader to go to the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) for its forthcoming gala appearance after lunch the following day. John Dixon and Sam were at Bury in order to re-fit the guard irons and sand pipes, fill the tender tank and to light a warming fire.

The ELR had asked for an early test run to Ramsbotton to be undertaken to check that FR 20 could cope with the proposed load (two Mark 1 carriages) and to assess the time required to make the journey. So Sam picked up Tim at Horwich Parkway station on Friday morning and the loco was lit up around 08.30. It was certainly the centre of attention in the loco yard as it was cleaned (again!) and prepared for the test run. Andy Booth and Liam Barnes were assigned the duties of driver and fireman, with Sam and Tim also on board to assist with proceedings.

The run had not been advertised and was even a surprise to the signalman at Bury when the engine appeared. However, two Mark 1 coaches were duly collected and moved to platform 4 at Bury Bolton Street station, where tea was duly taken by all concerned. Andy Booth’s Hunslet 0-6-0 tender loco Douglas was also in the station with the five coach dining train, which left at 12.30.

It had been decided to stop at all stations on the way to Ramsbottom to ensure that there would be no problems in re-starting the train on the gradient, and the opportunity was taken to photograph the train in Summerseat station.

Ramsbottom was duly reached in a time of 25 minutes without breaking sweat, so it was time for another cup of tea (what, more tea? Ed.) and a chat with Responsible Officer for the day, Richard Law. Once the dining train had passed through Ramsbottom on its way back towards Bury, it was time to complete the return trip, this time non-stop. It was decided on return that there was no need for a second test run and so the carriages were deposited back into the siding and FR 20 returned to the shed. All in all, a very satisfactory day.

Finally, a date for your diary. Phil Probert informs us that there will be a talk on the new build LNER G5 locomotive at Ghyll View Farm, Gill Lane, Longton, Preston PR4 4ST at 07.30 pm on Thursday, 10^th October. All welcome.

We leave you this week with another reminder of the forthcoming Autumn Steam Gala at the East Lancashire Railway this next weekend:

A short catch up this week.

The Ribble Steam Railway Autumn Steam Gala took place this last Saturday and Sunday, so there was considerable effort made to prepare and clean Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 so that it looked its best for the occasion.

The Gala saw the first publicised appearances of newly overhauled Borrows 0-4-0 well tank No. 48 of 1906 The King and Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1969 of 1929 JN Derbyshire. Both of these locomotives were in ex-works condition and worked back to back for passenger workings, being accorded by some the nickname the ‘Preston Double Fairlie’. With other home-based locos Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2680 Courageous and Grant Richie 0-4-0ST No. 272 also in steam, along with the chance to ride in the FRT’s Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 and partake of tea, coffee, ploughman’s lunch and cream tea, there was plenty to see and do. In fact a number of visitors were noted to have spent both days at the Gala.

There was also a large second-hand book stall in the FRT shed which raised some welcome funds and it was a great opportunity to meet up with friends and visitors and display the current work being undertaken by the Trust.

All too soon the Gala was over and it was time to start preparing FR 20 for its trip to the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. There will then be a test steaming and run up the line before the Autumn Steam Gala there on the 11th, 12th and 13th October.

There has been plenty happening this last week.

Wednesday morning saw Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban’s boiler being loaded onto a hi-ab lorry… …which swiftly departed to Bradshaw Sheet Metal near Bolton to pick up the smokebox before heading off south to the Williton workshop of West Somerset Restoration which has been contracted to fit a new inner firebox, fit new tubes and conduct a hydraulic test.

Having despatched the boiler it was then time to fill the large skip that had been delivered, with John, Tim and Ed loading two sets of boiler tubes (5643 and Caliban), two sets of superheater elements (5643 and 4979) and 5643’s flue tubes. Needless to say, the work in the hot sun was interspersed by the odd cup of tea!

The hi-ab lorry arrived at Williton late afternoon on Wednesday where the boiler was unloaded and a tank for a GWR 28XX tender (not belonging to the FRT) took its place.

News of the arrival of the boiler at Williton was shared with those attending the Furness Railway Trust’s Annual General Meeting, which took place in the FRT shed at 07.30 on Wednesday evening. After the formal business of the day had been transacted, members were able to partake of the splendid buffet that had been laid on by Alison and explore the shed and see progress on the Trust’s locomotives. They were also able to browse and purchase the large number of second-hand books that have been donated to the FRT in recent times. Our thanks go to Alison for providing the buffet, which was very well received.

The hi-ab lorry set off from Williton before dawn on Thursday to deliver the tank to Tyseley Locomotive Works and then pick up the new superheater elements for GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 and the second-hand coupling rod that had been purchased for GWR ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall. These were delivered to Preston around 2 pm that day, being received by John Dixon.

Friday saw John, Keith and Tim assemble to tidy up the shed, stack the superheater elements and bring in the coupling rod.

