It seems that we are busier than ever at the moment and it is hard to remember everything we have going on in the T&I team!

Here is an update to the previous Week 24 news feature.

Below: John Howe has been test steamed and carried out some trial running at Rowley.  There are a number of things to sort out before we start crew familiarisation next week but it should be running passenger trains next weekend.  It is seen here after watering and enjoying a run along the line with Matt Ellis at the helm, surviving his first week in our hectic department!!!

Below: At rest outside the RMS.

Below: Another Road Roller Association implement has arrived at Beamish, this being a Macintosh tar boiler and chipper – quite a piece of equipment!  It will form part of the roadmenders yard display along with other items from the RRA collection as well as our own growing collection of largely working roadmaking and maintenance artifacts.

Below: The work on the Y7’s rear driving wheel has been completed, as seen here with a Go-No Go gauge in place.  This shows whether or not a wheel is within certain parameters and does not measure the potential discrepencies but shows at a quick check whether or not the standards are exceeded or not.  Here it is showing the flange thickness and height to be in order, as long as the left hand wing is not touching the wheel tread or the flange tip touching the top of its aperture, it is ‘Go’.  If it touches, then its ‘No Go’.  As the route of the flange had been worn, this has been built up with a process of wheel heating, welding, turning and then stress relieving.  This is very useful in restoring flange profile without losing tyre thickness and is a technique a number of organisations are looking at.  It does not cure a thin tyre or dished tread, but where side wear has occurred, it could be a solution to turning or re-tyring.  It may be particularly useful for tram tyres where flange root wear is greater than tread wear due to the side loading when traversing sharp curves.  This view shows the gauge in place and despite what it looks like, it is ‘Go’.  The wheels will return next Monday for replacing under the loco.