Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
Whilst attempting to better cater for massive patronage growth, the need for us to call into service every available item of rolling stock is becoming more the norm than the exception.
This includes all the converted NQR open wagons with cyclone mesh doors, noisy vibrating steel floors and dark, claustrophobic interiors.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
One of the benefits of working with Puffing Billy locomotives is the chance to discover the rich industrial heritage that come with them, such as the eccentric strap (above and below) which currently resides on 6A, and yet is clearly marked '5'.
Of the 17 NA class locomotives built, sadly only 6 still exist, and only 5 of those are currently operational. 6A, 7A, 8A, 12A and 14A are still very much alive, out every day earning their keep.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
When D21, the trusty Belgrave yard shunter, came in for its last exam, it was deemed time to re-tyre the wheelsets based on the level of wear and how close they were to the condemning limit.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
Sparks! The bane of any steam railway in the summertime, and, in bush fire prone Victoria, Puffing Billy is certainly no exception. With progressively longer and drier summers we are seeing our fire danger season extended year on year.
Luckily, a history of good engineering design has resulted in our locomotives starting fewer and fewer fires; all are spotted and quickly dealt with by the patrols which follow every train during the fire season.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
The restoration of 216 NQR, being run by our Tuesday volunteer team, is progressing well. The brand new underframe has been fully welded and, after cleaning up with a grinder, has received a coat of primer.
The new underframe has been designed to use steel sections to the current Australian Standards, and these differ from the sections which would have been available when the Victorian narrow gauge rolling stock was manufactured. As a result, the underframe differs slightly in how the parts fit together, and this has meant modifications to the design during the fabrication process.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
What, you may wonder, is the next step in the development of the new Fox bogie? The answer is easy; testing and more testing!
Shortly after completion, the new bogie was transferred to the carriage workshops at Emerald, where it had the body of 91 NQR attached. Following some shunting around Emerald yard - backwards and forwards though curves, grades and points - the wagon was transferred to Menzies Creek.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
The boiler was recently removed from the boiler cradle, in order for work on the piping and brake rigging to continue. The cradle will soon be turned over for fitting of the completed brake shaft hanger brackets.
Above and below, the brake shafts are seen under construction. The shaft in the lower photograph has an extra arm; this is the shaft that actuates the rear brakes, upon which the handbrake also acts, and the extra arm links to the handbrake shaft. Originally the NG/G16's had twin vacuum cylinders, and these have been replaced with twin Knorre Bremse air brake cylinders.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
216 NQR, in it's current form, was recently deemed to have reached the end of its working life. Originally flagged for restoration, we found the condition of the underframe to be far more serious than first thought, and way beyond that of economic repair.
The photographs below show the condition of some parts of the underframe, following removal of the side panels and floor.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
It might look to the untrained eye as if work on the Garratt had pretty much come to a halt once the boiler was in place. As with all projects like this, there are periods of rapid and obvious progress, and times when it appears that nothing is happening at all.
In the case of the NG/G16 129 project, many of the more substantial jobs (frames, wheel-sets, boiler, tanks etc.) are complete, and we are into the myriad of smaller tasks now.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
If there are any recurring themes running through this Blog, one of the foremost will most certainly be the number of repetitive, labour intensive tasks required to keep our century old locomotives and rolling stock in traffic.
One of the most time consuming is the white-metalling of axleboxes and side rod bearings. Similar to crankshaft bearings in a car, these locomotive bearings are made of brass with a thin layer of white-metal cast onto the internal cylindrical face. When the bearings are out of tolerance, the white-metal is melted out and recast, before machining to size.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
When 14A came into the workshops for its last exam late in 2015, it was noted that one of the lens rings joining the main steam pipe from the header to the cylinder block was leaking. This is a recurring issue with all our Na locomotives due to the lifetime of moisture induced corrosion, and the very reason we went through the process of having new cylinder cast for future fitting.
Further investigation revealed that more concrete (used to cover the base of the smokebox) had been added to disguise the leaking lens ring. This in turn had trapped moisture and caused a significant amount of corrosion to the cylinder and smokebox (above) as well as condemning the steam pipes.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
There's been some good progress since this project was first introduced. All the laser cut plates have now been welded together, the progress of which can be seen in the following photographs. The last plate to go in was the bolster lower closing plate, after the internal gussets were fitted.
