T&I News 10 2023…
After a few weeks away, the regular T&I update returns with this post, the tenth news update of the year.
Puffing Billy returns to steam
Following a protracted winter maintenance programme, which saw Puffing Billy retubed, the tender wheelsets and bearings overhauled, the cladding renewed and some modifications made to the locomotive to improve future maintenance access, the locomotive returned to steam last week and was inspected by our insurance company surveyor, who pronounced it fit for service.
The new lagging/cladding is yet to receive all of it’s stain/preservative coats so is quite bright at present, but this will soon tone down (as did the original lagging/cladding). With running-in taking place as I write, the aim is to commence regular passenger operation this weekend, and then operate Wednesdays to Sundays for the rest of the season. Mondays and Tuesdays will be running days on the Colliery narrow and standard gauge lines, to ensure we have steam performance somewhere in the museum, every day of the week.
A great deal of the work was carried out in-house by the Steam and Rolling Stock Technician, assisted by a number of the steam operations team, in particular the work on reassembly following overhaul and then fitting the new pine lagging/cladding – at times a fiddly job and one that has been executed very tidily. Retaining the locomotive’s colliery appearance is quite a challenge – we don’t want it to be a pastiche of an early engine, with varnished timber and shiny paintwork, but we also don’t want it to appear to be uncared for and devoid of attention!
The future of the blog…
This blog started in 2009, when it was established to record the restoration of Coffee Pot No.1, in part for information and also to satisfy the grant terms, which was funding part of the restoration. A little later it developed to cover the wider transport (and some industry) activities and share the latest news on the collections and projects undertaken at the museum. Over 1500 posts and 14 years on, the blog has become a go-to place for information on the transport collection here, and an archive of news and photographs chronicling the progress we’ve made.
Recently we began to discuss what the future for the blog might be, and at this stage I would be interested to hear the views of readers. There are a number of reasons for considering some changes, and these are covered below:
- Maintaining the blog is time consuming and requires quite a lot of input on my part, which I am happy to do but cannot always fit into a busy week. There is also a need to look at the platform that it is housed on, the format and the IT behind it all, to make sure it remains up to date and viewable on the increasing variety of hardware devices that can access the Internet.
- Fashions change! Blogs were very ‘in’ at one point, but there seems to be a move away from reading, to watching. And maybe a Vlog would be an appropriate way to take the idea of showing what goes on, forward. This would be less frequent, and would be more tightly edited, but it would have the benefit of showing video rather than still footage.
- A combination of Blog and Vlog, but again, less frequently posting and perhaps with fewer images, to make it snappier.
- We could move to a monthly newsletter format, as has been popular with some heritage railways – though we’d need to look at editing time and software. The blog currently exists as something of a pet project, but it would be nice to better embed it within the museum’s social-media and online presence, if nothing else, to ensure consistency of messaging and broaden the audience.
- Something else entirely, that we haven’t thought of yet!
I am a great admirer of the YouTube channels from the Tank Museum, Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and the Mid Hants Railway to name but a few. I think there could be scope for something like this, though the video production is quite resource heavy and the appeal of the Blog as it is, is that I can do all of the creation and editing quite quickly.
So there may be a combination of ideas taken forward – perhaps with fewer posts, but using a variety of media and rather more specific in their content. We shall see…
Paul, well done for keeping the blog going for such a long time! especially when you’re obviously a busy man. I find that the advantage of the written word is you can instantly see the information being presented without having to watch a whole video. But maybe that’s just a pet hate of mine. Whatever you decide, I’ll still look forward to consuming it. I don’t see any problem with reducing the frequency of publishing new output or having more concise posts, apart from me having less to read on my lunch breaks 🙂 . I’m sure the blog must be a great source of information for yourselves, to look back on what you’ve all achieved over those years. Anyway, keep up the excellent work looking after the Beamish transport collection, this blog being a generous bonus for us readers. All the best, Jon
I too prefer the written word, and find that the vlogs are quite tiresome to watch. I like the present format, its easy to read.
A Monthly newsletter might be more time consuming to do (and would require a strict deadline to make it available at the same time each month) whereas the blog is acceptable as and when you can do it.
At this point I’ll say many thanks for taking the time to do the blog, its one of my go-to’s on the net.
Andy
Hi paul,
I’ve followed the blog since 2008, and I prefer it as well in this format
You all do a fantastic job anyway
Many thanks
cheers
Rob
Yes keep the blog as it is
Puffin Billy looks great well done to all.
I too find the blog very informative and appreciate the time and effort it takes to produce it. As I am not an engineer or mechanically gifted, some of the detail goes over my head but I enjoy being kept informed of the general work and progress being made.
Would there be any mileage in continuing a detailed blog as at present but less frequently and also having a publicly accessible Facebook page which could be updated on ad hoc but reasonably frequent basis with a photo or two and a short but informative comment. Hopefully the sum of these two would involve a bit less time for you but still satisfy the curiosity of us enthusiasts.
I have followed this blog from the beginning and still enjoy each new installment. I was a regular visitor to Beamish in the early days but have lived and worked abroad for over 35 years so it is great to follow the developments at the museum. Like other respondents, I much prefer the written word as it is easier to read at my own pace, enjoy the images and indeed read it in places where a vlog would not be appropriate (I generally read this on a commuter train.)
Video is great, but it is a separate entity. They also take significant time to put together. The best of them ( you mention the Ffestiniog for example, a favourite of mine) are maintained by professionals or former professionals.
I continue to enjoy your blog in the current format and would prefer it continue in more or less the current format, best regards from Sweden.
If possible, please continue with the blog. Its really valuable as a source of information. The still images are invaluable for anyone making models of the stock – videos are good, but not necessarily for detail reference material.