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A long period of doing other stuff with nothing to show for the railway in pictures or narrative. But having Pearl (the steam engine) in the house always gives me a lift and a spark of excitement - one day soon we will be back in steam. My dad died in May 2006 which was a great time to see close up the test of faith and see life moving on. It was great to take the funeral - I wanted the whole proceedings to match his high standards. My dad had a deep Christian faith and acted from principle which affected his whole life, my upbringing and everyone he dealt with throughout his life. I am the luckiest guy around with such a wonderful foundation. I have my own faith and owe great gratitude of love to my parents and the extended family. I am now the patriarch of my close family which is a strange new role! I am many things but somewhere deep down I am an engineer and that's what fuels my delight in the railway - the railway is exciting to build and run - a great way to have exercise and relax. So here is my friend from the past looking on ... |
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Its been hectic at work as I have reinvented myself in the last 6 months from fitness for servive (stress analysis, fracture mechanics, creep, fatigue) to project control (scope, time, money, quality). Then there was bonfire night - always a joy to have the able assistance of my friend from up the road. This year it was the leafblower and the flour into the bottom of the bonfire. A good result but a better nozzle was required to get the full effect. |
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To get a good bonfire I decided that the hedge had to go - serious pruning up in the air and a tree taken down. It is suprising how satisfying it is to swing an axe. I had lots of help and advice and the tree fell as desired. Its not often you see me up a tree but this ocassion there were lots of places to stand, what you see is an illusion as I am not climbing up the tree but actually standing on the top of the trunks that have already been cut off. |
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To make sure that the tops of the trees fall the right way I have found the turfer (is that the right spelling) very useful when cutting single handed or when working in a team - the wire keeps pulling the top even whilst I am having a rest and/or my team mate is taking his time cutting and sawing. All the branches came towards the wire with none landing on the road / footpath. |
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The trees in the garden need cutting as well - this year I was requested to allow more light into the garden. So the fir tree on the left had to be cut. This tree was originally saved from a flower border at work where it was dying. Since being planted in this garden it has kept growing and is now a major project to lop off the top. To cut through the trunk 3m up was a major challenge - I am not sure if we will keep it as it looks strange. The silver birch on the right needed the top removing as the late afternoon sun is not getting to the grass. A strange shape at present we will see how it grows this year. |
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Tree processing in progress - I use all of the tree - the pile of green is to be shredded ie all the small branches (below 30mm diameter) and the pile of sticks to be cut up either with large pruning shears when they are stick (holding the pruners in the workbench leaves one hand to operate the pruners and one hand to hold the stick) or sawn up into small logs. - all used to start the indoor fire - nothing to waste and carbon neutral. |
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Finally I got around to a proper pressure test as I had stopped running - you cannot work as a professional engineer on fitness for service work and run a steam engine without a boiler certificate - it just will not do. I have joined the TSGR (Teesside Small Guage Railway) which is based 2 miles away in a pleasant park. The park was owned by the Ropner family but is now run by the council. The park had the original line of the Stockton to Darlington railway at the boundary before the route was realigned as part of the railway to Leeds. TSGR have a nice line and workshop so I feel a cheat just going for the pressure test. Unfortunately I am not regularly available any of the days / time they are in the workshop. To get the pressure test organised I took some time off work a number of Wednesday afternoons. Gradually we assembled the equipment and plugs required to complete the test - the pressure regulator is not water tight and so another plug was required. As I do not having a lathe and not being immediately good at practical workshop tasks I am very grateful for their assistance. I could do it but it would take ages and thats after I had learnt where everything was in the workshop. Finally the pressure test was possible and the only problem was a leak from the test pump! Having bled all the air from the system any small leak is quickly noticed. and the pump none return valve weeped very slightly such that the elasticity in the boiler let the pressure drop noticeably over 20 minutes. The pressure held at 135 psig so all was OK. The accumulation test followed and highlighted that one of the safety valves was stuck. The two saftey valves have different length springs. Measuring the striffness of the springs on the kitchen scales, with a set of verneer calipers gave the same stiffness. One of the safety valves lifts perfectly, the other one appears to only half lift - investigation continues. |
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Finally the track goes the next half length across the drive. A 6m length of rail is too long as its a long way to throw the soil to the wagon. So a 3m rail looks about right and with some rail bending fits the track bed already excavated. The boards fit well on the top rail / stone and so it will soon be time for the real block paving. Unfortunately the combination of reverse curve and gradient made Pearl slip in the wet conditions. Experiments in connections, radial axles and revised gradients will be required. |
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High winds cause a tress to fall across the line, it looks like a staged photo but this is exactly as it was found. |