This next weekend sees Furness Railway 0-4-0 locomotive No. 20 and Great Eastern Railway royal saloon No. 5 in action at the Ribble Steam Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on Saturday/ Sunday, 28th/29th September. It is planned that there will be five locomotives in steam. The FRT shed will be open to visitors and there will be a large second-hand book sale in the shed.

Finally, we received this week the latest West Somerset Railway Journal, which features some recognisable ‘old timers’ on the back cover celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Watchet to Minehead Railway.

Another very short blog this week.

We have taken delivery of a large metal recycling skip this last week with a view to weighing in redundant tubes, superheater flues, superheater elements and anything else that doesn’t have any useful purpose. This should keep us busy for a few hours!

Caliban’s boiler is scheduled to be picked up on Wednesday morning for its trip to the Williton workshop of the West Somerset Railway where it will receive a new inner firebox. Ade has been in today to move 5643’s side tanks out of the way for the booked hi-ab to lift the boiler. Hopefully the hi-ab will also be able to bring back the first batch of stays for 5643 that we have ordered from Williton and then pick up the superheater elements for 5643 and a coupling rod for Wootton Hall from Tyseley. It will also be transferring a GWR locomotive water tank from Williton to Tyseley for someone else, so no mileage wasted here! (Don’t ask how many telephone calls and emails this has taken to organise!)

Finally, a final reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held in the FRT shed at Preston at 7.30 pm this Wednesday, 18th September. We’d love to see as many as possible of our members there.

A short blog this week.

There has been further work on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643. John Dixon is seen busy with the welder with one of 5643’s side tanks. Some of the water baffles for the bunker have also been fitted.

Keith has been fitting new footplate supports to the tender of Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall.

Work on refreshing the FRT’s mess room in on the last lap in between the rain showers with Sim applying undercoat yellow to the corner posts.

A first reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held in the FRT shed at Preston at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, 18^th September.

Finally, for those travelling to the Ribble Steam Railway by public transport, please note that Preston Bus No. 100 bus service from Preston station to McDonalds on Pedders Lane (every 15 minutes) has been replaced by the Nos. 19 and 20 which each operate every 20 minutes, so in theory a bus every ten minutes – plus of course Nos. 74 and 75 operated now by Archway Travel.

There has been more progress with the overhaul of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 over the past couple of weeks. Ian Massey has now removed the second, right hand, cylinder liner, the gouging rods making a spectacular light display.

Once the top of the liner was cut it was necessary to apply brute force to remove it. John Dixon and Keith are seen hauling it out of the cylinder after Ian Massey had persuaded it to move!

Chris Rycroft has been reaming out stay holes in the side of the firebox, with assistance from John Dixon, using a borrowed air drill.

This piece of equipment proved to be very efficient and, with much more work of this nature required, a search was conducted for a suitable second-hand drill – new drills, if you can find them, are very expensive. Fortunately, Sam and Chris identified such a drill and a price agreed. The drill arrived last Wednesday with Sam seen cutting open the packaging.

This new yellow bit of kit was quickly tested and is now ready for action.

Outside, John Dixon and Ed Tatham have been beavering away on the bunker and tanks, removing rust and, in the case of the bunker water tank, applying fibreglass and two-part epoxy paint sealant. Also trying to avoid the seemingly persistent unsettled weather have been Jon, Sim and Tim during their mission to spruce up the exterior of the mess room. It is hoped to reduce the many shades of grey to one of gloss grey if the weather is fine this next week.

Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 is due to operate the Ribble Steam Railway’s service this Saturday, 7^th September.

Finally, there was a test outing of Borrows 0-4-0 well tank No. 48 of 1906 on Saturday in readiness for its appearance at the RSR’s Gala on the 28^th and 29^th September. Judging by the smile on owner Phil Steer’s face, the test must have been successful.

It has been a case of more of the same as far as work as Preston was concerned this last week. Jon Dixon and Tim have made progress with the exterior redecoration of the mess room, with the roof almost finished and the east facing side receiving both undercoat and gloss finishes courtesy of some unexpected sunshine.

There was some disappointment on Thursday when the air drill being used to ream out the stay holes on Great Western Railway No. 5643’s firebox didn’t live up to the task. A new drill is being sought for this next week. However, there has been further progress with the cleaning of 5643’s rear water tanks where some two-part epoxy paint will be applied. A coat of bitumastic paint has been painted inside the bunker. Keith has been cutting up steel plate to fit in both 5643’s rear water tank and also 4979’s tender so there will be plenty of work for our welder to do.

Finally, Live Steam had a successful gig at the Engine Inn at Cark-in-Cartmel on Saturday evening, although it was not without incident. Three police vans appeared in the usually sleepy village to attend to a couple of members of the audience who had been ejected for unruly behaviour. Although it is said that they had paid to hire a holiday cottage in the village, it wasn’t required that night as we hear they were given alternative accommodation courtesy of Cumbria Police!

Furness Railway locomotive No. 20 returned to Preston from its slightly extended seaside holiday at Minehead at 9.30 pm on Wednesday evening and was unloaded the following day. There was just time therefore on Friday to put back guard irons, sand pipes and other equipment as well as give it a thorough inspection and clean before it re-entered service on the Ribble Steam Railway on Saturday. Thanks go to Sam, Alan, John and Jack for their help and contributions to ensuring that FR 20 looked sparkling for those who came to ride behind it.

