We continue our look at the restoration/maintenance activity around the transport collections in this second part of two (maybe even three!) posts for March 2025…  I’ve elected to cover the work on Darlington bus 4 in some detail, as the process, at this stage, is quite a discouraging one – but this will begin to change next time as we see many of the new components beginning to be refitted to the bus.  We have some decisions to make about just how far to go with the work, but certainly anything that is sensible to repair whilst the frame and chassis is so accessible makes sense.

Rowley Station

Below: Peter has been applying lettering to the NER Tranship Van, which was lost when it was repainted some years back.  This lives inside the goods shed along with the G2 goods van, and whilst it is in fairly good condition, the G2 is not, however both fit inside with an inch to spare so it is a good location to keep them and try to arrest further deterioration.

Below: Work has started on transforming the North London Railway coach into Highland Railway livery.  We purchased paint after taking references from various books, but to my eye it looks to light – so some alternative shades are being considered.  The reason for painting the doors first is to allow the signwriter to add ‘THIRD’ to each one on both sides, when he is with us for a week towards the end of the month.

Waggonway

Below: Another of Peter’s signs – to enjoy for its Georgian character!

Darlington bus No.4

This project could rapidly grow into a complete rebuild of the bus, and finding the line to stop at is quite challenging.  The rear end of the vehicle is revealing quite a lot of decay, which is being cut out and replaced, whether in steel, aluminium or timber.

Below:  Numerous bolts that hold the frame together have corroded to the extent that they are being removed for replacement with stainless steel alternatives, even where the surrounding timber still retains its integrity.  Removal can be challenging however…

Below: One of the panels removed – with a lot of screws and revealing that quite a lot of it needs to be replaced with new metal.

Below: An example (from which the panel above came from) showing the platform frame and floor, with saloon doorway to the right.  This shows the timber frame (reasonable) but the aluminium panel (in very poor condition).  Whilst Matt tackles the timberwork, Dan has been removing corroded metal and manufacturing patch pieces or even new components completely, to restore the structural integrity to the rear end of the bus.  Note that the platform was still in situ in this photo – this was removed shortly after as the exploration of the chassis and framework condition led the team all the way to the very rear of the vehicle.

Below: The panel seen earlier, before removal (to reveal the frame seen above).  This shows how bad the corrosion has become where the handles are secured through it and into the timber frame.  This is an area where it may prove easier to replace the panel completely, in steel, in order to restore this area of the bodywork.

Below: The process of manufacturing new components to replace old – where complicated and unusual shapes have to be recreated.  We are using quality materials to replace the originals, in the hope that this helps with the longevity of these repairs.

Below: Some of the metal components have proven to be beyond repair too – this support bracket being replicated due to the very poor condition of the original.

Below: In the time that it has taken to assemble this blog post, the rear platform deck has been removed, to expose some historic repairs, that will be cut out and replaced or strengthened. A number of panels are also due to be replaced too, as well as a lot of the timberwork in this area.

Below: A pair of strengthening plates, being prepared for welding onto the chassis members and spring hanger brackets, to reinforce this area of the chassis.

We will return to the epic work on No.4 in due course, as Matt, Chris and Dan continue to manufacture and repair components for this now quite substantial job.

Steam Elephant

Below: In dismantling the valve gear, a great deal of wear has been found in areas that are largely inaccessible when the components are assembled.  Here is an example of a well-worn bush, with thin walls and in-equal wearing (making it oval) – the bush being the brass coloured part in this photograph.

Below: Making new buses – turned to size externally and then bored to create the internal diameter required.

Below: A carrier bracket being drilled to restore concentricity, before either bushing or fitting with an oversized pin.

Below: The top end of Steam Elephant’s cylinders and valves, in dismantled state.

Below: A collection of valve gear components before overhaul (and cleaning!).

Below: The repaired reversing lever (or Johnson Bar on this locomotive) after wear has been built up with weld and before the correct dimensions are restored by machining processes.

Below:  The reassembled top-end valve gear on the cylinders.

Below: Steam Elephant was part of a fairly sizeable shunting exercise to place it behind the doors in readiness for collection and transport to Hopetown at the end of the month.

Tramway Infrastructure

Below: All of the rails have now been curved, bolted to the concrete base and fishplates secured.  The process of bonding is now underway (mid March), which creates electrical continuity (as the fishplates cannot be relied on to enable this) as part of the electrical circuit that tramcars rely upon for their operation (collect current from the overhead wire, and return this via the wheels and rails to complete the circuit – the rails are no danger to pedestrians, unless they were to touch the overhead wire at the same time.  As this is 21 feet above the rail, this is a highly unlikely scenario!).

Below: Once the bonding is completed, the area will be cleaned up and some grinding of joints carried out to remove any sharp edges.  We hope to test the trams through this section w/c 17th March, before reinstatement of the road surface (which will also entail removal of the remaining islands of tarmac seen here, first) in the last week of March, all being well.

Below: The overhead on the Tramway has also been receiving a great deal of attention, with span wires and insulators being replaced in quite high numbers during this winter’s programme.  We are also using contractors to increase the impact of this work, all of which has been programmed alongside the work on the track.  Visitors will also notice that there has been a great deal of lineside work to reduce the height and proximity of trees and vegetation, which posed an increasing threat to the overhead (and fibre optic cables) during the stronger and more frequent storms that seem to be a fact of life these days.

Nowadays, we used hired in access equipment, that enables us to reach all of the Tramway from the adjacent roadway – as seen here at the top of Pockerley Bank.

Below: This photograph shows some of the replacement insulators in situ – the black items with the ribs.  These are new items, manufactured in the Isle of Man and which have been subject to a Safety Verification (SV) process at Beamish in order to prove their strength and electrical properties (or lack of!).  These are replacing original components, which were recovered from trolleybus OLE and which are now life-expired.  New links and turnbuckles form part of the daisy-chain that is made up in the workshop, and then fitted on site.

Another full week at the museum for the maintenance and engineering teams and we’ve still got quite a lot of March to go – so it is likely another blog post will follow at the end of next week…

Photos in this post by Matt Bedard, Phil Doran, Paul Jarman, David Moseley, Jorden Sayer and Phil Smith