Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Agreed. Will be great to see it back. My understanding is that there were issues with the original restoration and that the loco was not always easy to keep in service. Hopefully this time round it will be much better.

 

Boiler 799 will get a new smokebox tubeplate. Here it is, fresh out of the box.
Pat

 

Of course, it only lasted ten years........

 

There were testing times atop the hill in many different ways yesterday......

We've not been up for awhile as we're trying to conserve work until our next victim arrives in the yard, and it's currently proving elusive, even though we can see it!

Our intention had been to do some more wagon exams, but the Kibosh has been put on that as the troublesome trucks have migrated eastwards for the winter to Alton, and currently reside in road #3, bedecked with lights & we're not prepared to lug all the gear we need that far, or get in trouble for disturbing the lights strung along them....... those kind of exams can wait until they return to Bennett's.

The first job of the day, once we'd extracted ourselves from the warmth of the mess-room was to do some hand shunting in road #2 to give us enough space to construct a base in readiness for the next project, by the stop blocks - it's just as well that Muggin's 'Ere has a 6' builders level with angle finder still in the back of the car from the LMS van, as the base needs to be level & the siding is on a falling gradient, and also on the wonk!

Whilst most of the lads were engaged in sourcing lengths of timber for the base, Muggin'Ere decided to try what most would consider a futile exercise, and try to set fire to a mass of sodden timber off cuts and sawdust....... within 2 minutes, Muggin's had managed to get the fire going!

And boy did we need it, as the weather was trying out patience given it was freezing cold, wet and windy......

Then, before we knew it, 3 of us were being dragged off one by one for our PTS resits, and all three of us passed.

Next up was to open up and examine the inside of our next intended victim, so most trooped to the bottom of Bennett's to execute this, whilst Muggin's & Me Mucker opted for fire management!

By the time the lads came back from Bennett's. it was brew time, which last a fair while, and then it was time to head for the hills, but only after making sure that what was left of the fire would not flare up.

 

With a lot of effort.

 

Another productive weekend in Urie Loco land.
Picture shows the first section of tender rave just before the rivetting gang got to it. Nice thing is that they were all from the youth section and /or recent volunteers. So I'm redundant as a rivet heater. 44 rivets later it was up.
The beading was a trial fit - anyone familiar with old GPO telephone exchanges may recognise the material.
Pat
PS Picture courtesy of Jamie Karslake.

 

That's excellent. Without new recruits from younger generations, there is no long-term future for heritage rail.

Noel

 

One of theses days dear reader, it will not be raining when we convene atop the hill of a Saturday morning.........

Yesterday was a rinse and repeat of last Saturday, but at least for a change it brightened up for the afternoon!

Sooooo....... as we still await our next project to arrive in the yard.it's a case of finding things that we consider need doing, so that we can get to our happy place!

To that end, Muggin's 'Ere, Me Oppo & Me Mucker had decided that some site tidying was in order and whilst we carrying his out, the workshop PMV came into the conversation, as between us we'd noticed some rather spongy cladding planks on the south side, so we decided to investigate further which meant doing a good impression of Pickfords as we moved stuff out of the way, so that the dog could see the rabbit!

Well, what we thought would be a quick fix, has turned out to be a ball ache - we managed to source enough timbers of the right length that Me Mucker has taken home to let dry out, and get painted up - all fine and dandy, except of the fact the spongy timbers have basically gone back to nature, leaving large holes in the body-side something we could leave unattended, given the time of year and the current forecast, so a stop-gap was needed & we found this in the form of some stainless steel sheeting, which was cut to size, fixed with clout nails & sealed around the edges to hopefully prevent water ingress - we'll find out next time we're up!

It was good to see things moving on the line again, we were kept entertained by the PWay and their Wickham, before the twins went past on route proving duties, and 506 came past on the way to Alton.

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Here’s the latest in the loop YouTube video.

 

Steam Illuminations have kicked off for the season

30506 runs through Medstead with a Steam Illuminations service by Stephen Morley, on Flickr

 

A few shots recorded at Hants this Friday with 30506 and 35005 in action



kudos to the crew on 506 it must have been brass monkeys on the tender first trip!

Enjoy
Matt

 

There are hints in the latest Watercress Line News which arrived today about visiting locomotives for next year:

"A couple of big attractions...... Think East Coast Main Line Racehorses....."

So possibly the return of 60103 or 60163? The debut of 60532.....
A Deltic perhaps for the Diesel Gala.....

Also interesting changes to the Membership structure with three options available from next year.

Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

I'd be interested to see the detail on this if it's available anywhere public? I suspect this might spread in time, seems like potentially a good idea to me.

 

As a Life Member (yes, I am that old a fart!) I haven't paid much attention, but a look at the latest mag gives some info.
Classic Membership - 50% of standard travel, free travel at the Open Weekend, 3 issues of Watercress News, attendance at the AGM (basically the same as at present);
Railway Companion - as above, plus: 25% off Gala tickets, Shop and Café discounts, early opportunities to buy event bookings;
Digital Supporter - for non-local members. 3 digital issues of Watercress News, behind the scenes videos, &c.

Talyllyn News arrived today. They are going down the road of a Principal member in each household, with a reduced rate for additional family members.

I am sure we will hear of more changes to memberships around the country in the future.

Pat

 

Haven't received my 'Mid Hants News' but have been a multi-year member for the last few years. OTTOMH, I can't recall if the offer was for 3 or 5 years but it generated a larger wodge of cash at Yr 1 but gave final year free? I'll probably go with 'Classic' at next renewal.

 

I hope your WLN hasn't gone AWOL they should have all been delivered now! We sent the final copy to the printer on 17th November.

 

Translation please.
It may be something obvious, but I can't see it.

 

Off the top of my head.

 

Welcome, Dear Reader, to this weeks edition of the Antiques Roadshow, bought to you from atop the hill in Medstead up yard!

With just Muggin's 'Ere & Me Mucker in attendance, with others awol sleeping off hangovers from works do's, and the fact that we're still waiting for our next victim to come into the yard, the order of the day was to start having a serious sort out in the workshop PMV........

We've lumps of metal and a serious amount of rusted bolts etc of unknown vintage that just sit there gathering dust and more rust year on year, and we've decided that it's time for them to go - they were probably saved for a rainy day as probably being useful at some point... but there's been plenty of rainy days since they were put to one side!

So, first up, was to sort out the collection in one corner of the van....... mainly made up of door hinges and mechanisms, which are always handy to have just in case, so they've had a stay of execution, but also been given a new home under the van to free up space.

Once that was done, it was a case of clearing benches and shelves, loading up a barra, and lugging the lumps to the scrap bin!

That kept us busy for the day, as did the frequent arrivals and departures of the Ivatt at the head of this years Satan's.

By the time the last train departed we were knackered from the amount of stuff we binned, and we've only scratched the surface....... but we were entertained by the comings and goings of the 20's along with 506 heading for Alton.... that was the point where we packed up and headed for the hills.

A few pics of yesterdays activities......

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