Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

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News

Book signing 14/11/08

Mark Neale, Author of `Along Familiar Lines` will be doing a book signing session at Embsay station on Sunday 7th December (12 noon until 2pm). The book which traces the human story of railways in the Bradford area, has won critical acclaim and is on sale in the shop at Embsay (£3.50).

Pannier 6435 will be visiting Embsay for the Santa Specials and will also hopefully be taking part in a photocharter or two - details to follow.

Sleights Sidings East signalbox has now been put back together with the aid of a large crane. Work will now continue on re-cladding parts of this and making some steps and a landing.

Life's always about trying to catch up! 27/10/08

Despite a lack of news updates this Summer, a lot has been happening!

Network Rail's first report into operating into Skipton Station has been received and on the basis of this we will be commissioning the second report detailing the economic benefits to the area.

Both the Diesel Gala and the Steam Gala were successful events with a lot of visitors, and hopefully this can be built upon next year. A lot of photographs were taken at both events and these will steadily make their way into the galleries as and when time permits and photographers co-operate!

On the steam locomotive front, 140 has been stopped for her ten-yearly overhaul following the deterioration of some of the crown stays which meant an earlier-than-planned exit, just after the August Thomas event. Work will hopefully start on overhauling this engine around Easter. Beatrice has been frustrating her owner John as he has tackled the valve settings. Things that were expected to be about right were not and so remedial work has been carried out. The end is in sight, and painting work will continue in anticipation of slotting the boiler back into the frames soon. Primrose has continued to be worked upon and the frames are now coming together nicely. Annie's boiler has returned to the Railway ready for fitting (?) and the new wooden buffer beam has also landed and awaits fitting. Revenge will soon look a lot more complete with the boiler going back in the frames while a new firebox is made. Work also continues on Warspite's boiler which came from Harry - a new tubeplate is being made for this (?). Work has also started on No.22 with the loco's boiler removed, inspected and a new firebox being arranged. New smokebox door components are on site ready.

08 054 is having a page put together at the moment, but it made its debut at the Diesel Gala in BR blue being hardly recognisable as the loco that had arrived a few months before. Since then it has been stopped with wiring faults, but a lot of 08 spares are being acquired to enable its return to better working condition. No.38, the Class 14 has seen an improved performance when assembling the goods train for the steam gala, but further work is required on the cooling. No.36 is very nearly ready to return to service - Danny and Co. are on with its repaint. Work has also started on the small Fowler, H.W.Robinson with the spare gearbox stripped down to recover the components required for the gearbox rebuild. The next step will be to tackle the bodywork.

No.38 sits at Bolton Abbey with the goods train. (c) Tim Warner Inside the cab of No.38. (c) Tim Warner No.38 climbing up the bank. (c) Tim Warner No.38 in the coutryside. (c) Tim Warner
Carriage and Wagon have outshopped No.4 into traffic following a lot of work.

Stately Trains' Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Directors' Saloon has returned to the Railway following its spell at the NRM, and was very popular ove the Steam Gala. Sadly the LNWR Directors' Saloon didn't make it in time for the gala, but it will be worth waiting for! The goods train that ran produced soem very favourable comments and featured another two 'new' wagons following concerted efforts: an LMS 5-plank open (allegedly with GWR origins...!) and an LNER brakevan, the paint on which was most definitely still soft!

Signal and Telegraph have been tackling more work on the bracket signal for Embsay with painting now approaching completetion, working on Bolton Abbey's new groundframe, carrying out routine maintenance and sampling tea. In the last couple of weeks, the base of Sleights Sidings East Signalbox has been placed on the foundations at Bolton Abbey, levelled, squared up and reassembled. In the next couple of weeks the top will be put back onto the base!

Digging foundations for the signalbox. (c) Tim Warner Spreading the concrete around. (c) Tim Warner
P-Way have been working away to gain nationally recognised qualifications as well as tackling switch replacements, joint repairs and other work.

Building work on the new toilets at Embsay has come on very well with the walling finished and the roofing expected to start shortly.

