Progress Report - Sunday 24 January

Today a number of tasks were completed on the railway.

Work on Lawson's Loop was put on hold as a number of Permanent Way members was quite low therefore efforts were turned to working on the head shunt next to the new building at Steeplehouse. This needed extending of which has been completed now only requires the buffer stop adding at the end to stop stock proceeding further than the end of the tracks.

Over in the Engine House a small team came to work on Hibberd 4008 but before this work commenced they put together one of the new cabinets for the new building with varying degrees of success! When they finally got to the locomotive the front brake bar was removed and bar adjusted to allow the brake blocks to sit on the wheels better, this successfully completed the same needs to be repeated on the rear brake bar. Its safe to say the brakes are much more efficient now.

Others on site included the vegetation clearance team who worked at the top end of the line keeping the line clear of leaves otherwise they tend to cause difficulty with track adhesion on the steep incline above Dark Lane Quarry.

Progress Report - Sunday 17 January

Hi All, sorry for the late blog report!

On this day we were battling the elements with a dusting of snow, nevertheless we battled through completing some shunting manoeuvres in Dark Lane Quarry. Hibberd 4008 blazed a trail to allow other locomotives to follow, before commencing the shunting operations which allow us to release some of the wagon stock needed for further extension of the line.

As most of the locomotives were out of the Engine House the team also decided to have a good tidy up which the Engine House looks much better for.

Progress Report - Sunday 10th January

This week the Motive Power Team and Permanent Way Team were both working in their respective areas.

Back again after last weeks successes the team working on Hibberd 4008 having sourced the leaks and dealt with them started to reassemble the locomotive back into working order once again, this started with the basics re-fitting the radiator for the coolant and fuel tank for the fuel the engine needs. With these both on it was a case of bleeding both systems and after final checks were done turning the key! We must stress that at Steeple Grange with the absence of an extractor fan diesel engines arent to be started in the shed however the team used ingenuity and with the absence of a locomotive to move 4008 out of the shed meant the exhaust would need to be extended to the outside which was completed using a rather large plastic waster pipe!

One of the tasks for the Permanent Way team in our short window of on track maintenance is the relaying of Lawson's Loop, which would see the removal of the West Y-Point in order for it to be replaced with a right hand turnout which would be of a lesser radius turn than the existing point meaning that it would give for a smoother ride through the loop. Today the team dealt with connecting up the East point for the loop before relaying the track and joining up with the other point ready to go in.

On a side from this another member of the team was offering trips from Steeplehouse Station to Recreation Ground Station in return for donations which went down very well with the general public who all left with large smiles!

Ingenuity!

Relaying for Lawson's Loop

Hibberd 4008 setting up for a test run

Progress Report - Sunday 3rd January

The first work to take place after the new year with only a small team turning up to work on Hibberd 4008.

As the only ones on site the opportunity was seized to lift the locomotive and change the front suspension springs of which were past their best and caused it to lean forward meaning it was quite close to the railhead itself. With the new springs in place it has levelled the locomotive completely; a massive relief. With the majority of the front end of the locomotive in bits trying to source a leak on the front of the engine other diesel pipes were also given a good going over and tightening after the season and being a newly restored locomotive before a full running season this year.

It is hoped to use the locomotive on demonstration freight trains on marked days, the two mixed traction events on the 9/10 April and also on the 27/28/29 of August and also on selected dates throughout the summer on passenger trains with our new compressor wagon.

Up in the air whilst the springs are changed.

Gently setting the locomotive back down on the axle boxes.