avonside1563

If lane 1 is empty then why are you in lane 2? Rule 264 of the Highway Code states: “You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slow-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past.”

My pet peeve currently is people who cannot work out how to use lanes correctly on multiple lane roads, particularly now that sections of the M6 and M5 that I travel regularly are 4 lane managed motorways! Commonly lanes 1 and 2 are almost empty and lane 3 is crammed full of the usual suspects happily pottering along at 65mph causing hold ups to everyone as they have to cross from lane 1 to 4 overtake them! The absolute classic I see almost every day is the person who is pottering along in lane 1 until I overtake them in lane 2 and in my mirror I see they have suddenly realised they must be in the wrong lane and move to lane 2 just as I move back to lane 1! Where the M6 becomes 4 lanes at Jct 13 southbound is a classic example that even 'professional' drivers (such as HGV) cannot work out how to use lanes correctly. I often follow lorries that sit in lane 2 for miles, sometimes until they reach the M6 Toll junction and suddenly realise they can move over to lane 1!

Coming along nicely Adam. A quick update on X2 class Ackton Hall, the 12" - 1ft version of the X class at Foxfield. Since I last mentioned it we have stripped the boiler and bottom end and discovered that the restoration isn't going to be as complicated or expensive as first envisioned. The boiler was the biggest area of doubt as it was the reason the loco never worked after its last overhaul and has only steamed once in preservation, due mainly to a poorly undertaken patch repair in the firebox. With modern methods this is emminently repairable at a cost that is much lower than anticipated. The wheels, valves and pistons are all in excellent condition but the motion needs some attention such as replacement big ends, all the valve gear bushed and re-pinned and the springs completely overhauling. The biggest area of visible replacement however is the tank and cab which will be almost completely new when finished and this will be the subject of a crowd funding appeal in the very near future as we are starting fund raising to have Ackton Hall back in steam for its 100th birthday in 2020! If anyone is interested and Adam is happy for me to highjack his thread a little I will put further details here of how you can help return this unique Peckett to steam. Edited following Regularity's comment!

Hi David, Small correction to captions, the green saddle tank in J6616 and J6617 is Avonside 1772/1917 'Askham Hall'.

As has been mentioned, the ORR have made recommendations as to maintenance work required, some of which is urgent. It appears the WSR management have decided that they cannot undertake this work during the normal closed season so have opted to not operate at February half term or run the gala to ensure the necessary matters are dealt with. As long as the ORR are happy with the way the issues highlighted are being handled they will not prevent the WSR from operating as long as it is safe to do so in the interim.

Now then Corbs, what you should definitely add to the list is a Peckett X2 class. The sole surviving one of which is currently undergoing an extensive survey prior to overhaul at Foxfield at an anticipated cost of £120,000. The X2 was the uprated version of the X class (a kit for which already exists) and the 52 members of the class worked extensively across the UK.

There is a space available for this Saturday's footplate experience at the Foxfield Railway, Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire at a special discounted price* The experience starts at 9.30am with greetings and breakfast, there is a maximum of 4 participants and each person had a full round trip acting as fireman and a full round trip acting as driver. Lunch is included and there is opportunity to visit the signal box and shadow the guard during the day. You can also bring family members along up to a maximum of 4 additional people (food not provided for anyone other than the actual experience participants) The rostered locomotive for this Saturday is Austerity saddle tank 'Whiston'. To book visit http://foxfieldrailway.co.uk/experiences/steam-driver-experience/ and use discount code SteamDriver2018

Apologies, I knew Brookes is a 14" and meant to type that but got distracted (shouldn't be on here whilst trying to work!) My point was that just because one engine is nominally the same cylinder size as another it doesn't mean it will perform to the same level. Foxfield never entertained a Peckett during the colliery's working life, the only other engines not listed by PGH were a Hudswell Clark 0-6-0ST 415/1893 'Foxfield' and a Walker Brothers 0-6-0T 4162(?)/1888 'Burnley', the Kerr Stuart was 730/1900 'Excelsior'. All these locos date from the earlier days of the railway.

Just to add a little background to trains on Foxfield bank, a lot of it is down to the loco. For instance I have comfortably taken 6 empty 21T minerals up with Portbury, a 14" 0-6-0 Avonside, but I wouldn't put more than 4 behind a 14" 0-4-0 Barclay. A lot of it has to do with how well the engine steams, how good the adhesion is etc. etc. Cylnder size makes a big difference as does the condition of the loco. The 12" Beyer Peacock would manage 2 empty 16T minerals but 3 could prove it's undoing. Bellerophon has 16" cylinders but much bigger wheels and is getting close to her limit on 4 21T hoppers. When we had Brookes No.1 this summer that was almost on its limit with 6 21T hoppers, and that's a 16". So it's not just about cylinder size.

Having had a look on the Britain From Above website ( https://britainfromabove.org.uk/ ) there appears to be no evidence of a locomotive in the works, despite a large amount of wagons dotted around. There are also some quite sharp curves in the works so it would be extremely unlikely to be anything larger than an 0-4-0 that undertook shunting. It's a very interesting little place though wtih plenty of scope for a small shunting layout.

Hi David, J4160, the loco minus its saddle tank is one of the Ironstone Bagnalls, not an RSH, unfortunately I don't know which one of the ironstone locos it is.

