September 2014 Engineering Report
Permanent Way
Inspections continue to take place and various defects have been attended to as they have been discovered including gauge maintenance in Hendy cutting and at Six Bends, where some spot re-sleepering was also needed. Several visits have been made to Cynfal to tamp sleepers and to lift joints, initially with the Matisa, but subsequently with the hand held Atlas Copco machines. Re-laid or re-ballasted stretches at 4 1/2 milepost and below Dolgoch viaduct have also been tamped, so speed restrictions could be lifted at those locations. A few sleepers required packing in Dolgoch station, whilst an unsuccessful attempt was made to tamp the track below Brynglas loop, but the ballast is badly contaminated with mud and would not pack properly, so a speed restriction has been left in place. It is intended to dig this stretch out over the winter and re-ballast it completely, which should cure the problem.
The gang have also been active on other jobs including the annual weed killing, which took place on 17th June, after being delayed by various problems with the pump and some of the pipework. Probably the time has come to purchase a new pump for this job. Works trains, including the Friday evening steam-hauled ones, have spent a lot of time clearing and moving assorted boscage, branches etc. all of which was moved to one of the burn sites, or left near Rhydyronen for the annual bonfire. The most recent Friday train also spent a lot of time cutting back grass and other vegetation at Tynllwynhen Halt ready for the morning runners on Race the Train day.
An inspection of all the Railway’s fences and hedges, from both sides, is in progress, as gaps in other jobs crop up. Some minor repairs have been needed to keep the existing fences sheep-proof, notably near Rhydyronen station and at Brynglas where complaints were received from the owners of adjoining fields.
Whilst the flail was out working a tree fell over just west of Tynllwynhen Halt, blocking the machine’s progress, but a small gang who were working in the same area were able to quickly despatch it and release the flail using bow saws.
Some work was carried out at Nant Gwernol to finish a drainage trench started during Outdoor Week, but which had encountered solid rock and needed a proper power breaker, rather than hand tools, to get down to level. A safety inspection reported a problem with the platform access steps at Hendy halt and the gang rebuilt these, firming up the handrail at the same time. The gang were once again on safety inspection work later in the month when they accompanied a NRW (Natural Resources Wales) inspection gang who were looking for potentially dangerous trees between Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol after the winter storms. Unfortunately they found one, hanging close to the track south of the line and just beyond the west end of Abergynolwyn platform, resulting in an early start the following morning as the NRW gang cut down the fallen tree and cut back the ones it had fallen into, before the first train of the day got there. Attention was also needed to the old ash trees north west of Rhydyronen station, but a contractor was employed to inspect, fell or cut back, as appropriate, and clear the arisings so the gang were not involved.
A shortage of fence posts caused a few problems and some lengths of treated timber had to be adapted into extra-long fence posts for use by the Tracksiders. The gang were also diverted from trackwork by a pressing need for a toilet for blockmen at Brynglas; one was moved from the winter relaying site, emptied and refilled, whilst the one at Quarry Siding was moved around the Guest House storage building and also refilled. Emptying the Quarry one was complicated by some indestructible toilet paper, not supplied by the Railway and which blocked the pump. We are always grateful to those who donate items to us, but would prefer not to have such good quality paper in future! Supplies for these toilets should always be requested from the Engineering Dept.
Steam locomotives
Loco No. 1, Talyllyn, is back on the Railway, has been steamed and has made a few short light engine moves, pending full running-in once the peak service finishes. It runs very well and smoothly, although everything is still a little tight and the locomotive does not roll as freely as usual; this will improve rapidly over the next few weeks. Quite a bit of extra work has been undertaken whilst the locomotive has been away. Boston Lodge were able to overhaul the valve gear and assemble the kit of parts we had got together and started machining to make a new rear pony truck wheelset. This involved them finishing off the machining, pressing the cast iron wheel centres on to the axle, then shrinking the new tyres onto these centres. They also made and fitted the new crankpins and skimmed the wheels as planned. A member who has access to a very well-equipped works, was able to help out with the work on the rods, although an outside firm had to be utilised to spark erode the tapering slots in the rods, which guide the cotters onto the brasses; a difficult job to do using conventional machining techniques. The end result is a set of rods very difficult to distinguish from the originals and a real credit to the two members involved; thank you gentlemen. The Ffestiniog Railway did the final white metalling and machining of the brasses and then assembled everything, before loading Loco No. 1 back onto their railway wagon and rendezvousing with a low-loader in the back streets of Porthmadog very early one morning, so the locomotive could be brought back and make a re-appearance in front of a delighted crowd of members, staff and visitors at Wharf Station.
Loco No. 2, Dolgoch, has been running well; the fireman’s side injector had to be removed and cleaned after it became troublesome, whilst there have been several reports of pump failures, following which the pump has been stripped down on each occasion, to reveal no faults at all. The pump has then run satisfactorily the following day; all a bit of a mystery.
