Working Party

The Tywyn weather mojo may have been stuck in dull mode but it was anything but for the team as they assembled in Wharf Yard. Andy Sheffield, Charles Benedetto, David Broadbent and John Olsen were about to put Humpty Dumpty, aka the covered wagon no. 146, back together again!

But first David joined Keith in the museum to assess the stamp and first day covers section of Sarah Eade’s bequest. With the chassis of no 146 standing on the wagon turntable the four iron ribs were attached paying attention to the orientation of the wagon, which was facing 180 degrees from its normal direction in order to fit the brake lever within the tight limits of the Gunpowder Store. The ribs all had identifying tags on and were erected in short order, just pinching up the new stainless steel nuts and bolts (purchased to alleviate the rusting problems suffered by our stock so near to the sea) to allow easier fitting of the timber panels. The panels all came with identifying text and numbers on them, so we started with S5, as shown in John’s photos of June 2018 (!) when the van was disassembled for fettling. All seemed well until S2 and S1 were added and too many holes just didn’t align properly; a re-assessment of the last rib to be bolted in place came to the conclusion that it was 180 degrees out of synch with its kin (even tags can be misleading). Once turned around the top pair of boards could be secured much more easily and the top roof spar, that linked the ribs, fitted in place.

Ann McCanna and daughter Wendy turned up to provide our morning refreshments and as a treat they bought us real coffees and flapjacks too; we were being spoiled! We were joined at our platform table by David and Keith, Charles’ wife Sue and friend and last, but definitely not least, Mike Green. As Ann and Wendy had been sorting through Winston’s study they brought some offerings to give to us, Charles particularly liked the Roald Dahl book of rail safety; at least as sane as any HSE document. Our chatter took in the results of Davids examination of Sarah Eade’s philately, which was not only extensive but contained many rarities, and her idiosyncratic history of Tywyn volumes, including the fabled volume 3, of which no trace has yet been found.

Much refreshed by our coffee, chat and, yes, chocolate biscuits too, we returned to no 146 and began to attach the panels on the north side, the door side, and noticed that we had mislaid a hole! One panel lacked a hole due to it having split as it was removed and during the repair the hole was completely filled to make a stronger job of it, but the hole needed to be drilled out anew; with time marching on we opted to leave that job for another day. The final job of the morning was to bolt the bottom door hinge plate in place using M10 fittings just to confuse everyone who had hitherto been using M12 nuts and bolts. Having cleared up the work site we rolled wagon no. 146 back into the Gunpowder Store for safe keeping until the next working party.

By the close of play fifteen panels had been re-attached to four steel ribs to the satisfaction of one and all.

Photos by John Olsen

The Tywyn weather mojo was most definitely stuck in grey mode as the team assembled in Wharf Yard for the morning fun and frolics, but at least it was dry. This overcast morning Charles Benedetto, Max Birchenough and John Olsen were joined by Tony Baker and, in a non working capacity, by Andy Sheffield (no wonder his boots were so clean!).

Our mission was to shunt the wagons down the heritage siding alongside Llechfan hedge to allow scaffolding to be erected for the roof repairs of the Gunpowder Store. The biggest obstacle, a pile of 2 foot gauge track panels, had been shifted across the yard the previous day, but there still remained the issue of fouled flangeways. John and Max shifted the mud, muck and plants out of the way so that we had a chance of moving wagons without generating hernias. The first moves were to roll the wagon wheelsets to the end of the hedge, re-railing two wheelsets that had been parked on the wagon turntable. The cover was removed from the incline wagon so that it wouldn’t be damaged by being dragged along the hedge, which has been allowed to grow a bit too much laterally. This was swiftly followed by the chassis of no. 146 after it had been de-cloaked, but it was reversed onto the wagon turntable and left there out of the way. The incline wagon was rolled down to the wheelsets, followed by wagon no. 101 and the Corris mail waggon; but even as eager hands were laid upon wagon no. 164 John called a halt to proceedings. Wagon no. 164 has a brake on it and the handle was on the hedge side so it would have become horribly snarled up in the hedgerow; it needed to be turned but to do that the chassis of no. 146 had to go into the Gunpowder Store.

