Great Central Railway - News and "Stuff"

[Flying Phil]

The floor is now out and new steel plates on order. The pry bar was in use to help remove the last section.


...and it has another use....... to make dropping the bottom half of the axlebox a one person operation!

[Flying Phil]

Meanwhile back in the shed we were able to remove our brake cylinder.....it is a bit bigger than a car one!
We had to take it apart, clean it up, install new seals, re-assemble and put it back under the wagon.
Here are the works - essentially the piston (centre) sits in the cylinder (left) which sits in the dome (Right). Then a vacuum is created by the locomotive in the train pipe which keeps the brakes Off. If air is then admitted in the train pipe, or the pipe breaks, then the vacuum retained in the dome means that air pressure will apply the brakes...so it "Fails Safe".

Edited by Flying Phil on Thursday 4th November 09:03

[Flying Phil]

We were riding in the GCR "Veranda" carriage yesterday. This did receive some critical comments as it was a std Mk 1 carriage when it was converted. However it is really popular and does enable a very close up view of the engine working hard!

[Flying Phil]

We have a nice visiting locomotive at present.....

[Flying Phil]

mcdjl said:

Flying Phil said:

We have a nice visiting locomotive at present.....

Does it have any public running planned?

It was hauling public trains this weekend and has been doing Driver experience running mid week. It is scheduled to run next weekend Jan 15/16th for an "East Coast Weekend" with a Deltic 55019 also running.
However Tornado is then scheduled for planned overhaul, so is not running in the Winter Steam Gala.

[Flying Phil]

The Winter Gala was a great treat - we had two visiting locomotives, one of which was large and green....



It was warm in the cab....

[Flying Phil]

Thanks Pherlopolus
Our latest wagon is finished bar the numbers...

[Flying Phil]

Numbering completed - on both sides, Fitness to Run exam done, so this wagon is now finished.

[Flying Phil]

Other news from the GCR is that the A60 bridge is to be refurbished this year. This has been carrying the Gypsum trains but was closed to all trains last year due to corrosion. There has been a lot of "discussion" between the various parties as to how to proceed but recently it was resolved and the final fundraising is going ahead. Now £30,000 has been raised, of the £110,000 target - in about three weeks!

[Flying Phil]

Well one wagon has gone to join the running rake and we have another to replace it in the shed......we have already done a bit of work!
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Edited by Flying Phil on Friday 18th February 15:06

[Flying Phil]

We have been busy working through the Jobs list and we have made rapid progress with the various welding jobs being done and the vac cylinder being overhauled. Yesterday the Vac cylinder was re-installed, the side door put back in place, new floor sheets welded and the outside finish painted (well nearly all!)

[Flying Phil]

On the GCR website today is the news that work has been authorised to replace the old corroded A60 bridge with a new one at a £1,000,000+ cost. The new bridge is scheduled to be in place by the end of October.

[Flying Phil]

On our latest wagon the screw couplings were seized ( Not surprising as they have been out in the rain un-used for 20 years!). However a lot of heat and a big crowbar has got them working again...

Thanks are due to the Rothley C & W staff for their help.

[Flying Phil]

It was good to see a different sort of crankshaft sitting in Loughborough engine shed on Saturday....


It is the front driving axle for 7027 "Thornbury Castle".
The frames are also being worked on further in the shed.

[Flying Phil]

We have been doing more small jobs on B555696 as it has not yet been moved. One job was to straighten the top corner .

[Flying Phil]

Thanks to our Operating Dept, we now have three more wagons to get back in service.

[Flying Phil]

We have been making good progress with the return to traffic of our latest wagon (B565224). We have been helped by two new volunteers joining our team.

[Flying Phil]

mcdjl said:

Are you around today?

Sorry but we were away for a couple of days, Will be working there on Wednesday though.

The "Tree growing" wagon (B273798) at Quorn was one of the first Windcutter wagons to arrive at the GCR in October 1992 from British Coal Onllwyn. It was in poor condition then and so was set to one side whilst others got restored. It did get cosmetically painted in 1997 and 2018 but has not - yet reached Rothley for proper work to be done.

[Flying Phil]

Re the Shed visits..
. The Boscastle Shed Tours are on hold at the moment as the GCR are busy refurbishing the engine shed with a new roof and services so there are no visitors allowed until the work is completed.
Sept/Oct will see the A60 bridge being replaced so that the Gypsum traffic can be restarted. This was item7 on the "Gap" project list, but has been brought forward. Fundraising is continuing for items 3 and 4 - the "Factory Flyover" sections.

[Flying Phil]

The GCR has started preparation work on the A 60 bridge replacement. Various container type buildings are being installed on the worksite to the north of the new Midland Main line bridge.