Work continues on the overhaul at Preston of Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 where Ed has been cleaning out the tanks, a dirty job as you can see from the photographs. Needless to say, he was then accused of giving everyone black looks!

Thursday saw Chris Rycroft, John Dixon and Keith riveting some new steel angle to the frames under where the bunker is situated. John is seen warming up the rivets…

……which can then be seen securely in position.

Some more riveting is still required and Keith is seen here preparing the holes with a drill. The new steel angle can also be seen in situ.

Finally, Sim and Tim have continued their work on the repaint of the mess room, with Sim seen here giving the roof a coat of paint.

After a break of a week for holidays (and what good weather!) we are back with another short update.

The main event this week at Preston was the removal of the first of the two cylinder liners from Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 by Ian Massey. Ian has promised to reappear in a couple of weeks to remove the second cylinder liner.

More progress has been made by Jon and Sim on the seemingly never-ending job of cleaning and painting the mess room roof. It is to be hoped that the weather stays fair this week for more work on this project.

Furness Railway No. 20 has featured in the latest edition of Heritage Railway magazine with some photographs taken during its recent stay at Minehead. A lovely letter has been received from Andy Palk, the Running Foreman at Minehead, thanking everyone from the FRT who assisted at Minehead for their help. In Andy’s words, “FR 20 did the West Somerset Railway proud for their 150 event.”
We couldn’t resist this extra photo of our own from the event – two Manchester built locos, but D7017 is a mere 99 years younger than FR20!
FR20 is due to arrive back at Preston on Wednesday or Thursday this week and is scheduled to operate the Ribble Steam Railway service this Saturday.

Finally, the latest edition of the FRT magazine, The Iron Horse, is in the process of being distributed to members along with the Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for 2023 and an invitation to the Annual General Meeting which is to be held at 7.30 pm om Wednesday, 18^th September in the FRT shed at Preston.

After five days of Furness Railway No. 20 operating trains at the West Somerset Railway, the party is over and members of Team FR 20 are now back home.

The locomotive was hired by the WSR, along with Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No. 3581 of 1924, Marston Thompson and Evershed No. 3, from the Foxfield Railway, to haul two VIP trains from Watchet to Minehead to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the opening of that stretch of railway on the 16^th July 1874. The first special ran on Tuesday, 16^th, the exact date of the anniversary, with a re-run on Saturday, 20^th.

On each occasion, the 0-4-0ST led the empty train from Minehead to Williton where it spent an hour in the yard before heading back to Watchet for the ribbon cutting ceremonies with FR 20 in the lead. The two locomotives worked well together, tackling the east bound Washford bank and the westbound climb out of Watchet with aplomb.

Both specials arrived back at Minehead a minute or two ahead of schedule, which on the Saturday was especially important as a main line special from Paddington, hauled by ‘Black 5’ 4-6-0 44871,was scheduled to arrive at Minehead at 1 pm. Over the five days, the two locomotives also worked many shuttle trains out of Minehead and over Seaward Crossing, passengers only being asked to give a donation for the ride. These were extremely popular and drew much interest from those visiting the railway over the five days of operation.

There was a large degree of input from FRT members during the visit, which made sure that FR 20 was looking at its very best and therefore attracted many favourable comments from the public and also on social media.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, for the initial steaming, turning the locomotive on the turntable and fitness to run exam took place on Monday, 21^st July in pouring rain (photo Mike Lanning) which soaked those involved to the skin. However, the weather then perked up and was generally good for the rest of the stay.

There was a day off from operations on the Friday which allowed a FRT party of nine to visit the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway in beautiful sunshine, followed by a trip to Woody Bay to see the rolling stock on the revived section of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, with a guided tour and steam cab rides on 2-4-2T Lyn in the platform, arranged courtesy of General Manager Stuart Nellams.

Mention must be made of the efforts of Alison Pinch who sold many souvenirs during the week. The new card reader worked a treat and certainly helped sales.

No date yet for the arrival of FR 20 back at Preston, however, it is due back in service at the RSR on Saturday, 10^th August. Thanks go to the people at the West Somerset Railway for their friendly welcome to all the FRT members. It is a lovely railway and definitely worth a visit for those who have not already ventured there.

The latest issue of The Iron Horse magazine is being proof read and should be with members shortly along with an invitation to the Annual General Meeting, which will take place at 7.30 pm in the FRT shed at Preston on Wednesday evening, 18^th September.

Finally, FRT member and RSR driver Ben Valentine, who spent the week helping out at Minehead, was offered a cab ride and a turn on the shovel on GWR ‘Hall class 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall last Thursday. FRT member Jimmy Dutton appeared and thought that we had TV star Piglet of the NYMR on board when he looked down the platform. There was a call for Jimmy to get a new pair of spectacles – but then two more people made the same error!

No blog next week due to more holidays!!