Dave proudly installing the date stone. (c) Tim Warner The toilets block walls. (c) Tim Warner Richard busy working away. (c) Tim Warner

On the horsebox front, a trip was made to North Wales to recover components from no less than FIVE LMS horsebox bodies that were scheduled for removal. Whilst a lot of the parts were not directly related to the LNWR vehicles, they will never the less prove useful.

Over the coming weeks a grand tidy up is scheduled and all members are expected to participate in improving what we have for both the visiting public and ourselves!

Exciting Visitors 12/07/08

It has just been confirmed that LNER D49/1, Morayshire will be visiting the Railway for our Steam Gala in September 2008.

Due to arrive shortly is 33 109 which is visiting for the Diesel Gala, which sees a revised timetable published.

Also due to arrive shortly is Darfield No.1 which was formerly based on the Railway. This loco will be staying for a year.

Illingworth's frames, boiler, tank and cab have arrived for reassembly and finishing work to take place. Primrose's chassis will be returning to the Railway very soon following the completion of contract work. The rest of the work will then be carried out on site with a return to steam being pencilled in for within 2 years time. Work on Annie (boiler almost complete) and Beatrice (painting and finishing components) continues.

P-Way continue to tackle some reballasting work at Bow Bridge. S&T work on the new bracket signal, Bolton Abbey groundframe, Guiseley repaint (weather permitting) East Yard and Sleights Sidings East all continue to make good progress, with concrete foundations poured this week for SSE.

Catching up 07/06/08

Following a very good Ivor event, the Spring Bank Holiday 'Day out with Thomas' was also a success. The Stately Trains 6-wheelers are now back in service for the Summer providing First Class travel. The LNWR Directors' Saloon will, all being well, enter traffic in time for the Gala weekend...
The Class 14 in the top yard. (c) Tim Warner
The week before: wanting to break out of the top yard!
The Class 14 arriving at Bolton Abbey for the first time. (c) Tim Warner The Class 14 at Bolton Abbey. (c) Tim Warner
First time at Bolton Abbey
Top of the bill must be the test run of the Class 14, No.38, formerly BR D.9513, which took place on Saturday 31st May 2008. The loco finally escaped from the top yard, shunted some empty stock and finished up the day with a return trip over the line thus making its first appearance at Bolton Abbey. The test run threw up some other problems to be resolved, but progress has made and its 'proper' debut at the Diesel gala seems to be on course nicely.
The Class 14 leaving Bolton Abbey MOVIE. (c) Tim Warner
10.6Mb Quicktime movie
Ivor piloting Monckton... (c) Tom Ireland

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...

Illingworth's wheels arrived first... (c) Tim Warner Illingworth's frames in the shed. (c) Tim Warner A close-up of one of Illingworth's cylinders. (c) Tim Warner
As if that weren't enough, a tender engine is being lined up for the Gala at the moment and will be announced shortly. Safe to say it should generate a lot of interest! DETAILS SHORTLY!

P-Way have been working away at Bow Bridge and also tackling dipped joints near Stoneacre.

Bolton Abbey's new groundframe next to the one it will replace. (c) Tim Warner Rob at work drilling holes for locating the levers. (c) Rob Daniels 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!

Work progressing on the removal of the old platform wall (dating from the 1950s). (c) Tim Warner 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.

All Sorts 15/04/08

A lot has happened over the last couple of weeks, and even more is due to happen in the coming weeks!

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.

Stanlow and Thornton 15/04/08

Signal and Telegraph have had another busy few weeks with a trip to see Stanlow and Thornton signalbox prior to demolition, the arrival of the lever frame, stripped down into its individual components, repair work to the ex-Guiseley box at Bolton Abbey, continued work on the groundframe and Sleights Sidings East box as well as tea drinking!
Inside the box. More frame components. The exterior. Arrival of the frame.
Inside SSE showing the walls in undercoat. (c) Tim Warner 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!