We had our coffee break a little earlier than usual in order to observe the two minute silence marking the ending of the First World War and settled around one of the tables on the platform. Ann McCanna arrived not long afterwards, expecting to take our coffee orders, but finding us already supping and chatting. This mornings discussion forum re-visited dental matters as Andy had just had a filling done and had been charged a princely sum for it; he then discovered that there are different grades of ‘Denplan’ (much umbrage). We also needed to explain to him what ganja was:- marijuana, weed, wacky baccy; he has led such a sheltered life. Finally we delved into history in response to one of his questions, but a contentious part of history that will not be revisited in this missive. Mike Green arrived clutching his hot chocolate and little sponge cake but he had barely enough time for a couple of mouthfuls before 11 o’clock and Ann marshalled us along the platform edge to observe the two minutes silence, reflecting on all those killed and wounded in war.

Refreshed by our repast we returned across the tracks to move the tools and other clutter that was blocking the way of wagon no. 146 chassis into the Gunpowder Store. In short order we were ready to heave the wagon over the threshold off the rails and onto the concrete, only to be thwarted by the wagons brake lever that protrudes a long way and was about to crash into some of the wagons metal ribs. A bit of adjustment of the ribs and other bits of wagon metal work allowed a second attempt; success, sort of. The wagon needed to be slewed over somewhat so John demonstrated what was possible with the aid of a long lever, swinging the leading end across by 6 inches allowing the wagon to be rolled into place clear of the doors. Now the way was clear for no. 164 to be brought onto the wagon turntable and rotated, or not. For a still unknown reason the turntable is ever so slightly off centre and when rotated clockwise it fouls the rails at one end, bizarrely rotating it anti clockwise does not lead to fouling; so it was all the way back again and then a further 180^o to complete the turn. Now the wagon passed along the hedge with minimal contact and we had but one more to shift, the splayside wagon, and it was going to go ‘through’ the hedge no matter which way it faced. But with plenty of hands and momentum on our side it too reached its allotted position on the siding.

We had one more task to achieve and that was to clear up all the stuff we had ejected from the Gunpowder Store. The tools were transferred into the museum, as we will require them for some winter work therein, but the other bits and pieces were fitted around, or laid upon, the chassis of no. 146.

By the close of play five wagons had been moved along the heritage siding, one wagon had been taken for a spin on the turntable and one wagon chassis had been parked in the Gunpowder Store.

Photos by John Olsen.

The Tywyn weather mojo delivered a fine crisp sunny autumn morning for the team so Max Birchenough, Charles Benedetto, Andy “Two Sheds” Sheffield (just released from marshal duties) and John Olsen got down to business.

Max and Charles polished up the two new end angle pieces for wagon no. 164, cleaned them with white spirit before Max painted them with a special grey primer, in a patch of sunlight beside Llechfan. As Max painted, the rest of us recovered parts of the Big Tent frame from behind the Weighbridge House as the dreaded rust worm had been busy and the legs needed attention. The idea was to shorten the legs by cutting off the worst of the rusty sections, so far so good, until John picked up the end frame and it neatly concertina’d. The cross member had rusted through along its entire length and had to be replaced. With a bit of WD40 the nuts and bolts joining the parts together were undone and a new section sought out. Alas none of the remaining pieces were long enough but one had a length of wooden dowel in it that would provide the mechanical strength to join two shorter pieces together.

Ann McCanna arrived in the yard and secured our morning coffees from the cafe so that we could sit in the sun on the platform and have our chocolate and chat fix. As the biscuits were passed around Mike Green joined us and the dreaded WW was mentioned by certain parties, that’s Weight Watchers folks, so that some of us were more abstemious than others as the last of the chocolate digestives were eaten and the chocolate Hobnobs started. The coffin ordering scene from For a Fistful of Dollars somehow entered our chatter, ‘my mistake, four coffins’, before the latest round of oneupmanship – who is getting their booster jab next week?

Refreshed we returned to our precision surgery of the tent frame, cutting back the legs and re-attaching them to the crossmembers, after a little game of match the holes.

By the close of play six legs had been shortened, two angles primed, one cross member fabricated and the sunshine was enjoyed by all.

Photos by John Olsen.

The Tywyn weather mojo just about got its act together this morning as the team assembled under grey, but mercifully ‘dry’ clouds, and took the covers off the chassis of wagon no. 146. Max Birchenough, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen were on a mission to get the brake gear back in place and working.

