Its been a wet week at Beamish!  This hasn’t hampered any of the activities, but it has made it unpleasant at times – not least for the track team who have been wading around in deep mud whilst installing the new narrow gauge siding.  Glyder has also been steam tested as a complete locomotive and then relocated to the narrow gauge line – expect to see more of this next week.  Off site, Dunrobin’s new driving wheels are complete and will shortly be delivered to the Severn Valley Railway.  The cylinder block is also promised imminently, having been back to the manufacture for remedial work in what has seemed to be an interminable process for this particular component.

We have also seen two personnel departures, with Tony Vollans (the RHEC Engineer) and David Grindley (the Steam Technician) moving on to new roles elsewhere.  They will both be a big miss to us.  Tony came to the museum as part of the initial project to create the Regional Heritage Engineering Centre (RHEC) which existed in name alone – he then had to build his own workshops before starting any work within them.  We now have an excellent restoration centre, thanks to his work, including a new generation of staff trained by him to carry on the work he started here.

There is also a long list of projects, official and unofficial, that have been accomplished by Tony and his team – notably Sheffield Tram 264, various coaches for the Waggonway, the roof of the Quilter’s cottage and some fun narrow gauge rolling stock, to name only a few examples of a huge portfolio created over the last seven years.  David came to us on the Heritage Skills Initiative scheme, later becoming a full-time member of staff here.  He is moving on to a similar role at the North Tyneside Railway.  These will be big gaps to fill, and we are in the process of considering how this is best tackled…

Narrow Gauge

Below: The laying of the stone-crusher siding on the narrow gauge has been proceeding, in atrocious weather conditions.  Work will be completed in the coming days, and the first photographs here show the rails being laid onto cut-down sleepers.  The rail is ex Kirklees Light Railway, the sleepers being scrounged from our own scrap piles!  Note the water tower stand to the right of the scene, which is adjacent to the Sinkers Bait Cabin cafe and picnic site – giving a very good grandstand for visitors to watch the operation from.

Below: By Friday, the sleeper revetment wall was complete and the area was waiting on a delivery of road planings (scraped from roads when they are relaid, and then crushed).  We will be using the area for stone crushing at the Old King Coal weekend, and the arisings from this work will be used to further consolidate what remains very boggy ground – the aim being to create a hardstanding useful for future events and working displays.

RHEC

Below: Work on the Austin 10 has become more and more protracted as more and more previously hidden issues are brought to light – largely due to the generous use of filler in it’s past lives!  With staff time also divided across several ‘urgent’ projects (how do you choose which piece of work is most urgent when everyone believes it to be their own job?!), it won’t now be ready for the Beamish Reliability Trial on Father’s Day.  Chris continues to work miracles with thin metal, thin air and the certainty that cleaning anything back for welding will reveal more rust!  The mechanical work has been completed and once the bodywork is finished the car will be re-sprayed and also have a full interior trim renewal as the use on site at Beamish rendered this aspect less than tidy.  We won’t be allowing the finished car to be used as a pool vehicle again, such is the time and money invested in it, in order to ensure it is available for such occasions as the reliability run in the future.  Here are some photographs illustrating the corrosion being encountered, and the repairs…

First up is the new nearside A pillar lower section – made from scratch to replace the corroded original.  The B pillars appear to have been done in the recent past, possibly by the previous owner, and these are sound.

Below: Whilst in pool use with the attendants team, the rear nearside wing was damaged by a wayward opening door (the retaining strap for which had broken but was not reported).  Chris has been building up this section to restore the original profile.  Whilst repairs to corrosion are one thing, the regular damage the period vehicles received in the hands of some staff has always been particularly galling, and now that steps have been taken to personalise vehicles, and allocate them to regular users, this has hugely improved the situation.

Below: The top of the nearside A pillar, into the roof structure is not pretty.  The gutter is also in poor condition (a feature of all period vehicles that we’ve tackled).  Chris will manufacture patches and piece these in, then make good the structure with additional welding.

Below: I have no idea why I can’t rotate images in WordPress anymore!  However, hear, to make you dizzy, is Oporto 65 lifted free of its truck.  The truck will be extracted, surveyed, turned and then returned, so as to sit beneath the car the correct way around as part of the ongoing work to recommission the tram and establish what further work will be required to it.

Rowley Station

Below: A new suite of posters adorns the station noticeboards as seen here…  A new bench is also being manufactured for this area and we are purchasing additional NER furniture when the opportunity presents itself.

Below: Jorden has been busy creating a new running in board for Rowley, to mimic the enamel sign that would have originally been made for the station.  Enamel signs are challenging to replicate and do not seem to use the same process as they would have historically, whence this approach, which looks very well.  The artwork was generated by one of the volunteers, using various photographs to create replica font for the sign.

Below: The allotments are currently being expanded at Rowley, a mix of staff and volunteer work.  The first view shows them as they were…

Below: Whilst these two views show their expansion.  The fencing is reclaimed from elsewhere at the station, and sadly has been required due to damage to, and theft of, the allotment plants over recent months.  Note the chicken coup in the right hand background…

A further allotment is being crated adjacent to the Rowley East cabin, this area being developed as and when time allows.

No.18 to Tanfield

Below: No.18 is spending this weekend at the Tanfield Railway for their gala, where it will be in operation at Marley Hill as the yard shunter.  It is shown below moving from Beamish after it’s days work in the Colliery, via East Tanfield and a run up the line to Marley Hill shed.  It ran very well and steamed freely – a rare extended run for the locomotive (certainly this century, possibly even last century too!).  You can see it in operation on Friday/Saturday/Sunday – more information here: https://www.tanfield-railway.co.uk/index.php?page=legends-of-industry-gala-2019

Below: One from Friday morning – two Beamish locomotives meet again!  Twizell is on long-term loan to the Tanfield Railway where it now into it’s second stint of operation.  The two have not met for some years! Let alone in steam…

An apology…

Below: Some comment has been attracted to the incorrect use of ‘Omnibus’ in signage created to accompany the bus depot construction – the source of this was this very blog, and an oversight on my part.  Unfortunately it was then used as the basis of the new signage!  These are now being corrected, but my apologies to Natasha who has taken the stick for a mistake that was not her own!  New signs will appear soon…