December 2014 Engineering Report
Permanent Way
With a couple of quite large civil engineering projects to complete the gang’s attention has been diverted away from permanent way work, but some routine tamping and gauge maintenance has been carried out, much of it in or near Tadpole Cutting and between Quarry Siding and Dolgoch. In addition, the crossing timbers at Fach Goch have been replaced as the existing ones were a little short and causing difficulties for users. The old timbers will be reused further up the Railway. At Pendre a wagon derailed on the back road points, which were found to be over gauge, so a tie bar was inserted as a temporary measure, but the sleepers are quite decayed and will require replacement before too long.
Other activities have included grass and hedge trimming at various stations, drilling some of a large delivery of sleepers and moving them around the Railway, various jobs to prepare for Autumn Outdoor Week, which is under way as these notes are being written, and removing the hanging baskets from Wharf station for the winter.
During the summer a locomotive crew reported a tractor struggling across Brynyrwest upper crossing as they approached. We contacted the farm and the farmer met us at the crossing to explain the problems he has with it. We agreed that the gates needed replacing and that it would be much safer for all of us if wider gates were fitted and if these gates actually lined up with one another, avoiding the need for wider modern tractors to drive onto the crossing, then pause and manoeuvre to get off again.
This work is planned for completion this winter; since the discussion we have moved stones up from Cynfal to widen the access ramp and dropped off various pieces of timber for hanging the new gates from and to provide a new crossing deck.
Steam Locomotives
Loco No. 1, Talyllyn, completed running-in more or less as planned, with one trip taking carriage 1 as well, so both our No. 1’s ran in together. The locomotive re-entered traffic on Thursday 18th September and starred at its own birthday celebrations on 24th September. It has not been used much since, as we wanted to check axle weights, which we have done, producing some thought-provoking results, which will be reported on in due course. It has been stripped down for the annual cold boiler inspection, (which it has now passed - Matt) following which it is planned to exhibit the locomotive at Warleymodel railway exhibition, then reassemble it for a steam test, probably in January next year.
Loco No. 2, Dolgoch, has been running well; the driver’s side big end brass became very slightly loose, allowing a spacer shim to partially escape, but the next day’s driver spotted the problem and it was quickly corrected. Like No. 1 it has been stripped for the annual boiler examination.
Loco No. 3, Sir Haydn, is still in the Engine House on the Severn Valley Railway, but will have to be removed early next year. Current plans are to make this somewhat of a marketing exercise and hopefully display the engine at another location as it makes its way back.
Loco No. 4, Edward Thomas, has also been running well. The fireman’s side injector became troublesome and was replaced, whilst the shackle holding the safety chain to the tank lid disappeared and needed replacing with a spare. It is presently available for traffic if required.
Loco No. 6, Douglas, is running well and being kept together for the Christmas and winter train services.
Loco No. 7, Tom Rolt, had a few injector problems and the set removed from Loco No. 3 before it began its travels were fitted, which cured the problems. Since then a newly acquired injector has been tried out successfully on the fireman’s side. The ash pan distorted during the season and had to be removed and straightened, whilst the driver’s air brake valve began leaking through quite badly, so was partially dismantled then carefully lapped, before being reassembled and tested. It is planned to check the axle weights on this locomotive too, as it has been a little “light-footed” in operation; the rear driving springs were adjusted to try and correct things a little as they were clearly not properly loaded, but it will be better to set them up properly in the workshops. The locomotive does need its driving wheels re-profiling before too long and the axle boxes would benefit from re-metalling and boring to the correct dimensions.
At the time of going to press, Loco No. 7 was being stripped for its annual boiler exam.
Diesel Locomotives
Loco No. 5, Midlander, had a problem with its air brakes when the system built up a little too much pressure and damaged the pressure gauge and compressor. A spare compressor was fitted whilst the existing one was repaired, the unloader valve was checked over, and the air reservoir was removed and given a hydraulic test whilst the safety valve operation was also checked. At the same time the driver’s brake valve was removed, cleaned and re-lubricated. The locomotive is now in use again, but the spare compressor is slow to make air so long whistling has to be avoided until the repaired unit is back in place.
