December 2016 Engineering Report
Health and Safety
New safety signs have been put on the door of the locomotive boiler water treatment cabinet in the loco shed. The signs inform users that the contents of the cabinet are corrosive and that gloves and safety glasses are available below the cabinet. If you work in or around Pendre please remind anyone not using the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that they should do so. Although we may be familiar with it, the loco water treatment is corrosive and could also cause blindness if it got into the eyes. A campaign is also underway to remind volunteers to use the correct PPE for other routine tasks – such as blowing down locomotives (hearing protection) or passing through the works (appropriate protective footwear).
Permanent Way
Maintenance is continuing with tamping and repairs as per work orders and flailing has been carried out successfully on several sections of the line. Repairs have been made to platform edges that had become damaged or dislodged during the season. Fish-plate oiling took place during the August bank holiday week end and was continued during the September AGM weekend. We now have an agreed winter work plan, the details of which are given elsewhere in this edition of the News. Six-hundred new hardwood sleepers have been purchased and delivered. These will be drilled and used for relaying projects over the next two years. In addition to the sleepers, 2400 each of Clips and Coach screws have also been purchased and delivered.
There was a very successful outdoor weekend between the 7th and 10th of October. This was followed by a well-attended Autumn Outdoor week: A key highlight of this was that approximately 12 lengths of track were re-laid with new sleepers on Brynglas bank. A full report on both Outdoor Week and the Working Weekends appears elsewhere in this edition of the News. I would, however, like to register my thanks for all those who came to Tywyn and supported these events.
Steam Locomotives
Loco No. 1, Talyllyn, has been running well. The air compressor pump was stripped and checked over on the weekend of the 1st of October after a fault developed. No issue was found however and the pump was reassembled. The pump was tested and has run without incident since – a classic example of ‘take it apart and put it back together again’! One tube in the boiler has been plugged after developing a leak. This will be changed during the winter break. The locomotive is due to be taken out of service for its ten-year boiler exam (involving lifting the boiler off the frames) in 2017.
Loco No. 2, Dolgoch, has also had issues with its air pump. Upon disassembly the main spindle bushing on the rear valve was found to be passing, this was changed. The engine was tested and has been running well since. It is intended that Loco No. 2 will be left available to operate the Christmas train service. It will be stripped in January for its cold inspection and steam test.
Loco No. 3, Sir Haydn, continues to be overhauled in the Vale of Rheidol Railway workshops at Devil’s Bridge in Aberystwyth. It is still expected to return to service on the Talyllyn at the start of March 2018. A more detailed report on the progress of its overhaul will be contained in the next edition of the News.
Loco No. 4, Edward Thomas, has been stripped for cold inspection. It is planned to remove the wheel sets from this engine at the beginning of December and send them to Boston Lodge for the crank pins to be replaced. The current crank pins are welded in place. While this serves the purpose it does set up a potential weakness in the pin material. For this reason, the replacement pins will be shrink fitted. The wheel profiles will also be skimmed and the journals trued.
Loco No. 6, Douglas, has been running well. New springs will be fitted to this engine during the closed season. It is intended to carry out the annual strip-down and cold inspection of this locomotive in December.
Loco No. 7, Tom Rolt, will be left available for the Christmas services; the annual cold inspection of it will take place in January. During the summer the left leading white-metal bearing was found to be cracked. This was re-metaled and machined. At the end of August, the left driving leaf spring broke. This was replaced and the axel weights were checked and adjusted – appearing to address the root cause of the failure. On the 21st October, however, two further springs were noticed to be broken. These were changed and adjusted. Two new springs for the locomotive are now on order and the three failed springs have been sent away for reconditioning.
Locomotive Air Pumps
We are changing the oil used in the air pumps from Morris’ 680 to Hallet’s 680 steam oil. We have had an issue, this year, with the oil thickening during use. This is something that never used to happen. We asked Morris’ directly about this effect and they informed us that "nothing had changed with their oil". A sample of the oil was taken from the Morris’ Barrel and sent it to their Laboratory for analysis. This confirmed that we had the ‘right oil’ from Morris’. A sample of the contaminated oil was taken and also sent that to the Laboratory. This only confirmed that there was water present, but nothing unexpected.
Following this testing, twenty-five litres of Hallet’s steam oil was obtained and trialed in the air pump on Loco No. 7. This has been successful in that the oil is not thickening like the Morris’ oil. This will mean better lubrication of the pumps and improved reliability. As an added bonus: Hallet’s steam oil is also cheaper. We shall start using this oil on all steam pumps for the 2017 season. The remaining Morris’ oil will be used in the mechanical lubricators.
Diesel Locomotives
Loco No. 5, Midlander, is in service and running well.
Loco No. 9, Alf, is running well.
Loco No. 11, Trecwn, has had work carried out to repair a leak from the fuel pump. A fitting on one of the injector pipes was distorted and leaking, this was replaced. A further leak has been reported this week.
Loco No. 12, St Cadfan, is ready for service again after the naming ceremony. It was banished to the shed for a week to allow the varnish on its smart new livery to harden.
Carriage and Wagon
The bogie frames for carriage No. 22 have a small amount of work left to do. It is expected that this work will be complete will be completed by the end of November. The body for carriage No. 22 is now in the paint shop. Good progress has been made by volunteer joiners and resources for it’s continuing refurbishment need to be found. Further information can be found in the ‘Bodgers Corner’ report, located to the right of this page.
Building and Civil Engineering
The culvert reinforcement at Ceunant coch is complete. During the week starting Monday 7th November, locomotives were moved in and out of the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, as planned. The coal dock, platform and running line immediately adjacent to the museum door had to be dismantled to allow this to happen. The engine and pedestrian access doors to the museum from the platform will now be removed in preparation for the new roller shutter door and new pedestrian door.
Plant and Workshop
The tidying up work in the workshop and around the Pendre site generally is continuing. The Radial drill is out of action, due to the nut that the raise and lower lead screw engages with being badly worn. A new nut is being made and will be fitted as soon as possible.
A new van has been acquired for day-to-day use. It is a silver coloured, Nissan Primastar, 2 litre Diesel (Transit style). It is hoped that this van will, like its predecessor, give many years of service.
Electrical and S&T
The S&T outdoor week took place from November 12th. A full program of work for the team, including cable laying, checking all plug-in points up the line and Point lubrication was undertaken. There is also an extensive winter working list including repairing point rods at Quarry, marking cables and terminals and replacing the mains board in the Pendre mess room. Any help with these tasks would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you to all Volunteers and Permanent staff, for your excellent work and continued support. I hope to see you all in and around Pendre over the coming months.
Stephen Davis
