Curator's travels...

Curator’s travels…

Below: On Wednesday I visited Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway for a meeting re progress on our 0-4-4T ‘Dunrobin’.  The volunteer team have been busy and have removed the motion and rods and are currently freeing off the cylinder block to enable it to be removed and returned to Beamish where it will be drawn pending preparation of a new pattern.

Below: Dunrobin’s motion, seen here are the crossheads, eccentrics and eccentric straps.  All have been cleaned up and reveal the stampings 4085 or 85 (the works number).  The team has done a great job in extracting and cleaning up these components, which will be inspected and stored prior to reassembly at a later date…

Below: On the train service for the day was Stanier 5MT mogul 42968 – the pouring rain and cold conditions making for some quite atmospheric scenes!

Below: Onwards, on Thursday, to a meeting at the National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire.  Here, recently received Blackpool Railcar No.630 is seen undergoing driver training prior to a launch into service later in the season.

Below: Inside the workshops is the TMS’ new Boat tram, overhauled by BTS for them, No.236.  This car has received extensive work, including repanelling and a new floor, rewiring and a comprehensive mechanical overhaul plus a repaint into 1950s livery.  It was nice to look around the car, feeling somehow very familiar!

Below:  LREG (Light Rail Engineering Group, a sub group of CPT – Confederation of Passenger Transport) are given a tour of the workshops and shown the very nearly completed and quite stunning LUT 159.

Below: Of north east interest – MET 331, later sold to Sunderland where it became No.100 in the Wearside fleet.  Seen here departing Town End for Glory Mine – one of the few moments that the torrential rail eased!