This month there is so much content available that we’ll split the workshop diary into two posts – this being the first of those, and one that looks at the recent collections movements that have been carried out to relocate vehicles or free up access into buildings in order for maintenance work to be undertaken.

Engineering

Below:  These are some of the components from Steam Elephants valve gear, the overhaul of which has been ongoing alongside the work undertaken on the boiler recently.  The locomotive is being reassembled ahead of departing for Darlington in two weeks, and we want it to appear to be as intact as we can make it, mid-way through the overhaul.

Below: Whilst the wheels have been removed from Darlington 4, they have been cleaned up for priming and painting by one of the engagement team, and look very well for this extra bit of treatment.  We’ll look at the body repairs in Part 2 of this post, but the work being carried out has had to be much more extensive than first envisaged (isn’t that always the case!) and a lot more new material is being put into the structure to replace old.

Dodge Bus 

Below: The Friends of Beamish engineering volunteers have placed the front bulkhead back onto the Dodge to act as a mounting point for various items.  This isn’t restored yet itself, but is a little glimpse of the progress on this bus.

Collection movements and shunts

With almost every square foot of our available storage full, we have to plan quite carefully our vehicle and transport object movements, in order to allow progress on some jobs and ensure others remain either on display or available for operation if required.  Thus, every time we carry out one of these exercises, a whole range of moves ahead of the actual move we need must take place.  This has occupied quite a lot of time in February/early March, and will continue well into May!  Here is a snapshot of some of those moves, as well as a few nice photos along the way.

Below: Glyder has been in steam on a number of occasions for driver training lately – as ever looking totally at home in the Colliery setting.

Below:  As part of the movement of items around the museum, the Model Ts are currently on display in the Colliery Engine Works, whilst their usual base is being used for the overhaul of Darlington bus No.4.

Below: The Barford & Perkins D4 motor roller has returned to the council depot, as seen here (from the Cub tipper).  This was to free up some space in the Garage, in order to continue the commissioning work on the Armstrong Whitworth car.

Below: To extract the car involved a lot of preparation and movement of other items, including the roller, cycles and the Black Prince.  This is the view with everything out of the space – it looks huge when we don’t actually keep anything in it!

The work on the AW car is dealt with in a separate post this month (Reviving the Armstrong Whitworth Part 2).

Below: Work on the tramway re-railing continues, with most of the new rail for the outer circle (clockwise) route curved to final dimensions.

Below: At Rowley Station, we needed to move the Duke of Sutherland saloon from Road 2 to Road 1.  Using the Planet diesel shunter that we currently have on hire, this work was carried out in a short sequence of shunts, but which also entailed moving a number of road vehicles and a lot of stored equipment.

Below: With the scaffolding temporarily vacated (it will next be occupied by the Weardale bus, KPT 909), the GWR Mink van has been placed inside and within the enclosure to allow some repairs to the roof to be carried out, and then a new coat of paint to be applied to the roof.  It will go back on display outside the goods shed in May.

Below: 58A and the NLR coach in position on Road 1 – the former for repairs to the paintwork and re-varnishing, the latter to allow its transformation into Highland Railway green.

Below: The Mink, inserted into the scaffold structure that we have been making a great deal of use of.

Below: The electricians are due into Road 1 of the tram depot to install new wiring and lighting.  This has mean that Lisbon 730 and Gateshead 52 have had to be extracted, with 52 moving into the depot and 730 temporarily parked outside whilst the work takes place inside.  There is also some embankment reinforcement being undertaken alongside Road 1, which will enable creation of an access route for plant to be able to reach (and clean) the gutters on the building.

Below:  Gateshead 52 makes an appearance in the main depot, alongside the Daimler CK lorry, which is going to be evaluated with a view to restoring it to working condition for occasional use around the museum.  This isn’t a priority task, but one that might fit in and around other work and which can be done largely in-house (without incurring external contract costs).

Below: When the work is undertaken, some of the features that were changed by Beamish will be reversed in order to better reflect its original appearance, though no decision on the livery that it will carry has yet been made.  This is taken from the stocklist section of this site:

Many visitors to the Museum will be familiar with this Daimler lorry, which for many years has resided in the Edwardian Garage and more latterly the Council Depot (from April 2015).  It was built in 1923 by the Daimler Company Limited (Coventry), weighs 3 tons – 8 cwt – 44 lbs and was supplied to vehicle dealer J. H. Sparshatt of Portsmouth.  It was sold by Sparshatts from their stand at the 1923 Olympia Exhibition (the bodywork being built by Sparshatts) to J Stride & Sons of Portsmouth who were market gardeners.  In 1957 it was re-purchased by Jack Sparshatt, becoming one of the first preserved .commercial transport vehicles in what was then a very embryonic heritage movement.  The Sparshatt business had started with the reconditioning and sale of ex military equipment and this 3 ton lorry was of a design not a million miles away from the subsidy lorries produced by numerous manufacturers in WW1.

It was eventually offered for sale and was purchased for display at Beamish.  It is believed to have been operated on one occasion, but the main intention was for it to be displayed in the then new garage exhibit, which it joined in 1991.  In an effort to make its appearance more complimentary to the period represented in the garage, some changes were made to its appearance, the most noticeable being the replacement of the curved steel mudguards/front wings with plain wooden versions.  A large acetylene lamp was also fitted and the livery changed.  It was displayed for some time with the contents of a house clearance, which had been donated to the Museum, but which was removed after woodworm was discovered in some of the furniture, which unfortunately had also penetrated the Daimler’s timber bodywork.  Original livery was light blue with pale lining (probably white).

The Daimler has a 2 – 3 ton carrying capacity and a wheelbase of 13′ 6″.  A 4-speed crash gearbox is connected to the rear axle via a cone clutch and worm drive.  The footbrake acts on the transmission whilst a handbrake acts on the rear wheels only. The engine is very interesting, being a Knight 4 cylinder sleeve valve petrol engine rated at 22.4hp.  This was a design originating in the USA and was used by Daimler from 1908 through until 1933 (replacing more familiar poppet valve types). The distinctive Daimler badged alloy radiator dominates the bonnet, with the leaf springs projecting forwards to their mounting brackets on the front of the chassis rails.

 One other CK survives, a 1921 flat bed variant on pneumatic tyres (probably fitted in 1928).  It has a different cab arrangement  but bodywork was simple and often would be manufactured by the agent/dealer or even customer or their favoured coachbuilder rather than the chassis manufacturer

Below: Peter, one of the team that operates the railways at Beamish, has been applying his talents to our signage once again, producing this direction board for the Waggonway.  Sign-written signs in the Georgian area are sometimes a bit too formal, so the range of signs that Peter has produced suit the location admirably, using reclaimed materials as the basis for a suitably themed image.  Note the S&DR 200 theme for this sign!

Below: Here are a few photos of the Armstrong Whitworth – much of which is covered in a two dedicated posts on this site.  I include these here for visual enjoyment and nothing more!

Photos in this post by Phil Doran, Paul Jarman, Jorden Sayer and Ben Wilson

To be continued…