The ex-Beyer Peacock works shunter 1827/1879 is now based at the Foxfield Railway and, whilst it has simliar lines to Olwen, actually started life as an 0-4-2 crane tank with rear frame extensions for the crane and pony truck which were subsequently removed.

Shelton Steel Works in Stoke-on-Trent built several of their own locomotives based on earlier Andrew Barclay machines. Presumably they thought 'we can do that' so did. However they must have decided that it was simpler/cheaper to buy off the shelf products from the usual industrial locomotive builders as they returned to buying new locos.

The next event featuring trains on Foxfield Bank will be the Autumn Gala on the 22nd 23rd September which will also feature road steam as well as some of our fleet of industrial diesels in action alongside the steam fleet.

Thanks to all for the photos, always good to see what it looks like from the lineside instead of the operational side. I was one of the chaps on the firefighting train on Sunday so good to see us in action. I had Brookes on Saturday and would agree that she is a handy little engine, it was a shame we only had one run up the bank on Saturday due to discovering a blown Valve Chest joint in the morning which meant we were an hour and half late off shed and missed our first path.

Foxfield's two pre-grouping North Staffordshire Railway coaches are due to be joined by the newly built Accessible Brake Coach in 2019 which will remove the need for the shark brake van. The ABC coach is a partial reconstruction utilising some parts from a NSR brake 3rd discovered near Rudyard Lake and the underframe from an LMS/Midland brakevan. Whilst it will essentially be a new vehicle there is enough of the original body to ensure it is an accurate reconstruction. The Knotty Trust is also raising funds for the overhaul of the remaining 1st class body so there will be a 4 coach set in a few years time. For more info see the Knotty Coach Trust website http://www.knottycoachtrust.org.uk/

Thanks to all who attended, we managed to avoid too many fires and the few that did appear were quickly dealt with. There were a few other small problems over the weekend, one of which was Brookes had decided to blow her valve chest cover joint which was spotted on Saturday morning half an hour before she was due off shed so she missed her first trip up Foxfield bank. Some hot work saw the cover removed and a new joint made and fitted in time for her to pick up her timetabled slot part way through the morning. Thanks to all who attended and I hope the fact we weren't able to put on quite as much as normal didn't detract from peoples enjoyment. Hopefully we will have had some rain before the Autumn gala and it will be back to normal. On a related note, we also launched the restoration of Ackton Hall No.3, if anyone wants to keep up with how that is progressing or help to assist in anyway here's the leaflet we published for the gala.

Despite the ongoing dry weather we are still running the gala as planned, however we have had to make a couple of alterations to the original plans due to staffing levels and the need to mitigate fire risks. Therefore the Knotty coaches will not be in service this weekend and the fire response train will be operating as required. Other than that Brookes No.1 has arrived and will have its FTR and acceptance trials tomorrow ready for Saturday morning. Timetables will be available on the day but first passenger train leaves Caverswall Road at 10am and the last at 4pm, the first freight from Foxfield Colliery is 9.50am.

Unfortunately a lot of David Wardale's modifications have been removed and, apparently, she's not that much removed from a 25NC now. But still good to see her back in action.

A brief update on the gala in just over a weeks time. The Beyer Peacock will not be participating as repairs to motion and the tank have taken longer than anoticipated and will not be completed in time. At present we anticipate the normal gala timetable but there will also be a water bowser train stationed at Dilhorne Park in case of fires. Brookes No.1 is due to arrive next week.

Peckett 2081 No.11 on the Foxfield Railway ran with a boiler full of oats for the last 12 months of her last ticket due to ongoing leakage. It helped but also meant you could smell when she was going past, and the water in the tank took on an odd dark look!

The annual Foxfield Railway Summer Steam Gala will be over the 21st and 22nd July this year. As usual it features an intensive passenger service betwenn Caverswall Road and Dilhorne Park and demonstration coal trains on the notorious 1 in 19 (average 1 in 25 for 2/3 mile) of Foxfield Bank. This gala will be the last appearance of Bellerophon in steam as she is at the end of her 10 year boiler ticket and will be withdrawn from traffic following the gala weekend. Locomotives confirmed for this year include: Hunslet 0-6-0ST Wimblebury - in the last stages of a repaint in NCB livery following axlebox repairs. Hunslet 0-6-0ST Whiston Haydock Foundary 0-6-0WT Bellerophon Dubs 0-4-0CT 4101 Guest engine, Hunslet 0-6-0ST Brookes No.1 - courtesy of the Middleton Railway. Beyer Peacock 0-4-0ST 1827 may appear if repairs to the tank and motion are completed in time. A free bus service will run between Caverswall Road and Foxfield colliery for those who prefer not to walk from the summit down Foxfield bank (particularly if it has been a wet few days before hand) If you have never seen Bellerophon doing battle with Foxfield Bank I can guarantee you it is an experience not to be missed, so make a note in your diary, this will be your last chance for some time!!!

The air compressor was purely for the brakes on the vehicles they were using as passenger stock. The loco was charged off the steam supply to the engines in the power house.

And not forgetting that some of the people operating at Chasewater are Foxfield people. There is a lot of mutual assistance between Chasewater, Foxfield, Tanfield and Blaenavon.

I'd have a Peckett over a Barclay every time, Barlcays are indifferent steamers, very rough round the edges and only have one option to notch up where as Pecketts have more refinement, steam better and always seem prettier (except the big OQ Peckett!).... Oh wait, you're talking about the models.... it's still the same answer!