Thursday

Mick sawing box section to make oil feed boxes for Twizell .....

Wednesday

Julian & Jeff grouting a toilet wall
(photo courtesy of Geoff Lowe)

Tuesday

Colin clearing the cab of the Smith crane (wks.no.5996)

BH Monday

Matt oiling 49
(photo courtesy of Peter Weightman)

No.2 on Tour

Logan firing No.2 (next to Great Gable), seen from the footbridge at Swanwick Junction
(photo courtesy of Stewart Waugh)

ET Extra

Below, a few shots taken at East Tanfield on Sunday courtesy of Geoff Lowe:

Passengers waiting for 49 to arrive with their train

Sunday

Richard decanting tannins boiler water treatment into dosage bottles

No.2 at Butterley

The photos below are courtesy of Stewart Waugh:

HL No.2 posing during the vintage weekend of the Midland Railway Centre

Thursday

Peter discussing manufacture of brick arch formers with Brian

Wednesday

Martin. Ian & Ian discussing the bonfire

Tuesday

Dave cutting grass

Monday Around the Workshop

The photos below are courtesy of Peter Weightman:

Mick aiming to bore a spring hanger for HC 38 on the Cincinnati miller

Geoff's Day

The photos below are courtesy of Geoff Lowe at East Tanfield:

Logan preparing Horden to take the first train of the day up Causey West bank

Visit from Friends of S&DR

The photos below are courtesy of Angela Pickering:

Ian giving an introductory talk about TR to an S&DR bicentennial group

Thursday Work

The photos below are courtesy of Geoff Lowe:

Mick & Jim conferring over the saw

Wednesday

Terry cleaning the original laths .....
(photo courtesy of Geoff Lowe)

Tuesday

Ian unstacking old sleepers at MH curve .....

Workshop Monday

The photos below are courtesy of Peter Weightman:

Brian preparing an alteration to the alignment tool for Twizell

Sunday

Stewart on Horden bringing carriages from the shed into Marley Hill platform

Last Sunday

The photos below were taken last Sunday & are courtesy of Angela Pickering:

Horden being test steamed - successfully - it's on the train tomorrow

Thursday

Jim's machining a cross head slipper for Stanley

Wednesday Work

Fitting the fixed back to the digger to form a grab with a bucket

Tuesday Field Work

Dave mowing

Monday

The photos below are courtesy of Peter Weightman:

Mick sawing hex bar to make a large nut

Sunday

Mick drilling a hole in a sleeve inserted into a valve drop link of HC 38

Tomorrow's Trains

Tomorrow, 49 is out with six carriages again, as it was last week & shown in the photos below, courtesy of John Turnock:

49 propelling its train out of Marley Hill, from the Bowes Railway onto the Tanfield route

Joicey Collieries around Tanfield

The following is a short extract from a facsimile of A History of Coal, Coke, Coalfields znd Iron Manufacture in Northern England by William Fordyce, published in 1860.   At the time, the NER was newly established, the Tanfield Branch was an iron railway without locomotives, colliers worked 12-18 hours a day (unionisation was in its infancy), wooden brigs predominated - but could not pass beyond the Georgian bridge at Newcastle, & the TIC had barely started to improve navigability of the Tyne.   The book may have been written for the general knowledge & interest of educated Victorians who would have understood the importance of coal & iron to the NE economy.

A coal mill used to pump water from mines, similar to that at Bobgins
(I believe drawn by TH Hair about 1830)

Workshop Thursday

The photos below are courtesy of Peter Weightman:

Mick sorting out tools again - please help by putting them back where you find them!

Wednesday Movements

Ian heading for Andrews House with the digger, to catch .....

Tuesday

Richard removing the sandpipes from HL No.2, ready for traversing a ramp
when being loaded to go to the Midland Railway Centre tomorrow