Of paint and progress

23rd June 2019

So, what has been happening this week? Well, Monday at Tunstead started off weird, Andy H was there but Pete C wasn't, so after a few minutes we went off in search of Bryan P to discover that Pete C had rung in sick, so the keys were located, paperwork completed and we got started on our own. Andy of course was continuing painting, once all the masking tape had been removed from the buffer beams and they were revealed in all their chevron-ated glory (I nearly missed the l out of that). I took a good close look at the oil cooler, and realised that this was in fact another pattern of cooler, with a straight outlet and presumably a force fit as there are no fixing studs at the flywheel end. Nothing for it but to drain the coolant and oils and strip it out, but as the pit under the loco is several inches deep in rainwater that wasn't about to happen. So I went up in the cab with a pair of wiper motors which I had assumed were the same as those which had previously been fitted, but of course they were not and so I set out and drilled new holes to mount them, but I need spacers and longer 1/4 BSF screws, so for the moment they are still waiting. But I continued cabling up the headlights and an additional cable for the cab internal light, although the latter fitting has yet to be sourced. They are all wired in under the desk and will be tested when next the power is on. By now Andy had started painting around the cab entrance way, so rather than get splattered I de-camped and started on the air induction elbow. It was tempting just to saw off the lip on the end of the casting, but that would have reduced the 'land' on which to clamp so I patiently filed the lip away. Well, not so patienty really as it was a bloomin' chore, but eventually it was all pretty well smoothed off and the flexible ducting teased over and clamped on.

For now I've left it rather too long: once the other casing doors have been manufactured and positioned and I'm satisfied that the air cleaner is in its permanent location, I may trim it off a bit. Things seemed to come to a natural conclusion at about 3pm, so we reported to Bryan P who advised us that Pete C had been signed off for a week. We already had heard that his spell in hospital had resulted in a decision to retire at the end of June: quite how this will affect RS8 remains to be seen.

Vodafone reception is awful at Tunstead so I leave my phone in the van and return calls when I can reliably get a signal. On Monday that included my favourite fabricators to complain that I hadn't been in to collect bits ready for me. That was because I had been waiting for their call, which they'd forgotten to make, but did mean that on Tuesday I was back in to Sheffield to collect, amongst other things, the restored protective grille and some additional bits of 5mm plate for RS8. While I was in the area I popped along to an auto-electrical place to see if they had a suitable LED cab roof light. The place looked a bit quiet when I got there - the one car in the car park turned out to be the firm's owner, and the reason it was quiet was because he had put the firm into liquidation after his employees went out on their own and took the customers with them. I had a look through his stock ahead of the forthcoming auction but couldn't find what I was looking for.

While we were out on Tuesday Royal Mail tried to deliver a parcel and instead left a card stating that it was international and needed a signature. Steph went down to Matlock on Wednesday to collect it but 3 Royal Mail operatives were unable to find it. This might have been to do with the fact that 'International' was only correct if Newcastle under Lyme has declared UDI. They eventually found it and phoned us at just after 5pm, so Steph went back down to Matlock Thursday morning to bring it back. I had been over to Sheffield first thing, and as the package contained a replacement trailer light unit after somebody broke one on the old Andover low loader, I took it down and fitted it in the afternoon so that the new owner was clear to come and collect it. It has since I hear, departed for pastures new in the South of England.

Friday, and Steph and I were off to collect grandson for the weekend, leaving Andrew the van to go retrieve some stillages. (He's had a couple of weeks break before starting his new job tomorrow.) Sooner or later we've got to take the ferry van in hand, sort the floor and re-position all the stillages in there now with the aid of the new(er) pallet truck. This will involve double stacking them but with a walkway up between and hopefully mean we can find things easier, but requires more stillages than are in there now, so he keeps an eye out for any going at a reasonable price.

