June 2017 Engineering Report
Permanent Way
The staff have been kept busy dealing with the findings of the regular formal track inspections. Examples of the work required include tightening loose fishplate nuts, gauge maintenance, tamping, replacement sleepers, tightening spikes and fixing drainage issues. During the reporting period the short PW speed restriction just west of the loop at Brynglas has been removed following a period of consolidation and a final inspection. As and when labour has been available we have continued to consolidate the arisings from the winters’ hedge-laying and tree maintenance activities.
Reports on the larger working parties that have been undertaken over the last few months are contained in ‘Outdoor Spot’, starting on Page 22 of this edition of the News.
Steam Locomotives
Loco No. 1, Talyllyn, was in service for February half-term. It dropped a left-hand steam chest drain cock linkage at Wharf during the run round and subsequently bent this. After half-term the complete draincock linkage was stripped off and cleaned prior to refitting. Both inside draincock arms and the linkage were adjusted and re-worked to prevent the linkage sticking and over-centring again. All the associated taper pins were reamed out and replaced. A new shaft will be required on the next re-build.
The pump was removed for photo charter in March but has since been re-installed. It is intended for Loco No. 1 to be in operation until the current boiler certificate expires on the 20th March 2018. It will then be withdrawn to allow the ten-year overhaul and boiler lift and inspection to take place. At time of writing Loco No. 1 is in traffic and running well.
Loco No. 2 Dolgoch, was reassembled on the weekend of 3rd and 4th February by the locomotive working party, following the cold examination. The ashpan was checked over, a door adjustment made and play removed from all three small doors. A new set of brake blocks were fitted to the locomotive and the well tank mudhole removed and lower well tank cleaned out.
The annual steam test of the boiler for the inspector was passed on the 9th March. Loco No. 2 also had its air pump removed, in this instance for a Golden Wedding Charter on the 28th March. Since then Loco No. 2 has been in service and running well.
Loco No. 3, Sir Haydn, is still off-site being overhauled (as detailed in the March edition of the News). Work is progressing well on the locomotive. The new axle has been made and the new inner firebox has been delivered. Boiler work is progressing at pace and new boiler cladding will be made and installed in due course. Loco No. 3 I still expected to return to traffic for the 2018 season.
Loco No. 4, Edward Thomas, has been in service. The planned crankpin work was not completed over the winter due to the workload at Boston Lodge. The work will need to be re-quoted for with various potential suppliers. The loco has been fitted with new brake blocks, two new fusible plugs and the refurbished boiler blow down valve. The opportunity was taken to remove the water tank balance pipe and clean out, along with the tank itself and strainers. Both the fireman and driver’s side injectors have been thoroughly cleaner and re-conditioned. A new fireman’s side injector steam valve has also been fitted alongside a new pressure gauge shut-off valve.
A rebuilt air pump with a re-designed steam side has been fitted to the loco for initial trial work. The results from these are being assessed prior to the decision being taken as to if the new pump will be left on the engine for the season.
Loco No. 6, Douglas, passed it’s ‘hot’ steam test on the 9th March and has had a fair amount of work completed. All three springs have now been replaced and another set have been ordered as spares. The pin on the driver’s side compensating spring was replaced due to fracturing. All spring mounts were taken off the locomotive and machined out to take correct new springs.
Whilst the loco was up on jacks, both tanks were cleaned out and checked over and new rubber gaskets made. The balance pipe was modified and tank filters cleaned out. The top of axle box covers were removed and cleaned out with new trimmings made for all. The fireman’s side mud hole was built up and checked for clearances.
Work has also been carried out on the die blocks, which have been built up and machined to reduce play in radius rod on both the driver’s and fireman’s side. These will require changing in due course, as well as both links on the two sides. Both crossheads have been re-shimmed on all sides; the side-slippers will need replacement in due course. A new whistle disc has been made and the valve repacked. All drain cocks were removed and taken away by a member to be overhauled.
Loco No. 7, Tom Rolt, has been in service and running well. New brake blocks have been fitted and the rear cannon box re-greased and checked. The dome cover has been modified and new spanner made to remove safety valves from the dome without having to take the dome off. Loc No. 7 will be withdrawn from service in the middle of September for cold inspection.
Diesel Locomotives
Loco No 5, Midlander, has seen little use in traffic and needs a new battery. It has made itself useful shunting in Pendre yard and taking occasional test trains either up the line or down to Tywyn Wharf station.
Loco No. 9, Alf, is running well. It had some routine work completed, filters changed and an air tank leak attended to. The handbrake ratchet and lock have been re-built and the brakes oiled, greased and adjusted.
Loco No. 11, Trecwn, is currently having its new air brake equipment fitted and is making steady progress in the works. The air brake valve has been mounted in the cab and pipe work from one end of the loco to the other. New pins and brake blocks have been made and are ready for fitting. The sanders have been cleaned out and a new battery mounting casket has been made and mounted.