Loco No. 3, Sir Haydn, remains outside the scope of this report at the time of writing, but it does need to be brought back to the Railway for overhaul work to begin before too long.
Loco No. 4, Edward Thomas, is running well. A broken rear truck spring was discovered during a ‘B’ exam and replaced, the motion has been checked over, allowing the felts and oilways to be cleared out as needed and excessive side play to be corrected. The opportunity was also taken to remove the cylinder end covers and check the security of the piston fastenings, which were fine. A leak developed on the blow down valve nipple where this screws into the valve, requiring the removal of the valve and re-sealing of the threads. The gauge glasses were both changed as they were eroding away at their upper ends and the blower gasket on the side of the smokebox needed replacing.
Loco No. 6, Douglas/Duncan, has also been running well. A gauge glass needed changing after it broke one morning and a broken spring was spotted on the mechanical lubricator drive ratchet. A telephone call to the manufacturer (Ballpark Precision Engineering) produced an immediate response with two replacement springs sent F.O.C in the post the same day. Unfortunately all we received was an envelope with a hole in it! We rang them again and this time two springs and a spare ratchet were supplied, securely packed in a plastic bag inside a padded envelope, once again without charge, an excellent service. Other work has included the removal of all the rods to allow the crankpins to be checked and all the oilways and felts to be cleaned, the replacement of a bolt in the draincock linkage, fitting of a new gasket on the main steam manifold connection and the fitting of a new friction device to the air pump.
Loco No. 7, Tom Rolt, passed the hydraulic test mentioned in the last report, was steam tested to the boiler inspector’s satisfaction on the 23rd May, then the motion was removed and fitted with new bushes, after these had been white-metalled and bored to size and the crossheads were shimmed up to remove play. A bit of a pressure job as the locomotive had to be ready to work during the following Bank Holiday week meant. There was not time to sort out the side play so the locomotive can be a little noisy at times, but it is running well.
Diesel Locomotives
Loco No. 5, Midlander, still starts and runs well, but a problem with the air brake system required the compressor belt to be removed. Repairs are still ongoing, but the locomotive is available for use when air brakes are not needed.
Loco No. 8, Merseysider, was fitted with a repaired starter motor and retrieved from Brynglas siding. It leaks engine oil quite badly and the hydraulic drive is very life-expired, but it continues to perform well and is the ideal locomotive for weed killing work where its steady speed is a considerable advantage.
Loco No. 9, Alf, runs well and was used on “Race the Train” day when an air braked diesel was needed. It is showing signs of a familiar starter motor problem, which will need attention soon.
Loco No. 10, Bryn Eglwys, made a final run to Wharf to be winched onto a cleverly designed low loader and then left the Railway, initially travelling to Statfold Barn for re-gauging work to be completed.
Loco No. 11, Trecwn, has continued working with engineering crews. It has a quite clever interlinked control system, designed to prevent the locomotive ever running away, but it did manage to achieve this at Pendre during Outdoor Week, when it set off very slowly with no driver, derailing the wagon it was propelling on the east loop points, fortunately without major damage or injury. The cause is being investigated, but in the meantime its use has been restricted until any modifications felt necessary to the controls have been made. Otherwise it has performed well and looks like becoming a useful member of the Talyllyn fleet. It will need an alternator as the flameproof dynamo it is provided with is not capable of charging the batteries and working the headlights at the same time. The engine access door catches have been modified and provided with handles, whilst the doors themselves have been provided with new sealing strips. The exhaust diluter was found to be partially blocked, so it was removed, cleaned out and rebuilt to the correct tolerances. This fitting is not really needed for our purposes as it is provided for working inside buildings, but it does reduce the exhaust fumes so is worth retaining until it wears out completely.
Loco No. 12, St Cadfan, is still at Alan Keefs’ works as they have a lot of work on at present and we are not pushing for its return. The overhauled starter motor and altered sprockets were taken down to them allowing us to see the removed wheelsets and check their condition.
Carriage and Wagon
Carriage 1 is ready to return to traffic after some careful running in has been completed. The brasses were scraped in and the boxes refitted, using new lubricator pads. New spring lower plates, suspension pins and axlebox bolts were all obtained or made, allowing the wheels to take their place back under the coach. The brake gear was modified to suit the larger tyres and overhauled, then refitted. A new standpipe was needed at one end before the brakes could be tested, following which the carriage made a short and successful test run. The running boards have now been refitted, after most of the sheared old bolts had been removed and replaced. It would be satisfying to run this carriage in using loco 1’s running in turns, both No. 1’s thereby being brought back into use together, but this may not be practical for operating reasons.
