Miniature Railway groundworks continue

Some more groundwork has been carried out today on the main station area with the last of the old terram membrane being removed and separation of the old bark covering saved for use down in the Woodland Walk.

Removal of the last few mounds of bark and top soil.

Marking of the definitive boundary between the Miniature Railway and the picnic area.

A bonus find was several flagstones buried not far below the surface being excavated. These reclaimed flagstones will be incorporated into the new platform at the entrance to the site.

At the end of the day, Tom washes down the bucket of the excavator before parking in storage ready to be used again.

Remaining phases of the Miniature Railway begin

 Another successful day of preparations and initial groundworks for the remaining phases of the North Tyneside Light Railway.

Two fo the volunteers started to make progress in marking out, excavating and laying the track up to the eventual crossing location.

The laid track being aligned with the previously laid track adjacent to the coal pile to ensure both sides will line up correctly.

Tom operating the excavator to move ash out of the path of the propose railway.

Excavation works then moved onto the picnic area to the entrance to the site. The new main station will sit in this location, the existing ground is being levelled to enable station and railway constreuction.

NTSRA tank wagon signwriting

 Norman has completed the marking out of the "SHELL" and "BP" wording and the star symbol on the East side of the Association's tank wagon.

Paint for the signwriting has recently been purchased so Norman will start in the near future with this.

Removal of sandboxes and handbrake from Sentinel 9559

 Aaran and Michael have been busy in the workshop continuing on removing components from the frames of Sentinel 9559, today was the focused on the handbrake and sandboxes.

The front driver's side sand box removed from the frames.

After removing one of the split pins and the die block from the handbrake Aaran appears from under the locomotive as Michael unwinds the handbrake out from the handbrake post.

The view of the brake rigging that was once connected to the handbrake.

Light at the end of the tunnel for Consett No.10

 The installation of new wiring in Consett No.10 is closing in on completion. Today Nev, Paul and Neil were testing the cabling which supplies power to the front headlight, rear light and master switch.

With the cab light switched on, it confirms that power is being supplied. On the right, the red light on the master switch glows, indicating that the locomotive is ready to be started.

Tank wagon signwriting

 

With Norman making blistering progress on painting The North Tyneside Steam Railway Association's tank wagon he has since began taping the outline of the 'SHELL' wording - previously testing the positioning and height measuring in a previous post.

Peckett Ashington No.5 brass bush making

George is in the process of making new small-end bushes for connecting rods for Ashington No.5. Above he can be seen turning the outside diameter of the bush to within a couple of thousands of an inch of the existing.

Similar to that of the existing, he marks the position for 3 holes to be drilled to enable oil to flow into the push to provide lubrication whilst the locomotive is in motion. He does this be positioning the jaws of the chuck parallel with the tool and inscribes a mark at 120 degree intervals.

One of the new small-end bushes that has been test fitted onto one of the small-end pins - with the existing sat to the right.