Of moves and men
14th January 2024
The camera has been out and I've been out and about. Read on...
I sometimes open by declaring how many miles I've driven this week as a means of graphically showing you how busy I've been. This week has racked up over 1500 (that's just under 2500km for overseas readers) meaning early starts and late returns. First thing Monday it was off up to Wolsingham, to uplift a 40ton 0-6-0DH Hunslet. If it looks at all familiar, it is one of the pair that Hunslet built, as a new design to rival Sentinel, for Snibston colliery in 1964. Andrew owns the other, and after inspecting this one it is clear that he got the better of the two.
Anyway, my journey up was prolonged - the choice being of either roadworks on the M1 around Tinsley followed by the 'joy' of the M1/M62/M621 interchange at Leeds or the M18/A1M with the guarantee of a tailback for the bridgeworks north of Doncaster. I opted for the latter (not sure if it was wise) followed by a wait south of Wetherby due to an accident. So I was late getting to Wolsingham and Phil was waiting with the first stage of the ramp out. Added to that he'd parked over a puddle. In due course the loco was loaded, he set off and overnighted near Cambridge and I returned home.
Tuesday it was eastwards to Great Yarmouth. Steph warned me about the closure of the Kelham to Newark section of the A617 thanks to flooding but the consequent diversion I tried took over an hour and meant that I didn't reach Great Yarmouth until half-twelve. Again Phil was ready and we had the loco off quite quickly, setting off back, him to Wolsingham and me to Darley Dale.
Wednesday, let's do it all again, this time without the accident near Wetherby. Collect one 34ton Sentinel and return.
Thursday, try a different diversion around Newark - better - and caught up with Phil on the Norwich by-pass. Reached Great Yarmouth to find the gates locked. Obtained code for padlock but padlock won't undo. Phil arrives and parks on road. More time spent trying to get padlock to release. Phil gets me to move van aside so he can pull clear of main road. More time and finally padlock undoes and we get on to site, shut gates behind us, unload loco. We move the two locos (Hunslet and Sentinel) further up and while we are doing this, we see a guy come on to site in a black Tesla. He's wearing hivi and a hard hat but next moment he has disappeared.
We wrap things up and prepare to leave. I've soussed the padlock with WD40 (other [better?] penetrating oils are available) so hopefully it won't stick for the next man. We looked around for the visitor - surely there's nowhere to hide a black Tesla? We can see all over and conclude we simply cannot have seen him leave. We do, locking the gate behind us. I call it in to RMS who suggest it must have been a photographer, they have plenty of unauthorised visitors if they don't keep the gates shut. During the journey back, on the flat between Sleaford and Newark (A17) I see a queue of red lights up ahead and come to a stand. After an hour a jolly policelady drives by, calling to everyone to 'turn around when you can' followed by a gaggle of other cars. I manage to turn, wave bye to Phil (who had been about 250 hards farther back in the queue but no chance of turning) take the left at the next junction and with that compass in my head telling me roughly which way I am headed, work across north then west to hit the A16 Lincoln road and so back to Newark. The cause - a lorry fire - kept the A17 closed from 5pm until about 11 so Phil had to find a layby to park up for the night.
Friday, same again but a bit nearer home - Embsay. After two days queuing on the A1 for those bridgeworks north of Doncaster I try the M1 and it's more pleasant, though traffic seems lighter. On my way I get a phone call from RMS - the visitor yesterday at Great Yarmouth had been someone from Network Rail, and yes, he was still on site when we left and we'd locked him in. Moral: he should have made himself known to us.
I got to the loading site before Phil so was able to hold back traffic (1 car) as he brought the low loader down the narrow Priors Lane. We had the ramp up and virtually ready when a loud hoot of an approaching locomotive alerted us to our charge being near. The 25ton Barclay 0-4-0ST was being towed by a class 37 - somewhat overkill for the duty.
Loco loaded, 37 heads back to Embsay and Phil sets off for Scunthorpe. Another vehicle fire (on the M62) adds another 15 minutes running time so it's 3pm when he arrives and I am keen to get on with unloading while it's still daylight. Off comes the loco, Phil hooks up and backs out and there's a loud report like an air hose blowing off. We can't see anything amiss so Phil gets another few hundred yards when he notices the trailer isn't steering with him and there's oil dripping down. I catch him up and after removing the control panel cover quickly see the problem. There are 4 pressure switches on the hydraulic steering - one has disintegrated, leaving a small orifice open to atmosphere. In fact, the electrical parts of the switch are held by crimping to the steel part that includes the 1/4BSP fixing thread. The crimp has simply given way and the bang was the electrical part launching like a pop gun.
