Not too much to report this week, so instead some pretty photographs will have to do!  There is news on Dunrobin, which is never far from our thoughts but whose progress doesn’t lend itself regular photographic coverage!

A summer day at Beamish…

Below: With glorious weather and soaring temperatures, the first week of the school holidays has been busy.  As I haven’t managed to gather many photographs of the usual work being undertaken, I grabbed some on the phone to show some transport scenes…

We start with GWR 813 being prepared for service today.  Peckett 2000 can be seen in the shed behind.  813’s two whistles have been a source of constant amusement to the crews, making this one of the most distinctive sounding locomotives we’ve had on hire!

Below: With the train up the line, the station is still very appealing in the sunshine…

Below: Sunderland 16’s passengers disembark as it awaits a space at the tram stop further along the street.  In the background Sheffield 264 prepares to set off for Pockerley.

4085 Dunrobin

Below: Dunrobin’s old driving wheels have arrived from Bridgnorth.  They will be moved to a location in public view outside the Regional Museum Store (adjacent to the the water tower/coaling stage) in due course.  The decision to replace them is very much vindicated – there are cracks on them everywhere – some very plain to the naked eye as can be seen in the pictures below.

Below: The tyres fitted to 4085 in Canada during the 1970s have also returned and again will be put on display in due course.  The new wheels themselves have been completed

Below: These two views, from Neil Taylor at the SVR, show the new driving wheels following delivery to Bridgnorth.  Apologies for the photo on its side – WordPress won’t let me edit and correct this, even though they appear the right way around in every other format!  However, wheels are circular so in this instance it doesn’t really matter!

Bus Depot

Below: The concrete apron in front of the depot is now being constructed – as seen here it will create a very large space in front of the depot to allow buses to turn and reverse into the building.  In the foreground, the original limit of the depot yard has been retained and will have some sort of structure placed onto it to delineate the depot from the road.