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Archived News
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The week before: wanting to break out of the top yard! |
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First time at Bolton Abbey |
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No.36 continues to be worked on, with painting now taking place. Painting is also being carried out on 08 054, which I really will get round to producing a page for in the near future!
On the steam loco front Darfield will not be coming until July, 140 continues to run well but Monckton has been stopped requiring attention to at least a couple of springs. Beatrice continues to come together steadily with painting work being the order of the day following the rivetting and welding work carried out on the smokebox with the boiler out of the frames once more. Illingworth has appeared on site in a very much dismantled state, but reassembly will take place over the coming weeks and months. Annie is also seeing work carried out... Off site for the moment is Primrose but work has speeded up on this project as well, with a 'completion' date for the current contract work on the chassis scheduled for the end of June...
P-Way have been working away at Bow Bridge and also tackling dipped joints near Stoneacre.
Rob had been lining up more items to acquire for S&T, only to find that the groundframe from Stanlow had been stolen
before we could get it. This is a shame in particular because we could have kept it 'together' with the signalbox frame from
Stanlow and Thornton which we DO have! Two windows have been put back into Guiseley signalbox following the repairs, leaving
only one outstanding which is having significant work carried out. Painting of the exterior of Guiseley has been started with
the staircase, and work continues with Sleights Sidings East whose foundations should finally be seeing some concrete in the
coming weeks! The interior is now looking much smarter and the windows will see further attention, to strip and paint,
shortly. The bracket signal has not been forgotten either as it has now dried out sufficiently for painting to commence.
Bolton Abbey's new groundframe is also coming together well with the main structure installed, aligned and levelled. The
levers have been fitted and the locking re-installed. Connecting up will wait for the moment whilst the new rodding runs are
put into place, but the benches will be installed in readiness.
The new toilet block at Embsay has been coming along in leaps and bounds with the interior walls complete and work well underway on the exterior walls. The interior fittings and finishing will be able to be tackled shortly as the materials are all in stock. The result should be a much improved facility for visitors and members alike!
The grand tidying up has begun with materials 'stored' at Bolton Abbey being removed from their very prominent positions. This
huge job will continue over the coming weeks and will also see improvements at Embsay which will now be possible folowing the
progress made with the shed project. Assistance is needed with this!
As a follow-on from the tidy up at Bolton Abbey, the remains of the second platform wall are being dismantled in readiness for the rebuilding of the platform. This may seem a little odd, but the old platform clearances are not deemed sufficient, so the wall needs to be moved back. These will be excavated in readiness for footings to be laid and the walls will be built up over time and filled in with ash and other spoil removed from elsewhere along the line.
P-Way completed the re-railing through Embsay station's platform 1 in time for Easter - the new rail is noticeably deeper than the old, which dated back to the LMS relaying of the line in the 1930s! Needless to say, the replaced rail is life expired!
Both the Class 14 and No.36 have been fired up again to see whether teething problems have been ironed out. The Class 14 (No.38) is having problems attempting to move itself, but No.36 has successfully moved under its own power. 08 054 has also moved under its own power and is still being cleaned up and assessed. It is having a rough repaint for protection until it can be brought inside and properly stripped down. D.5600 has also been in service over the Thomas event, following 31 119 suffering some sort of fuel problem.
140 is having a length of pipe replaced which should improve her performance. Monckton has been running well, apart from an injector which is being attended to. Beatrice and Annie continue to see work carried out, although the loco department would really appreciate other offers of help to speed these projects up. Illingworth has started to arrive on site for reassembly, although no timescales are being given for this last survivor of the Nidd Vally Light Railway.
We are now in posession of the 50-lever REC tappet frame from Stanlow and Thornton signalbox which was built in 1941 to a
standard LMS design, and has now been demolished. Many thanks are due to all those involved in its acquisition, particularly Rob at our end, Network
Rail's Ian Smith (Chester Locking Fitter), Mark Royal and Simon Kenyon and First Engineering's Eavan Harris, Jim Patrick,
Mike Delaney and Alan Cooper who made it all possible. It will be built up into a smaller frame to go in Embsay's signalbox,
allowing Embsay's frame to be moved to Sleights! It also gives us the possibility of another frame for a future project.
Included in the ex-Stanlow and Thornton equipment was the wooden furniture from the signalbox which will be used to fit-out
SSE as the demonstration box.
SSE has been stripped back, sanded and repainting internally has started. The colour scheme will be a Midland red on the lower half, and a yellowy cream on the upper, based on paint found inside the signalbox.
At the other end of the site, we have now successfully replaced the windowsill at the East end of Guiseley signalbox (which houses the power frame to eventually control Bolton Abbey). The original was known to be in a very poor condition, and upon inspection required replacement. This has now been done, although the windows also require some attention before they can go back in. Since writing this, two of the windows have been repaired, and the third awaits complete rebuilding!
Work continues on Beatrice, with owner John being up and working on refitting the motion, prior to the
boiler being replaced again following foundation ring attention. Annie is steadily being stripped down
and cleaned up with work carried out where required. The cylinders will be rebored to make sure they are the same diameter and
also to maximise output. The wheels are due to go away for turning shortly and the axleboxes are due to have attention as well.
