Of back to Adam's yard

4th June 2023

It's actually early Monday as I finish this week's edition. Plenty of pictures, plenty of text and a few laughs and blushes along the way. Oh and a well-deserved plug for a book (so it can't be mine) for those with a n.g. and slate quarry bent. Dive in...

It was a Bank Holiday again on Monday so Andrew and I were back in the shed, but other than some tidying up of the Hudswell I cannot recall much of what we accomplished other than Andrew continued cutting the frame of the Fowler with its front buffer beam detached and in the scrap bin. The gearbox, radiator and another buffer and spring have now been claimed by other groups, but its wheelsets and side rods are still open to offers as spares for other Fowlers. I took a part of Tuesday to run down to Adam's yard to take down the new slewing ring, its fixings and the repaired air cylinder. En route I left the brass block and spherical bearing, plus drawing, at a machinists so that they could bore it out and press the new bearing in.

Wednesday was again mostly admin - I have been writing up the manuals to go with the Hudswell loco - firstly the generalised operators' handbook of starting, stopping and bits in between, and secondly the more complicated 'this is what is happening and what to look for if it goes wrong' screed for whomsoever may need to rectify something if I'm not around. (I've already seen a certain competitor rip my system off a loco claiming it was 'obsolete and unsupported' after I'd been in at their expense and rectified what they had done to it). Writing these descriptions following the actual software but based on what I expected was there in my mind threw up some discrepancies and a few minor improvements. For example having started the engine (it has detected the rpm of the flywheel), it should after a few seconds (an allowance in case the engine has become old and tired) start checking for oil pressure, just as a timer relay on a traditional system gives you 5 or 6 seconds holding the Run relay before the oil pressure switch takes over. Sure, once the air pressure was up and the software had moved to 'running' state, it looked for oil pressure, but I realised I had failed to put a line or two in to verify oil pressure just after start. The oil pressure switch is vitally important - Cummins reckoned that if you had one of their engines at full revs and a total, catastrophic loss of oil pressure occurred, you had about 4 seconds before damage began as the oil film broke down - but I know from 30+ years that the switches will eventually fail, and when they do they may fail open circuit or contacting both sides together so the program checks that it is giving the right state before a start is attempted and also that if it gives both sides on or off together in operation it treats it as a switch fault, shuts the engine down and gives a different warning light to indicate what it thinks is wrong. (And given the current scare and counter-scare about AI, may I stress that this doesn't really 'think', it just does whatever the program lines tell it to just as the loco it is in follows the turnouts as they are set.) I had done all that for the oil pressure switch, but why had I not also incorporated that same protection for the temperature switches? After all, hadn't I once had to drive all the way down to Sheerness because an engine temp switch went u/s and they wouldn't take my word for it and bridge it out temporarily? So numerous scribbles and amendments to the paperwork copies of the program have been made with a view to incorporating them at the weekend.

Andrew had a boot full of bits which needed to be unloaded Wednesday evening so a trip was made to the shed, using the time also to prepare or the weedkilling contractors to come in on Thursday. Every year we have contractors in to weedkill the yard else we get weeds growing 3 feet high, and by arrangement, they spray part of Darley Dale station platform as well. (This arrangement with the station staff started before the death of Mrs Statham but was kept quiet!) I had a job booked for Thursday but when the customer asked for an ETA I went back to him that I'd just had another official from the departure point telling me that it couldn't happen Thursday anyway. A lot of toing-and-froing went on behind the scenes (oooh, politics) and finally I got a 'could we be there for 07.00? There's someone else due at nine'. So it was an early start for me down to Shackerstone though Phil, driving Adam's beloved DAF while he was having a break, had parked up overnight outside (and confirmed that 'Just Eat' did deliver there). Access to the line is along half a mile of gently curving trackbed, and there is nowhere to turn round a low loader thus normally we drive in and reverse out, with Ian walking and steering the trailer. However the customer wanted the loco a specific way round so a reverse entry was required, and Phil accomplished this alone before I'd had time to get my ovvies on and start the long walk back to assist.

The loco was none other than a former BR 02, which I had known in Thomas Hill days as 'Diane' at Redlands Mountsorrel terminal, shunting the big stone trains, usually to push them back into the storage sidings after they'd been loaded by a cable-haul system which only had a limited speed. So 'Diane' and 'Bunty' were kept feeding the cable system with empties and pushing the fulls back as that way they could load more trains per hour. Today though the customer was on hand to see it loaded and helped us a bit with ramp building which was welcome, and at 09.00 we were reconnected, secured and moving off the loading area as the next customer (using the line for testing) was arriving.

I headed straight down to the destination and introduced myself to two of the volunteers who were ready and (eagerly?) awaiting its arrival. A tea was forthcoming and a phone call to Phil ellicited where he was and an ETA of noon. At the due time I was out on the road outside holding back traffic and guiding Phil into the entrance of a country park which otherwise doesn't look like the location of an s.g. railway. For this was the home of the Northants Ironstone Railway Trust, where we'd delivered a Fowler 0-4-0DH a couple of years ago. Unloading here takes place at a rather awkward location and like Midsomer, we barrier wagon it off rather than winch. All went smoothly and in just over the hour the loco was off and on its new home rails. I suggested the two I'd been having tea with, plus the third who'd been with us at Shackerstone, should now sing - or even mime - that old Bachelors' number 'My Diane' with the loco as a backdrop. But I don't think you'll be seeing it on TikTok anytime soon.

