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Peak Rail General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by kestreleyes, Nov 22, 2009.

  1. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Busy day. Did maintenance at riverside, trimmed the foliage around the signals, rod runs and blitzed the access path and you can get vehicles back down there now. Just got to chop up the felled stuff next. Also checked on church lane and replaced some woodwork on the walkboards at riverside and a broken slat on the platform too. The adjuster bench at Rowsley has been widened too and the bracing steel work fitted. More cross bracing will be fitted to hold the feet of the adjusters once they’re made up so we know exactly at what level they sit at.

    Only managed to call in on a few folks but not all, the HST were busy sorting out some sundry work. I also finished off drilling the track bonding at Riverside but still need to check on track circuits over the bridge point and loop as I Think the batteries need replacing or there’s a short between the two tracks and finished with nipping some bits from Rowsley over to Bens at Chesterfield.

    Time for a beer
     

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  2. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Enjoying the weather folks .

    whilst it’s dry quite a few folks have been tidying up the sites and attending to maintenance.


    The paint work on Riverside box Has also been redone and I still need to do another coat of maroon on the door end and all the sides of the uprights with the roller pole which will be next week weather holding

    the shelter on riverside that was vandalised has had some
    Running repairs to the boarding and will in time get rebuilt better. The platform is due to be creosoted this coming week and the permanent way continue with maintenance and sleeper work

    the steelwork for the wire adjusters was put in at Rowsley the other day before it became too warm to carry on in the direct sun and hopefully by next weekend the adjuster steelwork will have been put together so some news on that il save till next time

    the bridge engineers have started work at riverside on the bridge repairs. More on that next time.

    lastly the old bandstand has started to be removed. Some of the P.O.D. is being recovered and reused on making a lean too roof over the portacabin which is already on with.

    and a lot of site tidying up continues too

    the class 25 work continues with cab work and the mezzanine store has been completed in the shed too

    enjoy the weather folks. Stay safe
     

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  3. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    8A6B1BC9-3116-4921-8276-5ECF8FC36BF1.jpeg 617B28B8-1AF5-4282-927B-4E9C81E9D75D.jpeg EB7B9C25-2F6C-4588-9C6A-AE4DA787088C.jpeg Another week passes, the shed gang have been continuing with the locos in the shed and an air fault on the 25. Meanwhile Rod is back and we’ve put together the steelwork for the wire adjusters and dropped them onto their framework, next comes the fiddly part of putting the wire back through them,

    the access roads round site have had a bit of a levelling off and the bandstand is rapidly being cleared away now it’s taken down. The portacabin got the standalone roof fitted just before the rains came but still needs some trimming in to finish and the linesiders have been managing the foliage between church lane and Rowsley site, Kev was busy beavering away on one of the HST shunters that’s being rebuilt
     
  4. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Small update this time as only called in briefly at the weekend it being the bosses birthday she’d kill me

    some long welded rail carrying wagons have arrived for now and a big shiny of the site has been undertaken to get a few things moved around. In front Rowsley box is an O8 Of the HST group - destined I’m told for Barrow hill, The class 58 body frame sits on the approach road to the turntable as part of the Shunt so got a few pictures.

    Also had a walk on the Monsal trail with the missus and it was really busy. Hassop station had their measures in place for food service to reduce COVID-19 risk. You could have swore it was a bank holiday across the national park places were that busy with folks.
     

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  5. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    I don’t mind rain even if it’s constant mist but it does make things slippy , thursday was a wet day. Fortunately just damp misty stuff so managed to get the wires rerun onto the adjusters and the weights fitted and bolted on with John, some rewiring means there’s only two chains out the front of the box now as it’s all wires and when Andrew is back down in a weeks time wel finish off with the clutch arm on the rear that we’ve not fitted yet but at least on the mainline end you can lift the weights by hand easily showing it is balanced up. Something we still
    We’d to take up the slack on the trap end weights hence they’re lower hanging at present

    Called in on Harvey who was attending to some woodwork for the station and Martyn who was busy on the tender/bunker he’s been working on, had a quick look over the network rail wagons being stored (lots of them) and had a look at Andrews new smoke box for his industrial. The
    Boiler on 5553 196E07A2-450A-46C0-B845-FFEA835C856F.jpeg B67DC9F6-9511-4C84-9F09-708E62090A2E.jpeg 5C7CFE01-3BAF-46A2-A7DF-46606647B2D3.jpeg C97390C0-5CEB-4F19-AFE5-96F4BA71E9A0.jpeg 181DC2B4-A074-4666-BBD8-B266AC01FFF4.jpeg was being checked over having had a warming test fire in it and was holding pressure and while the battery drill was charging up I took the remaining rotten parts of the old bandstand apart and piled them up for the bonfire. , the Ashover light railway folks were about getting ready for the other container to be moved to the plinths they’d concreted before lockdown.
     
