Wishaw Working Party - Wednesday 9th July 2014

On Wednesday, Roger Johnson went to Wishaw with a small but perfectly formed team to work on the  footbridge. Roger sent me this post containing signs of an anorak not visible before!

'' And now for something different "

The former Henley In Arden Footbridge has some interesting railway neighbours including 08 diesel shunters which are in for maintenance  . Here is a test for  your childhood /railway memories  :- 

1. What were the 08 designs based upon ?

2. When did construction of this class of locomotive commence ?

3. Name the work/s where these were built .

4. How many locomotives of this class were built ?

5. How many of this class are preserved on heritage railways ?

6. What was the weight of the locos ?

7. What was the power output ?

8. How many cylinders ?

9. How much does a cylinder head and con rod weigh ? 

10. How do you change a damaged crankshaft ?

Wishaw Report 

Five volunteers ventured to Wishaw on Wednesday with the regulars joined by Ian Heathcock and Peter Thorne .

Ian and Keith  concentrated on removing the worst of the rust on the main span , a structure which is in far better  condition than the two towers . Peter ,Ray, and Roger  tackled the two spare staircase units with a view to removing the securing bolts to the timber treads which are to be recovered and the spare timber sold to  augment  the BAG funds. A challenging exercise as working above head height with awkward angles . A  number of nuts were successfully removed by Ray with the spanner after a lot of effort however the remainder appear to be rusted solid ,The newly acquired generator was duly fired up and about 25% were removed using an angle grinder where the nuts were accessible .The remainder 120 will have to be cut off for which a BAG volunteer has kindly offered to use the oxyacetylene kit .

Ian and Ray later in the day started removing the flooring to the main span as part of the final preparation for shot blasting this structure . This timber is in remarkable good condition considering its age as free of rot , no doubt assisted by the fact  non slip sheet covering has been laid within the past 7years .The GWR evidently had high standards not just in its locomotive design and civil engineering .

Preparatory planning commenced on the methodology for  dismantling the main staircases .To be continued next week when this will be  the key task 

.

 Post script – your scribe never ceases to be amazed what a small world it is . BAG is continually seeking out brick reclamation opportunities. Advance bridge works have commenced prior to electrification of the Bedford –Sheffield route .Previous contact has been made with the contractor to sound out opportunities for bricks .The bridge nearest home is nearing completion and the main team has moved north .However in making enquiries yesterday with the site foreman who is  supervising the bridge  completion it transpires he was the farm manager in Zimbabwe of the large estate where David Shepherd regularly used to stay  sketching and painting his wildlife subjects . Recall attending several of David's passionate talks in the 1980’s when raising funds for the WWF through the sale of his wildlife  and locomotives prints. .David Shepherd had a long association with the GWR with 92203 Black Prince based at Toddington  for a number of years.

 

With thanks to Wikimedia

The answers to the mini quiz ;-

1. LMS Class 12033 series .

2. Construction commenced in 1952 - through until 1962.

3. Built in five BR Workshops namely  . Crewe ,Darlington ,Derby ,Doncaster , and Horwich.  

4 .996

5. 65 the majority of which are operational .

6. 50tons

7. 350bhp

8. 6 No.

9. 1.5cwt.

10. With extreme difficulty , as there is no Haynes Workshop Manual . Anyone with first hand experience please contact George Forrest .''