NGRM News

News 2013 (April to June)

curator — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:16:42 +0000

Wednesday 12 June North Ings

On a breezy, cloudy but dry day, Malcolm Phillips, Jack Harris and Chris White attended to PENELOPE and INDIAN RUNNER.
A grand shunt was the first item on the Agenda. The yellow Ruston was used to move various carriages and wagons to allow access to the two locos owned by The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.
PENELOPE was oiled, fuelled and cleaned ready for the Young People's Railway Experience Day on 6 July.

Jack started the loco at the first attempt: this is an operation that has been made much easier since the interface between the starting handle and the dog with which it engages were re-profiled and a hardened steel insert attached to guide and hold the starting handle in the correct position. He then took the original set of carriages round the circuit before lunch. PENELOPE was then used to pull INDIAN RUNNER out of the shed and lunch was taken.
Suitably refreshed, the group then set to work on INDIAN RUNNER. One of the brass instruction plates inside the cab was re-fixed with two additional nuts and bolts as it was bent out and looked as if an attempt had been made to remove it some time in the past. The lubrication was checked and some moving parts oiled and the main fuel, water and oil systems were checked and deemed satisfactory. It was then decided to start the loco and Jack achieved this at the second attempt by using the starting handle, the first time we have been able to do this. We ran the loco for a short time but shut it down to allow work to continue. The nameplates were completed by rubbing down the filler over the bolts fitted previously and painted with the correct matching red paint.

The frames were cleaned down and, along with the cab floor which had previously been treated with primer, given a coat of black undercoat.

A set back was the discovery that the connection to the oil pressure gauge had failed and this will need to be re-made commercially. PENELOPE was used to shunt INDIAN RUNNER back into the shed, before being given a coat of gloss black on the coupling and spring buffer. Work concluded with the reversal of the opening shunting moves.

Thursday 6 June

On a beautiful summer morning a good sized gang attended, comprising Neal Chapman; Charles Benedetto; Sara Eade; Sue Whitehouse; Robbie Lawrence and Winston McCanna.

The first job was to swap the positions of the dismantled slate wagon, which was on the Weigh Bridge siding and the Incline Wagon which was newly painted in the Gunpowder Shed. The Incline Wagon is very heavy and we were pleased to accept the offer of assistance from Mike and Steve of the outdoor gang, who were working to install an automatic sprinkler system for the hanging baskets. The slate wagon is now ready to be completed when the necessary parts arrive, and these have been ordered. Sara and Charles then put a coat of grey wagon paint onto the surface of the deck of the slate wagon after having cleaned it down with white spirit.

A row of smartly painted wagons outside the Weighbridge Office. The Incline Wagon waits to have its number 117 added

Neal and Winston unwrapped the two Audio Units which had finally arrived and have been sponsored by the Awdry family. These are to be used to play some of the Awdry story recordings read by Johnny Morris from the collection. These units now require to be connected and the programme installed.

One of the Audio Units, unpacked and awaiting electrical connection and programme installation

Sue cleaned all the glass inside museum including the show cases, banisters and the information panels, while Sara and Charles cleaned the brass work on the locomotives.
Robbie continued with the installation of cabling for the Tyers No 6 Tablet Instruments, using conduit purchased earlier by Winston. This job is now approaching completion.

The next working parties will be on Thursdays 13, 20 and 27 June and Saturday 1 July. All commence at 0930, so come along and join in the fun.

Saturday 1 June

Winston was away, but Neal Chapman attended and applied the finishing touches to the wagon paintwork. Moving it outside will have to await a larger gang. Don completed his administrative duties in the office.

Thursday 30 May

On a pleasant sunny morning, Neal Chapman, Charles Benedetto, and Sara Eade completed the painting of the incline wagon, Philip Sayers cleaned the interpretive panels for the weighbridge, which were becoming rather grubby, and Richard Evans continued cleaning and waxing metal objects in the store. Don Newing and Malcolm Phillips were working on administrative duties in the museum and joined the gang for their coffee break, with biscuits previously supplied by Winston and Ann.

Charles and Sara working on the wagon, while Neal looks on from inside the store.

