Its been a little while since I put a general news post onto the blog/website, so here are some of the things going on at the moment:

Below: The Coop delivery bicycle will be familiar to many visitors who will have seen it parked outside the Coop in the Town area.  It is now looking a little scruffy so has been moved to the workshops for attention and a refresh by the Friends workshop volunteers.

Below: Puffing Billy’s tender has been moved to the Erecting Shop to enable it to be lifted and receive attention to the bearings and journals.  Whatever did we do before we had this building?!

Below: The Volunteers are hard at work dismantling the B&P roller, work which has also seen the construction of a traditional engine cradle (based on an archive photograph of examples used by Peter Brotherhood – who also supplied petrol engines to Barford & Perkins and had the legendary engine engineer Sir Harry Ricardo working with them on engine development – he had been involved in those engines fitted to First World War tanks as well as major developments in combustion technology).  The target is to strip the main chassis member and send this away for shotblasting, while retaining the sub-assemblies intact for now.  The rebuild can then focus on the restored frame and enable overhauled items to be added to this, as a sort of project datum.

Below: Phil Anderson working on adverts for the B-Type bus, which is progressing well now that the top deck has been re-fitted.

Below: Our apprentice, Matt, fitting the floor treads to the B-Type bus, which will protect the canvas surface of the floor and also improve the grip when operating in the wet (which is likely to be a fairly regular occurrence!).

Below: We have purchased this Harry Vickers built 1950s caravan to overhaul and send out with the outreach team as part of their programme of work with the local community.  It will later find a home in our 1950s urban area and has come to us in very original (and sound) condition.  It will not be a concours restoration, as it will be taken out on the road, but will be cleaned, have some body and mechanical repairs before a repaint to brighten it up.

Below: Samson is progressing well, with Dave and Matt riveting one of the bunkers.  The frames are reaching the stage where we can consider sending them out for riveting, thus making them a complete assembly.  Dave has now made the chimney base, with some suitable tube on order and the top beading to hand.  Also seen below is Chris at work on the frame extensions, which form the two upper brackets running outside of the bunkers and supporting the rear buffer beam.

Below: With one bus out of action it isn’t good news to have the other limp in this morning with a clutch fault.  There is only one way to get at this (and replace it as it transpires) so Brian and Tom set-to and by lunchtime the engine and front end were removed and the errant plates at a local supplier who will hopefully find a replacement fairly quickly – Brian had suggested that if we had the components by early afternoon he could have the bus back on the road by end of shift – now there’s determination!

Below: A quick look now at the Hetton Silver Band Hall.  Not particularly of transport related interest, but our latest completed development and one which includes a replica of the colliery managers garage at Quaking Houses as well as a replica of a blacksmiths (at least that’s our guess at what it was for) shop in Coxhoe to the south of Durham City.  The latter provides full toilet facilities, the former is to be used to store furniture in, whilst the Band Hall itself was relocated from Hetton, only being dismantled two years ago.  More info on this can be found on the main Museum website.  The formal opening took place last Saturday (11th May).  Completion was a herculean effort by staff in both the curatorial and site support teams as well as local contractors.

Below: So, with Sunday a day of rest, Monday (this morning!) saw the start of the next project – a replica row of Colliery Pit Pony stables, which are located opposite the Band Hall and will, essentially, finish this end of the Pit Village.  Contractors and staff are hard at work to dig and set the foundations before the summer season kicks off, which gives them until about the 27th May!  After this the Museum’s building team will carry out the brickwork with joinery by Shaun.  We hope to add a new strand to the blog following progress on this work – which is one project that could legitimately have a small internal narrow gauge railway system for carrying feed and muck!