Aln Valley Railway

Longhoughton Goods Yard - RJ, IC, TS, , MH, KSW and DMS, continuation of general work, Roland continues working on the slew ring on the big rail crane. Mark was working on tidying up the Permaquip, and making it more weather resistant ready for the coming winter. Assisted by myself when I arrived. The rear roller shutter has been partly dismantled to allow its overhaul. Mark had also jet washed the quips engine bay. DMS drained and removed the fuel tank to a) enable it to be cleaned internally and externally, and b) enable access to the alternator for adjust the drive belt which had been slack so the batteries weren’t being charged. TS & IC worked on attaching the McConnell Power Arm to the David Brown tractor (aka 37995 and a bit). The power arm is now nearly operational - only needs bucket cylinder and bucket putting back on. Unit now slews ok, but with slightly odd operation of spool valves, but we can live with that for moment.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - DMS, BS, DT, KSW, MH, continuaion of general work, Once again we proved that it is possible for a small team to achieve quite a bit. A little bit of time was lost trying to get the tractor started as the battery seemed a little bit down, Mitzi was started but also had a sluggish battery and used to jump the tractor. Baz knocked in some fence posts to create a temporary post and rail fence where we had removed the mesh fence to allow Network rail and contractors access to the yard. We also had another sweep of the site for rubbish and odd bits lying around; as a PR friend of mine says “image is everything” and although it is acceptable for the stock to look a bit rough, it helps our image no end if rubbish is disposed off and there are no bits and bobs left lying about. (before anyone comments I know I am just as guilty). Dave T and Kay left just as another shower started, so Baz and Dave decided to break for lunch. While sitting in Mitzi eating it was suggested that it may be an idea just seeing if we could work out the wiring on the plugs for the remote traction leads on the Permaquip. With the engine running Dave shorted out two of the contacts and the machine responded by sounding the reverse alarm and the wheels turning. A change of wire and the wheels turned the other way. Mark H then turned up and it was agreed to work out a jump on a relay for a non existent proximity switch. It turned out that this had been done before but the wire had been removed at some point. Once the wire was reinstated we tried operating the deadmans in reverse – once again the alarm sounded and the wheel turned – success! So we jacked the machine up on the turntable ram, removed the sleeper chocks, and set it back down on rail again. Now came the real test – would it move again and more importantly stop when the handle was released! The answer was yes, so we trundled up and down our 120ft a couple of times – probably to the amusement of the passing services on the ECML! So on to the next tasks: sort out the rest of the electrics (lights, siren, etc); clean up the engine; fit new filters, refit proper fuel tank and lines; and then tidy up body work; refit windows; etc. etc. etc.! Today’s pictures are available at http://daveshell.fotopic.net/c1139909.html

Longhoughton Goods Yard - BS, DMS, MH & KSW., This impromptu workday went ahead, and once again we proved that it is possible for a small team to achieve quite a bit. we have jacked and packed the Quip so it is raised up off the track to allow for testing of the brake systems. We had a look through the electrics and found them to be a nightmare! It all seems to check out okay, but requires a little bit of work on various bits a pieces. After getting frustrated with what looks like multi coloured spaghetti we decided to do a tidy up of the yard. We moved some wooden sleepers down from the stockpile, and laid them out just in front of the 48DS and then moved up various lengths of rail and laid these out to form a temporary track in order to move the 48DS down alongside the 165DE. These rails were then moved back up and used to move the HPA ballast hopper down alongside the crane. This will enable us to get the tractor into the south end of the yard with soil and ballast to level it ready for another line to be properly constructed.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - TS, BS, KSW, MH, Continuation of tasks, It started wet and we made it wetter! Kay and Baz had arranged beforehand to continue their search for the elusive gas pipe near the A1 bypass, leaving Tom and Mark at Longhoughton. Kay had obtained plans of the gas pipeline via Transco and by lifting a manhole cover on the bypass embankment the line was established. Unfortunately for us the plans were shown to be slightly erroneous. By digging a series of holes in the track bed down to the warning tape we can confirm that the gas pipe runs down the centre of the track bed. Fortunately where the farm road comes in from Alndyke onto the track bed the farmer has maintained the drainage. At Longhoughton the “Bodgit and Scarper”™ high pressure water jet set-up worked a treat and helped remove some of the caked on cement on the Ruston 165DE. Tom and Mark then burnt off some of the felled gorse bushes, branches and scraps of useless wood. Lunch round a camp fire - oh, the want of some spuds and tin foil… Another rubbish sweep of the site was made and then we attacked some of the concrete lumps lying around with the kango hammer. Tom also did a bit more work on the McConnell digger and has also fitted all required pins, etc. for the linkage on the tractor. DMS was at the C15PS AGM at Bury.

see text - BS, DMS, KSW, MH, RJ, DT , general, A team were along the track bed; Baz and Dave on the Cawledge Viaduct with chainsaws removing scrub and Kay near the A1 trying to locate the gas pipe. We popped back to Longhoughton about 2ish joining the others, to find the site once again busy with Network Rail, and their contractors. Parking was at a premium! Roland continued to concentrate on the crane, and Mark and Dave T performed a general tidy of the site, including a litter sweep. Quip was lifted slightly on hand pump, side plate under deadmans loosened ready to check wiring in there sometime.

The Link Summer 2006