Thursday 23 May

On a very cold and blustery morning a better sized gang gathered at Wharf Station. Present were Phil Sayers; Neal Chapman; Chris White; Robbie Lawrence and Winston McCanna.
Chris worked on the Museum owned working gas lamps which are fixed to the south side of the old station building. This is routine work which Chris carries out to ensure that this period feature remains a working part of the ambiance at Wharf. Some of the mantles required replacement and general cleaning, adjusting and housekeeping are necessary at intervals. Work is also required on the two gas column lamps at the Station entrance but this will need the assistance of some skilled help.

Neal and Phil worked initially in the Gunpowder Shed and put a further coat of grey paint on the outside of the Incline Wagon and on one side of the tail gate which rested on trestles. Work in this project is coming to a close.

Winston had burned the midnight oil and by putting in a number of extra sessions had painted the new children's Activity Table in primary signal colours, as requested by the Trustees, and had then assembled the table. Neal had been able to assist in some of these additional sessions.

Winston made coffee, which was taken inside the café due to the raw nature of the unseasonal weather, and sufficient supplies of Ann's biscuits were found in a box in the Attendants' cupboard to enjoy with the refreshment. Tom Place was the duty Attendant and joined in.
Attention then turned to housekeeping the inside of the Museum. Phil washed and cleaned the yellow noses on the staircase and swept the steps while Winston polished the glass in the stair banisters. Neal dusted and polished all the exhibits and this was found to be very necessary as little cleaning has been undertaken for a the last couple of months.
Robbie made further progress on the Tyers No 6 Tablet Instruments. The new springs sourced and supplied by Mike Chistenson were installed and the inside of both instruments cleaned using Henry. Mike had also supplied brass tablets for use on the instruments when they are demonstrated in the future. Intriguingly the destinations on the tablets has been ground off so their past history can not be readily determined.

Future working parties will take place on Thursday 30 May and Saturday 1 June when Don Newing will be directing operations and Thursday 6 June. Much remains to be done so please come along and join in the fun.

Thursday 16 May

In the week leading up to the 16th a request was received from two of the Trustees asking that the recently purchased Children's Activity Table, which arrived unfinished and in flat-pack form, be completed and made available by 24th May. It was also asked that it be paint finished in primary signal colours!
This meant that a considerable amount of extra time would be required to meet this requirement and so Winston McCanna put in time on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and got a coat of white primer paint onto all the elements, followed by white undercoat, and gloss top on to one side of each piece.
Thursday came and, as regulars Neil Chapman was again rostered as Museum Attendant and Phil Sayers as the train guard, Winston worked solo in the Gunpowder Shed, and painted a gloss coat onto the other side of each piece of timber. When the paint has thoroughly dried assembly can take place.
Robbie Lawrence also attended and wired the battery pack on the Tyers Number 6 Instrument nearest to the Museum Office and included an isolating switch. Mike Christenson called in and left a number of spare parts for the project as he had promised, including some metal tablets.

The next regular working parties will take place on Thursdays 23 and 30 May and Saturday 1 June. As can be seen numbers attending tend to be few and we can do with more effort, so please come along if you can spare the time. The next task to be tackled is to complete the re-painting of the Incline Wagon.

Friday 10 May

Mrs Sheila Jay of Derby presented a copy of Sir Arthur Percival Haywood's privately published book, "Minimum Gauge Railways" to Winston McCanna, who received it by arrangement on behalf of the Trustees.

Thursday 9 May

With regulars Phil Sayers and Neal Chapman rostered as TR Controller and NGRM Museum Attendant respectively, Charles Benedetto and Winston McCanna joined forces to progress the Abergynolwyn Incline Wagon restoration in the Gunpowder Shed.

Filler was applied to a number of holes in the wood wagon underframe, and a coat of wood primer applied to the frame where raw timber showed.
A coat of etch primer was applied to the reverse side of the end panel of the wagon which was lying flat on trestles.
A cup of coffee was enjoyed in Kings Café, the weather being decidedly unfriendly with rain, a strong wind and low temperature.
A second coat of grey undercoat was then applied to the inside of the wagon body and by this time the primer paint applied earlier had dried sufficiently for a first coat of grey undercoat to be applied to the outside of the wagon.

