GWR 0-6-0PT No.94662009 News and Operating DatesPress F5 when you visit each page to make sure that you are viewing the latest version. Oldest news is at the bottom of the page. For photos of 9466 taken during the 2009 season, please click here. - Page updated 6 August 2009. OPERATING DATES FOR 2009 MAIN LINE RUN A main line run is scheduled to take place on 14th November 2009 when in harness with Tyseley pannier 9600, 9466 will run from Tyseley and Bescot to Ironbridge and Kidderminster. The train will then run up to Bridgnorth, on the Severn Valley Railway, and then back to Bewdley behind an SVR pannier. At Bewdley the pannier pair will take over the train and run back to Tyseley via Old Hill and Moor Street. Visit Vintage Trains for details. 9466 will appear at the West Somerset Railway Autumn Gala from 1st to 4th October 2009. Visit The Unofficial WSR Website and The Official WSR Website for details. BARRY RAILWAY 9466 has been invited to attend the Barry Railway Project by Cambrian Transport on the 5th and 6th September 2009 to take part in the Tall Ships Festival. It is expected that the locomotive will be giving footplate rides over the weekend. 4th and 5th, 11th and 12th, 18th and 19th, 25th and 26th July 1st and 2nd, 8th and 9th, 15th and 16th, 22nd and 23rd, 29th, 30th and 31st August 19th April, 3rd May, 4th May, 24th May, 25th May NEWSUpdate 6 August 2009 9466 continues in service at the Mid Norfolk Railway. Only light running maintainance has been required so far but a boiler washout is due to be done w/c 10 August. The main news this time around is that the locomotive will appear at the West Somerset Railway Autumn Gala from 1st to 4th October. Visit The Unofficial WSR Website and The Official WSR Website for details. In addition to the WSR visit we can announce that 9466 has been invited by Cambrian Transport to attend the Tall Ships Festival at the Barry Railway Project on 5th and 6th September. It is expected that the locomotive will be giving footplate rides. More details will be posted when known. Update 16 July 2009 The locomotive is now completely settled in at Dereham and has completed two weekends in service. It is great to be able to renew aquaintances with the lads from Norfolk. On the 4th July the main line re-certification process was completed with both mechanical and in-steam boiler inspections being done. The VAB inspector also wanted light engine emergency braking tests to be undertaken. Thanks are due to the MNR Ops team, led by James Steward, who facilitated these tests by arranging an engineering possession after the end of the passenger service for the day. We do now have great positive news of a main line run later this year. It has just been announced by Vintage Trains that in harness with Tyseley pannier 9600, 9466 will run from Tyseley and Bescot to Ironbridge and Kidderminster. The train will then run up to Bridgnorth, on the Severn Valley Railway, and then back to Bewdley behind an SVR pannier. At Bewdley the pannier pair will take over the train and run back to Tyseley via Old Hill and Moor Street. Let's hope that there is enough public support to ensure that this train runs. Update 1 July 2009 The early season running at Quainton finished at the end of May and the time up until the move to Dereham has been used to complete a number of jobs including final completion of the tank full tell-tale indicators and some patching of the bunker. The loco is due to move to Dereham on 2 July 2009 and will enter service on 4 July. The stay at the MID NORFOLK RAILWAY will be until the end of August. The movements of 9466 after leaving Norfolk are still being discussed. Unfortunately we do not have any positive news of any main line running this year, but we hope that there may be some good news in the next couple of months. Update 27 April 2009 The steam test was undertaken on 18th April and all was well. 9466 hauled the passenger service at Quainton on the 19th April and gleamed in the sunshine. It was good to see the old girl running again. The next running days are over the May Day weekend. Update 7 April 2009 Boxing up has been completed and the boiler filled with water. The grate has been refitted and the rocking mechanism re-connected. Work has started on fitting the "tanks full" tele-tails. Work so far completed has seen holes cut into the tops of the tanks and suitable fittings fixed in place. The pipework runs down the rear of the tanks remains to be done. Test steaming is due to take place after Easter with the first day in service at Quainton scheduled for 19th April 2009. Update 28 March 2009 Pinning up the motion has been completed and the right hand brake reach rods refitted. The smallest member of the team has been back into the tanks to clear the final remnants of muck out of the balance pipe. The new collars are now fitted to the gauge frame. More work has been done on the low level filler pipes with the internal stay supports now fitted. The last job on this sub-project is to fit tell-tail tank full indicator pipes so that we can tell when the tanks are full without having to get on top of the loco. We have brought in a couple of lads to replace some firebox stay nuts. They completed the work in two days - it was our annual treat to ourselves and has also saved us quite a bit of time! Boxing up has started and will be completed next week now that some replacement washout plugs have been delivered. The paint brush is now out in force and the scars of last year's operations