FR & WHR & WHHR News

An absolutely fantastic event held by both the F&WHR and WHHR. With Russell's duties over, it left Harbour Station this evening bound for Pen Y Mount to a chorus of applause from a number of punters outside Spooners! Looking forward to the next time she finds her way across town. With its ticket expiring in November, maybe the Bygones Weekend could be a good time to see if it can still fit up to Tan Y Bwlch!
Congratulations to both railways, more of the same next year please.

 

That's very good going for ME, on 3 bogies and 4 bug boxes? I would have done that train had it been Welsh Pony!

Fastest I have timed Beddgelert - Rhyd Ddu is 17m 47s with Garratt 87 on load 7. Lots of fun was had with the 'King of the Hill' event a decade ago.

Russell's first run on Saturday did it in 24m 34s and the second in 27m 16s, although it had gained over a minute on the first until it encountered steaming problems. Russell was generally driven very cautiously, as it was during last year's event.

Yes a super event overall, and we have the Baldwin to look forward to, and the Kalahari 2-8-2 too!

Edit: Lyd and Russel took 10m 38s for Beddgelert - Meillionen, and 17m 46s on to Rhyd Ddu. Load 10 with 9 large WHR coaches and 1 FR, and full.

 

Not much of a load for it really. Short train too so you don't get it dragging around curves or have to wait ages for the back to come out of speed restrictions. Merddin barely breaks a sweat on the very heavy Mountain Spirit set it pulls every day. By far the most capable of the double engines.

 

Is there any obvious reason why that would be, or is it just one of those quirks of similar steam locos?

 

The main differences are to do with valves and steam pipe design. Merddin was re-timed to have no lead in full gear and also has larger flexible steam pipes. It pulls away much better from a stand has no trouble running at line speed.

DLG has piston valves but the valve timing was based on the "this is how we always did it" design adopted in the 60s. It is great if you could start all trains at 15mph. Otherwise it is quite sluggish off the mark. It also seems to chomp though valve rings so performance can drop off quite a lot. When it's in good condition it runs very well and efficiently at speed but getting there feels like it takes forever.

The Square was also re-timed in it's last couple of years but retained the older more restrictive steampipes. These are bullet proof reliability wise but clearly create a restriction in the steam circuit. If you put it in main valve the regulators would flop wide open as pressure equalised. The exhaust was also sharper. So it would set off well but definitely not as free running.

 

Thank you for the detailed reply

 

Just about recovered from a very long, but enjoyable day yesterday. I debated long and hard about travelling given the rover ticket price, but I am so glad I did. Yesterday was the railway living up to it's potential. I clocked up nearly 80 miles, had my longest ever runs behind Welsh Pony and Lyd. Experienced double headed Garratts, had superb thrash behind a Fairlie, and clocked over 50 miles behind Russell - on its home ground. Amongst all of this, was a visit to WHHR, riding behind another 2 locos plus viewing the Baldwin. Yes it was a shame it missed the party, but not sure I could have fitted it in?!!
The run behind Lyd and Russell was a proper adventure, no one cared it ran late - it was 2 intrepid locos venturing into the unknown! It also highlighted just how easy those Garratts make that route look..
I really hope there is a repeat in the future, as @Sean Emmett states above, plenty more to look forward too!

 

What an incredible event all round - it was just brilliant and even a spot of rain (I got saturated!) and the lack of 590 didn't take the edge off. It was outstanding value for the length/quality of entertainment.

The Sunday afternoon was the unexpected highlight for me. A wonderful journey to Dinas and back with ME with a nice turnaround that allowed just the right amount of time for a noodle around, photos and the loo and then crossing the Russell/Lyd and Megamix trains on the way back. A delay at Waunfawr meant a quick visit to the pub to pick up refreshments was extremely welcome and really added to the adventure. The weather, the smell of the Fyf reconstituted 'coal' and the breathtaking route really added to the atmosphere. 11/10.

Spooners was the strong support act - it was open from dawn to dusk doing breakfast, hot food and beer in the evening with an excellent atmosphere.

