As suggested in the last post, there is a second part to October’s Workshop Diary.  There are a number of other posts in preparation, and these are being timed to align with the wider social medial output of the museum, and (more influentially), when the work is completed.  For example, there is a detailed post in hand on the engine overhaul of Sunderland Corporation 13 to come…

Local bus variety

We have a memorandum of understanding with the North East Bus Preservation Trust, that has seen Sudnerland Corporation 13 based at Beamish for over a year now (an arrangement that looks set to continue) and the scope for other vehicles from the NEBPT collection to visit the museum for differing periods, in order to supplement our working fleet and ensure the NEBPT collection is seen by a wider audience.

Below: Sunderland Corporation 139 is a 1952-built Guy Arab III, fitted with coachwork (body) built by Charles Roe, of Leeds (H33/25R –  denoting it is a Highbridge body, rear entrance and with 33 seats upstairs and 25 downstairs).  The bus is on loan to us at the moment to cover the Halloween and Christmas events, but also took part in a community heritage event at Sunderland Association Football Club on Saturday 26th October.  The club were playing Oxford (and won 2-0), and a number of heritage activities took place in which Beamish’s staff and volunteers took part during the pre-match build-up.  The plan was originally to take Sunderland 13, but as this is still off the road (awaiting new valves as part of the engine overhaul – a separate and comprehensive post is being prepared about this work), 139 stood in and was driven across by museum staff for the occasion.  Staff and volunteers were dressed in 1950s costume as part of the community engagement work that was taking place.

The bus will make regular appearances at Beamish through the winter and again in the future – we are also keen for a Sunderland Corporation line-up at some point, starting with tram 16, then SCT 2 and the double deckers…

Puffing Billy repairs

Below:  A fault was reported with Puffing Billy’s handbrake last week, which revealed a broken component within the linkage.  The locomotive is fitted with a handbrake, which brakes onto a brake disc mounted on the rear axle.   Service braking is done by an air-actuated brake, which forms part of the train brake in order to provide a continuous brake along the length of the train.

Below: With some suitable steel stock to hand, the machine shop created a new component in steel (the original being cast and probably of JCB origin, as a system for the handbrake was originally fitted that used a handbrake mechanism assembled from JCB components).

Below: The old  (above) and new…

Below:  The new link can be seen in situ, being the cleanest component in this view (located just about in the bullseye of this photo).  The prominent pipe is the outlet for the boiler blow-down valve.  The second brake disc for the air system can be seen to the left of this view, with the geared drive dominating the centre of the scene.

Ashover gearbox repairs continue

Below: Work has continued on the refurbishment of the gearbox from the narrow gauge diesel locomotive, Ashover.  This view shows the substantial steel billet being cut, in readiness for machining to commence of a new gearbox end cap.

Below: The blank, after first machining in the step.

Below: Creating the internal clearance and locating step on the reverse of the plate.

Below: The external face of the cap.

Below: Drilling the holes that locate onto studs on the gearbox assembly and secure the cap in place. A Digital Read Out (DRO) has recently been installed on the horizontal borer, and this was used accurately drill these holes around the pitch circle diameter (PCD) required.

Below: The completed cap, with the old for comparison.  A very fine example of what is often referred to as reverse engineering (creating a new part from an old one, without the aid of drawings).

Below: The cap after painting and fitting in place on the gearbox.  This work took seven hours in total.

Rowley Station ground frames

Below: Readers may recall a post back in April 2021 about the installation of a Fortress Lock on the ground frame at the Waggonway.  These provide a means of locking the frame such that it can only be opened when in possession of the railway token.  The two frames at Rowley Station have now been similarly fitted, bringing all of our passenger lines to the same form of operation.

T&I News 6 2021…

Halloween evenings

Operating in the dark always produces some interesting photo opportunities, and whilst these are rather limited by my fairly basic iPhone, they give an idea of some of the nocturnal scenes that occur and the interesting lighting that is created across the museum.

Winter work ahead

Looking forward to the winter, here are some of the key elements of work that we have planned for the winter months…

• Continuing the rebuild of Gateshead tram 10
• Completion of the repaints and maintenance work on Newcastle tram 114 and Sunderland tram 16
• Commencing the mechanical overhaul of Steam Elephant
• Moving the 1923 Daimler CK22 lorry into the workshop for assessment of mechanical condition
• Carrying out the winter maintenance (and boiler inspections) of Glyder, Samson, Coffee Pot No.1 and Puffing Billy
• Relaying the curves at the east side (Bakery) curves on the tramway
• Replacing as many sleepers as can be fitted into the winter programme, on the Tramway
• Carrying out maintenance on the Overhead Line Equipment (Tramway)
• Carrying out substantial lineside clearance on the Tramway and at Rowley Station
• Supporting works to re-establish operations at Rowley Station
• Repainting the NLR coach into Highland Railway green livery
• Progressing overhaul of narrow gauge diesel locomotive, Ashover
• Completing the roof repairs and re-varnishing of the Duke of Sutherland saloon coach at Rowley Station
• Transferring a number of vehicles to other collections/trusts where these are deemed as surplus to the Beamish collection
• Receiving a number of vehicles into the collection, which will add to the regional strength of the transport collection at Beamish
• Carrying out a programme of repair and maintenance on Rotherham 220 and Darlington 4
• Continuing the conservation/restoration work on Sunderland Corporation bus No.2
• Placing a revised stocklist onto the blog (I hope!  It is taking a while and will probably appear in sections, rather than as one whole document)
• Carrying out crew training/re-familiarisation at Rowley Station in March 2025
• Publishing details of our 2025 transport events programme, as part of the Railway 200 national celebrations…

Photos in this post by Phil Doran, Paul Jarman, Phil Smith and Sam Telfer