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Tag Archives: Chasewater Railway Museum
273 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces From Chasewater News – Spring 2004 Part 6 – Parry’s People Mover & Santa Specials
273 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
Posted in Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
Tagged 2004 Events, Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasetown, Chasewater Railway Museum, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Old Railway Lines, Parry's People Movers, Pelsall, Santa Specials, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
Railroad Glory Days – Railway Miscellany
Railroad Glory Days
Railway Miscellany
Seth Thomas Number 19, eight-day regulator with glass double-vial mercury pendulum at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.The Santa Fe Time Department had charge of many of these excellent clocks for very accurate timekeeping. I looked at two, hanging side by side in the dispatcher’s office in Temple, Texas about 50 years ago when they were being sold off. I really wanted one, but even then the price tag was $3,500.
The mercury pendulum was used on some very accurate clocks for temperature compensation (as ambient temperature rose, the pendulum rod expanded, but so did the mercury level).
Much more on railroad timekeeping at http://RailroadGloryDays.com/RailroadTime
It wouldn’t look too bad in the Chasewater Railway Museum either!
Dream on…
272 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces From Chasewater News – Spring 2004 Part 5 – MR Crane & Narrow Gauge
272 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
From Chasewater News – Spring 2004
Part 5 – MR Crane & Narrow Gauge
Posted in Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
Tagged Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasetown, Chasewater Railway Museum, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Old Railway Lines, Pelsall, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
Chasewater Railway’s Former Stock – Travelling Post Office
Travelling Post Office
Anyone who has been reading this blog may have noticed, in ‘Bits & Pieces’ in the 1970s and early 80s, the mention of a Travelling Post Office (TPO). Our museum curator has recently acquired a book for the museum’s reference library – ‘An Illustrated History of the Travelling Post Office’ in which the Railway Preservation Society’s purchase is mentioned. It was bought for £200 and housed at Hednesford, later being transferred to Chasewater and sold in 1983 for £1,000,
Built in 1909, London & North Western No.20 was renumbered 9520 by the LNWR and 3227 and 30244 by the LMS. The latter number, allocated in 1933, lasted until the vehicle was withdrawn in 1961. It was used on the Irish services until 1940 and its apparatus was removed in 1945.
After withdrawal it was acquired by the Railway Preservation Society, Hednesford, Staffordshire, where it housed the small relics collection, and later moved to Chasewater. In 1983 it was sold to the Birmingham Railway Museum, Tyseley, which in turn sold it to the Royal Mail Museum in 1999. It has been overhauled and had its apparatus restored, and in 2007 was put on display at the Crewe Heritage Centre.
It is currently at the Nene Valley Railway, Peterborough.
There is another post following this one with more information about TPOs and more photos of the former CLR vehicle.
Posted in Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces, News
Tagged Chasewater Railway, Chasewater Railway Museum, Crewe Heritage Centre, London & North Western No.20, Nene Valley Railway, Old Railway Lines, postalheritage.wordpress.com, Railway Preservation Society, RPS Midlands Depot Hednesford, TPO, Travelling Post Office
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1934 – Class 5 – London Midland & Scottish Railway
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era
1934 – Class 5
London Midland & Scottish Railway
One of the most successful designs ever built, these engines have been firm favourites with the operating staff ever since William Stanier first introduced them in 1934. A general purpose mixed traffic locomotive which can be used on almost any duty, reliable and easy on maintenance, is bound to establish itself quickly, and the class multiplied rapidly in consequence, replacing many older and some not-so-old types over all the wide ramifications of the LMS from Wick to Bournemouth.
Nos.5000-5471 were built between 1934 and 1938, and after a hiatus owing to early war conditions the class was resumed in 1943 with 5472-99, 4800-99, then working backwards in batches until the complete series of 842 engines ran under BR numbers from 44658-45499, the final lot coming out in 1950. There are several varieties found in the class, consisting to a great extent of variations in the boiler mountings, and a few have double blast pipes and chimneys. No.44767 is unique in being fitted with Stephenson’s outside link motion instead of the usual Walschaert gear. The main variation occurs with engines 44738-57 which have Caprotti valve gear and with somewhat lower running plates and small splashers (absent in the standard design) present a noticeably different appearance, as do Nos.44686 and 44687, which have no running plates at all, to the great detriment of their looks.
Apart from these 842 engines the type was perpetuated by BR in its 73000 class, totalling another 172 locomotives, which are the obvious descendants of the LMS engines.
All of the class were still in service in 1959, and as far as could be seen there was no immediate likelihood of any withdrawals taking place in spite of the general widespread scrapping proceeding at an ever increasing rate in consequence of dieselisation and electrification. It seems reasonably certain that these useful engines may well be amongst the last to remain for as many more years as steam propulsion continues to find a place in the British Railways system, and they will undoubtedly have earned themselves the right to take their place amongst the ranks of the historic locomotive designs.
Driving wheels – 6’ 0”, Cylinders – 18½”x 28”, Pressure 225lb., Tractive effort – 25455lb., Weight varies between 72 and 75 tons, LMS and BR classification 5.
