{"id":2937,"date":"2023-05-22T20:57:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T19:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.furnessrailwaytrust.org.uk\/about\/blog\/?p=2937"},"modified":"2023-05-22T21:00:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T20:00:53","slug":"monday-22nd-may-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/?p=2937","title":{"rendered":"Monday 22nd May 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alan, Alison and Tim have returned today from a rather too eventful weekend at the Pontypool &amp; Blaenavon Railway. Unfortunately, there isn\u2019t time this evening to tell the full tale, which will no doubt be recounted in the next edition of the Trust\u2019s journal, <em>The Iron Horse<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2931\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_130057-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"A very shiny FR 20 being steamed on Friday\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_130057-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_130057-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_130057-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>Last Friday saw the FRT, team, bolstered on the day by Sam who had driven down from Preston and arrived at 08.00, join the Pontypool &amp; Blaenavon Railway\u2019s own people in preparing Furness Railway No. 20 for a test steaming and a trip down the line in readiness for the three scheduled return trips on Saturday and Sunday. \u00a0We were immediately made welcome and tea served, a good start to the day, and that hospitality endured over the weekend. We have to compliment the P&amp;B Loco department on its superb efforts to make FR 20 shine from top to bottom, something very much appreciated by the passengers the following day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2933\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_131315-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"FR 20 heading down the valley with its train\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_131315-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_131315-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_131315-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>The test run revealed that the nine days of steamings at Didcot had made the boiler water incompatible with opening the regulator wide, the chalky water causing the loco to prime.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2932\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_134413-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"FR 20 and train approaching Furnace Sidings Station\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_134413-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_134413-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230520_134413-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>A change of water then ensued before the following day\u2019s steamings.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday&#8217;s trips were going well until the final one, when the right hand crosshead cotter sheared, which caused the piston to over-travel and damage the front cylinder cover. This brought the train to a halt with no further progress possible.\u00a0 Fortunately, the train was near to Furnace Sidings station and the passengers were safely detrained. It was then necessary to tie up the crosshead and remove the cylinder cover before carriages and locomotive could be moved safely, and without further damage, to their respective sheds.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, this failure was a huge disappointment to everyone, and another locomotive had to be steamed for traffic the following day.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2934\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230521_112520-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The pieces that had broken off the cylinder cover\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230521_112520-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230521_112520-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230521_112520-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>Sunday was spent further examining FR 20 and preparing it for a return journey back to Preston to repairs. However, the FRT has this morning received the kind offer of assistance from the West Somerset Railway\u2019s mechanical engineering department, which has a good relationship with the P&amp;BR. A further examination of FR 20 will therefore take place on Wednesday including some non-destructive testing of components, after which it is hoped to be able to put together a plan of action for repairs. We will keep our readers informed as to progress.<\/p>\n<p>In the mean time we wish to thank everyone at the P&amp;BR for their friendship and assistance over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>We leave you on a lighter note with the news that when Alison placed an order on Friday evening for two sweets (for herself and Tim) at the Brewer\u2019s Fayre Inn at Llanfoist, three turned up. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2935 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_184207-e1684785339549-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Alison with two portions - will I make it??\" width=\"660\" height=\"880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_184207-e1684785339549-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_184207-e1684785339549-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>Luckily, Alan was delighted to help out in solving the dilemma! \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2936 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_185002-e1684785321713-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Assistance rendered!\" width=\"660\" height=\"880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_185002-e1684785321713-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230519_185002-e1684785321713-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alan, Alison and Tim have returned today from a rather too eventful weekend at the Pontypool &amp; Blaenavon Railway. Unfortunately, there isn\u2019t time this evening to tell the full tale, which will no doubt be recounted in the next edition of the Trust\u2019s journal, The Iron Horse. Last Friday saw the FRT, team, bolstered on &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/?p=2937\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Monday 22nd May 2023<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2937"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2940,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2937\/revisions\/2940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furnessrailway.co.uk\/about\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}