Author: Eric Ring

WHAT IS THE APPEAL FOR?

Firstly, our Bogie Brake Third carriage 1474 based at the Worth Valley was examined for potentially more extensive use.  It was found that significant repairs to the bogies and body side bearers were necessary.    Unfortunately the Worth Valley carriage workshops do not have the facilities to carry out the work, so we have arranged for the work to be carried out commercially by the East Lancashire Railway at their Bury workshops.

Secondly, following very encouraging results of Non Destructive Testing of the boiler of Pug Saddletank 19 the trustees have decided to progress the restoration of the loco to steam under a contract at the East Lancashire Railway. This followed further evaluation and showed that the overall condition was better than thought. 

WHAT WILL BE THE COSTS? – updated June 2021

Bogie Brake 1474 – work was carried out with costs met from reserves and previous donations, with the assistance of the East Lancs Railway we have been able to draw up a list of work to which you are invited to donate, which can be found here

Pug Saddletank 19 – following initial stripping and investigation work, again with costs met from reserves and previous donations, we have been able to draw up a list of work to which you are invited to donate, which can be found here

HOW CAN I DONATE?

Each appeal document details how donations can be made by cheque through the post, you will also see on the right hand side of each web page that we accept donations via PayPal and Virgin Money Giving, also we accept payments directly into the Trust Bank Account.  The Trust can also enhance your donation by claiming Gift Aid.

Further detail on making donations can be found here by viewing our membership/donation form.

Updated 25th June

With the publication of plans for a staged end to the current lockdown, preserved railways have are now restart public services from mid-April onwards, although proposed end dates for lifting of restrictions may well be put back, including the final stage from 21st June.

The Worth Valley restarted services from 17th April, following the pattern used in 2020 of passengers booking in advance to travel in a private compartment booked in advance only, it’s possible that our 6-wheel carriages will be in use on some services until mid-May, then on some Vintage Trains Weekends in July and August, see more details here.

The East Lancashire Railway restarted services from 1st May, more details of the full service and events can be seen here.
In late June it has been announced that our Saddletank 752 (still posing as BR 51456) will be used on services at the East Lancashire Railway, see our separate post here (opens in new window).

Work on our Bogie Brake 1474 at East Lancashire Railway is still in progress (see other Latest News) and the whole project should be complete and ready for return to the Worth Valley by this summer.

Restoration work on our Pug 19 at East Lancashire Railway also in progress following very encouraging results of the detailed examination of the boiler, so the trustees decided to arrange a contract for restoration to steam.

For the latest information from each railway you can check on the web:
Worth Valley here East Lancashire Railway here

Updated 12th June 2021
Following dismantling at the East Lancashire Railway and Non Destructive Testing of the boiler, the trustees have decided to proceed with a restoration to steam under a contract.

The work involves a reasonable amount of work on the boiler, with many ‘industrial’ fittings applied during 30 years of private industry use needing replacement, and systems such as vacuum braking will need to be fitted.

We ae actively seeking funds to meet the costs, following detailed examination and dismantling it’s been possible to draw up a list of work expected to complete the project, hopefully by the end of 2021, donations are welcome towards the costs which can be found here

Further details and photos of the work in progress can be seen in our page under OUR COLLECTION for Pug 19 here

Bogie Brake 1474 has been the subject of investigation and repairs to the bogie springing during 2019 and 2020. The main issue was that 1474 rolled quite a bit when in use, probably indicating that there was weakness in the suspension almost certainly due to its age.
This had prevented its use in most service trains, although the Worth Valley agreed that it could be used for a filming contract in 2019 (see news item Filming for NETFLIX) and permission was given for its use and on their initial post-COVID-19 services in August and September 2020.
The bogie suspension consists of primary and secondary (or auxiliary) components. The primary suspension comprises large coil springs located in the central bolster, the secondary being the leaf springs located over each axlebox together with a pair of auxiliary coil springs located at the outer end of each leaf spring.
The coil springs and tie bars on the bogies were replaced by August 2020, which showed a marked improvement, the the Worth Valley Direct of Engineering arranged for the chassis and body to be lifted from the bogies and it was found that further mechanical work was required on the bogies and their mountings connecting to the chassis and body.
After extensive research and investigation, the trustees decided to arrange restoration under a contract with the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, to which the carriage was taken by road in October 2020.

June 2021 – with the bulk of work on one of the bogies complete, we have been able to draw up a list of the work required together with expected costings. The cost of work so far has been met from Trust reserves and previous donations, donations towards the work would be welcomed, the list of work can be found here

February and March 2021 – extensive restoration and repair (together with parts replacement) is well advanced on one of the bogies, with the wheelsets seeing extensive restoration work for further service as well as replacement of the bolster springs and other components.

January 2021 – removal of parts for assessment has now started, with the brake end bogie removed, so far it has been established that the large bolster springs will need replacement, current work is being concentrated on the wheelsets and detailed examination of the other components making up the bogie.

November 2020 – 1474 is in the East Lancashire Railway workshops and initial evaluation of the work has progressed, but further work has been delayed by requirements for work on their operational carriages to be used in their forthcoming Santa services.

October 2020 has seen 1474 being taken by road to the East Lancashire Railway workshops at Bury to have extensive repairs to the bogies and body mountings following the recent detailed examination at the Worth Valley. Their workshops are not suitable to carry out the work mainly due to the need to keep the body separate from the bogies but for reassembly to take place as necessary at various times during the work.

September 2020 during this month the carriage was used on 5 days of Vintage Services and the riding was definitely improved. However further use of the carriage will not take place until extensive mechanical work has been completed, the trustees are currently establishing the best method of carrying out the work, almost certainly using external contractors.

August 2020 saw the detailed examination completed in Haworth Yard using the Bahamas Locomotive Society (BLS) steam crane, we are extremely grateful to the BLS for the efforts with this exercise. Various findings have been reported which indicate further work is required but the Brake has been approved for the currently planned services.

July 2020 has seen the suspension work completed but the detailed examination of the carriage has been delayed as a result of the lifting gear being located on the wrong side of the bridge replacement work near Ingrow, its relocation will take place shortly after the bridge work is completed in early August.

June 2020 has seen the resumption of work and the arrival of newly manufactured securing tie bolts and their associated fittings, see some photos below. The carriage has been relocated to the Worth Valley’s carriage and wagon workshop for final assembly to take place and for a detailed examination of the carriage involving lifting the body from the chassis, which might not have taken place for over 80 years.

March 2020 saw some springs removed for testing and temporarily replaced with steel tube. Examples of the auxiliary coil and leaf springs can be seen below along with an example of the securing tie bolts. Just before the Coronavirus lockdown, new coil spring manufacture was completed and some fitted, then work had to stop. However it was possible capture some photos as below.

January 2020 it’s been established that the auxiliary coil springs in the secondary suspension have insufficient strength so 16 replacements are now on order thanks to a very good response to a fundraising request, and there is also sufficient funding to cover replacement of the 16 securing tie bars and fittings. Copies of the original L&YR general arrangement drawings of the bogies were obtained in 2019 via the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society and it’s been found that the full specification for the replacement springs was detailed on the drawings. The material used over 100 years ago is now hard to obtain, so an alternative design has been established and approved by the Worth Valley’s Director of Engineering.

The photos below are supplied by the Trust’s team of of Jim Hindle, David and Daniel Winters as well as Trustee Peter Eastham and the Worth Valley’s Engineering Director, John Reddyhoff.
Click on any image to view large version and as a slideshow and

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