The AFR find me a 1/4 BSP ball valve in lieu of a plug, the hole is closed, the oil reservoir still has sufficient to run with and so we set off homeward, week over.
Saturday. Andrew and his partner are house-hunting so again I am working with Andy H. Andy finishes off a quick installation of an electric pump/motor but I had given him a 3-phase 4 pin plug and we cannot find a 4-to-5 adaptor cable (all our 3-phase sockets are 5 pin) which I am begining to think we might not have anyway, so he can't test it. I set him on investigating the state of the 24Volt electric pump which came off my low loader neck (we're running with the one off Andrew's 4 axle trailer) followed by 3 motors I bought secondhand from an MoD surplus dealer a few years ago. Curiously the 3 motors are by Bosch, and although all 4 are 3kW rated, the Bosch ones are substantially larger than that which came off my low loader, and whose commutator is a bit FUBAR'd. All 3 Bosch ones appear to work and spin (one looked as though it had been rebuilt but one connection left off, which might explain why it was disposed of) so might be kitted out with new pumps and installed to the trailers as the bigger motors should be lower stressed.
I raid the same place pressure switch from Andrew's trailer's neck - I know these pressure switches, I've used them on pneumatic applications but would not have thought them fit for the pressure in hydraulics. Maybe a better quality switch is called for but it'll give me a stopgap to keep it on the road while I sort them. Two men a and a boy arrive in the yard asking to see a loco which John Wade of HST has told them is down here. I tell them politely that it is at Rowsley so they go away. I have fixed some software issues with Alstom's loco but one or two new ones present themselves, plus a sneaky feeling that none of ep valves is working on the pneumatic frame - either the air isn't getting through or the return electric path is not making. Much to my surprise a works train came by, propelled by Bagnall the Barclay with Tom D at the throttle and Roger Hallatt riding shotgun on the mess van verandah.
After all the work of the week my enthusiasm is a little lower than usual so after numerous other jobs too tedious to list, we call it a day. I meant to spend the evening on some paperwork (quotes, etc) but end up with a young Dachshund asleep in my lap.
Sunday - get up and try to resolve the paperwork - 4 items on the list, 3 completed so good by my 50% rule. After an early lunch Andrew and me head down to the shed, followed by Steph for an hour or so of branch shredding with daughter's loaned shredder. I have some minor jobs to do on DL34, plus tidy up some of the further tool acquisitions Andrew has made which have now replaced a sizeable portion of those stolen in July, bar a few notable exceptions. Steph heads home and Phil C arrives to take a look at D1197. More tea. Front and rear pipes on the vac system for DL34 are trialled again after fresh adjustments to lengths and angles. Close up about 6pm.
Dave Scotson 1953-2023.
When Steph and I started going out to Bala in 1977, there were a group of lads that George called the 'Warrington Gang'. Among them was Dave Scotson, who was then working in the NatWest Bank's Home Loans department and used to regail us at evening meals in the Cyfnod Cafe with quotes from surveyors reports on houses that had passed across his desk. (I also have a clear memory of his protesting very hotly that he didn't like cheeseburgers one evening there, too.) But a career in banking did not have the allure of steam railways and eventually he followed John MacDougal and started work at Tywyn on the Talyllyn, while later holding the post of Treasurer with both the Bala Lake Railway Society and Maid Marian Loco Fund, so the training at NatWest didn't go to waste. We last saw him at Tywyn in April 2022 after he had had time off for cancer treatment, but the news that he had died at home with his partner on the night of December 31st/January 1st was nonetheless a shock. I may not have seen him all that often, but I still valued his opinions and regarded him as a friend. As an illustration of how I would rather remember him, here he is on a jim crow, laying a siding at Llanuwchllyn in the early 1980s. (And just in case you're not sure, I'm pointing at him!).
Ah well, I'm still here and touch wood, no life-threatening ailments present. I can't afford them for time nor money. Meanwhile it's another early start as week 2 of 3 weeks work and back to Wolsingham, snow etc permitting. This may look a little repetitious next week, but there it is. I'll be here - I hope - same time, etc., etc., if you wanna come back. See ya then.