Carriage 2 had to be taken out of use for a couple of days after a pin seized on one brake hanger. All the pins were removed, cleaned up, provided with replacement grease nipples and had new, longer greaseways machined into them before being refitted. The brake gear was checked over and found to be fouling a large and apparently redundant bolt, which reduces its travel and may have contributed to the pin seizing. The efficiency of the brakes is not reduced by this bolt, so it was left in-situ, but will be cut off during the winter once its redundancy has been confirmed.
Carriage 8 ran a hot axlebox, after some confusion over oiling it when it was attached to a train, but the damage was not great and the carriage was soon back in use. Carriage 10 lost a portion of its south side gutter strip when a locomotive crew misjudged the running round at Wharf. Some of the bodgers burned quite a bit of midnight oil to remove the damaged section, cut and fit a replacement piece and get it painted ready for use the following day. Open carriage 12 was found to have a broken lock spring, which was replaced, whilst Open carriage 13 needed a section of floor boarding replacing after an area of wet rot was discovered.
Carriage 19 returned to use as planned and looks very smart, it needed a replacement triple valve on June 7th after quite a bad air leak appeared in the existing one. Carriage 20 also needed some hurried repairs after a door came open as a down train left Dolgoch and the wide open door hit a handrail upright on the underbridge just below Dolgoch viaduct. The window glass broke and the edge of the door was split, whilst the panel suffered some impact damage; once again the necessary repairs were completed overnight. A few days later a broken door lock spring was discovered elsewhere on the carriage and this too was quickly replaced. Carriage 22 has not seen much progress during the summer, but all the internal plywood panels have been obtained, cut to size and ready to fit, so work should be resuming soon.
A further batch of carriage brake blocks has been delivered by our usual foundry and these have all been jig-drilled in the workshops ready for use.
Building and Civil Engineering
The pull-release handle on the museum balcony fire door came apart in an attendant’s hands; it is not really made for the regular use it receives and a replacement would be quite expensive, so it has been removed and handed to the workshops in the hope that the broken plastic component can be replaced with something more durable. The balcony walkway itself was covered in chicken wire as an anti-slip measure a few years ago, wear and the effects of a salt laden atmosphere have destroyed some of this wire, creating a trip hazard so patches have been stapled over the holes. Possible replacement with a non-slip plastic decking substitute is being considered, once this material has been tried out at Abergynolwyn, where the timber plank rodding covers set into the platform have rotted away and been temporarily covered with a timber sheet, until the plastic planks can be fitted.
Llechfan has needed its share of attention; repairs to the combi gas boiler were required and were completed by British Gas, whilst we have attended to the replacement of a smashed toilet pan in the small toilet, clearance of a blocked drain serving the other toilet and shower room, replacement of a broken window catch in the blue room and some work on a water leak, also in the small toilet.
In the main Wharf building new taps have been fitted to the upstairs gents toilet washbasins, whilst outside the running in name board has been put back up on posts made from old rails, hand rails have been added to the main wheeled bin compound, the car park has been strimmed and potholes filled in, the walkway to the ground frame has been repaired, new seats have been fitted to the outside gents public toilets and the hanging basket watering system has been checked over and re-calibrated, following which the new hanging baskets were put up.
At Pendre a crack was repaired in the roof of the west carriage shed, whilst the cover strip broke off the main west doors, so was replaced with a new length of timber. The short stench pipe behind the old ablutions block fell over and broke a window, which had to be re-glazed. A new requirement of our insurers for a secure store for Outdoor machinery was met by removing the length of wall in the North Carriage shed facing the joiner’s shop and rebuilding it using concrete blocks, then continuing this work to create a small rectangular block store inside the carriage shed. This has been provided with a locking door and an internal roof, so should ensure our tools will be replaced by the insurance company if they are stolen. At the same time the roof of the passageway linking the joiner’s shop and carriage shed was felted over, new felt was torched onto the end wall of the joiner’s shop and gutters and downspouts were all replaced. Finally the short remaining length of asbestos sheet-faced wall running at right angles to the new wall and along the edge of the lathe annex was stripped of its sheeting, provided with some new steelwork and a bolt-in panel for future access to the almost totally enclosed area between the two buildings, then galvanised steel sheeting was bolted up to replace the asbestos.
Moving up the Railway, Brynglas blockpost walkway was falling apart and was nailed back together and strengthened; scaffolding was erected behind the blockpost to allow a volunteer to paint the woodwork and removed again once the work had been completed. A few weeks were spent at Dolgoch where potholes in the platform were repaired, the station floor was patched, the long missing bottom spacer was added to the down water tank supports, and the viaduct refuge kick boards were replaced, whilst the decks were given a wire mesh anti-slip covering.
The capstones on the south east wing wall had all lifted due to plant growth underneath them; they were removed, the top of the wall was cleaned out and they were re-bedded in cement mortar; the east bridge wall itself had been scoured away by the small stream that runs against it, so this was temporarily diverted and a long concrete curb cast in against it, sealing it against future erosion and making good the scouring.
