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Volume No. 9 Spring Issue 2002 Beamish Running day. There will be a Running day this year. The date is Sunday 15th of September Both adhesion and rack 7.25”gauge 4locomotives are welcome , with the usual boiler certification requirements .So far we have a Koppel fromthe Isle of Man and a Wren from York. Part of the fun will be an official Opening of the Rack Railway . This will be an opportunity to thank all those , particularly the Museum and Friends of Beamish who have contributed time and effort to this project. The opening will be performed by Richard Gibbon (from the York Railway Museum) and the Director of Beamish Museum Miriam Harte. We understand that Richard intends to attempt to climb the rack incline (1:10) pulled by his “Wren”.I shall be taking bets on how far he gets. We are grateful to Beamish Museum for providing facilities. A detailed programme will be produced by in mid-summer. Winter Progress There has been continued rapid progress aided by considerable luck with the weather and the use of the workshop for rail and point building. The most notable change to be seen is in the Marshalling yard area. There are now four roads leading from the Engine shed all connected by a series of points and a turntable to the main line .
(Above ) Marshalling Yard during the winter. The ease of getting locomotives onto the track is so novel that we have had several unplanned running days The chief mechanical engineer deplores the diversion of effort but puts a brave face on the inevitable. We remain indebted to John Moore who has become increasingly slick at producing points, and to John Lambard who has produced a cunning device for creosoting the large numbers of sleepers needed. Tea time confusion. Our group runs on tea, (except for Lloyd’s coffee).The signal is ringing a small ships bell.The nearby golf club also uses a bell to indicate starting at the first tee.So we turn up for teawhen its not made and golfers on the first hole think some-one is about to fire off a golf ball at them .
(Above)The turntable lock produced by Ken Swan has positive locking at either end of the turntable , and a spring loaded lever designed to lie flat out of the way of the locomotives. It is designed not to take anything larger than Koppel. The work in the marshalling yard has also required more complex line production with both tight radii and two examples of “S” shaped curves. The rail-bender produced by John Moore has been in use, as well as the free hand method of John Lambard. In either case the line is held rigidly to its gauge by steel tie-bars. An advantage of the tie-bar method of construction is that by altering the spacing of the tie-bar holes the curvature is also fixed. The Station canopy.has been long in production ,the original wall fixing being made about six years ago . Over winter the hard wood frame work has been fixed, covered with plywood/felt and slated (The slates are generous gift from Beamish Museum and give a fine period appearance.) As a result we now have two roads covered for some 30 feet in which we can store our long suffering rolling stock.
(above) Koppel shifting ballast in front of the station canopy, or more accurately Jim Duncan shifting ballast. The Ashpit which is thought to resemble a dog-kennel, has at last got a slated roof and the walls are being completed. Walls keep out light and keep in smoke so Robin Hedley is installing lights ( and ventilation if Ken has his way).
The ashpit from the Rack railway The extension of the adhesion line . The problem with our present teardrop track is that the head shunt is uncomfortably short when a full rake of coaches is used.
The end of the head shunt extension. The steep slopes in the region and rain forest vegetation mean that we can only lengthen the shunt by building a bridge .The structure produced resembles a jetty We have completed the foundations and have recently moved the main girders into position by placing them on top of a carriage. Jim Duncan’s expertise in manual handling came inuseful but I still had an aching back. .
(above)Visitor Terry Newman taking a break from standard gauge locomotives steams past extension iron work near the Archive building Rack Railway. The rack is now connected to the upper adhesion track and it is possible to drive directly from the loco-shed to the start of the rack section .The points which control entry into this section are to be moved mechanically and lockable. Some intrepid souls have now taken Koppel down to the upper bridge abutment and back .There are few thrills tocompare with going backwards down a 1:10 slope held only by the pistons in forward gear ( the compression brake) .More work is needed on the Bridge rack sections but we are confident that the whole rack will be open at the end of summer. We have also to welcome another Koppel, beautifully constructed by Mike Lax which was recently steamed. Large exhibit Building. The building is now complete and contains a large Doxford engine, Cobles , and a Wherry. The Steam Elephant
The steam Elephant(L) andLocomotion(R) outside the 1825 Engine shed A replica of this early locomotive has just been completed and is described in the January Railway Magazine. Designing engineer Jim Rees invited members of the group to the official opening by the chairman of English Heritage , (Sir Neil Cossons). There was a welcome chance to photograph “Locomotion “ and the “Steam Elephant” together and to meet the engineers responsible for construction. Many of the skills needed could not be found in the region ,a sad observation on the industrial decline of the Northeast. The museum staff and a squad of soldiers of the Hartlepool Marine detachment were in costumes of the period.There was a large press attendance, but the event failed to reach national television perhaps because members of the Royal family were in Newcastle that day
Steam Elephant and period coaches The Heywood Society is one of the older societies of Model Engineers . We are delighted that they have asked to visit the museum to view both the Steam Elephant and the Rack Railway . It hoped that we shall be able to stop our civil engineering long enough to steam some locomotives for them and to demonstrate the rack railway. Coming events Cambridge September 28-29th Carlisle Sunday 9th June and , Sinderbarrow,6-7th July Frank Atkinson the founder of Beamish Museum retired as Chairman of the Friends of Beamish on Saturday 18th of May. In farewell he gave a sparkling talk on Chauldron Wagons. We are grateful for the wonderful museum he developed. and are privileged however distantly to have been associated with such a remarkable man.
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