The next working party will be held on Thursday 16 May when a second grey undercoat will be applied to the outside of the wagon and the end flap will get painted. After that sessions will be held on 23 and 31 May. The next Saturday working party will be held on 1 June, all at 0930.
We do need your support so please come along and lend a hand. If you can let Winston McCanna know beforehand it would be appreciated.
01654 712052 or winstonmccanna@gmail.com

Saturday 4 May

Neal Chapman was the only volunteer attending and he occupied himself by applying a coat of grey undercoat to the inside faces of the Abergynolwyn Incline Wagon in the Gunpowder Shed.

Thursday 2 May

Present were Neal Chapman; Phil Sayers and Charles Bendetto.
Work continued on the Abergynolwyn Incline Wagon refurbishment in the Gunpowder Shed. The body of the wagon was washed down with white spirit, and rust preventative paint was applied to all naked surfaces.

Thursday 25 April

After last week's pause in activities while respects were paid at the funeral of former Museum Attendant John Howell Jones, activity resumed with Neal Chapman; Charles Benetto and Winston McCanna. Ann McCanna was the duty attendant with Alan and Diane Chetwynd training.

Neal repainted the number on both sides of the re-painted three bar slate No 136, using the stencils and a pot of new white undercoat paint purchased specially.
Charles and Winston covered the inside and outer faces of the new doors to the Gunpowder Shed with gloss black paint. It commenced raining as they were finishing, and the effect that this will have upon their handiwork will be monitored.
Neal is also working at home on restoring the "Stores" cast sign, before it is re-instated on the new doors.
A break was taken while coffee made by Ann was consumed together with an assortment of Ann's biscuits.

The next working party will be held on Thursday 2 May, followed by Saturday 4 May. There is still plenty to occupy the gang so please come along and offer some assistance.

Thursday 18 April

Winston McCanna, Roger and Sue Whitehouse and Chris White attended the funeral of John Howell Jones at St Cadvan's Church along with numerous members of his family and people from the town, the care home at Aberdyfi where he had spent his last years, the Bryn Dysynni Day Centre, and the Talyllyn Railway. He had suffered from cerebral palsy since a child and so had learning problems all his life. In the 1960's and 70's he found his niche in life caring for the Museum which he attended almost daily, keeping an eye on things and advising the trustees of the time of what happened in between their occasional visits. For many people he was "Museum John", always ready to welcome any-one who showed an interest in the exhibits.

In the Museum Ann McCanna was duty attendant and the morning train brought a coach party down from Abergynolwyn, many of whom spent time in the museum before resuming their tour.
Eric Wooding and Brian Kelland came in and Eric emptied the donation boxes and counted the money.

Next sessions: Thursdays 18 and 25 April; 2 May and then Saturday 4 May. All helpers will be warmly welcomed and promptly employed.

Thursday 11 April Working Party

A very small group, comprising just Charles Benedetto and Winston McCanna attended.

The new doors for the Gunpowder Shed having been delivered and fitted earlier this week by contract, it was the intention to apply a coat of black finishing paint to these doors, but an early morning shower put paid to this programme. Instead the Talyllyn Incline Wagon, that had been brought into the shed last Saturday for a repaint was started by scraping the loose paint off the floor and sides of the wagon. Rotten timber patches were also dug out in the wagon frame and the wagon was then left to complete drying out in readiness for the holes to be filled and the start of the painting regime.
The early rain soon ceased and coffee was taken on the platform accompanied by Ann's biscuits.
There is still plenty to occupy us. Future work includes painting the Gunpowder Shed doors, inside and out; rubbing down and varnishing all the pieces that comprise the Children's play table which has been delivered before this can be assembled; and continuing with refurbishing the Incline Wagon. The next session will be held on Thursdays 18 and 25 April; 2 May and then Saturday 4 May. Come along and enjoy assisting with these tasks.

