30 January 06 - Railtour News.
I've updated the railtour information available at the moment on the left. As you can see, it's looking like a busy 6 months for the society.
Latest News...
28 January 06 - Tyseley
'There's always something to do' is probably a statement just about all loco owners know only to well. Contract work is of course expensive, no matter what industry you subscribe to, but that only makes the volunteer effort of people in our 'industry' all the more valuable. So, yet again our band of 'weekend warriors' (cough) met at Tyseley to continue to chip away at the list of tasks pertaining (not only) to 6024, but the support coach, water wagon & shed aswell as all the management and operational jobs. In this picture (Click here), Stuart Nelhams & Richard Abbey work on putting the valve covers back in place. Steve Underhill (Click here) is seen here working away in the firebox. Keith Clarke spent the day on cleaning duties (Click here) as well as being chef for the day.! Martyn (who sent me the pictures & report) spent the days working on the support coach, updating some of the inspection dates (Click here) and also fixing a dodgy window.
14 January 06 - Tyseley
Today was pretty much about putting back in place all the motion parts taken down last week. The re-ringed valve was back in place so the left hand outside motion, sand box, some of the valve linkage, covers & casing we put back onto the engine. Keith Clarke spent the days living in the smokebox on disposal duties while Stu did likewise in the firebox after he'd finished cleaning up most of the parts to be re-assembled on the motion. A special day for one of our members who loves having his picture taken. (Click here) for a special greeting.!
In other news, the railtour on the 11th Feb from Shrewsbury to London has unfortunately fallen foul of pathing problems in the capital. Please check with the promotor (pathfinder) for more details. We do have a run on the 18th Feb for Steamy Affairs. Again, check with them for more details.
Finally I've added some more pictures to the gallery section of some of the footplate crews that have been with us last year. There will be more to come as I sort through the backlog of shots I have.
07 January 06 - Tyseley
A very cold & snowy day at Tyseley, Martyn Bane kindly braved the elements and sent some pictures on the day's activities. The outside left hand valve was removed for inspection as you can see in these pictures, (click here) and (click here). It was the last of the four to be re-ringed. Although the rings were intact, some were found to be undersize and will be replaced. Also the left hand rods where removed to check on lubrication to the big end, see here (click here). During the last few months a water treatment programme has been implemented on the loco with great sucess and Martyn (our guru on such matters) has been keeping a close eye on things. It appears that a small amount of oil contamination has occured with the tannin in the water being carried over into the steam space. Martyn is going to add an anti-foam which will stop this carryover and also act as a "cleaner" by making the foam layer in the boiler denser. You can see the oil contamination in this picture (click here). Have a look on Martyn's websites for all things water treatment related... http://www.martynbane.co.uk and http://www.portatreatment.com
06 January 06 - Return to Tyseley with Water Wagon.
The loco, coach & water wagon returned to Tyseley today. Here's a quote on the days activites..
For the second trial we filled the tender and both tanks to the same level, with the tender having 3,500 gallons (so we could still get back to Brum on that alone if anything went wrong with the water flow). The water connections were opened at the outset (from Kensal Green). We had carried out a satisfactory static test the previous day. The flow was satisfactory between tender and the tanks and it was evident that using one injector, the supply from the tanks easily displaced the loss in the tender. Use of the second injector appeared to beat the flow from the tanks, so that before Oxford the tender was lower than the tanks by 250 gallons. A brief stop at Oxford and the following easy section were sufficient to allow the tanks to catch up and the three levels balance again by Banbury. The two brake tests were carried on the level north of Oxford, a light application from 50 mph. to 30 mph and a full application from 50 mph. to a standstill, to check the riding of the water vehicle and the performance of the coupling between the vehicle and the coach. These and other events were filmed. Network Rail was represented by a member from the Vehicle Acceptance section. He travelled on the coach during the brake applications and on the footplate from Banbury. EWS was also represented in addition to the footplate crew.