 

Interesting to read. Could you likewise expand on how the garratts compare to each other or is there less of a difference between them?

 

The last time I drove or fired the Garratt there was only 2 of them and they burnt oil. So I can't quite give you the same insight unfortunately.

I can tell you that the three Beyer Peacock locos 130, 138 and 143 are all broadly similar. So which is the best probably depends on what condition they are in or what colour you like the most. Keep in mind lots of bits have been swapped about including parts from the christmas tree 140.

87 is the odd one out. It is from the first batch of NGG16s which had the improved cylinders and pony trucks but retained other NGG13 features like the manifold position and cab. Some parts have been changed to make them more like the others including fitting new thicker bogie frames. This loco was fitted with a Lempor exhaust and more streamlined steam pipes when it was restored. Some people think this is brilliant, some people don't. None of the others have been fitted with one though which probably tells you all you need to know.

 

I heard that the WHHR didn't want to move it until they are able to get it repaired in case more damage is caused. Personally, I think that is a reasonable explanation despite also being disappointed that my first view of it was cooped up in a shed.

I also heard that the issue was found at Beddgelert during a test run which was part of the locomotives commissioning process to appear at the gala. Makes sense to test it before hand and make sure all is well.
Obviously, when you are stuck out on the line the only option is to come back slowly which caused more damage which couldn't be fixed in time for the gala. Even if you have a week to fix something, you can only do it if you have the facilities yourself or have access to them. Just because BLodge is across town doesn't mean they have the capacity to take in another locomotive at short notice.

A shame about 590 but I still really enjoyed the event. It seemed to get better each day, partly due to the weather improving but also the timetables seemed to ramp up. The run with Lyd and Russell really did a good job to bring the curtain down on the event and gives much hopefulness for the future of cooperation between the F&WHR and WHHR. Both have strengths and both have weaknesses, therefore both are stronger working together.

 

A few clips from the excellent WHR 100 event, filmed across the 24th & 25th June 2023.

Video Available Here

 

In an attempt to stop the Chinese whispers about the Baldwin here is a timeline of events.

A test trip on Thursday 15th June to Beddgelert had been in the plan for a long period of time. This was the first run out with air pump/air brakes functioning. During this trip on the approach to Beddgelert cemetery crossing a strange noise was heard coming from the front of the engine. Speed was reduced and we proceeded into the station. On arrival it was found the rear drivers side bogie axel box had run hot. The loco was failed, we waited a couple of hours for the axel box to cool then proceeded slowly back to Porthmadog, stopping periodically to check the bearing and to apply more oil.

The bearing was removed by the WHHR team and given attention. By Tuesday the loco had been tested at Gelert’s farm and by the close of play had racked up over 10 miles on the line.

A test run was conducted the following day, Wednesday 21st June. We got as far as the second girder bridge just before HYL loop, the bearings were checked and all was found to be fine. We returned to PC with a spirited run. On arrival at PC it was found that the centre drivers side axel box had run hot. The loco was slowly returned to Gelert’s farm where we had to reluctantly make the call to pull the loco from the whr100 event as there was insufficient time to lift the loco, remove the axel and bearing and repair the loco.

We had pulled out all the stops to try and make sure the loco was ready but it just proved to be impossible to conduct the required repairs in the time available.

Feel free to contest these facts with hearsay and conjecture but as the person driving the loco on both these runs and being one of the team that removed and repaired the bearing I know what I am talking about.

 

Afternoon All,

I took loads of video footage during the weekend but, so far, I've only had time to add one short video to my YouTube channel. It's here if anyone would like to see it:



The rest will appear in the fullness of time...

TTFN,

Ron.

 

I rode on quite a few of the trains and had minimal opportunity for photography or video, so I am grateful to those who have posted here (and in anticipation of more).

 

Video featuring many of the special trains and some of the timetabled service trains from the really excellent WHR 100 event on 23rd, 24th, and 25th June 2023.

 

My video from the excellent event of Welsh Highland Railway 100 gala over 23rd-25th June

 

Two more short videos from the Welsh Highland Railway 100 Gala:





Lots more in the queue for editing...

TTFN,

Ron.