Loco No. 8, Merseysider, was suffering from a bad oil leak and the exhaust manifold was blowing. The manifold was removed, revealing that one of the securing studs had disappeared, the gaskets had blown apart and a rocker cover was very loose allowing oil to run down the side of the engine. A stud was removed from the old engine, gaskets made up and both manifold and rocker cover were bolted back on firmly, curing both problems.
Loco No. 9, Alf, did require attention to its starter motor as predicted in the last report; at first adjusting the contacts seemed to work, but eventually it failed completely and a replacement was sourced and fitted. It is intended to send the old starter off for reconditioning, allowing us to have a spare unit in stock possibly for the first time ever.
Loco No. 10, Bryn Eglwys, has arrived at its new home on the North Gloucester Narrow Gauge Railway, where we understand that it is impressing its new owners with its turn of speed. The stock of spares and the instruction manuals we had acquired whilst the locomotive was with us were packaged up and taken or sent over to Toddington to join the locomotive.
Loco No. 11, Trecwn, lost all its engine coolant when a poorly made, but hidden, joint in the cab heater hoses came apart. It was recovered and started up again but the engine now has a distinct knock. The cylinder heads were removed and checked, allowing the play in the pistons to be checked at the same time. No real problems were found so new gaskets were purchased, the whole length of the heater hose was replaced and the engine was re-assembled, but it continued to knock. This could be “diesel knock”, or it could be a damaged big end bearing, so investigations are continuing. Another engine is available in the spare locomotive if needed, so it is intended to start this engine up and check it over.
The work on the cylinder heads required the removal of the engine cover, which also supported the fuel tank and a complicated exhaust system. To avoid the need to dismantle and remove these and to make future maintenance easier the cover has been split in two and a bolted joint has been provided. An engine manual was sourced whilst the work progressed so bolts could be re-tightened to the correct torque settings and clearances checked.
Loco No. 12, St Cadfan, is still at Alan Keef’s, but is being worked upon again and we were asked to send down one of our wheel profile gauges so the driving wheels could be turned before they are refitted.
Carriage and Wagon
Carriage 1 did return to traffic after running in with Loco No. 1 as mentioned earlier in the report and is running satisfactorily. Van 5 is joining Loco No. 1 on the trip to Warley so is receiving a bit of care and attention to smarten it up for the visitors to our stand, whilst Van 6 needed a replacement running board after a minor incident during a shunt in the Engineers Sidings at Wharf.
Carriage 20 moved into the paint shop as soon as it could be spared from traffic. There was clear evidence of rotten wood in the east end, but fortunately this turned out to be almost entirely confined to the plywood and also to the moulding which had been added when the end was converted to a saloon. The main timbers were still in good condition, but there was a sign of rot in one or two other side panels as well. When these were removed it was discovered that the steel bolts used to fasten the body down had rusted and swollen, splitting the carriage body framework. All the panels were then removed revealing more splits and corroded bolts. All the bolts were removed and where the timber was still intact, replaced with stainless steel ones. A clamp was then designed and made up in the workshops to allow the cracks to be glued and clamped up in situ and this work is now in progress. New panels have been cut to size ready for fixing, so the repairs are going quite well.
After discussing the options it was agreed to install warm air heating, as used on the Welsh Highland Railway, in some of our coaches. It should then be possible to remove the adapted storage heaters, which have been quite successful, but which are aging and do need a fairly heavy plug and socket connection to supply mains electricity to the heaters overnight. On rare occasions these plugs have not been pushed properly into the socket and this can lead to overheating, which could theoretically lead to a fire; not very desirable! As the Ffestiniog Railway have a lot of experience with these warm air systems they have been asked to produce a set for us and install it on carriage 21, following which we have indicated that we would want another two vehicles fitting up, should the system work as well as anticipated.
Carriage 22 now has a full set of new internal plywood panels, all of which have been painted where necessary and most have been fixed in position. The body has been measured up and marine ply external panels ordered, cut to size ready for fitting, which should save some time.