  6. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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  7. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    70967636-9EA5-4387-BE97-0ED4B3E903C5.jpeg 9FC32E93-1495-4CA3-937C-CAA37A38ABC3.jpeg 81FCC3F7-AE59-40D1-A3B5-7EDF0C28C036.jpeg 17DB2ACC-097F-4B45-BA1A-D90C3043D8A7.jpeg 68ECA346-9809-49D6-BB4A-CEBB207EE523.jpeg F88AB017-698D-4971-8A10-41F025579A47.jpeg I started early yesterday morning as the weather was supposed to be warm and they weren’t wrong, managed to maintain and wire wool down the gate locks at darley, check on the points there and at church lane before heading upto Rowsley and filling in the weight adjuster bench back with soil to level off, finally finishing off by fitting the colour light sig al in with the call on display signal though need to slightly alter the display relay as it doesn’t have a back contact only polarised ones so it needs a slight alteration to make it show the green and reds when the button is pressed but that’s not a problem and can be sorted next time

    At that point with it getting warm I headed upto the shed where Andrew Civil and Martyn Adshead we’re busy bolting the safety valve to 5553s boiler , they needed some seals making for the mud hole doors so after grabbing the fret saw from the S and t workshop I made up 16 new ones for the mud hole door seals, Roy and the gang were busy outside cleaning off the bullion coach and the stores coach of years of green algi so I ended up giving them a hand too , all good fun
     
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  8. Paul Grant

    Paul Grant Well-Known Member

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    Well it appears to have appeared to have reappeared on Youtube. Wild orchestral music and all.
     
  9. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    I’d totally forgotten that programme. Tim with shorter hair and shedmaster a younger chap
     
  10. Paul Grant

    Paul Grant Well-Known Member

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    I watched it and clicked that it was a younger @sleepermonster. Who was the shedmaster?
     
  11. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Derek aka mr Ankers sir



    Other Parish notices


    The pway were out today dropping off sleepers for timber renewals and also sorting out some user worked crossing gates, photographs kindly taken by Stuart Graves of the class 25 heading the train back from Matlock

    Roy tells me they’ve cleaned 8CBC7723-CD09-4D78-AAED-F5E6F950D8AE.jpeg 84DDF55B-58C0-4CC6-A331-C6F197A9DF27.jpeg FF7EB4B5-1689-4305-B388-A8A69D328937.jpeg both sides of the support and bullion coaches and are about to start repainting next
     
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  12. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    For a change a nice day no rain, apart from some maintenance round Rowsley points, everything oiled and greased - I also tightened up the wire run to the spring trap points and tried all the wire runs off Rowsley frame which work and are reasonably tight and not heavy Just the way we like them, the loop point could still be tightened up a Little more but that’s another day, I also spent some time making up what I call the “pogo stick” which holds levers half way in the frame for adjusting the drive mechanisms as you set points half and lever half to balance the wire run up so they’re all set the same , now bear in mind the levers being turnover (clue in the name) will not stay where you put them if you start moving the wire as half way is well moving downwards with gravity. also a metal cradle to sit the weights upon Was made up 13BAA0C5-3789-4C15-A086-ECE25084101D.jpeg 252D3B6D-6063-4D09-AE10-8CCA4A5AE159.jpeg F3152681-6171-4072-B017-E5FDD24E99B1.jpeg 252D3B6D-6063-4D09-AE10-8CCA4A5AE159.jpeg 13BAA0C5-3789-4C15-A086-ECE25084101D.jpeg rather than using sleeper blocks , a lot safer and easier too, I also had a look through the runs now the weights are added and removed any chain conflicts and added three pulley stakes to avoid rubbage (favourite new word)

    I’ve also put on display my ex LMS track gauge now too. Clears out space in the garden for signalling at the same time

    Finally I’ve trial fitted some of the clutch rods to the weight adjusters. I see nOw why they have blind headed bolts so the bar doesn’t catch them but I’ve seen examples without the full bar so that’s next on the play list

    Elsewhere the HST chaps were busy working on a couple of locos , one pictured is having its body work redone, the site maintenance also continues with repainting of the ramp handrails ,creosoting fencing and such.
     
