November 2014 Update
Christmas inexorably approaches, and there are Santa Specials to be prepared on the Bala Lake Railway. But amidst all this seasonal activity, we say goodbye to our retiring General Manager, Roger Hine, and welcome David Jones, who takes over from Roger in December. In the meantime, a lot, as usual, has been happening behind the scenes.
Carriage & Wagon
Progress has been made on the restored coal wagon, but the team has also been busy with the bolster wagons, and has made a new bolster to replace the rotten one. (See the before and after pictures below). The sides of the coal wagon are next in line for attention.
The Wednesday Gang
Armed with their perennial enthusiasm, (plus the essential tea urn), the team has made enormous progress, in unfortunate weather, with the tedious task of greasing every fishplate. They proudly announced that they have now passed the halfway point along the line.
Penrhyn Saloon
Having hitherto referred to this project as the Directors’ Saloon, a director of the BLR, Dr. David Gwyn, one of Wales’ foremost historians, has pointed out that the Penrhyn quarry actually had no directors, and that the original saloon was for built for the owners’ own use.
Having given insufficient attention to this project last month, we now include two photos which speak volumes for the skill and dedication of David Hale. We also let David’s words explain just how intricate a project is the construction of this Saloon. Remember, David is doing all this, on his own, in a small workshop.
Regarding the roof ribs; “Seven pieces of 6.5mm thick plywood were cut, 2 metres long x 48mm wide (i.e. the strips have parallel sides). A hole of 4.5mm was drilled in the exact centre (i.e. one metre from the end and 23mm from the edge). Glue was applied on one side of the first piece of ply, and a long woodscrew was inserted into the hole. Glue was applied to both sides of the next five pieces of ply, and they were placed on to the first piece of ply with the screw passing through their respective holes. Glue was applied to one side of the final piece of ply, and this again was fitted over the screw. The screw was then inserted into a pre-drilled hole in the lower part of the former (this would be the inner face of the finished rib) and was tightened as far as possible. The assembly was then laid against the other part of the ‘former’ (this would produce the outer, i.e. upper surface of the finished rib), and sash clamps were applied to compress the layers of ply together”.
“The following day, the rib was removed from the ‘former’, the screw removed, and the rib was passed through the circular saw to remove excess glue on one side. Then, with the fence set to 44.5mm, the other face of the rib was trimmed off. Each of the cut faces was planed off by hand to produce the finished 44mm thickness of the rib. Finally, each end of the rib was cut off to give the required length”.
“The same process was followed for each of the eight ribs, thus 56 pieces of ply were cut, but the curve was produced by ‘forming’. Cutting them the other way would have been very wasteful of materials”.
Incredible detail. Moving to the next stage; “Having completed the roof ribs, including cutting the dovetails, plus the dovetail housings in the cant rail into which the ribs fit, all the remaining mortises and tenons have been cut in the timbers for the carriage ends. I have completed gluing up both of the end frames, so it is now possible to see what the cross section of the Saloon will look like”.
This sort of detail may be too much for some, (this writer included), but we hope it will give you an idea of just how much exquisite workmanship goes into a creation of this sort, and which, inevitably, is neither seen nor, indeed, appreciated on the finished Saloon.
Madcap Loopers
It may sound an odd title, but Bob Shell’s piece below explains everything about this inspired private charter along the Bala Lake Railway.
Saturday 22 November 2014 saw a charter with a difference on the Bala Lake railway.
Organised by John Mathers of the Wrexham Gen Newsgroup, it was hauled by Lady Madcap,Ruston & Hornsby 283512 of 1949.
Starting at 11.15 from road 2 of the carriage shed, Lady Madcap took the Penrhyn quarryman’s coach and the Dinorwic quarry ‘yellow’ coach filled with 19 people up and down the shed roads and headshunt, before heading through Llanuwchllyn platform road to the end of the line past the water tower.
Then on to the coal siding and into Llanuwchllyn loop, where Lady Madcap ran round her train. We then ran to Bala station with a photo stop at Llangower.
At Bala, our train ran to the stop block at the end of the line before reversing into the head shunt. We then ran into Bala Loop where Lady Madcap again ran round the train.
After more photos, it was off to Llangower loop, stopping on the way for photos at ‘the sea wall’.
After Llangower loop, it was back to Llanuwchllyn and back to the shed where it all started, one hugely enjoyable trip on rarely used track with rare coaches and a rare loco.
The day could not have been better. Huge thanks to the Bala Lake Railway for running the trip and the refreshments, to John for its organisation, and to the participants for supporting the trip.
Rumour has it that this inspirational group is thinking about a repeat expedition next year with the BLR’s other Ruston, Chilmark, so keep an eye on the website for details.
And finally…
The Russell Prince ‘teasers’ that we mentioned last month are coming to fruition very soon, and will be announced separately in this ‘Latest News’ section. As always, watch this space.
In the meantime, we wish all our volunteers, members, readers, followers and other BLR supporters the very best for the festive season, and we really look forward to seeing you next year.