Isle Of Man Steam Railway

The IMR is currently running a 2-train service Thur - Sun and the MER is running Sat - Tue. The usual 'Island at War' weekend was cancelled this year but a one day event to commemorate VE/VJ day was held at Castletown Station today. The trains were very busy with only a few empty seats (social distancing not required here as we've been Covid free for over 80 days now). The Douglas based set was load 6 with No13 Kissack and the Port Erin set load 4 with small boilered No8 Fenella. The dining train was also running this evening. Elsewhere No6 Peveril's boiler has now been lifted for asbestos removal whilst the chassis is in P.E. carriage shed with No5 Mona which will be the 4th and final loco to be decontaminated. No9 Douglas' chassis/tanks has been grit blasted and primed in Port St.Mary and her boiler, similarly treated, is outside Douglas workshops. Initial inspection suggests that Douglas is in much better mechanical condition than expected as it was overhauled only a few years before withdrawal.
Ray.

 

Is it in the public domain that Thornhill has actually been moved now for restoration?
(Hint, about the same latitude, but a different longitude from its previous abode!).

 

Good to hear that things are happening. (WW2 events leave me cold though). Looking forward to a ride when we are allowed to come over again.

 

I don't believe that it is public knowledge.
Ray.

 

I'd guessed as much from the snippets on the Web

 

is that Left or Right?

 

Not strictly IMR but this week was the 125 th. anniversary of the opening of the Snaefell Mountain Railway. When the SMR was built over the winter 1894/5 a third rail set to 3'g. was laid inside the 3'6" rails so that MNR loco Caledonia could propel construction wagons up the mountain. 25 yrs. ago, for the centenary an extra rail was laid from the Bungalow to the summit so that Caledonia could push an MER trailer ahead of it. A set of Fell grippers were fitted behind Caley's rear buffer beam for extra braking and test runs were carried out in Spring 1995 as shown in the photos below. IIRC, for the public, a Snaefell car was also attached for extra braking. Unfortunately, as the Island's borders are still closed to non-residents, it was felt that it would be uneconomic to open the SMR this year. Work is, however, going ahead rebuilding cars 3 & 6 (the one that overturned) with new steel body framing.
Ray.

 

Mention of adding the third rail prompts me to query the standard explanation of why the Snaefell line was built with 6 inches wider gauge. I have never found the explanation that extra space was needed for the Fell rail very convincing. Would it really have been so hard to fit that into the middle of 3-foot gauge track?

 

I have my doubts - the Wengenalpbahn manages rack at 800mm track gauge.


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I can't see any other reason. It made getting cars on and off more difficult, so one assumes there has to be a good reason. The fell inclines in NZ are all 3'6" so maybe it was a known quantity

Unless there was a sneaky plan to reguage to Cape Gage throughout... (then we could have NZR Ka locos in Douglas )

 

Possibly it was more a matter of fitting the grippers between the wheels on 3' gauge rather than space for the rail. Although the fact that grippers were fitted to Caledonia suggests it could have been done.

 

Did it have them when working? The knowledge you don't need the extra width may be with the benefit of 100 years of experience

 

The WAB, mentioned earlier, opened a couple of years before the SMR.


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Meanwhile back on the Steam Railway...... IMR loco No16 Mannin having been stripped of asbestos a few weeks ago was, today, taken by low loader from Port Erin to Jurby where it will be worked on as part of its assessment for a return to service. I only had to walk to the end of the street for the first photo taken outside The Raven at Ballaugh Bridge. The second shows the loco outside the Jurby Motor Museum while it waits for the crane to unload it. Further photos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/hrviom/
This is is the last week of the shortened operating season with the steam railway running from tomorrow until Saturday.
Ray.

 

Contrary to what has been speculated elsewhere No16 hasn't gone to 'an old aircraft hangar where they repair the buses' - presumably referring to the Jurby Transport Museum. The loco has actually gone to Chris. Wedgwood's engineering facility across the road. Chris has done work for IOM Rlys. before including the recent renovation of ballast hopper F72. The earlier ballast hopper F65, also built on a former 'pairs' underframe, has been scrapped after any useful components were salvaged.
It was also speculated that a new boiler for No16 had already been ordered - if it has I'm not aware of it. The first 2 of the 5 new SVR built boilers have already been delivered. The first to Keef's for No11, the second is here for No10 or 12 and boilers 3 and 4 are partly assembled but 'on hold' at the moment. These are all 3'3" dia boilers for the 10-13 series. The 5th boiler (AIUI in the very early stages of construction) would have been a 3'3" dia 'short' boiler for the 4-6 series. Whether this will change to a 3'6" dia one for Mannin or an additional one ordered remains to be seen.
Cheers,
Ray.

 

You going to run it in round the racetrack? ;-)

Could you put a 3'3" boiler on Mannin as an expediency?
When you say "where it will be worked on as part of its assessment for a return to service." - can you comment on that? Is it a case of taking it apart to plan the rebuild, or taking it apart to see if it can be rebuilt? (if you see what I mean)

 

Not as easy as it sounds, the radius of the boiler saddle will be different for a start.

 

See GW newbuild websites (for 1014 and/or 4709) for details of likely associated issues.

I sincerely hope that, in the event No.16 does return to service, it does so with a boiler which allows it's full potential to be realised ..... or what's the point?

 

The point would be about being able to split the project if needed. Clearly I wouldn't suggest it was desirable, it was more an emergency rescue. Also, I was curious about the modularity of the stud, changing a smokebox saddle doesn't sound like it's a viable option.

I am very much looking to see it running.

 

To put it in perspective Mannin really is 'the odd one out', built specially for the heavy boat trains on the South line, it has virtually no parts in common with the rest of the fleet.
Unlike the others it is largely 'original' and its 1926 boiler which was already on reduced pressure when withdrawn in 1964 is just about 'shot'. Even if it were possible (which it isn't) to fit a 3'3" boiler there would be no point. The whole purpose of restoring No16 is to take advantage of its higher tractive effort on the heavy diner trains (the trains are heavy - not necessarily the diners!). There was some concern that the cylinders might be 'past it' and we have no pattern for these so, when it was first removed from the museum, the cylinder bores were examined and found to have enough 'meat' in them to be re-used. Now that the asbestos has been dealt with the next stage is to further assess the loco's condition in terms of what needs doing and at what cost. The biggest money items are likely to be the new boiler, tyres, tanks and motion overhaul. Thanks for your interest.
Ray.