The early start was rather beneficial as it meant that instead of having to make another silly o'clock start on Friday we now had time to head back empty to Wirksworth and load D9537 'Eric' which we had arranged to be ready from lunchtime. And there it was as we got there about 4pm, me thinking that with luck we'd be loaded by half-five and I might get to go out that night as planned. We had previously shifted 14's on T1 but obviously not on T3 so I had drawn the combo on CAD to ascertain how much the track had to be angled so that the bottom of the bufferbeam would clear the raised part over the rear axles. What I didn't know was just how much rail Adam had put on the deck of the trailer so I had merely estimated this and drew accordingly. Thus the loco was winched up to the very end of the rails, secured down and we attempted to reconnect the tractor to the trailer. Oops, it wouldn't fit - not by much, but we needed the loco to go another 8 or 10 inches. Bang went my evening entertainment (well it had been a long day anyway) Phil and I set off in the van for Adam's yard. I knew we had a couple of 2ft long rails, I had spare fishplates in the van, add a couple of extra wood blocks for support and back we went. The track became 2ft longer, the loco winched up a foot or so and everything was put back together. We tried turning round, and could have done it but for piles of concrete sleepers so settled for backing out nearer the station entrance and parking up. It was now nine p.m. and I hadn't had any tea.

A more relaxed start on Friday. I had had a call from the machinists that the bearing block for T1 was ready (actually they had first rung me to say that they had bored it out from the wrong side, so had made a plate to stop it falling through) and I collected that and went on to Wirksworth. HFS driver Jezz (an ex Heanor Haulage driver now back in the fold) was on hand to assist Phil from EVR to the motorway, and at precisely 10.00 two police cars arrived to escort him south down the B5035 to Duffield and the Derbyshire border. I was quite happy to photograph their departure, then pointed myself in the general direction of Norfolk.

I arrived at Sheringham at about 3pm, to see 76084 having just arrived with a train from Holt. I reported to the RO and was shown the unloading area, located at the north end of the car park (which was previously the goods yard so was the neck of the yard as the lines came together under a bridge) and whose only problem was that the tarmac of the car park was several inches higher than the rails beyond, but the flush area was insufficient to put tractor and trailer on.

With Phil giving me an ETA near 5pm I had time to kill so went for a walk around Sheringham to see the sea, then took the van in search of some diesel, finding only a Shell forecourt just north of the station full of stationary cars and no action. Eventually the staff came out to say that the payments machine had failed and they could only accept cash. There wasn't much time left now so I left it for later. At just after five I was standing by the car park entrance ready to wave Phil triumphantly in as he appeared down the hill opposite and attempted the roundabout outside the station road. With a loud crunch the trailer grounded on the crown of the road in the middle of the roundabout, bringing all of Sheringham to a stand. Five p.m it may be but there were still plenty of onlookers and the sound got their attention. I sprinted forwards - well OK, at my age sprinted is not in my repertoire but in my mind I whirled into action. Phil was out of his cab and raising the neck, I went to the back, plugged in the manual steering and flipped the rear suspension to 'high' and between us the deck lifted just off the apex of the tarmac, but we were still unpleasantly close to the apex of the roundabout and we shuffled to and fro, me straightening the rear wheels to get it farther over in the reverse, then back on full lock to get it round as Phil moved forward.

But everyone's an expert, and a guy on a crutch (who I gathered slurred a bit from alcohol) marched into the road and started instructing Phil about what he should be doing, while I looked on in mild amusement. Eventually a young lady (his daughter?) came out and dragged him away. Phil was now heading for a safe haven, and seemed to forget about me at the back, trying to get the trailer steering back so as to miss the fence guarding the pavement on the left and then not mount the central reservation and take out a traffic island thingy on the right. The steering is slow in manual and while I achieved most of the former, missing the 'keep left' bollard was a close thing. I do remember a round of applause and a cry of 'Well driven!' as Eric finally turned on to the Sheringham car park. A longer ramp than usual to accomodate the extra drop was put together and Eric descended safely on to NNR metals, to be pulled aside by an 08 to make space for us to reconnect, as the car park was a Saturday market and we must be out the way again that night.

Leaving Sheringham was less traumatic - outbound to get on to the hill out was straighter than inbound (note to us, next time go wrong side on the roundabout) and I only just resisted the smell of fish and chips in the NNR staff mess room not to linger longer. But as it was I had a hotel booked just outside Norwich, and the van, now flashing me error messages about 'Diesel fuel additive' and 'risk of particle filter clogging') was killing my appetite. (Actually, the error message saying the additive was low referred me to the vehicle handbook. When I finally got at the handbook - back home - it told me topping it up was a task for a Peugeot dealer or qualified garage, so not very helpful.)