Some routine brake maintenance has taken place, with full block changes being needed on carriages 21 and 23, whilst the spare Mark 2 bogie has re-appeared in the works so that its overhaul and modifications can be completed.
Building and Civil Engineering
As the weather dried up in September the work in the culvert at Ty Dwr became possible again. The long length of flexible pipe we were using to divert the water flow had been washed completely out of the culvert and part way down to the village and took some recovering. Once it was back in situ a dam was built across the stream and the bulk of the flow diverted into the pipe allowing work to start. There were several voids to be filled with concrete; a couple of these were of a good size and would probably have caused real problems if they had been left much longer. The work took a little while due to the need to lower down mixed concrete and then move it to the actual defect in the long steeply sloping culvert, all without contaminating the environment or injuring any of the workforce.
Once this job was completed and the work had been inspected, the scaffolding, mixer, lighting, tools and materials were moved nearer to Abergynolwyn so that repairs could be completed on the culvert which crosses under the line, just beyond the end of the old statutory railway. This culvert was in better condition and needed less work; the largest job was concreting in a missing section of the masonry arch above the north side stream exit, where the stones had fallen out; a search of the stream revealed lots of possible rocks, none of which were the actual missing stonework, hence the use of concrete.
While the gang were working at the location the opportunity was taken to fit proper timber handrails to the footpath which runs along the top of the stonework. Rail uprights for these had been provided when the path was created, at the time the Nant Gwernol section was being opened for passenger traffic, but the rails themselves had never been fitted. The posts were cleaned up and de-rusted, given a coat of paint, a couple of extra timber posts were provided to link up with the existing fences either side, then off-the-shelf treated exterior handrail timber was purchased and fitted to complete the job.
Also at Abergynolwyn, all the picnic benches in the playground were checked over and some rotten sections of timber replaced, new flush syphon units were installed in some of the public toilets and the rodding cover in front of the blockpost was replaced. As a trial plastic timber, made from recycled plastic was used for this job. It is a little more flexible than the existing timber used to be before it went rotten, so extra support rails had to be installed to keep it firm and level, whilst the outer edge was temporarily supported on a timber beam. This material is quite a bit more expensive that conventional treated timber, but it should have an almost indefinite life and is non-slip by design, so should be safer and need less attention.
Returning to the Tywyn end of the Railway to work, the Museum balcony door fire exit latch fell apart. The internal mechanism is made of moulded plastic, probably designed for occasional use, but we use it every day, so the broken lock was modified and new steel parts made, before it was reinstalled. Doors have featured in the Wharf work this time, with a new lock being needed on the outside toilet store door, then the good bits of this lock were used to rebuild the ladies toilet door lock, which had rusted away in the sea air and a new door handle was needed on the Control Office outside door.
The CCTV system at Wharf did not cover the west end of the platform, identified as a weak point a couple of years ago by the local crime prevention officer; it also lacked second cameras in the café and shop and the absence of the shop one had weakened the evidence we were able to hand to the police when we had a shoplifting incident last year. There were also rooms upstairs with easily accessible windows which were not individually covered by intruder alarm detectors and a need for a fire detector in the Slater Room cupboard. As the financial position of the Railway has improved a little since the building was completed, it was decided to get these deficiencies corrected and also to update the CCTV recording system, as it produces video files in an elderly format which our local police are unable to view. All this work was quoted for by our present alarm contractors and has now been completed.
In Llechfan one of the bedroom doors stuck and was removed, planed down and rehung; a broken window was discovered in the back door and replaced and the gas meter cupboard was repaired and fastened back onto the wall. In the garden one of the tree stumps blown over in last winter’s storms was dug out by a contractor so our neighbour could reinstate his fence. Up at Pendre the work in the North Shed mentioned in the previous report was completed with the fitting of gutters and downspouts to the small enclosed area, some finishing off work was carried out in the blockpost, a new door handle was fitted to the paint shop lobby exterior door and the mess room connecting door was rehung.
