Wood Cutting for the Brake Van

Through in the wood shop, John begins cutting new pieces of wood to be used in the Brake Van

Baffle Plate Repairs & Replacement for ACC5

Michael D heating part of Ashington No.5's bottom baffle plate ready for straightening

Meanwhile, Michael W was beginning to measure up plate to make a new baffle plate to replace the wasted one

After measurements were complete, Michael D begins cutting the required section of plate for the locomotives new baffle plate

Last Nights Efforts on the Brake Van

The South end of the Brake Van has now been fully stripped of rotten wood and is ready to take the new wood that was delivered yesterday afternoon

John inspecting the concrete after removal of the crossmember

Some of the rotten wood that was removed which will come in useful for fire lighting on our steam locomotives!

Brake Van Progress Update

So far volunteers have removed the verandah floor, South end door and wall to allow the bearers and the uprights to be replaced, along with the underside cleaning still on-going. Work is progressing quickly to allow the van to be back in traffic for our Freight Demonstration trains during February Half Term.

Progress as of yesterday on the South end of the Brake Van

Photos below show further progress being made today by Michael W and John who were busy removing a crossmember from the South end of the van, as well as the new wood arriving on site

Jobs on 401

Alan running a die over some of 401s studs

Joe and Nigel have been busy today carrying on their cosmetic work on the other side of 401s brake rigging

One now painted in primer, another ready to be painted in primer and Nigel begging the sanding down of the last one

Nameboard Cleaning

Whilst the lads were down the line this afternoon, Robin was up on the MEWP (Mobile Elevating Works Platform) cleaning the station nameboards in the museum

Lineside Repairs

It was recently noticed that the gate on our pedestrian level crossing was broken, today some of the lads ran a small engineers train to Percy Main to tend to the gate, photos below

John busy making a new bracket for the pedestrian crossing gate

Engineers train, D2078 w/Dogfish & Toolvan, down the line

The bracket shown below was fitted to prevent the gate from swinging the wrong way and opening towards the running line

Joe giving the gate a fresh coat of paint

P-Way Work at Percy Main

The lads took D2078 and the Dogfish wagon, full of ballast, down to Percy Main today to drop fresh ballast and re-pack sleepers, D2078 seen here entering the run-round loop to re-join the Dogfish on the North end 

Michael D hard at work packing ballast underneath sleepers

Michael W & John packing sleepers at Percy Main head shunt

Dogfish dropping ballast as it goes

Percy Main headshunt with some fresh ballast

2018 Timetables

New for 2018: Blue Timetable!

December's Santa Specials are excluded from this calendar whilst dates are yet to be confirmed.

Above are the Timetable Sheet and Operations Calendar for the 2018 season.

Green: Sundays & Bank Holiday's from April to October, with additional dates in March, November and February Half Term.
Blue: Thursday's on school holidays.
Yellow: Alternative/Event timetable.

Further Inspection of the Brake Van

Rob inspecting the brake van after removing some of the outside boards to get a proper look at the state of the inside, the van is required for operations in February half term so the lads have to work tactfully as to what they can and can't do, after February half term the van will be back in the shed and the heavier, more complex & thorough jobs can begin. More news on the brake vans repairs to follow soon

New Small Addition to the Musuem

Recently refurbished Gateshead Stadium running in board ready to be displayed in the museum

Brake Van Number Painting

John painting the numbering on the side of the brake van today, wood is arriving soon and it is intended for the brake van to be out-shopped in fresh BR Bauxite by May

Brake Van Work

The decision has been made to invest some money, time, wood and paint into our BR Brake Van. The first stage is a de-scale and paint of the underside

John and Michael underneath the brake van sanding down, scraping and needle gunning components

Axlebox Removal

Axlebox removed from the front wheelset of 401, the bearings will require a full clean with paraffin to remove any debris and old grease

Roller bearing exposed for cleaning and inspection, it is essential for these bearings to be kept as clean as possible, which on a steam engine is rather difficult

All axleboxes now stored ready for cleaning and then painting, after initial inspection of the bearings all appears to be satisfactory

More work on 401

John and George splitting another axlebox

Joe starts sanding down the brake rigging from 401

All 3 with one side sanded down and ready for primer

Applying primer

Followed by gloss black

Whilst 401 is in pieces the opportunity was taken to inspect the locomotive's mechanical lubricator and give it a deep clean

The lubricator was drained and given a deep clean with paraffin to remove the build-up of debris within the sump, the individual pumps are proven and flushed through with paraffin. Once the lubricator has been returned to the engine, each oil line will need to be primed with oil

Work on 401

Along with the boiler came all its fittings, injectors, gauge's, mud-hole doors, washout plugs etc. Michael is seen here using the wire wheel to clean up one of many wash out plugs from 401

With the first wheelset now inside, Michael and John carried on and started working on the next axlebox, Michael W here is removing split pins which hold the nut in place on the stud

Removing the last split pin

Michael literally putting all of his weight into loosening one of the nuts in order to split the axlebox

Work on Ashington No.5

Part of the Ashington No.5's Winter Maintenance this year was to fit a new injector overflow pipe on the fireman's side as the old one had numerous holes

Ashington No.5's new overflow pipe, seen here now in place ready for the fitting of the elbow piece

George fitting the clips underneath that hold the pipe to the bottom of the running board

Fitting the elbow piece