The first task was to don protective gloves as we would be re-acquainting ourselves again with the evil green grease (EGG) to provide a layer off protection against corrosion and to ease the movement of nuts on the threads of the long fixing bolts. There was a short bit of discussion about how the various parts went back together as one of the operating arms appeared to be fouling a wheel flange, but the parts could not be assembled in any other way due to the asymmetry of their manufacture. We were treated to some very kind words by David Ventry commenting on our efforts maintaining the historic wagons, who mentioned something about coffee time just as the first train of the day needed waving away; we didn’t need a second reminder!

We were joined at our platform table by Kes Jones and Frank Nolan, museum assistants, John Alderslade, duty volunteer attendant, Dave McKeever, Llechfan floor cleaner for the day, and Mike Green, amicus curiae. The rustle of the biscuit tin quickly summoned Marshall Andy Sheffield along the platform to inspect and test the contents as fit for consumption. Our idle musings touched upon the burgeoning cottage industry of 3D printing that could make just about any model railway article required in pretty much any material, so long as the price was right. We posited that this technology might just repatriate some of the jobs currently residing in China, at the end of a long and increasingly fragile looking supply chain. On a lighter note we ‘rejoiced’ in the advent of Windows 11, the Windows software to end all Windows software, or was that Windows 10? Ann McCanna stopped by to say hello and Andy came back and refused a second biscuit, shock horror, until it was pointed out that they were chocolate covered Hobnobs at which point one was quickly tested.

Refreshed by our chocolate caffeine and chat we resumed our re-assembly of the brake gear, inserting new split pins and tightening up the many nuts to ensure nothing would fall off in the future. This was when we noted that the bearing housing beside the brake gear had a lot of air between it and the frame. Having tightened up the, very, slack bolts on this bearing housing we checked all the others and found them to be in a state of self loosening too; but our efforts to tighten them were hampered by another quirk of this wagon – mixed imperial and metric bolts. Fortunately Andrew Wilsons sets of spanners and sockets, that he bequeathed to the museum, were both imperial and metric so we could use the right tools for the job. The second train of the day was waved away as we were screwing the floor planks back in place, ready to put the covers back on. With the tarpaulin rope tied off and a steel plate placed on top to stop the wind whipping the whole lot off we finished work for the day.

By the close of play three men had put two brake pads and arms back onto one brake actuating arm and managed to keep the EGG off our faces.

Photos by John Olsen

It was a pretty epic fail on the part of the Tywyn weather mojo this morning with horizontal rains coming off Cardigan Bay at irregular intervals but Ian Evans, Charles Benedetto, Max Birchenough and John Olsen were warmly greeted into the Slater Room by Keith Theobald to assist in the sorting of Sarah Eade’s bequest. Sarah left a hugely diverse set of papers, documents, post cards stamps, models and more, but without a catalogue. The museum has been given the first option on anything narrow gauge and North Wales slate related so we happy few got sorting. Our pile of picks may have been small when we declared coffee time, but it would grow.

We enjoyed our brews and chocolate biscuits in the dry warmth of the cafe this blustery morning and watched as Marshall Andy ‘Two Sheds’ Sheffield, got the coach load of passengers safely ensconced on the Quarryman train. Sadly the double glazing prevented the rustle of the biscuit packet from being heard on the platform! Our mornings ramblings began with items being thrown in the firebox to generate that photogenic thunder cloud of smoke beloved of photographers, but they cannot be repeated here. Mike Green joined us as we moved onto safer territory of why Germany invaded Norway, but left Sweden unmolested, and the friendly invasion of Iceland by Great Britain. Flu jabs, and how and where to get them after cancelling the first appointment to be able to pay last respects to Winston McCanna on Saturday, enjoyed a brief moment of discussion before Bethan announced that anyone loitering in the cafe would be most welcome to help reset the tables for the upcoming large party. Strangely the chatter ceased and sorting recommenced.

A large number of annotated CDs and DVDs hinted at collections of quarrying pictures and these joined the pile of goodies along with old maps and reproductions of paintings showing Portmadoc as it developed from sleepy creek to global slate shipping hub.

By the close of play six boxes had been scrutinised by five people and the arisings condensed into one box for digital scanning and copying.