Wednesday 10 April Working Party at North Ings

A fine Spring day with Malcolm Phillips, Chris White and Jack Harris attending.
Malcolm opened up and had a grand shunt to obtain access to the NGRM locos, PENELOPE and INDIAN RUNNER.
Chris and Jack arrived and the yellow Ruston was used to drag PENELOPE and INDIAN RUNNER into the open.
The main task of the day was to fit the two nameplates and the one owners/information plate to INDIAN RUNNER. The loco had been named by Francis Stapleton, the previous owner and the name painted on the lower body plates. As foundry patterns for INDIAN RUNNER plates had been prepared by the Dinorwic Quarry Railway and are in the possession of the Museum, the Museum Trustees commissioned Newton Replicas to produce brass plates and also a small engraved plate with the builders and owners details. The fitting of the three plates entailed a lot of measuring and checking before suitable holes were drilled and the plates fitted.
Lunch was taken outside.
Malcolm and Jack checked the oil, coolant (water with anti-freeze) and fuel on PENELOPE and the loco was started by a few turns on the starting handle by Jack.
Meanwhile Chris had checked the fuel and lubrication on INDIAN RUNNER and, as the loco had been de-watered for the winter, Jack got the hosepipe and re-filled the cooling system. After, carefully checking all the settings, Chris sat in INDIAN RUNNER while Jack towed the loco on to the main line using PENELOPE. Malcolm coordinated the efforts from the lineside and INDIAN RUNNER started easily, no doubt in part due to the warm sunshine and dry rails. The two locos were then taken for a few turns round the circuit to check that all was working properly.
The loco engines were then stopped and further work undertaken: touching-up of the name/owners plate on PENELOPE, filling the screw holes on INDIAN RUNNER's name plates and applying red gloss to the buffer couplings and red oxide rust treatment to bare metal in the doorway to the driving position. Some small leaks were noted on INDIAN RUNNER: a leak from the connection to the oil pressure gauge and a small leak in the diesel feed will need attention in due course.
The tools were packed away and the morning shunting reversed and a very satisfactory day's work was complete, bringing the restoration of INDIAN RUNNER a few steps nearer to completion.

Saturday 6 April Working Party

Present on a fine and relatively still day were - Keith Theobald; Ian Evans; Richard Evans; Phil Sayers; Bob Hulley, attending his first working party and very welcome; Winston McCanna. The duty Attendant was Ray Brooks and he had with him Diane and Alan Chetwynd who were training as attendants and in between visitors worked with Bob in dusting and polishing inside the Museum, paying particular attention to glass surfaces of the show cases and the stair bannisters.
The newly painted 3 bar slate wagon inside the Gunpowder Shed TR036 was pulled out and placed on the siding over the Weigh Bridge. The preserved Incline Wagon TR017 was hand shunted from the Wharf Edge and was then run to stand outside the Gunpowder Shed as it is the next to receive attention.
The two bar braked slate wagon TR064 which had been repainted last year and which had begun to look very grubby, was then given a good wash down with a "Flash" solution and rinsed off. This showed that the paint work is still in reasonable condition and only requires some touching up at this stage.
The Incline Wagon was then similarly washed down and this revealed that the floor of the wagon requires scraping off and the metal painted from raw steel in some places. The whole wagon will now receive fresh paint. When it was dry the wagon was pushed into the Shed to stay dry in readiness for attention at future working parties.

Wagons 136, 101 and 164 on the Weighbridge track - photo Keith Theobald

Inside the Museum Keith and Ian displayed the results of the "Invent It" competition which was recently held in the Museum as part of National Science Engineering Week. Work was then carried out on Gift Aid paperwork.

"Invent It" competition display - photo Keith Theobald

They also gave a report on the previous day's Strategic Review, which was held at the Kidderminster Railway Museum .
Meanwhile the seemingly never ending tasks of wire brushing and waxing cast iron components stored in the Gunpowder Shed continued.
Mid morning Ray volunteered to make coffee and this was enjoyed together with a box of biscuits sent along by Ann McCanna, who was to be the Duty Attendant in the afternoon.
This was another thoroughly useful and productive day, which was well supported. The low key sessions will continue on Thursday mornings, the next being 11 April, followed by 18 and 25, 2 May and so on. The next Saturday session will be on 4 May at 0930.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Thursday 4 April Working Party and Historic Wagon Update

With the 150th anniversary in 2014 of the arrival of Locomotive No 1 "Talyllyn" to the TR, an informal request has been received that as many of the historic Talyllyn wagons as possible be available for use next year. The list of such wagons includes both varieties of slate Wagon, both two and three bar versions with two samples of one version, an Abergynolwyn Incline wagon and the box van which was grounded at Rhydyronen Station for many years.