are being removed. Update 15 March 2009 The right hand crosshead has been taken out for examination. New felts are now in place and the unit refitted. Following a boiler washout on 22 Feb, the mainline re-certification cold exam took place on 26th Feb. A small number of items were found to require attention and these were picked off during the following couple of weeks. The largest item on the list is the replacement of approximately 40 stay nuts. These are in stock and plans are being made to fit these before the end of March, if possible. The grate and rocking mechanism has been removed for its annual fettle. The right hand big end and connecting rod have been re-fitted, so apart from fitting of split pints the whirly bits are now complete. An annoying rattle that developed under the cab last summer has been located following the removal of the metal floor plating. The offending pipes have been adjusted and the floor refitted following cleaning and inspection of the equipment that is housed in the voids under the floorboards and plate. The cab pipework has been connected back up after being drained for the winter. The hydrostatic lubricator has been checked over, cleaned and reconnected to its various pipes. It has been decided that the gauge frame is going to benefit from some new collars and it hoped to get these organised in the next couple of weeks. The low level tank fillers were fitted in 15 March. Click here to see a couple of pictures. Mark went into the tanks and cleaned out the scale and muck. Not a nice job but a necessary one. Ricky was the man brave enough, well actually the one with the steadiest hand, to drill the holes in the tanks - from the inside. There are no photos of Ricky or Mark in the tanks - it was not a pretty sight so it was decided not to record the event! I must say, on behalf of the team, that we are very grateful and pleased to have the help of two young lads over the winter. Mark and Alex have been working with us doing all sorts of tasks. It is really pleasing that in this day and age when young people are getting so much bad press, most of it unjustified, that these two lads are so enthusiastic and willing to muck in. The really encouraging thing is that they really want to learn and it is good to be able to expand their knowledge by starting to impart to them what we know. Well done lads! Update 18 February 2009 The valve gear has now been dismantled and re-erected (again) with the fettled die blocks. The loco had better run better as a result of this work or blood may just have to be spilt! The righthand crosshead has been removed to examine the felts and renew if necessary. The mainline re-certification is due at the end of the month so the paperwork is being checked to ensure that all is in order. Running days for 9466 are now agreed for the first half of the season (subject to availability etc......) Bucks Railway Centre at Quainton - 19th April, 3rd May, 4th May, 13th May, 24th May, 25th May At the end of June, 9466 will move to Norfolk for her 4th season at the Mid Norfolk Railway. The locomotive will be in steam every weekend in July and August. The timetable can be viewed at Mid Norfolk Railway Timetable - look for the "Purple" timetable. Update 16 January 2009 Both big ends have been checked and fettled. The left hand one has been re-assembled onto the crank with a new lubrication pad. The connecting rod has also been reconnected to the big end. The valve gear has been partially stripped to allow the die blocks to be removed for inspection and a small amount of work. Unfortunately because the shed pit was needed by others we had to temporarily re-erect the gear with the old die blocks to allow the loco to be moved! Soon we will be so proficient at dismantling and assembling Stephensons gear that we will be able to do it in our sleep! The cab floor has been lifted so that the annual spring clean can get underway to remove the build up of coal slack and also to inspect the AWS vacuum reservoir and TPWS batteries and wiring. A general inspection will also be carried out on all the accessible parts of the electronics systems. The loco will not get back on the pit for a few weeks to allow us to get on with work underneath, so in the mean time the opportunity will be taken to start on the fitting of the low level tank fillers. The plan is to fit a fire hose connection on the underside of each tank just behind the front tank supports. Fitting the fillers here will keep them out of the way of the man oiling up the top of the motion whilst lying on the running plates. Click here to see some photos of the equipment to be fitted. The fillers are much more than just a fire hose fitting. From the photos it can be seen that the filler connection is actually attached to a vertical delivery pipe that will sit within the side tank. The pipe is nearly the same height as the tank and is fitted with a flap at the top. This flap will allow water to pass up the pipe fom the fire hose but once the the water flow has stopped, the flap will drop into place and stop any water in the tanks from running back out through the pipe when the loco is bouncing about as it makes its way along the track. Lots are being drawn to see who drills the holes in the tanks!! The paint brush has started to make an appearance so we will now have to be careful when we touch anything! Click here to return to 9466 Home Page. Please e-mail me with any questions or queries. Bruce Murray Page updated 6 August 2009. |