Picture by John Olsen

The Tywyn weather mojo was late out of bed this morning so the sun didn’t arrive until after work had started under grey skies. Charles Benedetto and John Olsen came upon a scene of rampant destruction around the Gunpowder Store; no not vandals, but essential tree surgery. One tree that was overhanging the Store has been felled, but a second that is threatening both the Gunpowder Store and Weighbridge is still to be brought down in a controlled manner. So the first job of the morning was to clear away the debris of the tree felling and then move the yellow plastic barriers so that we could shunt the wagons to where we could comfortably work on them, which meant clearing out the excess stone from the two foot where it mysteriously seems to build up in blatant disregard of the laws of physics. The first train of the day was waved away with a good loading of happy passengers and coffee time was declared as Ann McCanna had just arrived. This morning we staked out one of the platform tables as Dave McKeever brewed up our coffees in the Guards mess room.

The sun was out and the rustle of chocolate biscuits quickly summoned Marshall, Andy ‘Two Sheds’ Sheffield, from his duty rounding up stray passengers and herding them onto the train. We mused on such delights as taking the Canadian Pacific train across Canada, where one unfortunate passenger got trapped in the upper bunk of their compartment that had folded up on them unbidden! Di Drummond and Mike Green then joined the fray, the former seeking volunteers for a half term activity in the museum, ‘See an engine, build an engine’, that would give children a tour of the museum before constructing engines, Blue Peter style, from printed cut out shapes and rubber band wind up cotton reel drive units. Both having a background in adult education we were then treated to some tales of the educationally resistant youth whose exploits could only be described as stupid.

Refreshed, and grateful to be out of the world of current education, we returned to the main item on our agenda, freeing off the seized brake parts of wagon no. 146. Having ascertained that the copious WD40 treatment had not effected a release we considered our options, hit them with a big hammer or heat them and then hit them with a big hammer. Having tried the former we cadged a lighter from the crew of the ‘Quarryman’ and lit up the little gas burner, that was once used in stripping off the old paint from the wagons, and played its gentle flame over the first seized joint. After a while the penetrating oil started to bubble out of the rust so we knew something was happening and then Charles gave it a few whacks with the club hammer using the rail head as an anvil. It moved! More hammering and the rust layer crumbled so that the two parts could be separated. Hoorah! On to joint number two while the gas supply held out and more heat was applied for longer this time in the hope that less hammering would be necessary. This was a more stubborn joint and required much more hammering, but movement was seen so it was flipped over and hammered back the other way, but it was still not free as the broken off split pins remnants stopped us knocking the brake ‘pad’ off the pivot. A swift bit of filing reduced that obstacle to iron fillings and one last hammering broke the rusty seal. Success! We now had separated the parts so that we could file off the worst of the rust and use a coarse abrasive paper to put a bit of a shine on the surfaces. As a final little job the two fixing bolts were given a clean up with a rag soaked in white spirit before anointing with oil and running a nut up and down the threads to clear them of the mixture of rust and old grease.

By the close of play four wagons had been shunted, two seized brake arms freed off and no fires started.

Photos by John Olsen

The Tywyn weather mojo got thoroughly confused this morning, what with Corris No. 7 gracing our rails for the Edward Thomas Centenary Celebrations this weekend, and defaulted to Corris weather! But it dithered long enough for David Broadbent, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen to take the covers off the chassis of wagon no. 146 so that John could explain his cunning plan Z to free off the rusted brake gear and then for him to help erect the scaffold tower on the platform with Keith Theobald and begin hanging the first of two new museum signs; then the heavens opened.

As John was already partway through the sign hanging and up on the scaffold tower he pulled up the hood of his waterproof jacket and carried on. Then with no sign of the downpour abating he and Keith moved the tower aside to allow the first train to board its late arrivals. With No. 4 and Corris No. 7 at its head, the first train was waved away up the line and coffee time declared on the platform as rain continued to stop play outside the Gunpowder Store.