When locomotive No 1 had arrived in Towyn and Mr Boustead had been summoned from Whitehaven to show the railway staff how to make it work its first jobs were to assist in completing the building of the line and then to convey slate wagons to and from Nant Gwernol to Towyn. The availability of passenger carriages and approval to carry them was still in the future.

The box van (146) received a complete re-paint recently and looks very tidy. The situation with the rest of the Museum wagon fleet is not so good and with the cessation of the regular Thursday morning working parties due to the advent of the 2013 TR running season it has been agreed that regular sessions will continue to be held on Thursday mornings through the season to work on these wagons in the Gunpowder Shed.

The three bar slate wagon (136) has been in the shed for some time receiving attention whenever labour has permitted. Work on this wagon having reached the stage where all the grey paintwork had been completed, on Thursday 28 March Neal Chapman worked solo and painted all the black paint below the wagon deck level. The following week on Thursday 4 April Neal was joined by Charles Benedetto and Winston McCanna and together they completed all the black painting necessary. All that is now required on this vehicle is to restore its fleet number in white.

On the same two days Robbie Lawrence worked on the on-going project with the Tyers No 6 Tablet Instruments, installing a block phone at each instrument. These phones are from the historic reserve collection in the Museum store. From Sunday 31 March Thursday to 4 April Don Newing was also present, working on the Museum and Railways historic collection of papers and ephemera. On Thursday 4 April Don carried out an audit of parts for the dismantled slate wagon(101) currently sitting on the weighbridge platform in order to obtain items to replace those that were missing, damaged or rotten timber found when the wagon was dismantled..

The next working session will be held on Saturday 6 April when it is hoped to have a shunt to get the newly re-painted slate wagon out of the Gunpowder Shed and onto the siding over the Weigh Bridge, and to replace it with the Incline Wagon (117), which currently sits on the Wharf edge. This wagon can then dry out under cover to be ready to receive a complete re-paint. The other task to be tackled will be to thoroughly clean down the third slate wagon(164) to ascertain what re-painting if any is required. Additionally it is also hoped to give the inside of the Museum and its artifacts a clean, as now that the Museum is open daily signs of our visitors rapidly become apparent.

So come along and join us on either the first Saturday of each month and on Thursday mornings in the Gunpowder Shed.

Cambrian Railways

curator — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:51:08 +0000

Gauges: Standard; 2ft 6in (760mm) and 1ft 11½in (600mm)

Museum objects:

CAM001 Train Staff

The Cambrian Railways Co was formed on 25 July 1864 by the amalgamation of smaller companies and owned almost 100 miles of main line from Whitchurch to Aberystwyth. The line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli opened fully in October 1867. Eventually the system extended south through Llanidloes to Talyllyn Junction near Brecon and, along with numerous branches including two narrow gauge lines, the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway from Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion 2ft 6in (760mm) and the Vale of Rheidol Railway from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge 1ft 11½in (600mm), the total mileage was about 300 and the largest railway company in Wales when taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1922.

For museum items from the Vale of Rheidol Railway and the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway please see their respective headings.

NGRM News

News 2013 (April to June)

Wednesday 12 June North Ings

Thursday 6 June

Saturday 1 June

Thursday 30 May

Thursday 23 May

Thursday 16 May

Friday 10 May

Thursday 9 May

Saturday 4 May

Thursday 2 May

Thursday 25 April

Thursday 18 April

Thursday 11 April Working Party

Wednesday 10 April Working Party at North Ings

Saturday 6 April Working Party

Thursday 4 April Working Party and Historic Wagon Update

Cambrian Railways

Welcome!

Coronation Specials, 2013 and 1953

Visiting the museum

Opening Hours 2013

RUS001 Locomotive Indian Runner

Isle of Man Railway

IOM047

IOM039 Badge of Isle of Man Railway Company

IOM038

IOM037

IOM036

IOM035

IOM032

IOM031

IOM030

IOM029

IOM027

IOM023

CV007 Luggage Label

CV009 Rail Coach Timetable

Clogher Valley Railway