Saturday and instead of being at the shed I was eating Cornflakes from a paper bowl outside the gates of the Mid Norfolk Railway at Dereham. Phil had parked up near Fakenham and I suggested he arrive at 08.30 to give me time to see things open and ready, given that I had had a call from the MNR on Friday advising that their telehandler had broken down and was a bit in the way, but they were trying to get it fixed. By 08.30 all was ready, the RO had found me and confirmed that the brake van was ready and the track it was on and that adjacent line were embargoed while we loaded, save for an S&T trolley movement. Phil arrived and we set up - unlike the 4 x 10ft rails plus tips we'd put together at Sheringham, the lighter brake van with greater clearances needed only one pair of 10fters plus tips and the winch didn't need snatch blocking, so ramp building and dismantling in the heat was quicker and we had time for a cuppa with the S&T crew in the signal box before backing out to the main road.

Phil had a vivid memory of departing after we unloaded Cranford at Dereham in that he'd gone left and left at the lights over the level crossing, but a traffic island was far too tight and he'd almost got stuck. That had been T1 which is shorter and more manouverable and in his own 6wheel tractor not Adam's 8: this combination had no chance so we backed him out to face Norwich and after setting the steering straight while I controlled traffic, he set off to get back on to the A47 and head back to Adam's yard. I popped into Morrisons for something for lunch and then ambled off after him, getting back abut four p.m.

That evening Andrew and I drove along to Rowsley. There was an event on at the station and a 'social' in the evening so we thought we might show our faces. Greeted like a long-lost friend by Mark Sealey, I was invited to sit next to him and the conversation turned to the 03 and could it have another day in traffic? The latest News section of the PRA website referred to its gala appearance and that it was 'well received' by enthusiasts - oh how different to the previous management's attitude. ('Nobody makes money at Diesel Galas' JS, January 2015).

And so to Sunday. Finally back at the shed trying to pick up where I'd left off. But any idea I'd had of adding all the extra scribbles to the Hudswell's software fell aside. Matt was around and I put him to removing the sandbox from the Janus so as to get the brake cylinder apart. But to get it out meant removing the stay bar, and the stay bar was screwed through the side frame and that meant getting underneath to remove it, so the Hatramm shunted it up to the turnout, the only place where there is sufficient clearance outside. Westinghouse cylinders have a large return spring inside and you open the cylinder with care - Knorr Bremse ones of the same period have a twist arrangement which clamps the spring and makes dismantling much safer. Even with long M10 bolts and seemingly the spring relaxed, when Matt undid the last turn the piston defied exoectations and pushed his arm hard against the brake hanger - he'll probably have a bruise by now! Two visitors had arranged to call to collect a couple of brake cylinder seals and had a full tour - just as they were leaving an old school friend of Andrew's appeared unannounced and I gave him a similar tour, Andrew himself taking grandson back east. I got a couple of jobs done but then Matt needed help in getting the cylinder back together with its new rear seal and later that afternoon a test before refitting the sandbox. The good news was that the back of the cylinder no longer p****d air out like before but the front of the cylinder was blowing. i.e. it was getting round the piston seal. It might have been doing this before (but we wouldn't have heard it above the rear leak) or it may be that the seal hasn't bedded back in properly, either way it'll have to come down again and try to rectify it.

Some years ago I was approached by someone who was compiling a history of Aberllefenni slate quarry and knew I had some photos. I provided him copies of all I had and forgot about it. This was Briddon Towers days (Sheffield) and a couple of weeks ago I got an email out of the blue asking for my current address. Last Monday the postman appeared with a complimentary copy of what must surely be one of the most comprehensive histories of any Welsh slate quarry. Aberllefenni was on the same vein of slate that ran southwest/northeast through Mid Wales and was quarried in the east at Dinas Mawddwy, then progressively at Hendre-ddu and Ratgoed, through Abellefenni and at Braich Goch in the Dulas valley, then at Bryn Eglwys (which spawned the Talyllyn). There were other attempts to find it such as at Dolgoch, and other lesser workings at various places over the years. Aberllefenni became Wales' last working slate 'mine' (the term may not be appropriate, others would categorise it as an underground quarry) and when I visited around 1970 I was lucky enough to find their BE locos outside, whereas mostly they hid underground. I have yet to read all of Jon Knowles book - it is over two hundred and fifty pages - but so far can recommend it to students of Welsh quarrying, social history or n.g. modelling. That it is published by the author at £35 from home (Hen Dy Gwydyr, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd LL48 6RD) is probably a reflection of its specialist content, but this is a well-produced, pleasantly laid out tome with plenty of colour as well as b&w illustrations.

So what of this week. Well there's a brake van waiting to finish its journey, then an 0-6-0T tank to move followed by three 08s. I've a load of admin to catch up on plus that software to bottom out, not to mention try to plan other jobs that'll take us north and south. Oh and a van to get seen by someone more qualified than the mere owner. And how will that get fitted in? I have no clue. Come back next week. See ya then.