Peak Rail General Discussion

Before this forum descends into a possible slagging match lets remember I created this thread to announce news on things we are trying to achieve at the railway , not gossip slander or such and as such no matter how correct or incorrect or how reported and I will have no desire to enter into such things upon here

There is another forum for such things called the peak rail gossip group on the net which I would surmise would be a better place for such things rather than filling this forum which generally has plenty of interesting news with pages of dire and gossip

Not that I don't view gossip like
Any person but that I leave politics to politicians and I don't enter into personal feelings with anyone I work alongside, none of which concerns me but could you please keep gossip comments on the correct forum (not here) please which is for proper news not the differences in opinions reported between various persons organisations etc or create another thread to encompass you're news

There's enough of that on nearly every heritage railway countrywide already without making more

Thank you ,please try and respect the decency of the forum

 

Indeed there is a dmu set currently in the loco shed having attention, as well as man other locos and engines, il try and get some pics of the dmu when next up there and ask the owners for some info on its current restoration for you, I know the shed team are progressing with the j94 "don't ask me which one they all look alike and I'm easily confused by that fact "

John and myself continued with the south yard ground frame last week and also had a chat with Pete who was working on James one of his Shunters

And now the s and t update
South yard frame

John and myself spent Friday resetting up all the point work on Friday so it works properly, in the end nearly everything you could adjust was adjusted and every thing you could torch was gas torched to free it off, the adjuster though wouldn't budge on the detector so it's going to have to be a new one fitted which isn't a hard job, John has sorted out the rubbing kicking strap by having to grind off some of the underside with thanks to mr Briddon for letting us use his big grinder to sort that out, I've fabricated up the metal strap for the lock lever and drilled that last night so will fit that hopefully before the weekend leaving only that adjuster rod to change then the frameShould be ready to be signed over

Rowsley

Pete had cleared some more items from the GUV van into the workshop and I've asked david if he could look at putting them away into the stores, I'm hoping to get the point operating boxes out of there and bolted in their final positions out on track in the next week which should also clear a bit more of space in there too.In November I should be doing a talk on the Rowsley lever frame works at the Institute of Railway Signal Engineers Minor Railways conference at the Severn Valley railway at Kidderminster, I've started to put this together in my spare time.

Painting

Weather depending on one spare day towards the months end the distants need repainting with the roller pole and I'm also arranging some paint for Darley and church lane cabins as a few bobbies have asked if they can do some tarting up on the cabins themselves which always saves time.I've also got to re yellow/cream the Darley end woodwork under the window on Riverside cabin which I started a few weeks back.

Other items

Pete is looking at replacing the glazing in the Matlock town shelter with some of the spare unused polycarbonate left over from the Rowsley box job which shouldn't take more than a day to do with some extra hands.

That's all for now folks

 

What news of the Darley Dale footbridge?

 

Don't know, last I spoke to anyone involved it was in the hands of the charity to forward, if I recall there was some work required to get it all stripped down and sand blasted to start with that needed to happen before anything else, il ask the charity chaps see if they can enlighten further, that was part of the reason the old signal cabin got moved to free up the base of the old stone blocks where the bridge used to be.

 

A good week this week with lots done.

Let's start with S&T


Rowsley


The point operating boxes have been planted onto the metal plates on the point ends and bolted down. It took longer to bolt them down than to move them from the store into place


I also moved the out of alignment wheel at the same time so that's done now, a big thanks to Chris Bodell too for making up the missing cover of one of the boxes in the middle of working on the j94, so we job swapped for half an hour, "I can now say I've painted a bit of a steam loco" at least


The next job is to make up the throw arm crank to adjustable ends (4 off) that connect them from the point itself to the operating box. These will use standard fittings but will require some

Adding/cutting down and rewelding as nothing is as standard in railway signalling







Il do this at home this week in the garage , there is also the rod from the two fpl operating boxes to the fpl crank on the outside mounting plates to make up too. The operating box end of both I've made up and I just need to get some measurements to get this right,


Church lane


The north gate lamp had been through bolted now to the gate as it was only screwed on all the years which has let water into the wood of the gate top, the wood is being treated before it gets its yearly repaint


Dave Dyson is going to be doing some repainting when the weathers better


Darley dale


Mr Lathrope will be starting on de rusting,priming and repainting the gates soon and I've also left the paint for the cabin too with roger Tremlett who line Dave has kindly offered to assist with some painting of the boxes


The south yard frame works are complete now with a bit of welding completed last night using the works train after service.


The down platform telephone cupboard is due for replacement and we have a metal one spare from the riverside works so will fit this next month in its place


The telecoms lads Peter,David and Jim are looking at altering the wiring from the phones at church lane to 14 signal to remove a fault on the lineside circuit.



At some point this year we will have to make a new diagram up for the cabin as the old one dates 2007 has seen the old north yard removed now as well as alterations to the south yard too. Pete has part made up a new polycarbonates frame at home and il redraw the new diagram and get that printed too



Riverside


Awaiting training next which after the end of this month wel be free for, I've the paint for the box and will tackle a repaint in the coming month


The next working day for me will be next week as rostered all this week at work but il carry on with the rods at home in the meantime


The next job will be to install the token catching post on the concrete base I did before Christmas and fit that phone box the same day


The coming months work now will concentrate on maintenance and painting with Ian and myself


Pete and colleagues should be down next weekend doing the Matlock shelter windows and John is looking at the generators overhaul


Dmu



As was asked last week the work on the dmu is continuing in rowsley shed, one side of the Matlock facing unit has been completely taken back to metal, filled-re sanded down and painted in green and the other side was having the same done at the weekend, the other unit is next to be done and has received some basic attention prior to having the same thorough treatment

Work on the j94 continues with bodywork priming and painting on the cab roof of which I helped at the weekend , then it can move onto getting the cab back together and etcetera

I also bumped into Andy and Pete who were sorting out hinges and hinge pins on one of their Shunters at Darley .