Above you can see a typical example of the many plate edge preparations required to fully weld the whole bogie frame.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
With "coincidentally" overlapping trips to the UK planned for June 2015, myself and David Clowes, Puffing Billy's Maintenance Engineer, decided to make the most of the opportunity and planned a week visiting some of the better heritage railways within Wales and the West Midlands. The aim was to carry out a little research while we were there, not just from an engineering perspective, but from the view of a heritage tourist railway in general.
Posted 3 years ago by newsbot
An iconic Bundaberg steam train attraction will finally be fixed, three years after it was damaged in floodwaters.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
All the suspension components are now complete, and most have now been trial assembled on the engine units (above and below). This has been a useful exercise to prove everything fits together.....or doesn't in one particular case! It has also demonstrated that, despite the size of these locomotives, there is surprisingly little room to work, and clearances between parts are minimal.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
The workshops at Puffing Billy have carried out all kinds of jobs over the years, on a variety of scales, but 'Tywyn' probably rates as one of the smallest locomotives. With a theme based loosely on locomotives of the Talyllyn Railway in North Wales, 'Tywyn' belonged to the late Norm Wadeson,
Norm had been a life long supporter of Puffing Billy, getting involved in the early days when the railway was being reopened, as well as serving time both on the Puffing Billy Preservation Society executive committee, and the Emerald Tourist Railway Board.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
Another milestone for the restoration of Puffing Billy's NG/G16 Garratt was reached early in November when the new boiler was lowered into the boiler cradle for the first time.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
First patented by Englishman Samson Fox in 1893, the Fox style bogie carried virtually all the rolling stock on the Victorian Railways 4 narrow gauge lines from construction to demolition. This continues at Puffing Billy today, with only one carriage using a design not covered by the Fox patent. With a design which dates back over 120 years, and a lifetime of hard use, it is only natural that many of ours are starting to show their age.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
One of the many constant challenges for the workshop staff at Belgrave is being able to create and maintain an air tight seal around the smokebox door. A poor seal which allows an ingress of air will cause the vacuum created by the action of the exhaust steam to be destroyed, thereby eliminating the draw of air through the fire and ensuring the engine won't steam. Any localised overheating of the smokebox door will cause distortion, serving to compound the problem.
Having heard good things from some of our contacts on the Welsh narrow gauge railways about seals utilising fiberglass packing rope, we set about designing a new smokebox front plate and modifications to the existing door in order to try it out.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
August 2015....Belgrave workshops. The occasion? Re-uniting the first of the NG/G16 engine units with it's driving wheels. Of course these things don't just happen, and the event was preceded with much machining and fitting work.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
One of the biggest issues facing a tourist railway such as Puffing Bilły, is keeping in reliable operating condition a fleet of steam locomotives designed over 125 years ago; the youngest of which has been in traffic now for over 100.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
Aside from the distraction of all the recent exciting deliveries, a multitude of work carries on in the background. In the engineering office, work is currently focused on the design and drafting of the brake rigging. The brake components on the engine units (above, in cyan) remain largely the same, aside from the cross beams which are of course 6 inches wider.
The boiler cradle is a different matter. The vacuum brake cylinders and all the associated components have been removed, and a new air brake system has been designed (below). A new cross member supports 3 brake shafts, one for each air brake cylinder and one actuated by the handbrake shaft. Two new main reservoirs have been manufactured, and design is complete for two auxiliary reservoirs to be fabricated.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
In the workshops of one of Puffing Billys engineering contractors, Jack Thompson Engineering, the first of the new Na Locomotive cylinder castings has been set up on one of their machines, and some prelimenary machining carried out. The photos show the cylinder undergoing some initial cuts to create datum faces for more detailed marking out, which will be followed by final machining.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
Puffing Billys locomotive 12A returned to traffic on the 1st October, after a protracted overhaul. Seen above waiting to go off shed, 12A has finally rejoined her stablemates, and is currently undergoing a running-in process, in the hands of Puffing Billys Locomotive Operations supervisor, Graeme Daniel.
Below she is seen departing Belgrave at the head of her first revenue earning train since being retired from traffic 7 years ago.
Posted 3 years ago by Railpage System User
The latest parts of NG/G16 129 to arrive at Belgrave are these Cowcatchers, expertly restored by Brad Treadwell. Making use of the few remaining usable parts, Brad has worked to our drawings to produce a faithful reproduction of the originals.
As you can see from the photo below, the accuracy and quality of finish Brad has achieved is fantastic. The flattening and folding of all the tube exactly as the original, which must have been painstaking work to get right, really finishes these cowcatchers off perfectly.
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