Plant and Workshops
The Company owned Transit Van has lost the fight with corrosion and been replaced by a newer Transit tipper with a crew cab, purchased locally. It has a useful carrying capacity, whilst its six seats should allow a full work gang with tools and materials to be moved around the Railway as needed. A review is under way to determine what road vehicles the Railway would find useful and, importantly, what can be afforded.
The Pendre platform trolley, quite useful in the past for many jobs and fondly looked upon as a coffee table during the summer, has had a couple of flat tyres for a while, repairs being prevented by a rusty hole in one wheel. These wheels have been removed, welded up and painted, whilst new tyres and inner tubes have been purchased and fitted and the wheels are just waiting for a fine day to be pushed back onto their axles.
The bunded diesel storage tank at Pendre is too large for our purposes now, as the biological diesel now supplied will not store for as long without breaking down, preventing us purchasing a full 1000 gallon load. This summer a group of locomotive cleaners were asked to clean and paint the bund and discovered that the metal had wasted away, out of site behind the tank, to the point where they were able to make a hole in it. Rather than repair the bund we looked for a smaller bunded tank and were successful in finding a 500 gallon one, which was purchased and delivered to the Railway. It was painted a rather unwanted bright red, but has been cleaned down and repainted in our standard dark green livery. It just needs turning over so the bottom can be painted and some redundant connectors left over from its former existence as a generator supply tank need unscrewing and plugging, then it can be used to replace the existing tank.
In the workshops the sheet steel rack from the North Shed was modified and fitted with large industrial castors so it can be moved around as needed, a new batch of standard buffers is being manufactured, a platform seat from Wharf was rebuilt, a new switch rail is being milled as part of the manufacture of a new west end point for Quarry Siding loop, the Wharf “patio” gate, which leads onto the pavement by the road bridge, was modified to prevent it swinging out onto the pavement and one of the Wharf middle road wheel stops was removed, straightened and welded back together after being found in a damaged state.
One of the large radiant heaters in the workshops was causing problems last winter as it would not stay lit for long, so it was brought down and rebuilt with a new insulation kit and several new ceramic heating tiles, then hauled back up into place and tested, satisfactorily. A trickle of jobbing work continues to flow in, although we do refuse a lot of larger jobs; amongst those undertaken recently were straightening some strange looking bits, which we were told were components for an “overseeder” owned by Aberdovey Golf Club and the manufacture of a new door handle for Tywyn Parish Church.
Electrical and S&T
There have been growing problems with telephone communications up the Railway, which have been traced to a length of cable between Dolgoch and Quarry Siding. A new length has been obtained and it is intended to install this within the next few days, taking advantage of some Outdoor Week track work in the same area. The token machine at Abergynolwyn malfunctioned, apparently due to a combination of a mechanical fault in the lock and a poor connection within the machine itself, both of which have been attended to.
At Pendre the construction of the secure store in the North Carriage Shed provided some electrical work installing lighting, whilst fire alarm cable was also installed ready for the system’s manufacturer to add a suitable detector. In the workshops the one tonne electric hoist control box got damaged and was repaired and rebuilt, whilst in the locomotive shed rewiring is making progress with low energy led floodlights taking over from the elderly fluorescent fittings.
At Wharf new low energy LED light fittings were installed in the upstairs corridor, following the successful trial of this sort of fitting on the staff staircase earlier in the year, a new light fitting and a movement sensor to replace the switch were installed in the café staff toilet, some assistance was provided to squeeze a new freezer into the café kitchen and a new light fitting was required in Llechfan “Board Room”. As this report was being written the welcome news that the public toilet sewage pump had failed again reached the department. The chamber was pumped out with a portable pump then the electric pump was disconnected, pulled out and washed down. It appears to have shorted out internally, so has been handed to a reconditioning firm for attention.
The summer is a time for fault repairing and not for major projects; routine PAT testing work at all locations continues to take up a lot of time and a constant programme of improvement of the Railway’s older wiring installations has been taking place for some years, work which by and large is unseen, but which is quite essential and does take up a lot of staff time.
Dave Scotson