Saturday was the Peak Rail plc AGM, and as it started at 1.30pm it meant it was hardly worth going down and getting dirty before the meeting, nor after. The AGM was much shorter this year than last, primarily because we were not treated to a diatribe from Mr P Tomlinson. The esteemed President, Peter Waterman, was on stage, flanked by Mr Tomlinson amd Mrs Statham, and it was as interesting for what was not being said as to what was. For example, last year Mr Tomlinson had told the meeting that Mr Waterman was actively engaged with Transport for the North to get the Matlock-Buxton line re-instatement into their plans. That report came out last February with no inclusion even of Buxton - let alone the line south - so no mention of TfN at all this year. In fact, the quarry companies, much vaunted as a grand partnership-in-the-making last year, received little mention, save Mr Waterman proclaiming that the quarries had licences for another 110 years - which is slightly at odds with the story at Tunstead that the quarry will be exhausted within 20. (A quick look at the Peak District website shows that planning at Tunstead allows quarrying only up to 2042). Mr Tomlinson waxed lyrical about the success of his talk at Buxton during the week, that a new PRA Area group would be formed within a couple of months and that the local MP had insisted on addressing the meeting and supporting the entire re-instatement. A clue to all of this burgeoning activity can be gleaned from the remark made by the new PRplc Director and solicitor, when he casually informed the AGM that the situation between PR and McCarthy & Stone, developers who have gained planning permission for building on land adjacent to the Buxton site and straddling the access thereto, had 'gone legal'. I doubt that means, as some assumed, yet another court case in the offing, more likely that it had gone from talking direct to corresponding through solicitors, and being seen to be doing something on the site would be vital to protecting PR's interests. A member of the audience at the Buxton meeting saw things differently, interpreting Ruth George's interest as being primarily a creation of a passenger shuttle from Buxton Midland along Ashwood Dale as far as Blackwell Mill and the beginning of the Monsal Trail. Peak Rail did this in the early years but it foundered because of inadequate signalling: this section of line is planned for early installation of ERTMS which would make that even more difficult/expensive. Back at the AGM, the reports, apart from insisting that we did NOT want the line re-instated for conventional daily passenger operation either under PR's auspices or as an extension of the East Mids franchise, failed to explore whether re-instating the line from Buxton to Rowsley would have any affect on the line from Matlock to Ambergate or beyond. It did recognise that the cost and arrangement of a new bridge over the A6 at Rowsley - costed at £6.5m - influenced where any new Rowsley station might be placed and hence, delayed any possibility for now of extending north. All in all it was a meeting where once again we came out wondering whether we were in the same reality as the Board.

I started off today with a migraine and while I did get down to the shed this afternoon, it was to progress some commercial work and sort out bits to the van for RS8 for tomorrow. For not only am I not sure if Pete C will be there, but Andy H is off in North Wales, so I may be all alone and have planned what I can do accordingly. On the good news front, it has been agreed that the 03 will be going out on a visit straddling a gala event. More on this when their publicity is ready to go, for other groups like to get the news out in good time to attract bums onto seats. In contrast, with only a few weeks to go to a PR 'gala event' there is no official news of visiting locos. Mrs Statham declared it will be on the PR website next week: Mr Waterman refrenced his own Class 25, a 'mystery guest' loco and the NYMR and that 'we' liked 'doing things at the last minute' as being 'exciting'. For a railway whose management of social media falls far behind others, leaving things so late that even the press dates of traditional media are past may not be a sound policy.

I was sent a copy of an official memo from the Chairman of the HRA this week. It seems that HRA worthies were summoned to the ORR on June 13th to see the statistics on safety in the heritage railway sector. According to this memo, they are heading the wrong way, and the ORR is re-inforcing the inspectorate to ensure that heritage railways are complying with the law/ROGS to stop the rot. You can see this in the context of the WSR situation: elsewhere I have heard of new inspectors being brought in to take the place of the one inspector who has up to now covered most of the heritage lines. The memo went on to exhort all HRA member railways to ensure that their SMS was up to date and that volunteers are familiar with it - sadly the days of happy-go-lucky 'it's only a hobby' railway operation are long gone - which is why I set the period of my novel 'The Railway to Merhead' (I haven't plugged it for a week or so) back in the '60s.

Anyway that's about it for this week. I'll be back as usual next Sunday. See ya then.