Monckton has had some minor work carried out and is now awaiting its boiler inspection, while
140 has taken charge of the services recently. No.22's new owner is giving
serious thought to overhaul...
P-Way have been tackling the top yard trackworks, as well as re-railing the 'high' side of the line through platform 1 with new rail to replace the worn originals which date back to LMS relaying! This work should be completed next weekend in time for Easter.
Diesel and Plant have continued to work on the Class 14 as well as No.36, which
has been successfully started up following the completion of the engine re-assembly. The last file below of No.36 is a
quicktime movie.
The shed is approaching completion on the wiring front, with lighting now installed and work continues to set up the machine
shop. Contractors are completing the electrical work in the 2-road shed.
Carriage and Wagon have continued to work on No.4 with the second end being the current focus of work. This is now really close
to completion.
Signal and Telegraph have been tackling several minor repairs - the solar panels at Stoneacre, a compensator bench at Embsay,
unloading wagons and drinking yet more tea! In between these smaller jobs, the bracket signal for Embsay has been completely
dismantled and moved into the shed for drying out and painting following the completion of all the other work. The new
groundframe for Bolton Abbey has been delivered to its new location and reassembly and installation will be completed shortly
after Easter, all being well. Sleights Sidings East signalbox has had its foundations dug and hopefully concreteing will be
able to take place after Easter, with the base being placed on its foundations soon after that. The interior has been stripped
out in preparation for painting: the colour scheme has been determined by matching old paint found inside the box. The window
panes will be reseated in putty to make sure it is well and truely weathertight! The exterior of the signalbox will be
repainted this year when the weather improves and the ex-Guiseley box will receive similar attention as well as some woodwork
repairs.
Another acquisition (it is hoped!) is the 50-lever REC frame from Stanlow and Thornton signalbox which is being demolished imminently. It will be able to be used to extend Embsay's frame, as well as provide a frame for Sleights Sidings East signalbox at Bolton Abbey (the demonstration signalbox).
On the steam loco front, Beatrice saw further work carried out with the smokebox being rivetted onto the boiler barrel. Further painting has also been carried out on components for Beatrice and we look forward to her return to traffic.
The diesels undergoing overhaul have been shunted around in the shed so that No.36 is now at the front of the shed as it is anticipated that it will be completed first. The engine reassembly is going very well, and additional bodywork is being carried out at the same time. The Class 14 was started up again and ran better than at the previous attempts whilst it was shunted around outside. Once these two locos are completed, attention will turn to the Diesel Railcrane and the second Fowler.
Work on the 12-wheeled LNWR Directors' Saloon continues apace with all the glazing and beading now completed, a new roof
canvas fitted, the interior re-wired and new ceiling panels being fitted. Reassembling the interior has been a rewarding
task for Steve, but incredibly frustrating at times when the scale of the destruction has become apparent. This stems from
when the coach was ripped apart to try and determine how much dry rot was present. Consequently a lot of the interior
moulding have been destroyed and will have to be replaced. All being well, the carriage will make its debut at the
Steam Gala.
Work continues on the shed with wiring contractors currently fitting out the shed. Machines continue to be serviced in preparation for installation, and P-Way have been laying rails in the 2-road shed. A shunt of the top yard has taken place to allow the point connecting road 4 to be craned into position next weekend.
Work on the new toilet block at Embsay continues with the drains being completed, inspected and covered over. Construction
of the walls should start soon.
Site tidying at Embsay is to restart imminently with a good start having been made several months ago.
Plans for the Volunteering Open Day are coming together and will be posted here shortly.
Sleights Sidings East signalbox has not yet made it to Bolton Abbey, but this should happen soon! The bracket signal has had additional work carried out, but time has also had to be spent re-siting No.10 groundsignal whose wooden base proved to be past it. The opportunity has also been taken to renew some cabling for the track circuits and the signal lighting supplies. We have also had to replace a section of signalwire for No.2 signal which broke during the Santa season, but this was fairly straigtforward, despite needing two sections of chain letting in where previously wire rope had been used.
D&P continue work on the Class 14, No.36 and the various items of plant and machinery. The Class 47s steam boiler has now been removed from the loco, stripped down, inspected and work carried out. It now requires painting, hydraulic testing, steaming and refitting.
Work continues on Annie with efforts to dismantle ready for assessment and overhaul work. Beatrice has seen attention to the new smokebox with the holes being drilled in readiness for rivetting on to the tubeplate flange. Harry's boiler has had further work caried out to the replacement tubeplate (this boiler is destined for Warspite).
Dates have now been set for the DIESEL WEEKEND (19th & 20th July) and the STEAM GALA (20th & 21st September), which will both feature visiting and 'new' locomotives.
A Volunteering Open Day is being arranged for Saturday 8th March 2008 where prospective volunteers are invited to turn up and have a look behind the scenes at the sorts of tasks we undertake. Further details will be posted here shortly.
The rest of the older news articles can now be found on previous Archived News pages.
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Yorkshire Dales Railway Museum Trust
Registered Charity No. 517804 - Registered Museum No. 60 Bolton Abbey Station, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 6AF General Enquiries: 01756 710614 - Talking Timetables & Fax: 01756 795189 enquiries@embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk webmaster@embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk |
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