22nd March 2010

I’m back! After a few weeks of major IT problems, which barred me from my own blog, I am quickly sweeping up a few updates before ploughing on properly hereon in…

Below: A trip to Appleby last week to inspect the Furness Railway Trust’s GER Royal saloon which will be our passenger coach at Rowley Station for the 2010 season… This is a restoration in record time, and the teak coach should look very good at the station coupled to the various engines we plan to hire for the season.

Below: Whilst at Appleby I had a look around the training centre, sadly to soon stop vehicle restoration, with Tony Vollens restoring the National Railway Museum’s superb Rhodesian sleeping coach for exhibition at York.

Below: Back at Beamish, the track gang have borrowed Tanfield’s ‘Jacker-Packer’ to re-pack the sleepers on the relaid running line. It is seen here lurking in the distance. I’ll try and get close up shot of it in action tomorrow.

Below: The colliery has been enhanced with the positioning of the winch atop its brick tower. The embankment has also been started and work is aimed for an Easter completion.

Below: Something very little mentioned anywhere, and possibly never before in this blog, is the Lewin, our delightful 1877 built saddle tank ex Seaham Harbour. Work has been progressing steadily on aspects of this engine’s restoration for a number of years, including the boiler. Latest addition to the parts list is the chimney, a new casting (from a new and expensive pattern!), seen here prior to fitting. The boiler is at Alton Engineering in Derbyshire for overhaul.