Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Don't take this as gospel but i've seen a photo of Ropley Yard today showing 30925/53808 in steam over the pit so I would guess they would be likely candidates.

 

Ok thanks. We will probably go but an easy day

 

53808 Alres and RAT loco and 41312 Alton.
30925 spare all weekend

 

Ok thanks

shan’t be going then as it’s 925 I wanted

 

I had an enjoyable afternoon on Thursday watching 76017's move to the Bluebell. Lovely to see it out on the big railway in steam, even if it was behind a diesel.
Seen here at Brentford, Clapham Junction, and Selhurst:

 

Today the power unit was removed from 50027. Im not 100% sure (as no one is?) but I think this could be the heaviest lift the railway has undertaken.

Top work from those involved today. I won’t name names as I’m bound to forget someone but everyone should have a warm glow of achievement.

I have set up a donations page for those able to spare a few quid.


https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfun...=offline&utm_medium=qrcode&utm_term=MpB8zyrV5

This job is not going to be cheap.
Today’s lift was extra expensive as it was a weekend lift.
The gen was loaded tonight and will be delivered on Monday or Tuesday morning to be inspected.

All donations gratefully accepted.

 

A strange day atop the hill yesterday, as none of us could get started, nor it seemed could the weather...... plus we had two new faces joining us, so I guess we were waiting for them to turn up!

As the weather window now seems to have closed on the painting front, we gathered around LMS van M517317, as we are now at the chicken & egg stage - we need to sort out both of the longitudinals holding the roof up, but can't remove them because there is no floor to support the acro props, plus we need the beams out so that we can finish off replacing steel in one of the wrap rounds....... and as the floor timbers haven't yet had had the required amount of dollop applied, a lot of head scratching and debate ensued!

Eventually we came up with some sort of work around ( the use of the P word, along with a host of others are banned on a Saturday!!! ) so it was time to set things in motion......

By this time the newcomers had joined us, had a brew, a briefing & a look around the yard, as well as being introduced to the the group, with the plan being for muggin's 'ere to take them down to Ropley & show them around, but with the power unit being lifted out of 50 027 there was no point with the yard being out of bounds - so off to Alton we went, mainly to show them some of the wagons in the fleet & also to retrieve some lengths of T&G cladding the Alton lads no longer need!

Upon return from Alton, them left behind had made progress on starting the work around, with floor planks in situ in the door opening.... the T&G cladding bought back to yard, will come in handy as, after some discussion it was decided to use them as the base planks all the way round & take it from there, but first they needed to be fettled to fit the internal profile around the gusset plates & securing bolts..... that's when the weather decided to wake up & we started to get rather wet!!!!

Still, by the end of the day, two of the base planks had been fettled, and all of the dozen retrieved from Alton cut to length, plus the floor planks in the door openings temporarily bolted into place - it doesn't seem a lot for a days work, but its a couple of those things that done now and properly first time will save us major ball aches in the future, hence the amount of time spent trying to work things out instead of rushing in head long!!!

A couple of pics from the day...... it was nice to see the 7F back in action so soon after it failed at the gala!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/52431143352/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/52432163868/in/dateposted-public/

The first of the base planks fettled & trial fitted to make sure its not on the slant.



The first of the floor planks going in - the important bit being the breather gap!

 

This weeks YouTube video is all about 50027 power unit being removed from the loco.

 

When is 76017 returning from the Bluebell railway, I'm assuming, it will be by the same route in steam, hauled by a 33

 

My loco for today. Off to Alton in due course.

 

Anybody know which two locos are working today? 76017 plus?

 

41312 and 53808 I believe.

 

"When is 76017 returning from the Bluebell railway, I'm assuming, it will be by the same route in steam, hauled by a 33"

She is not rostered for any more Bluebell services and there is still nothing in RTT yet. Has 76017 been marooned at Sheffield Park? The post from Sidmouth sounds interesting



Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

Funnily enough I heard something about 76017 at Giants of Steam last week too.

 

Thats of course assuming she is fit to move by rail, and hasn't suffered any mishap through being towed at a faster speed than she has run for many years, or suffered any ill effects from its use at the Bluebell giants of steam gala.

 

And so another Saturday dawned atop the hill yesterday as four hardy souls gathered to do battle with the troublexome trucks.......

It was going to be one of those kind days where very little progress seems to be made, but advance things on LMS van M517317!

Two of our number cracked on with making inroads to the large pile of cladding planks that need to be sanded back to bear, so that we can start from fresh, with a uniform finish once we start to but everything back together.......

The two of us left went to check out the new cladding timbers, that were fettled last week, as we had a suspicion, that more fettling was required........ and the answer was, yes there is - plus we also discovered that we are now going to have to refettle the holes on one of the gusset plates, thanks to the wrap round bending inwards, which isn't obvious when you look at it, but when you start putting things against it, it shows!!!!

Before we knew it @Stinch had gone past us on the Ivatt LE to Alton - good to see you again Fella!!!

That was my cue to head off to Ropley for a couple of meetings, leaving my mucker to crack on with figuring out the best way to affect repairs on the brakeblocks for box van B760337......

Whilst down at Ropley, I got pinged a couple of pics of his handywork wanting to know if they would pass muster, so once I'd concluded my business, it was off to try & find the man that could - namely one our friends in the ULS who's rather handy at welding! & track him down I did....... a few tips later I returned to the safety of the yard atop the hill.

Tips & tricks passed on, another attempt on the repair was made which was deemed a success, so it was decided to do a trial fit...... we were fully expecting to have to fettle the damn thing, but to our pleasant surprise, there was no need as it fitted like a glove with enough of a gap between wheel & claw to aloow for some play!!!

So, by the end of the day, a fair few planks had been sanded back to bear & we'd worked out the way forward to get box van B760337 back into traffic at minimal cost as opposed to new brakeblocks......

The work around - it sure as hell wont fall off - two of us hit the thing with a rather large hammer!!



The trial fit - deemed a bloody good success, the pic doesn't make it clear, but there is a gap between claw & wheel.

 

I just want to say, Dave, thanks for going to all the trouble of posting these weekly updates. It's always great to see what's happening in the less glamorous C&W side of railways. And it's great PR for the Mid Hants.

Similarly, for the lads that post regular updates from their railways. I'm thinking, Chris from the NNR, the lads from Quorn Wagon & Wagon, Stu from the Nene Valley, Ploughman from the North Yorks, the lad from Peak Rail. It's all appreciated, great publicity for your railways and great to see regular updates.

More power to your collective elbows.

 

Nice to be appreciated.
Thanks and for all your comments on life on the hill.

 

Anyone know which locos are working this week’s two train services plus apparently a three train service this weekend?