March 2018 Engineering Report

Firstly I would like to thank the staff and volunteers for all their efforts over recent months, and during a particularly depressing part of the year weather wise. Good progress has been achieved in many areas. Volunteers have re-painted two steam locomotives during January, both to a very high standard. The flail is running again with a rebuilt arm and performing very well. The Crowthorne lathe has machined its’ first wheelsets and other machine tools have had rebuilds or upgrades. Coach 22 was back in traffic after an eight-year absence for the santa specials as promised.
A record number of coaches have passed through the paint shop for re-varnishing and it looks promising that all of “A” set will be done before the start of the season. The plan for annual boiler exam working parties has worked well and the volunteers in Mouse’s gang have achieved a lot under his and the staff’s guidance. Out on the line the Token Instruments for the Aber to Nant section have been refurbished, installed and tested, and Quarry west point has been renewed. Wharf cutting has had several trees removed and the café re-build was completed on time. It’s going to be a good year with much to look forward to.

Steam Locomotives

Loco No. 1, Talyllyn, has had the tubes expanded due to leakage when cold. This engine will run until March 20th, when the boiler ticket expires. The pump has been removed in readiness for a photo charter.

Loco No. 2, Dolgoch, has passed the cold winter exam and steam test. Both regulator valves have been lapped in, the stuffing box re-packed and new taper pins fitted. The fireman’s side injector steam valve have been re-sealed. David Jones has rebuilt the drain cock operating gear. The worn drain cock linkage has been restored by welding and machining and modified for grease lubrication. Two drain cocks have been removed lapped and refitted. The regulator lubricator has been stripped & cleaned. The pump has been removed in readiness for a photo charter.

Loco No. 3, Sir Haydn, is still being rebuilt at Aberystwyth and this is progressing well. The engine is likely to be back for trial runs at the end of March. The boiler has passed the hydraulic test. The tank, cab and boiler have been fitted temporarily to allow other work to progress. The bunker top is now removable for access to the steam turret and pipework. The fireman’s side bunker has had corroded plates replaced. All the cab platework and the tank have been shot-blasted and painted. The tank and cab are coming back off for painting and the boiler has been steam tested out of the frames before going back in for good. We continue to support them with enquiries and supply of parts. A sliding vent (“sunroof”) has been fitted in the cab roof to reduce temperatures for the crews and particularly the third man in the middle.

Loco No. 4, Edward Thomas, is on blocks in the works. The driving wheelsets have been to Statfold for boring of the wheel centres, fitting new crankpins, and tyre turning. The axlebox crowns will be replaced then white-metalled and machined at Pendre. The cylinder bores are in remarkable condition despite the high mileage since the last re-bore was pre-society, and do not need boring. New brake hangers have been made as a homework project by Ian Griffiths. The Brake hanger trunnions are now new and of a modified design where the pin is now removable. The trailing wheelset requires tyre turning which we hope to do at Pendre using the copy turning attachment on the wheel lathe. This loco passed the cold exam and awaits re-wheeling for its steam test.
Further inspections have resulted in extra arising work. I have decided to press on with this work in order to avoid lifting the loco again in the short-term, and also to avoid damaging the new crankpins and potentially the frames also. Once complete we hope to avoid lifting the loco for axlebox work for a significant period of time. A contract Fitter/Machinist is assisting with this work. The horn guides have been removed from the engine for first time in preservation, and have been machined on the planer at the Mid Hants Railway. The extra work is: Machine horn guides, Machine Axleboxes, Make 40 off fitted bolts, Make new hornstays, Make new coupling rod bearings and whitemetal, Make new axlebox crowns & whitemetal, Design and source 3D printed pattern for new axlebox underkeep castings. Two new brake truss bars are also needed.

Loco No. 6, Douglas, passed its steam test on the 13th February. The driver’s side mud hole door need building up. It performed very well for the RAF celebration day, and looked great. A credit to Sarah Freeman and family, Emma Harrison and Tom Curtis. Quite a few bits & pieces had to be removed from the engine to facilitate access. The coupling rod felts and oil reservoirs were cleaned. The rear coupling rod spacers were built up and machined to reduce side float. The air pump has a faulty valve on the air side that needs attending to before the start of the season.

Loco No. 7, Tom Rolt, is running well, and looks good following a full repaint by Andrew Thomas. Loco No. 7 will be stripped for a Ten Year boiler inspection in November 2018 and we are hoping to re-tube it and get it back out for spring 2019. Motion and axlebox work would be planned in for 2020.

Our new independent Boiler Inspector Peter Hawkins has made a third visit and continues to be reliable and thorough. He has complemented us on the preparations we make prior to examinations and noted that the water treatment is correct. There is a cost saving in going independent over using BES.

Air Pumps

The ex-Phil Mason pump has been modified to John Scott’s specifications. The ex-Loco No. 4 pump has been stripped, checked, and new valve rod gland piston heads made to be ready for modifications. We hope to have three modified air pumps to start the season, then four during the season. Loco No. 1’s pump will be modified after March. We hope this will improve reliability but there is a possibility that further mods may be needed.

Diesel Locomotives

Loco No. 5, Midlander, may require a new battery but is otherwise running well.

Loco No. 9, Alf, was left on the Nant side of the break whilst quarry point was missing but is still running well.

Loco No. 11, Trecwn, Body modifications (hinged doors and compressor bulge) are almost complete. Martin is very proud of these modifications.

Loco No. 12, St Cadfan, has been in use almost daily for boscage trains and permanent way work.

