Full steam ahead for winter works at NYMR

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has announced a busy schedule of winter work, as its civil engineering and motive power teams prepare both its track and locomotives for 2023.

For Tim Bruce, director of civil engineering, one of the first tasks for his team is at Grosmont, where the team is currently replacing siding No.7 into the Shed.  Next month, engineers will head to Kingsthorpe, north of Pickering, to complete last winter’s relay work.

This will start with offloading sleepers and materials during December (between the Santa Specials), ready for work starting on January 1st. To complete this work, they must weld up the track, ballast and tamp it during February, and then stress the rails at the beginning of March ahead of the new season.

In the new year, the team will ballast and tamp Bridges 24 and 25, which were replaced earlier this year as part of Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey Project; this process lifts the rails up and levels the track out.

In addition, Kerry Fieldhouse and her team of Lineside Conservation Volunteers will be busy clearing and cutting back vegetation, repairing and building dry-stone walls and managing quite considerable ash dieback along the line – they have approximately 100 trees to either remove or make safe.

At NYMR’s Motive Power Department, a considerable amount of maintenance work has already been carried out in November. making locomotives ready for Santa Specials and Christmas Diners.

 In the works elsewhere:

• The steam fitters are making BR 9F No. 92134 ready for its new tyres
• The valve and piston exam on 80136 will see them removed and  measurement begins. The crossheads will need new white metal pouring to replace the bearing surfaces, again in-house, and the slide bars these run in require some attention.
• On the diesel front, all the annual tyre measurement is underway; 08850 has recently had new batteries, fuel pumps and its automatic voltage regulator serviced.

In terms of overhauls and restoration, D7628, the Class 25 diesel locomotive, is having a top end engine rebuild and main generator overhaul; Black 5 No. 44806’s overhaul is on track with the frame rebuild on schedule, and attention will next turn to the tender and machining up the new chimney. 

Steam locomotive No. 34101 ‘Hartland’ is in the boiler shop where all the large sections of the boiler are now welded back together. This is a huge step forward in the project and is excellent to see it in one piece once more. 

For 3672, Vera’s new tender tank and frame overhaul is progressing well. The new tank design is complete and steel ordering is about to begin as the frames near completion of examination.

You can help restore this locomotive by donating to the appeal via the NYMR website. 

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