Posted 2 years ago by bevans
We enjoyed a lovely evening last Saturday, with the Nick Anchen-organised Climax trip from Emerald to Gembrook and return.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
One of the things we have an eternal struggle with at Puffing Billy is a lack of space, whether that be offices, workshops or just undercover storage in general.
Nowhere is this more evident that the carriage workshop at Emerald; with barely enough accommodation for 3 carriages, this facility is responsible for the annual mechanical and body maintenance of all the railways rolling stock.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
Hugh Markwick and the workshop volunteer team have now completed work on the restoration of 216 NQR. Above, 2 of the team pose in the sun at Emerald with the finished wagon.
The bodywork, drop doors, drawgear and fitting up of the air brake pipework all took place in the Belgrave workshop.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
Mention has been made previously of the need to manufacture more bogies for our rolling stock. Many are now approaching the end of their useful life, with frames and axleboxes being condemned after a lifetime of wear and tear.
The new rolling stock project involves the manufacture of 12 new carriages, and therefore 24 bogies, onto which we have added a further 8 to ensure we do have spares available as old ones are progressively withdrawn from active duty.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
During 2016, the decision was taken to trial moving the Day Out with Thomas event to Gembrook, starting with the spring season, thus inaugurating Gembrook as the railways new centre of special events.
Locomotives and rolling stock were transferred in the Down direction on a Friday evening, and back again on Sunday evening at the conclusion of the weekends shows. Peckett No. 1711, which usually masquerades as the cheeky blue tank engine, began to suffer from the extra mileage; overheating bearings on the rear axle being the problem.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
With 4 fitters now employed full time on the restoration of NG/G16 129, momentum is gathering and what has, until recently, resembled a large kit of parts, is slowly coming together as this latest progress report shows.
The piston valves have been assembled and trial fitted into the valve chests (above).
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
As Christmas 2016 approached, and Puffing Billy's 6 train running began in order to accommodate the annual summer rush, G42 was taken out of traffic and rolled into the workshops for a 'B' exam.
Now removing our biggest locomotive from service at the busiest time of year might sound a little counter-intuitive to some, but there is method in the madness!
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
Quite a range of jobs have been carried out or are now under way, and there is plenty of work to do, as the photographs demonstrate. Above, the NG/G16 boiler cradle, complete with boiler, sits suspended between the 2 engine units for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Brake hanger brackets, shafts, air reservoirs and actuating cylinders have been fitted, complete with Vesconite bearings. The next stage for the brakes is the layout and plumbing of all the pipework required to make the system work.
Posted 2 years ago by Railpage System User
The air box has been modified somewhat from the original concept, in order to increase clearances around the rear pony truck. Above and below, the first stage of the redesign, with damper fitted, can be seen.
Each hopper has its own bottom slide fitted, in order to dump ash, and these two photographs show the slides and their operating mechanism being trial assembled.
Posted 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 4 years ago by newsbot
An iconic Bundaberg steam train attraction will finally be fixed, three years after it was damaged in floodwaters.
Posted 4 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 4 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.
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