Initial inspection. (c) Tim Warner Overall view before work started. (c) Tim Warner Removing the old windowsill in sections - this is the better part! (c) Tim Warner All woodwork requiring replacement removed. (c) Tim Warner The new sill being made in two halves. (c) Tim Warner All the new wood in situ. (c) Tim Warner Window repairs - trimming off the rot. (c) Tim Warner Window repairs - finishing the large window. (c) Tim Warner New bottom section being prepared for fitting. (c) Tim Warner

Catching up (again!) 11/03/08

The Volunteering Open Day went very well - thankyou to all those involved - particular thanks to Beth for the organisation! To those of you who came along - thanks also, and we hope you enjoyed it!

08054 upon arrival. (c) Tim Warner 08054 upon arrival. (c) Tim Warner A closeup of the lime buildup and its result. (c) Tim Warner
The Grassington Ghost: 08 shunter 08 054 has been donated by its previous owners, Tarmac, who operate the quarry at Swinden on the Grasington branch. Since its arrival, the loco has been cleaned down (including shovelling out a lot of lime dust), checked over and has had attention to the engine, allowing it to be started up for the first time in 18 months. Work will now continue to get it into serviceable condition. Its eventual role is that of a rescue loco to be based at Bolton Abbey station.

John drilling out old studs on Beatrice. (c) Tim Warner P-Way re-railing through Embsay station - platform 1. (c) Tim Warner 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.

Inside - final preparations before moving outside to start up. (c) Tim Warner A closeup of the engine showing the finish. (c) Tim Warner A closeup of the other side of the engine. (c) Tim Warner Starting up - QUICKTIME MOVIE. (c) Tim Warner

The end of the shed showing its new sign. (c) Tim Warner 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.

Inside the machine shop, carrying out maintenance work to the machines. (c) Tim Warner The machineshop viewed from outside. (c) Tim Warner

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.

The end of No.4 following repairs. (c) Tim Warner The metal that needed replacing. (c) Tim Warner
The bracket signal inside to dry out before painting can take place. (c) Tim Warner The all important TEA in the signalbox! (c) Tim Warner 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).

Volunteering Open Day 26/02/08

This is going ahead on Saturday 8th March, 2008. Details of this day can be found HERE. This is YOUR opportunity to have a look around the Railway to see what operating our line actually takes, and how YOU can become a part of that! The tours will also include our new shed and workshop facilities which are progressing very well.

A busy weekend 29/01/08

...certainly on the S&T front, with the successful move of Sleights Sidings East signalbox to Bolton Abbey station where it is to be rebuilt and eventually fitted out as a demonstration signalbox with access available to the public. A full day's work on Saturday saw the signalbox cut into two sections (top and bottom), loaded up and transported back to North Yorkshire, with unloading taking place on the Sunday morning. We would like to place on record our thanks to the hauliers and the previous owners of the signalbox who saved it from being destroyed. More photographs from the move can be found in the S&T section of the departments website.
Sleights Sidings East (top) in transit! (c) Tim Warner. Sleights Sidings East (base) in transit! (c) Tim Warner. Sleights Sidings East unloaded at Bolton Abbey. (c) Tim Warner.

The next steps were taken straight away to remove the remaining internal (modern) fittings and prepare the interior for painting. Saleem and Ryan put a lot of effort into tidying up the 'box upon arrival, with broken windows having their glass removed and being boarded up pending replacement.

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 inside the LNWR saloon. (c) Tim Warner. 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 toilets at Embsay. (c) Tim Warner. 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.

Catching up 7/01/08

Throughout the Santa Specials (which were a resounding success - all trains operating as planned and on time!) work has continued on the shed project with the machineshop mesh 'walls' being adapted to suit our needs, machines being serviced, painted and prepared to go into the machineshop. P-Way have been re-railing the 2-road shed with the appropriate flatbottomed rail which originally came from th Leeds First project a few years ago. The remaining pointwork is to be tackled shortly. Electrical contractors will be starting work shortly to install the electrics for the buildings, so light and power are imminent!

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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