Sunday August 23rd 2020 will see the first use of our 3 compartment carriages on the Worth Valley’s relaunched public services, the photo shows them in use on trial running with 2 Vintage Carriages Trust carriages at Oxenhope. Current plans see them operating on Sundays through to 27th September inclusive and possibly on 2 Saturdays, see further details of services on Worth Valley here.
(photo copyright Craig Philip Szlatoszlavek supplied by Worth Valley Railway)
Regular viewers of photos on the site will observe that our carriages are now running the opposite way round – they have been turned on Keighley turntable.
This has been done to help with the carriage of passengers in wheelchairs and people accompanying them, as on our brake carriage the area with double door access is much larger than those of the other carriages, also providing easier access on Oxenhope platform.
Author: Eric Ring
752 used on ELR public services
Following an issue with the loco rostered for 15th and 16th August, 752 (still running as BR 51456) came to the rescue on East Lancashire Railway public services between Bury and Rawtenstall, the photo from Liam Barnes was taken leaving Irwell Vale. Details of services can be found on their website here.
Also there is a Youtube video from LMS VIDEO’S taken from a drone which covers some of the journey. This can be found here and opens in a new window.
Expected use of our stock
(updated on 14th August)
CARRIAGES AT THE WORTH VALLEY RAILWAY – the railway have requested use of our six-wheel and Brake compartment carriages for Vintage Train services planned to operate on 6 Sundays from 23rd August to 27th September inclusive. Our Brake carriage has now been approved for use following detailed examination and will provide facilities for carriage of wheelchair passengers and people accompanying them. To make our carriages more convenient for boarding at Oxenhope, they have been turned on Keighley turntable and the Brake end now faces south – as it arrived in 1965.
PLEASE NOTE – due to constraints of post-lockdown operation all Worth Valley train services are subject to advance booking via the Worth Valley website. Accomodation on the trains is booked per compartment in advance and a First Class supplement is payable, unfortunately there are no concessions for Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust or Worth Valley members.
All services will only pick up passengers at Oxenhope or Keighley with a return non-stop return trip. Full details of the services running in August are available on the Worth Valley’s website here
LOCOMOTIVES AT THE EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY – the ELR had announced the resumption of services on a trial basis for the first two weekends of August but due to last-minute government changes they did not run on 1st/2nd August, they now plan to run each weekend from 8th/9th August plus the Bank Holiday Monday – see here.
Our active loco Saddletank 752 is not currently scheduled for use on these services but may feature in subsequent services, in the meantime 752 is not on public display at the ELR.
Our other loco at the ELR, Pug 19, is in their workshop under evaluation for restoration and is therefore not on public display.
Brake 1474 – work on suspension
Bogie Brake 1474 has been the subject of investigation and repairs to the bogie springing during 2019. This has prevented its use in service trains but the Worth Valley agreed that it could be used for a filming contract (see news item Filming for NETFLIX) along with our 6-wheelers. The main issue is that 1474 rolls quite a bit when in use, probably indicating that there is weakness in the suspension almost certainly due to its age.
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.
Much of the investigation work has taken place with the active co-operation of the Worth Valley’s Director of Engineering, the Worth Valley having responsibility for the safety of the carriages when in use.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Carriages in NETFLIX series
The 6-part series called ‘The English Game’ was released on March 20th and can be viewed on the NETFLIX TV channel.
Our six-wheel carriages 279 and 1507 together with the Bogie Brake 1474 were used under a contract with NETFLIX.
The series covers events that led to the introduction of professional players into English football in the Victorian era.
Our carriages were used with Coal Tank 1054 during May and July 2019, much of the filming being in Keighley station which was renamed Darwen for the purpose. Although Brake 1474 was not available for public service at the time, the Worth Valley had approved it for use in the filming, for which the brake compartment was modified by the fitting of wooden benches for a team to sit.
March 2020 Steam Galas
The Worth Valley and East Lancashire railways held Steam Gala weekend events on 6th to 8th March, both of which were a success.
The Worth Valley Gala used only our Club Carriage 47 in one of the service trains – for operational reasons our 6-wheelers could not be used.
The East Lancashire Gala featured our loco 752 in the guise of 51456 on its first public service trains. Our Pug 19 has been temporarily relocated from the Ribble Steam Railway at Preston and was on static display in the guise of 51241.
Videos of the Galas can be found on our Video online web page, most of them from YouTube
Photos can be found on or Photos -stock in use web page, most of them from Flickr
L&YR Saloon 12 rescued
In 2019 we advised in ON TRUST that we had inspected Saloon 12 which had been owned by the late Dave Lewis, which was for sale by his widow. We had decided that we could not take on the project but a few months later there was a threat of destruction, so it has been rescued and put in safe storage pending looking for some charity or society who can take it on for full restoration.
Below is a photo of it in storage prior to being covered with a large waterproof cover.
752 to feature in TV series
752 is to feature in TV series STEAM TRAIN BRITAIN which is to be shown on the Yesterday channel, a Freeview channel also available on Sky.
The first showing will be on Thursday 19th December 2019 at 2000 but will almost certainly be repeated.
The filming took place in October 2019 when 752 was incomplete but capable of moving under its own steam.
2019 Annual General Meeting
The meeting was held in the Conference Room of the East Lancashire Railway at Baron Street, Bury and was well attended despite the wet weather that had let to public transport disruption.
Following the meeting those present were able to view 752 running along one of the workshop sidings under its own steam, albeit incomplete.
752 can run under own steam
In the middle of October work on 752 was advanced such that it was able to move under its own steam in the yard of the ELR workshops at Baron Street, Bury. Much remained to be done on 752, for example it was running without the tank, but it is expected that this and the remaining reassembly and painting can progress such that trial running can start in early 2020.
There is likely to be a formal relaunch at Bury in 2020, details will be given to Trust members when known.