Carriages

Coach 7’s varnishing is complete. A Glyn is receiving body repairs. Corris coach 14 is stored in Quarry Shed pending arrangements for body repairs following discovery of “significant rot” in the end panels. An Open coach is having seat repairs by Dave Turner.
Carriage 21 has had an overhauled bogie fitted and the repairable bogie was stripped and had welded modifications. The new pressure washer was used successfully to clean it prior to entry to works. Carriage 21’s repairable bogie is now back from powder coating and is being rebuilt. An overhaul manual has been written by Zac Christoph for consistency and will enable volunteers to carry out the overhauls in future.
Coach 22 is in service after an absence of eight years. This coach has had a full body rebuild, bogie overhaul (Zac), brake equipment overhaul (David Jones/Martin Turner), new fiberglass roof (Simon Jenkins), diesel heating installed (John Burton) and a full re-paint. We had an organized “final push” in the last two weeks leading up to the santa specials in order to try and meet the deadline, and Pendre managed to pull it off to the credit of the staff and volunteers. Martin Turner performed a Mechanical Inspection following the test run, and declared it fit to run. “Volunteer Recognition” certificates were given to those who worked on this.
“Pendre Paintshop” the evening painting gang run by Sarah and Mark Freeman is enjoying good attendances and putting out good work The capacity exists now to attempt a re-varnish of “A” set this winter. John Burton, myself and Mark Freeman are in communication regularly regarding carriage repair methods and job priorities. There is now improved co-ordination between the two gangs.
A checklist has been written and discussions taken place with a view to starting carriage “B” exams. The “B” exam will be a visual inspection of the upper body with the intention of finding defects and deterioration as well as ensuring that the vehicles are safe for public use. Chris Parrott will initially perform these as a part time staff member. In future I hope to pass out volunteers as “Carriage Examiners”.
Martin Turner is working on the design details of the new open coach design. We are producing a plan of how the coach will be built. We will also produce a 3D model of the complete coach. From this the design can be reviewed by the board and then detail drawings can be produced to get parts made by various sources.
A 200 litre diesel tank has been purchased for fuelling carriages and plant. It will be mounted on a Pway trolley. We have committed to build a new open coach by March 2019.

Wagons

Tool van 29 was brought up from Wharf as it looked an eyesore with peeling paint and rotten end panels. Adam Woodman has renewed the end panels. Tom Smith has sanded down the exterior and the pair of them have been painting it. (Talks are in progress with YMG for future wagon painting projects). We have function tested the air brakes. The van is currently being fitted out internally for tool storage to the requirements of the outdoor gang.

Permanent Way

Quarry West point is installed and now needs the point rodding making and connecting up. We have learnt a few lessons from making the point and it did consume a lot of staff time in making the bits and re-work. Wharf sidings have been laid and work is currently being carried out to install the siding to the museum track.

Wharf south side sidings have been laid and ballasted. Sleeper changing above Abergynowlyn has been carried out. A huge amount of tree clearance work has been done in Wharf cutting by Chris Bull, Chris Johnson, Chris Palmer, Adam Woodman and others. There has been some time spent on correspondence with a local resident and Natural Resources Wales who objected to the removal of a rotten sycamore tree on our land.

Signal & Telecoms / Electrical

Token machines have been installed and tested between Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol. Train alarm and battery charging wiring and equipment have been installed in coach 22 .
Several electrical building maintenance jobs have been carried out. Much assistance was provided in the wharf café re-arrangement. Carriage wiring repairs have been carried out to various vehicles on the train alarm, lighting and battery charging circuits. Repairs to damaged locomotive train alarm leads and sockets have been done. 3D models have been created by volunteer Tom Millard for castings to make a new spare token lock.
No-volt release equipment has been fitted to the blue lathe thus restoring it to use. Work Continues on the point rodding for Quarry West Point.

Plant

The Flail mower break-away ram has been repaired and refitted. The arm has been re-bushed and new bush housings made & welded on. The flail is now back in working order and has worked up as far as Quarry Siding. Apart from an accidental damaged hose and the loss of the fuel cap there have been no issues with it. I would like to thank Martin Turner for his work in achieving this. The excavator tracks have had attention to the rollers. Further work will be needed in future.
Steve Thorpe delivered the trolley to the premises of Graybar Engineering before Christmas. A life member, Graham Ford, owns the company and is restoring the trolley for us. A new three-cylinder diesel engine has been delivered (cost sponsored by John Bate) and they have engaged a Fabricator to make a new body to the original design. A cracked buffer has been re-welded. John Bate will be paying Graybar a visit to give technical advise. We are hoping to get it back in working order next spring. If so, it will be of use to the S&T dept in particular and will lessen the use of road vehicles.

Tools and Machinery

The west end Bridgeport milling machine has been fitted with DRO equipment and the head rebuilt. The manual chain block has been replaced with a new electric three-ton hoist. The beams have been load tested and the one-ton hoist moved to the other beam.
We have adopted some motor trade techniques for paintwork preparation. Andrew Thomas has been using a 150mm orbital wander piped up to a hoover for dust extraction. This almost eliminates dust being thrown around.

Road Vehicles

The Vauxhall combi van has gone through the MOT following some welding and suspension work. It clings to an MOT like a one-armed man clings to a cliff edge! The Transit Tipper has had new brake calipers and pads.

Staff Matters

Mike Carpenter unfortunately left us in December following many years of service in the Outdoor Gang. He has been back as a volunteer. Meetings are taking place with various bodies regarding the two apprenticeships that we are starting this year. These are for a Permanent Way Technician and a Signal & Telephone Electrician. Mick