The refurbishment of the “Guard’s” toilet and wash area at Abergynolwyn was finished, although some repainting would be useful at some stage. The improved facility is not only more pleasant to use, it is now presentable enough to make available to participants on Driver Experience trains, avoiding the need to open up the public facilities.
The dry weather in July allowed inspections of several of the Railway’s culverts and some areas of that at Ty Dwr were singled out for early attention to prevent future problems. Quite a lot of preparation work was required to provide safe work areas for mixing concrete and to allow access to the culvert; this was duly completed, whereupon the dry spell finished and the site is now standing idle waiting for a drop in water levels. The actual work is not major and should be completed quite quickly once started.
Plant and Works
The rear doors on the Combo van jammed and would not open, requiring the removal of the internal mesh panel to gain access to the mechanism. The JCB loader has seen some use and the hand brake needed adjusting, whilst an oil seal is now leaking on the nearside rear hub, although not badly. The Bobcat was brought up to Pendre for some routine maintenance and also to try and halt the advance of the inevitable corrosion which any steel object suffers from in Tywyn. It is still in good order, but has deteriorated since we purchased it, so it will require replacement at some stage. Small plant has been generally reliable; one of the nut runners needed a new fuel pipe and one of the Atlas Copco tampers stopped tamping and needed some attention to the mechanism and engine.
In the works, steel tube has been cut to length and discs of steel plate have been obtained ready for the manufacture of another batch of buffers, for which our foundry have been asked to cast some more housings. The steel required for the north carriage shed job mentioned above was cut to size and welded together in the workshops and the lengths of old rail used at Wharf for the running in board were cut to length and pre-drilled in there. The mess room heating & hot water boiler failed and was out of action for a while as one fault after another was fixed. The climax came when the engineer fitted a new control panel, only to have a pipe clip break and hose down the printed circuit board, shorting it out and giving him another trip back to his stores.
The valve controlling water flow into Dolgoch “new” up water column was made at Pendre and has always leaked, sometimes more than others. A proper large size ball valve was located and purchased; this needed some new pipe fittings before the Outdoor gang could take it up to Dolgoch and install it. This has completely eradicated the overflowing water, which may have contributed to the damage to the underbridge wall mentioned in the Civil Engineering report. As a further precaution the gang installed some pipework at the bottom of the overflow pipe to ensure any water is directed back into the stream, not the embankment.
In the west carriage shed locomotive cleaners have been able to fill in the quieter loco-less parts of the day by cleaning out the carriage maintenance pit, refurbishing the lighting covers and painting the inside walls in bright clean white paint. Brake maintenance will be much easier and more comfortable this winter.
Electrical and S & T
Telephone problems between the two exchanges have occupied a fair bit of time, it appears there is a fault somewhere in a length where a rail retaining wall has been driven in and this is going to require more investigation later in the season. With the management restructuring and moving round of personnel the engineering office (formerly the stores) at Pendre and two of the Wharf offices have required properly wiring for IT and power, by the installation of ducting around the walls, similar to that previously installed in the General Office and Slater Room at Wharf. This work has taken up quite a bit of time and is still ongoing, although much of it has been completed and brought into use.
Problems were encountered with the token instrument at Abergynolwyn, which needs cleaning, lubricating and adjusting, but is working at the moment. Signal A5 has also failed intermittently due to the use of lead free solder on modern bulbs; the replacement does not seem to last well and causes contact between the filaments and bulb holder to be lost at times. The Wharf Control cabinet also needed some attention after the Pendre frame alarm stopped working, leaving the Controller unaware of what the Pendre staff were up to. At Pendre adjustments were required to the rodding operating both of the loop points, mainly due to wear and tear on the pins and bushes.
New outside floodlights were fitted onto Llechfan porch and the west end of the west carriage shed, both having suffered in the bad weather. A new instant hot water supply unit has been purchased for Wharf Ladies public toilet as the old one keeps tripping out, annoying our passengers. Unfortunately the design has been changed slightly and the new unit will not just slot in where the old one was, so the job has been put on hold until the Railway is a little quieter.
At Abergynolwyn the café hot water failed, but this was due to a broken time switch and was quickly put right. At Pendre a new pressure unloader switch was fitted to the main works compressor. The old one had been stuck for some time and the mechanical unloading system was not coping with the job, causing the breakers to trip out and the compressed air supply to disappear just when it was needed for light-ups. In the locomotive shed progress with the lighting and power renewals has continued, mainly when suitable volunteers have been available to help with the work.
The spare water boiler once used by the Catering Department failed some time ago; parts were purchased, but the job stalled until a volunteer working on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme visited us for a couple of weeks. He very quickly sorted out the problem and got it working, so that it is now available for emergency or other non-routine use.
Dave Scotson / Martin Turner