271 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces From Chasewater News – Spring 2004 Part 4 – The Heritage Centre
271 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
From Chasewater News – Spring 2004
Part 4 – The Heritage Centre
Posted in Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
Tagged Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasetown, Chasewater Railway Museum, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Heritage Centre, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Old Railway Lines, Pelsall, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1933 – ‘Princess’ Pacifics London Midland & Scottish Railway
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era
1933 – ‘Princess’ Pacifics
London Midland & Scottish Railway
One of Mr. (later Sir) William Stanier’s first designs after his appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LMS. Stanier came from the Great Western, and introduced a number of features of that Company’s practice to the LMS for the first time, including the use of a taper boiler. His first two Pacifics, Nos. 6200 ‘The Princess Royal’ and 6201 ‘Princess Elizabeth, which appeared in 1933, were given thorough trials before any more were built, after which ten similar engines, Nos.6203-12 came out in 1935 with slight modifications following the experience gained with the first two engines, chief amongst these was an increase in the superheater heating surface. The four cylinders on this class has each its own independent set of Walschaert valve gear, but No.6205 later had its inside sets replaced by rocking levers actuated from the outside pair. As might have been expected, these locomotives soon proved themselves to be greatly superior to anything previously seen on the North Western main line. In 1936, in anticipation of the introduction of a high speed service between London and Glasgow, No.6201 was tested with a light load of 230 tons, seven coaches, and succeeded in covering the distance of 401½ miles, non-stop, in the remarkable time of 353½ minutes.
Concurrently with Nos. 6203-12, there appeared No.6202, which differed radically from its sisters. The boiler, wheels, etc., were identical, but in place of the normal cylinders and reciprocating motion it was propelled by turbines, a large one on the left hand side of the engine, for forward motion, and a smaller one on the right hand for reverse running. It was not the first turbine driven locomotive in this country, other experiments in this direction having been made in the 1920s, but it was undoubtedly the only successful turbine design to appear. Many snags were encountered and the engine spent a good proportion of its life in the works undergoing modifications, but nevertheless when it was in service it was a very good engine, and performed work equal to that of its orthodox sisters. It was a beautiful machine to see in action, with its soft purr and even torque, which resulted in almost complete absence of slipping, even with the heaviest load, a fault to which most ‘Pacifics’ designs are particularly prone.
It ran as a turbine until 1952, when it was rebuilt with a normal 4-cylinder propulsion. Previously nameless, it now became ‘Princess Anne’, but its life under its new metamorphosis was exceedingly short, as it was involved in the disastrous Harrow accident in that year, and damaged beyond repair. All the other ‘Princesses, now BR Nos. 46200, 46201 and 46203-12, were in active service in 1959.
‘Princess’ class – Driving wheels – 6’ 6”, Cylinders – 16¼”x 28”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 40285 lb., Weight – 104½ tons, BR classification – 8P
No.6202 – Driving wheels – 6’ 6”, Cylinders – N/A, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort –N/A., Weight – 110½ tons, BR classification – N/A
270 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces From Chasewater News – Spring 2004 Part 3 – Chasewater Heaths & 20 years on.
270 – Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
From Chasewater News – Spring 2004
Part 3 – Chasewater Heaths & 20 years on.
Posted in Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces
Tagged Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasetown, Chasewater Heaths Station, Chasewater Railway Museum, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Hazel Slade, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Old Railway Lines, Pelsall, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1932 – 0-4-2T Great Western Railway
Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era
1932 – 0-4-2T
Great Western Railway
These engines were in effect a modernised version of a very much older class dating back to 1868, the first 54 of which were built as saddle tanks, but later converted to side tanks to conform with the subsequent engines. In all 165 had been constructed between 1868 and 1897, and many of them were still in service in the 1930s, but in need of renewal. It became a common practice on the GWR in later years to replace older engines with completely new ones of the same basic design, instead of the more usual method of giving the original machines extensive overhaul or rebuilding. Latterly this method was applied to some even comparatively modern classes.
In this instance the old 0-4-2Ts were replaced by a series of 95 new engines, Nos.4800-74, which were provided with pull-and-push apparatus, and Nos.5800-19, which were not motor fitted. The most noticeable features in the new engines when compared to the old ones were an extended smokebox and a more modern cab, but they were not superheated. All were built between 1932 and 1936. They replaced their predecessors on the numerous branch lines of the Great Western and in some cases stopping trains along the main lines. With their loads of one or two coaches, sufficient for the local needs which they served, they were very efficient and economical in operation. They were, moreover, quick in acceleration and could show a surprising turn of speed. The advent of the diesel railcar and the closing of many branch lines had rendered many of them redundant, and from 1956 onwards they began to be taken out of service. Nos.4800-74 were renumbered 1400-74 in 1946.
Driving wheels – 5′ 2″, Cylinders – 16″x 24″, Pressure – 165 lb., Tractive effort – 13900 lb., Weight – 41 tons 6 cwt., BR classification – 1P
Museum of Cannock Chase – Mining Gallery Official Opening
Museum of Cannock Chase
Mining Gallery Official Opening
- Welcoming speeches
- Welcoming speeches
- Welcoming speeches
- Phil Harding
- Up to the Gallery
- Inside the Gallery
- Inside the Gallery
- Inside the Gallery
- Inside the Gallery – be careful of this one!!
- Inside the Gallery
- Rugeley Power Station Band
- Smart or what??!! Voting – Smart 2. Or what 48!!
Saturday 28th June 2014 saw the official opening of the new Mining Gallery at the Museum of Cannock Chase.
The proceedings started with the Rugeley Power Station Band welcoming visitors, not on the front lawn as hoped, but, as the weather forecast was for heavy showers, in the Conference Room.
From 12.30pm the official opening and welcome by invited speakers, again inside, this time in the Local History Gallery. The speakers were from Cannock Chase District Council, the Lottery Heritage Fund and the Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust. Thanks were given to the various bodies for having the confidence to invest in the Museum and to the Museum staff for their work within the new gallery.
Then came the ribbon cutting, by Mr. Phil Harding (from the Time Team TV programme) and a chance for guests to see the new gallery.
The Tower Players gave performances in the Lamp Room at 1.30pm and 2.30pm.
The whole event was very well organised and also very well attended.