Loco No. 12, St Cadfan, is in-service and running well and is establishing itself as a firm favourite with the outdoor gang. A brake adjustment and full oil change have been completed and minor leaks attended to. A minor fault developed with the electric’s (but was quickly resolved) and a new solenoid has been fitted to the starter motor.
Building and Civil Engineering
Wharf Station is looking a lot smarter after Contractors were engaged to repaint the upper timberwork and a small number of volunteers made a lot of progress with the repainting of the ground floor. They were helped by two ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ volunteers who painted the approach railings, after they had been rubbed down and a YMG working group, who rubbed down and repainted the crossing gate. A new reflective red disk was added to the gate once the paint had dried. Our thanks to everyone involved, but the work is not finished yet so more hands would be welcome.
The white picket fence around the new building is showing its age and some timbers have rotted, so a sample length has been made up using recycled plastic timber for evaluation purposes. If it proves acceptable the whole length along the front of the station and around the Museum balcony will be replaced. Also at Wharf the Museum had arranged for a new platform door arrangement to be installed over the winter and this work was finished off by the replacement of the long timbers, which form part of the platform surface. Recycled plastic was used for this, as it has better non-slip properties, particularly when wet, and is very much more durable. As part of the work to smarten up the station the fire door next to the disabled toilets was re-clad with a marine ply sheet, replacing a badly peeling exterior plywood one, the building signs were repainted and the large sign facing the Network Rail tracks was taken down, as it was found to be badly rotted. A replacement made from more durable timber has been fabricated at Pendre and this just needs its repainted letters to be screwed on before it is re-hung on the existing brackets. Amongst many everyday tasks a leaking gutter on the main building has been repaired, a damaged section of flooring in the café kitchen has been repaired, a tile in the restaurant ceiling has been replaced after a faulty heating valve sprang a leak, the platform in front of the ground frame was relocated on its timbers and secured in place after it moved sideways and fell slightly, creating a trip hazard, rotten planks in the museum balcony have been replaced and the anti-slip wire mesh on the same balcony has been pulled up and replaced with a stainless mesh.
The gas lamp post part way down the pedestrian approach to Wharf Booking Office was installed when the new building was commissioned, but has never been connected up. To enable some progress to be made with the fitting of either a gas light or an electric replica a duct was installed leading from the base of the post to a newly constructed man-hole alongside the main doors; quotations for the lamp innards are now awaited before a decision is made to install a gas or an electric supply.
The drainage channel along the back of the older portion of Wharf platform has been an open gully for many years; work is now proceeding with repairs to the concrete edges and the installation of galvanised grating panels, which will avoid having to balance the station benches on precarious second-hand steel plates, previously used as sole plates in the track; the short section across the single shop entry door has been covered with a galvanised steel plate, as this door is now in use as the main platform exit and the “Way Out” sign has been moved from above the Booking Hall doors to redirect passengers.
In Llechfan new bunk beds were paid for by the Member’s Activities Committee using surplus monies raised at member’s barbecues and these were assembled and put in place, whilst weeds, brambles and other detritus was cleared out between the washing machine shed and the retaining wall behind the bungalow.
Up the Railway the walkway across Pendre yard was repaired and the fence adjoining the north east corner of the level crossing was repaired at the request of the householder, who made a donation to cover our costs. At Quarry Siding the block post fence was repaired and the anti-slip mesh re-secured, whilst at Abergynolwyn the area in front of the public toilets was extensively remodelled with the casting in place of a large concrete slab, which eliminates the need for a step to access the ladies’ toilet and the ramp leading to the accessible toilet and complies with the new regulations covering access to such toilets. The original plans did not include a level area in front of the toilets, a requirement of the regulations, so these were modified and the shuttering set up for the concrete accordingly. Unfortunately, there was a slight error in re-calculating the concrete quantities for the ready-mix order and some hard work was needed, as the gang mixed up several batches of extra concrete to complete the job, but at least no expensive ready-mix was wasted.
Also at Abergynolwyn a new baby change unit was installed in the Gents’ public toilet, broken slates were replaced on the old toilet block, now used a by the Railway as a store, in the car park, a new lock was fitted to one of the doors in the same store, a broken ex-GWR picture frame was restored and re-hung, the supports for the play “caboose” in the car park playground were replaced, a new door frame was installed on the meter cupboard under the public toilets after a break-in attempt sometime over the winter and a low noise water booster pump was fitted in the roof space to raise the pressure of the cold water supply to the café. In the past separate booster pumps had been fitted to the dishwasher and tea boiler, but these were very noisy and one had developed a leak so the opportunity was taken to upgrade the whole system.