 

DMU looking good - any idea when it will be in service?

 

A while yet, apart from finishing the other side off,theres the second unit to repaint then refit all the seating, not to mention any other work on the actual mechanics of the unit, it shouldnt take long I think as normally you do the paintwork last after all the other heavy jobs so the impression I get is that she runs and just needs the bodywork repainting/filling/sanding and the interior doing up such as the upholstery etc.

Il try and keep you updated when i catch up with the gang of chaps doing it up

 

Details of the White Peak Loop planning approval - Matlock to Rowsley

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/enviro...pp-details.asp?AppCode=CD3/1214/119&AppType=2

 

Balfour Beatty were evaluating two ultrasonic rail testing vehicles yesterday at PR yesterday, the little one is destined for Hong Kong, whilst the Land Rover one looks like it could be useful if the satnav takes you onto a railway line

Dave

 

Very usefull bits of kit. Could do with one myself

Erected the token catcher at church lane to see how effective it works and see if it needs any more work


I'm down tommorow painting signals and fitting more rods to the point operating boxes so il update more but don't forget were running through to the 8th. Kids Bring a teddy along and travel for free

 

Firstly some progress news on the Renown and Repulse
Locomotive groups hard work

http://www.renownrepulse.com/news-r...power-unit-progress.html#sthash.lAeNwU3C.dpbs

S&T

With the sun out this week it was time to start repairing signals. Church lanes signals have been painted in white with the roller pole and the black will be done next Saturday. Apart from that I fitted the welded up rods to the point boxes at rowsley except for two that either need altering or extending, then I trotted off to help Pete at Matlock with reglazing the platform shelter. John was busy up at riverside and Ian at rowsley.

There'l be more to update before next weekends incoming diesel charter

 

So when the Thompson shed extension gets erected where are the footbridges and other items currently stored there due to be moved to, or are they going for scrap?

 

I would doubt very much that the footbridges are going for scrap, in fact grants are being applied for, in the case of the Darley Dale footbridge. As for the other items - I've no idea.

Dave

 

I've heard on the grapevine that the cost to re-instate the Haddon Tunnel as part of the Monsal Trail cycle route is an eye watering £10m. The County Council are in discussions with the Haddon Estate to route the cycle route through the grounds / Haddon Estate. It's from a very reliable source

What's the Thompson shed?

 

Can you say to whom they are applying for grants? This would be of interest to another project.
Many thanks

 

I spoke to someone last week who went inside the Haddon Tunnel with an inspection company several years ago and apparently its in quite a poor state inside really, with blocks that have fell in from the ceiling and waterfalls inside. Around the same area apparently the insides of part of an old embankment was removed by landowners years ago as there was a fair amount of hardcore left from the old ballast, which is ideal for use on farm tracks. Not certain how true all of this is though. I guess the inside of Haddon Tunnel itself will need repairs and lining with sprayed concrete, and thats if it was to be only used for cyclists rather than steam trains. Several thousand square meters of this material must add up substantially. So I guess thats why the cycle route will probably be diverted slightly as they only have about 7.5 million to spend on the cycle project altogether.

The Thompson shed is a planned extension to the existing Rowsley shed towards the south of it, with the steel having arrived on the site at the end of 2014. I believe this is a venture by Mike Thompson (of Arrowvale electronics) to establish an engineering business of some description on the site? But Im not sure if it involves Peak Rail as such, presumably the existing shed will still house Lord Phil, Warrington, the GWR Prairie, steam crane ect.

 

In fairness to Lord Edward - there is no reason why the trail needs to go across his land as there is already a perfectly good bridleway from Coombs Road viaduct to Rowsley

 

Regarding the footbridge question; there are no plans to scrap them, even if they were in the way of a building extension they would simply be moved which will have to happen to restore them anyway. Having spoke with one person dealing with them recently the main impetus is to get the NRM coach finished and out of the way before starting on another project and I can understand why. You can have too many projects on the go and thin the resources and grant/spending cash right down doing that without realising it. It's the same for the station lamps for the down platform at Darley dale, once the carriage is finished we can get on and get them finished too


Elsewhere as most will have realised we had an incoming charter at the weekend headed by a pair if class 20s, all good fun even if it was only a quick in and out turn, I've included a few pictures below of the charter on our metals as well as some from the HST chaps who had a great influx of visitors to their display sheds via the brake van rides operated by two of their Shunters , I manage a quick chat with one of their volunteers undoing the years of salt damage to D2205 from its time stored at Minehead at the WSR which is of course by the sea.

I managed to get a lot more signal painting done myself and fitted a few more bits in the ground for the rowsley cabin.

 

Really enjoyed our trip on the Darley dimple and dale, also had a ride on the heritage shunters brake van, good idea to have them running, hope it raised a few quid for them.

 

Class 108 Driving Trailer Composite 56208 arrived from the SVR today for a contract body repair and full repaint job.

Dave