Our morning caffeine, chocolate and chat was in the company of Keith and Malcolm Philips. The opening quip about the staff assembling a new Garden Rail layout in the yard, well it was 2 foot gauge actually but you get the gist, led onto the merits of 32mm vs 45 mm track; the latter looks like ‘standard gauge’ track apparently. The Quarryman stock pulled into the platform with No. 2 in charge and the banter moved onto whether this was the most appropriate engine, No. 3 having more original parts than No. 2, and thus it qualified as a more ‘Victorian’ locomotive. But the advocate of this view had his petard hoisted to the mainbrace when it was observed that very little in a human body is original after a few years have passed, as the cells all turn over.…

Refreshed we returned to our tasks, David and Charles worked on the rusted up locking nut that prevented the complete dismantling of the brake gear and had it turning in short order thanks to the correct sized spanner and a lump hammer. While John was out on the balcony with Keith hanging the second museum sign on the palings over looking the main line to attract the eye of visitors as they come over the road bridge. With the sign secured in place John went over the tracks to apply some violence to the rusty brake gear and succeeded in shifting a split pin and some more rust, but not the bearing. The brakes were put away in the Gunpowder Store to allow time for the fresh applications of WD40 to take effect and the operating arm replaced on the wagon chassis before the whole was sheeted over. To allow a wagon to be run onto the weighbridge, for operating tours of the weighbridge over the weekend, the two wheelsets in the two foot were relocated and the approach to the Weighbridge House cleared of any tripping hazards before time was called on the mornings activities.

By the close of play two new museum signs had been hung, the brake gear of wagon no. 146 had been dismantled successfully, and one worker got wet.

Photos by John Olsen

The Tywyn weather mojo has retreated into the doldrums again with a dry but very overcast morning in Wharf yard as the team assembled and briefly pondered whether two person constituted a working party. But enough of such idle speculation, David Broadbent and John Olsen had a seized brake system to sort out on wagon no. 146.

Acting upon advice from the TR engineering department they applied fresh WD 40 and then whacked the offending part with a hammer whilst operating the brake lever. This did have an effect, but not the desired one, as the fixing bolt was rotating. A large adjustable spanner and a bit of grunt tightened the nut sufficiently that no rotation was possible and the whacking and pumping action were repeated; success, a small but visible movement. Further, more scientific, application of the hammer moved the brake arm along the bolt to allow the rusty metal to be cleaned up with emery cloth and a wire brush before being wiped clean and evil green grease (EGG) applied. With lubrication on the joint the brake arm could be tapped the other way to allow the remaining area of rust to be cleaned off and more EGG applied.

Flushed with success, or was it the hammering and pumping, David and John cleaned up the other brake arm bearing in the same way and gave it a generous coating of EGG. Proceedings were halted to wave away the first train of the morning and its full load of happy passengers and the way was clear for coffee time.

We took our coffee on the platform table adjacent to the museum entrance and we were joined by Ann McCanna and Andy Sheffield as he took a break from marshall duties. Our idle musings started with the attempt of a dozy truck driver on the new Machynlleth Bridge works attempting to perform a limbo dance under the railway bridge, and failing spectacularly. He did succeed in ripping the tipper off the back of his truck and causing traffic mayhem on market day! At this time Frank Yates joined us and we caught up with news with him.

Refreshed we went into the museum to retrieve the ticket machine to see if Frank could work his magic upon its wayward innards. Three heads commenced analysing the situation but were still thwarted in our attempts to get a single ticket to be issued without a second jamming the machine. Frank had come armed with some of the older tickets from our original supplier and a micrometer to check the new tickets thickness against them. There wasn’t really enough of a difference to account for the jamming and the other dimensions were examined; the new tickets were narrower, could that be the problem? We removed the ticket chute and Frank spotted a fixing screw hanging loose that allowed the dispensing mechanism to wobble a bit, we tightened that up. John observed that the chute had been modified at some point to allow for narrower tickets and a slight adjustment of the metalwork was made before the chute was re-fitted. A final adjustment of the ticket ‘gate’ to allow free movement of the dispensing tines and a test run showed promise, although it tended to spit out two tickets at a time. One final adjustment was the removal of the extra weight that Frank had fabricated during his last ‘repair’ of the machine as this seemed to be unnecessary.

Now the tickets were emerging without jamming, albeit in pairs, and Keith Theobald pronounced this to be an acceptable ‘cost’ for a working machine. With David’s bus departure time approaching we tidied up the work site in front of the Gunpowder Store, sprayed some more WD40 onto the remaining lower brake arm bearings as they were still rusted solid and put the protective tarpaulin back over the wagon chassis. The final task of the morning was for Keith and John to put the ticket machine back up in position on the support pillar by the lift lobby door and tighten the nuts and bolts.

Three rusty bearings were lubricated with WD40, two free bearings were de-rusted and lubricated with EGG and one ticket machine was restored to operation.

Photos by John Olsen