Following on from last year’s success in the Loo of the Year awards, clip frames were put up in the toilets to display the platinum award certificates and some minor works, including the provision of extra coat/bag hooks and the fitting of urinal privacy screens in the gents has been started; attention will also be paid to the cubicle doors and one or two other matters, all of which were commented on by the inspector in his otherwise very favourable report last July.
Plant and Works
The radial drill has been repaired and is back in action. A new plasma cutter has arrived as the previous one expired without consent six months ago, causing a number of headaches. A new fume and dust extractor has been installed in the workshop and the formal lifting tackle inspection has been completed. Quotes are in hand for a three-tonne electric hoist to replace the existing manual one. It is intended that the one-tonne hoist will then be moved up the workshop. The general tidying and sorting of the workshop area is progressing.
A new smoke hood has been made for the running shed of which the flue and cowl are made from stainless steel. A well-known volunteer from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway welded up the hood adaptor to take the new round flue tube. The inside hood has been secured to the cross -beam top with clamping plates, studs and nuts.
From a plant perspective the main point of note is that the JCB has been away for repairs and rebuild work to the transmission, main rams and seals.
Electrical and S&T
The biggest job undertaken, certainly in terms of distance covered, is the installation of a fibre optic cable from Wharf to Pendre and the associated terminations. The job started with clearing the Pendre station office store of many years’ worth of carriage and wagon spares, buffer springs, locomotive springs and other, mainly heavy, items which had taken root in there. This provided a switch room for the cable to be run to and for other telecoms work in the future. The cable reached Wharf, then at least as much time again was needed to thread it through and around the station buildings, clearing mud filled cable ducts and venturing into dusty ceiling spaces before it arrived in the Communications Cabinet upstairs in the General Office.
Although the installation and termination of the cable has been completed, the actual connecting together of the computer systems at both locations has had to be left until a suitable opportunity to work, undisturbed by others, became available. Hopefully by the time this goes to press the work will have been completed and users at Wharf should have seen a significant increase in broadband speeds, only the first of many benefits the Railway should get from this facility.
The ‘up’ and ‘down’ train approaching indicators at Quarry Siding were refusing to work; after a little testing a broken wire was found at Abergynolwyn and repaired, but the indicators remained inactive, then it was discovered that a power supply unit, feeding Quarry Siding block post, but situated in Dolgoch station building had been unplugged! The unit had been working when the station was checked over and the Santa items were removed after Christmas, so how or why it was unplugged is somewhat of a mystery. A further broken wire at Abergynolwyn proved to be the cause of another fault, which cropped up during Half Term week and which prevented tokens being extracted, initially at Quarry Siding for the section to Abergynolwyn, then later at Abergynolwyn for the opposite direction as well.
Routine servicing and greasing of pointwork has been completed at several locations; at Forestry Crossing two of the rechargeable batteries which power the crossing had to be replaced, not a surprise after many years of reliable service. On 3rd May the audible alarm in the Control Office, which alerts the staff there to a down train approaching the home signal, operated normally, but would not shut up again, requiring a visit from the S&T engineer, then on 20th May it refused to work at all, although the rest of the system was working correctly, so there were no delays to trains. Both faults were quickly repaired. The west points at Quarry Siding were operated on 7th April, but would not return to the straight road and had to be clipped until the rodding could be re-adjusted later in the day; a day or so later the east points would not lock, but this proved to be the rodding to the siding point, which again needed a little adjustment; this probably happened as the work in replacing this point last year has settled in; similar problems have occurred on a couple of very hot days since, suggesting further adjustment may be needed.
The heated Bain Marie in Wharf café kitchen suddenly went off and there was a burning smell, definitely not of the food kind. The heavy duty plug was checked and found to be melting; the wires to the unit were secured to the plug pins by strong springs, making the plug simple to wire up, but one of these appeared to have become loose and the connection had been arcing until the plug plastic softened and the connection failed. Checking with the electrical wholesaler revealed that the manufacturer had withdrawn the design from sale, so a new plug was fitted and a check made of all the similar plugs on the Railway to see if there were any more of this design, and to replace them.
A circuit breaker tripped at Abergynolwyn and was reset; a check of the appliances revealed that most of them had been plugged into sockets linked to just one circuit when the kitchen was re-organised during the winter. This was corrected and the sockets were labelled to make it more obvious which is supplied by which circuit breaker, hopefully avoiding any one circuit being overloaded in future. A fault developed in Llechfan, cutting off power to the webcam and burglar alarm, along with some of the power sockets. This took some time to repair, as individual sockets had to be removed, checked and refitted, but eventually a faulty spur connection supplying a corner of the roof space was found and removed completely, curing the problem. Routine work has, as usual, taken up a lot of the department’s time; control circuits on the Pendre workshop machine tools have been checked over and some marked for further attention, as they do not meet the latest regulations, all the emergency lights have been tested and repairs to any failures organised, appliances have been PAT tested and the associated records have been brought up to date.
David Jones, Dave Scotson, Keith Theobald