  13. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Very busy day, starting off with Andrew and myself repainting the ex LMS fish van (aunty wainwright’s) which just soaked up paint, at some point it will need woodwork attention maybe back to the vertical tongue boards the vans originally had which are more waterproof than boarding

    Next job to help out with the platform
    Painting and the lamp posts and the railings have been repainted and creosoted again.

    Next to do some box work and having had a look at redrilling and shortening the pins on the adjusters at Rowsley box I realised it’s easier and less foulsome of the through bars if they have blond headed pins on stead of drilled pins which still stick out so I have some I can fit next time

    Jacob also brought the BR signal diagram from darley dale which we now have on display though I forgot to cut off the bolt heads sticking out u see the woodwork

    Following that I helped out with some
    A board refurbishment and then headed off to darley to repaint location cupboards before calling in
    On Pete to see how the locos up there were Getting on, I missed a chat with the HST gang but restoration on the shunter I reported upon last week continues, I also had a quick chat with Ben on some ongoing LMSCa projects but more on that next time.
     

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  14. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Small update for now as was hoping to be down today but missus required my services instead

    the Wednesday pway gang had a good turnout (no pun on pointwork there) and have been retimbering up at riverside with many of the old headshunt ones replaced while trains aren’t running, around n the background getting folks retrained, recertified and upto speed Continues, I should have more news towards the weekend from my own department.

    Stay well folks
     

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  15. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Today’s work was split into two. An early morning start for me upto Cumbria to collect another point operating box which had come up thanks to a colleague spotting it on the net , we think it may be from a coal sidings at Lindall but will do some digging on this, it still has its original cast LMSR slipper on the arm too, a good freeing off will be done over winter .

    Andrew had had a nip upto Wirksworth as there was an open day for the lms 10000 group there and Andrew being a member had done some work on motor brushes so dropped that off

    We then re met back up again at Rowsley and changed the pins on the weight adjusters and decided on what to do for to fix the feet down on the bar (probably as simple an idea as drilling a hole and letting the bar just sit in it with a pin above and below the baseplate so it can pivot but not slide out up or down. I still need to properly find another equal Square bar for the other adjuster We also have to play with the arm wheels to bring the wires off the arms a little.

    Following that Ben Richard and myself put the midland railway sign up and then I had a quick chat with Gary from HST though didn’t get to see what they’d been upto though Kev is still working on the Loco from last week and is making steady progress, I finished off chatting with Ben on some upcoming works , plus a nice bit of machining on some brake gear pins shown . Before heading to darley to top up the point batteries ( there’s more than you think and needed two trips back to the box for water. I’ve still one row to do)

    The lms 10000 group have started to unbolt the bodywork ready for the crane lift, I managed to have a quick chat with the chap doing it. The engine will be lifted and I’m told is already sold to another group or buyer, the cabs ,one will be kept as a museum piece and the other sold apparently. The chassis will then go to Wirksworth which is where the replacement bogies are currently in the groups workshops.

    Finally for a good laugh. The church Inn at church lane has a tent in its car park affectionately called the “Church Out”. Love that.
     

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  16. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    A day of Deisels and bits today

    Mr Briddon and Harvey we’re dealing with two Diesels that are coming in and shunted them to the headshunt from the loading ramp, the class 37 was also having its air piping worked on, some of the piping had coroded and was not building vacuum up.

    The Penyghent support coach was continuing to be repainted , and work continues on the boiler on 5553, I managed a chat with the Ashover light railway gang who were sorting sleepers out for the container connections and also thanks for helping cut a sleeper in half for me which will be used to make a Walkway over the tracks outside Rowsley cabin over the signal wires - a common thing done on the original runs to avoid tripping by yard staff.

    The class 58 now has its bodywork unbolted completely ready for the engine out and then its move , I managed to chat about the work involved in building 10000 and such which is always good to learn things Loco wise.

