Of tractors and bolt-croppers
15th October 2023
'Tractors AND bolt croppers? In a railway-oriented blog? Has old age finally caught up on him?' - Do you realise how hard it is to come up with a different title every week for thirteen years?
I was delighted that a number of 'far flung' readers got in touch after last week's instalment and my apologies that I haven't acknowledged you all yet, but it is good to know that Weekend Rails is read as far afield as Singapore and Perth, Western Australia. At least think it's a good thing - with global politics today I could write something here without considering my phraseology and accidently trigger a war or maybe unleash an undercover hit squad!
Anyway, on Monday I had a run over to Doncaster with the van - Andrew had won a wadge of lots at an auction house there ranging from all manner of tools to an air cleaner (OK without mushroom or mounting straps) about big enough for a 12litre Rolls and for only £6. He subsequently counted the metric spanners in one lot to close on 100 and thus the draw in our tool cabinet emptied by the little b******ds in July is once again full. A plastic crate was brimming with screwdrivers and another plastic box was stuffed full of Allen keys, some still in RS Components plastic bags, unused. We have never had any bolt-croppers before - we now have about 6 pairs of various sizes. Late on Monday afternoon Phil turned up at Rowsley with his normal trailer, dropped it off, hooked on to T1 and parked up on Harrison Way ready for an early start. He set off at about half-five Tuesday morning, about the same time as I was telling myself I ought to get out of bed.
As it was I was on the road before 07.00, got over on to the motorway and finding yet again traffic badly delayed around Tinsley, opted for the M18 - A1 where the queue for the bridge works was nowhere near as bad as last week. I had turned off the A1 and was cutting due west around Harewood House when I rang Phil to discover he was in heavy traffic around about Ilkley, some 8 or 10 miles ahead. It was because, he told me, the A59 was shut eastbound and everything was diverted down the A65 to Ilkley - turn off if I could. Happy to take his advice I got to Otley and instead of continuing on the main road to Ilkley, turned north, crossed the river and then swung back west on minor roads, slower but nicer countryside. Slower indeed because of a shuttle of tractors and trailers - stuck behind one and it kept stopping when one of its brethren came the other way on a road barely wide enough to pass. Eventually though it turned off into a large field and my minor road became even more minor and aimed north, ending on the A59 east of Bolton Abbey and a road that was devoid of traffic. Half a mile west at the roundabout the eastbound was coned off and traffic directed south, I carried on and a few minutes later arrived at Priors Lane to find Phil had made it 5 or 10 minutes earlier.
Our target was the Fowler I showed you last week, and it had in the interim been causing a little concern. At each end it had derailment bars of inverted FB rail with about 4 and a half inches of clearance. Things like this cause us no end of trouble. Usually they are in the form of lifeguards, that are bolted to frame members and stick down just above the rail heads with the purpose of knocking aside anything found thereon. Most 08s you find have had an inch or two trimmed off with a gas axe, but usually our clients have slackened them off or removed them in advance. Why? Well the transition from rail to ramp during loading and unloading is more than most locos will normally encounter on half-decent track. Moreover until the leading wheels start to climb the ramp, the loco remains level and thus the lifeguards stay at the same height above the ground, but they are passing over the ramp which is so-to-speak rising. We had one bad experience with an 08 a few years ago - the leading lifeguards were neither slackened nor trimmed, they managed to get behind the ramp rail at one side, and with the weight of the loco behind them forced the leading axle off the track. It took us a couple of hours to get the blighter rerailed and the lifeguards loosened. And if you get away with it at the front, as the leading axle starts to climb, the loco tips up and the rear lifeguards head for the ground.
So here was this Fowler, with no lifeguards but an upturned rail at each end. I had done a quick measure last time so plotted it out on CAD, though at the time I didn't have the correct dimensions for the fabricated ramp sections we use at the bottom (because Andrew built them from a sketch) it indicated we would have a foul. Each upside down rail was secured with 8 of what looked to be about 3/4 Whitworth bolts, so I came armed with spanners, sockets, a battery grinder and discs, ready to remove them by hook or crook if neccessary. Phil and I put the ramp together and decided to give it a whirl anyway, and to my relief it went on without touching anywhere. When I get time I must re-plot the drawing with dimensions I now have and figure out why it did! While we were busy, Beatrice passed by on a Bolton Abbey-bound train and I snapped it on the return journey. with Fowler now aboard. I am pleased to say that unlike last week, this train was well-loaded with passengers who of course regarded us as part of the entertainment.
By noon we were about ready to go so I walked up the lane to the A59 to see Phil safely away. The road was almost silent, but of course as soon as I waved Phil the all clear a solitary car came up at bat-out-of-hell speed. Once he'd torn by, Phil got rolling and this was the view as he headed west.
Me I walked back down the lane, changed, moved the van out of the yard and secured the gates behind me before setting off to follow Phil. Our destination was Preston, so I should have been able to follow the A59 straight there, but I had to turn off at Whalley to visit another auction house where once again Andrew had secured a few lots. Most important here was a die grinder to replace the one stolen, but having won one he had added a few more 'bargains' to make it worth my while. Anyway, back on the A59 I got stuck for several miles behind a tractor and had seen no sign of Phil. Little did I know that he must have swung south and picked up the M65. The A59 meets the M6 just outside Preston at what used to be the Tickled Trout and as I emerged from under the M6 bridge I came side-by-side with Phil coming off the slip road from the M6. As the road remained two lanes I clogged it and got ahead of him, finally arriving at the Ribble steam railway a few minutes ahead. Some of the Fowlers owners were there to see it off and extoll its virtues, and my having let slip that my birthday was imminent (it was the Wednesday) Lynne had arrived with homemade cakes in my honour to celebrate!
