FR & WHR & WHHR News

k1 has a much improved performance due to work done last year by its support group and staff at Dinas, this however has not increased the power of the locomotive so it is still limited to 7 carriage on the whr mainline, this during the running season does not give sufficient capacity for the number of passengers the railway would carry so k1 is confined to double heading service trains or running for photo charters or at special events this is only current polisy as of the 2014 season but changes to rolling stock and timetable could change this in future years. Please note this is what i have heard from various source's official and non official i would be happy for any memeber of the FR/WHR staff to prove me wrong or right in this matter.
many thanks
Patrick
Is that better Roger

 

Who are you calling a stff..?

 

Looks like its a Saturday visit fer me........

 

Looking at pics on the net it appears DLG has undertaken a few runs in undercoat on coal firing.

 

Yes it hauled passenger trains on Saturday and Sunday for the first time. The grey livery is meant to replicate that applied to Taliesin (Livingston Thompson) on it's return to traffic in 1956. It is likely to stay that way for a while as Merddin Emrys will be having work done on its bogies for the next couple of months. Also Heinz are working round the clock to provide enough soup for the repaint.

Tim

 

Surely it must be time to start some sort of livery debate? I vote Brighton umber or Caledonian blue.

 

Personally, I think it's been far too long since we've seen a traditional-outline Double Fairlie in FfR green...

 

Not a fan of the Earl then ?, I wonder how one would look in the shade of blue garratt 87 carries.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against the Earl - she's a very significant part of the FfR's history in her own right. But she was never intended to recreate the look of the pre-war Fairlies, unlike DLG. I just think that a traditional Fairlie in green - like the old Earl in the '50s and '60s - is a classic combination that hasn't been seen for far too long.

 

That said, new tanks to the traditional profile were made for the Earl several years ago but never used. My guess is that the old tanks must have been patched up as they were said to be rather fragile - as an FR driver said to me at the time, "Put it this way, don't go near them with that ball point pen". Quite why the new tanks were never fitted, I know not - but they were said to be incomplete insofar as there were no antisurge baffles inside them.

 

I for one would be against "traditionalising" the Earl - after all there are two with traditional profiles already!
I'm beginning to understand how Pandora must have felt...

 

If it meant that the Earl looked like Merddin Emrys, I have to agree with you!

Out of interest, how similar in design are Merddin Emrys and Earl of Merioneth? I understand the boilers are the same, and the bogies can obviously be interchanged; what about the tanks or cradles?

Jon Bridgwater

 

A good weekend, linked below is some footage from Saturday to Monday.

Video Footage Here

 

Not my photo, but a nice one from the weekend at the WHHR.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94130968@N07/13912282989/

 

The new tanks became victims of 'time and tide'...

They were constructed as a spin-off from the overhaul of 'Merddin Emrys'. In 2003, during the preparations for the overhaul it was realised that the tanks on 'ME' needed to be replaced. A jig was designed to aid in their construction and - as at this time a ground-swell of opinion to 'tradition-alise' the 'Earl' was growing - a decision was made to save costs and batch build a second set of Victorian style tanks which could be fitted to the 'Earl' at a later overhaul.

Thus a new set of tanks was constructed in good faith and placed in store inside Glanymor carriage shed. Unfortunately, they were never to be used...

At the time the tanks were designed the railway was set to continue its use of oil fired locomotives. The new design included integrated oil tanks, rather than 'lift out' tanks, to provide a stronger unit that was less prone to flex and sag. The new design was a success, but inadvertently led to the sidelining of the second set of tanks...

By the winter of 2005-6 it was obvious that, as a result of rising prices, the tide had turned and oil firing had become uneconomic. As a result, it was decided to convert the 'Earl' to coal - a decision made easier by the loco's retention of its original 'lift out' oil tanks. These could be taken out and coal bunkers installed in their place...

... and, of course, by this time there was a growing ground-swell of opinion to retain the 1970s profile of the 'Earl'...

 

Also see

https://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/14093864246

https://www.flickr.com/photos/63164772@N05/13917635258

 

Sorry, but I think the original was provided by the Klangers "Soup Dragon"........... (my bold ^^)

 

While not a direct answer to your question, the complicated relationship between the Ffestiniog Railway's Fairlie locos is described in these two articles from the Ffestiniog Railway Society website...

Musical Bogies - Part 1

Musical Bogies - Part 2

 

There were two reasons for building the second set of tanks...a large jig had to be made up to set up welding of the tanks, whilst in position it made sense to weld up two sets of tanks, the jig then had to be dismantelled. I believe the second set of tanks was only tack welded together. All the info here http://www.merddin-emrys.co.uk/Pages/Tanks/Tanksintro/tanks.htm

The second reason was that the current tanks on the Square were leaking badly, the water droping onto motion parts. I believe, in best FR tradition, a temporary bodge was made to fix the leaks at the time ( 2004 winter ?). The fix is still working, but at some point the tanks on the square will need major work doing on them, or new ones. If you change the tanks it will mean a new cab as well.

Regards

Peter

 

The new tanks were actually designed to make conversion to coal firing and any possible change in boiler easy. Even though the don't have separate oil tanks it is mostly just a case of cutting a hole in the top and fitting a bunker floor. The second set are only tacked together enough to be moved around. They are not finished and could be modified quite easily if needed.

The old tanks continue to soldier on with new bottoms fitted in 2007. However the sides are now getting very thin and i suspect they will be expired by the end of this boiler ticket.

Tim