    Lastly I spent the morning drilling and cleating cables up at Darley platform every two sleepers apart which was just a looong job to do, (yes o didn’t misspell that )Andrew and myself looked at what we still need to do on the weight adjusters, now we’ve located a second bar, I need to make two bolt on feet to bolt to the angle iron and weld these to the base of the feet, simple. Will make that at home, Also next time I need to remove the outside washers I put in the middle wheels and fit them in the middle to keep the wires clear of the outside of the legs of the weights by pushing the wheels thence wires slightly outside

    We also had a look at a welder for the shed lads and helped Martin with the fork loader filter change

    Apart from that I also checked over church lane and darley and Rowsley locs and boxes to make sure nothing had tripped out after the weeks lightning problems countrywide, the batteries at the motor point were also finished off and I lubricated the points while there too and checked on the track circuit cells around darley dale.

    Unfortunately not enough hours in a day but at least it’s not as hot as yesterday
     

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  17. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Only got a few photos today as quite busy, The class 58 body went out on a very large trailer this morning 88 wheels. Plus a support truck carrying the actual ramp.

    Andrew and myself completed the adjusters work, spreading the wires back through the middle , fixing the feet and cutting the bars Also we completed the wood covering over the wires.

    Then it was upto riverside to man the box for running around on training and familiarisation turns with penyghent and the steamer , apart from all that we managed to do some foliage removal on riverside and it’s access road and did some faulting on the riverside treadle whose bell relay we think had got hit by the recent lightning . John is rebuilding it, at least the rusty rails are now cleaned off and the track circuits working normally. 50060B41-476B-4F07-A107-023396D924AC.jpeg 7B378FCE-8A84-4780-80A6-93F1130CB103.jpeg 947373BC-63F0-4FD0-B48A-C8F96E0B8935.jpeg F36C4018-9F7C-4D26-8A7B-CCD12EB45066.jpeg F918A4F3-C59F-4F5C-940B-E4B4E47CAA18.jpeg 356ED6E9-6855-4B13-92D2-29607E108F20.jpeg 14797B87-96B4-4239-BC7D-4881B524F1BC.jpeg 2B00B183-E522-4107-8953-752E8E58C40B.jpeg EB26E538-44F1-4B47-B6BC-17FF0BE67C29.jpeg 180B4AE5-CC9D-4DBD-AC1A-4DBB94DAB84B.jpeg
     
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  18. kestreleyes

    kestreleyes Well-Known Member

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    Small but busy day on the weekend, The penyghent support coach was having new foot boards and on the subject of boards I replaced a few more of riversides foot boards , work on the shed locos continues, more on that another day, the Ashover crew were continuing with work on their track, meanwhile shunter restoration work continues on two more , one recently purchased by Andrew Civil and Kev continues On the heritage shunters one, some more pics when it’s not chucking it down with rain.

    work on the lamp posts for Rowsley continues , the post tops have been stripped down and the posts getting cleaned down and repainted ready
     

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  19. Vulcan Works

    Vulcan Works Member

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    My goodness, so much to report about what’s occurring...

    After radio silence for 6 months the Plc Board has finally written to shareholders with the annual accounts. Grim, is how I’d describe PR’s financial situation.

    There’s now an emergency appeal for funds to bail out the Plc because of the £88k loss made in the year to Dec 2019, and the ongoing problems in 2020. Covid has certainly had an impact but PR’s woes pre-date Covid. The appeal somewhat skims over the reasons for the dire finances and it doesn’t provide a breakdown of what the funds are actually for (cash flow, improved visitor facilities, expansion, claims against the Plc?) although £60k has been identified as being needed to overhaul J94 Royal Pioneer.

    Zero provision has been made in the 2019 accounts if all or some of the £145k Grinsty claim has to be paid. Also I’ve heard that there is another, separate claim looming by a loco owner against PR.

    Interestingly there is no mention of reforming the organisation or tackling the leadership problems. Regime supporters might like to reflect on how the Board has performed over the last 10 years compared with what has been achieved by other railways, and why PR seems to keep losing Directors, and how much time and money has been squandered on multiple disputes with multiple people. Perhaps a topic for the Peak Rail Action Group thread!

    In August Waterman Railway Heritage Trust secured a charge against the Plc which means that any financial loan made by the Trust to the Plc is secured against PR’s assets. It would seem to be a pre-emotive strike by the Trust to protect its interests if the railway goes in to administration. PR seems to have forgotten to mention this to shareholders or explain the terms, conditions and liabilities of the agreement, or the considerable leverage the Trust has over PR...

    As always the volunteers (and at least one member of staff) are doing a sterling job in the circumstances.
     
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  20. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I wish there was a response to that post other than like.

    What are the implications of the Waterman trust loan to the PLC?
     

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