We winched the Fowler down until gravity ran out then attached a Sentinel, dropped the winch rope and carefully watched it the rest of the way on to the rails to ensure the flanges ended up where they should. The Sentinel whisked it away and brought back Waleswood, due to return after its attendance at the RSR event. It was duly winched up, secured and Phil set off planning to stop at Lymm truck stop for the night, while I returned to Darley Dale.
Wednesday, I set off intending to go to Chasewater for 10.00 and visit a supplier on the return, but Phil rang to say he had overlooked another abnormal load embargo so he would have to wait at Lymm and wouldn't reach Chasewater until 11.00-ish, so I visited the supplier first and rolled up at Chasewater about a quarter to.
Phil duly arrived and the ramp set up, but the loco didn't want to budge despite the slope it was standing on. A pinch bar was hunted out and the loco barred until the ramp steepened, after which it condescended to roll on the winch cable to the bottom. Myfanwy drew it away so we could put the unit back together. Eagle-eyed readers may notice that Waleswood is now the other way round - this was requested by the owner, again to even out flange wear but also gives new photographic opportunities. I set off for home and came up the road from Duffield to Wirksworth, finding myself in a queue behind Reids hauling the front half of 78018 with two car Police escort as we had been with D9537. I met Phil back at Rowsley to swap trailers over and he returned to 'normal' haulage work.
Thursday I had to visit the dentist for an extraction so had planned nothing else and Friday had been hoping to open up for Andy H to do fence work but atrocious weather was forecast so that was dropped. But I had also arranged a delivery of pipes too long to go in my van so had to spend the morning there anyway measuring DL34 until the Fedex driver rang to ask where to find me!
Saturday. Better weather and were joined by both Andy H and Andy M, in fact they both were there before me. Andy H made a start 'around the back'. The fence so far had been extending south (towards Matlock) and had reached the front of the shed where some more substantial old fencing and prickly undergrowth was judged to be a suitable point to pause.
Back at the north end, we were headed into uncharted jungle, unexplored by humans since Peak Rail built the oil store and plonked the two van bodies that have now largely lost their timber rooves. In the period of the previous management we were forbidden to do anything here, and the state of the fencing meant that a number of visitors - both welcome and unwelcome - entered clandestinely here and only the razor wire later deterred them. Meanwhile mother nature went unchecked and ivy covered everything from the oil store roof to the telephone pole. A tree that we had cut-down during shed construction (and the Inspector had recommended we remove completely) had brought forth new shoots and farther north amid the impenetrable jungle behind the oil store we suspect is a quantity of spoil or maybe the graves of long-lost volunteers. Anyway, first task was to start clearing this so the fence could extend northwards, and I assisted Andy H for some time until Andrew and Steph arrived. Andrew had bought a secondhand electric chain saw and wanted to try it out, but the chain cutters were a bit blunt so its performance wasn't up to his expectations. Secateurs and loppers however cleared sufficient to erect a further panel and as Tom D has promised to come in tomorrow night with his petrol saw we should be in better position for another bash on Tuesday.
Steph was in charge of the machine wot chews up twigs and branches. Andy M continued getting things ready on the Yorkshire 0-6-0DE Des and later aided by Andrew (who had taken my van over to Wirksworth and brought back a load of EMR-owned gear that had been on loan there), got the generator separated from the engine ready to lift out. I did get some bits done on DL34 but later found myself back with Andy H on the fence assembly and helping to clear up.
Sunday: and with only Andy M for the morning we shunted Des out of the shed and then pulled the train back on road one so that the crane could move into position and the forklift could come out and empty my van. Andy M made a point of tidying up and as there was a pile of ivy prunings sat in the fire pit I had a bonfire to pass the time. After lunch Andrew appeared and the generator was lifted out of Des at long last.
Andrew wants to detach the brushes and do further resistance tests to find out where it is 'down' before releasing the generator for professional attention, but the oily, dirty state of its windings are symptomatic. Later in the afternoon Andrew and I took stock of the 'gas bottle store' that was sited just north of our portakabin. Again, the more constructive management of Peak Rail today is happy that we start clearing this area and lift out the van bodies which are frankly an eyesore. To get the crane in closer he wanted to demolish the bottle store compound and break up its concrete base, and considered dragging the gas round to start it. Instead he took a pair of bolt cutters and removed a section of mesh fencing, then leaned against one of the uprights, which broke out of the concrete. Hauling the gas bottles around was clearly un-neccessary, and between us we quickly snipped through the mesh sheets and toppled the remaining uprights, which were weakened from corrosion at ground level. Next he is planning to swing a hammer at the concrete which we suspect will break up without difficulty, but for now the steelwork is in the scrap bin and the access opened up.
And that about wraps it up for this edition. No transport moves planned for this week (but both the van and I have visits for 'medical' attention) but plenty of other things to keep us occupied. Find out more same time next week. See ya then.