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SVR |
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VALE NEWS Latest News
-- Cwm Crossing
-- North British
-- Locomotive 813 --Engineering
-- Permanent Way -- Rolling
Stock -- Llantarnam Abbey --
DMU Group -- Other Work -- Please
Note Important
Announcement
What's Happening on the SVR? After a number of years of slow progress, during which time we have been very grateful for your patience as members, things are now starting to look up for the railway. Negotiations with Swansea Council about the future of our Line are at a critical stage. we cant`t really say too much about the details because negotiations are still finely balanced, but a recent meeting with the Council officers was very positive .A railway consultancy firm has produced a development plan for Upper Bank on behalf of the Council. This has been discussed with the company, who have subjected some alterations which the council are considering, these plans will include full costing for a new station and workshop at Upper Bank and the refurbishment to passenger carrying standards of the running line to Nantyfin Road Station. Should the plans be approved, most of the refurbished and building work will be done by Council contractors. Your role as Society members in maintaining the railway will however be vital. Support will be needed in all departments, since if these plans are approved by the City Councilors, they will give us a unique opportunity to develop Swansea Vale Railway with a substantial investment of public money. Many other Heritage Railways welcome such an investment and vote of public confidence. We are sure that you, as members of the Swansea Vale Railway will do this too. There really has not been a better time to renew your membership and take an active role in the work of the society. Part of our preparation for the forthcoming development is to clear Upper Bank of undergrowth and to improve the appearance of all rolling stock. The Committee has decided that all rolling stock should now be painted and we would be grateful for as many members as possible to give us a hand. The paint has been purchased and stored safely at Upper Bank. The Company will also discuss the future of the King's Dock Signal Box with the Council, since we will do everything we can to make sure that this integral and unique part of Swansea's Railway Heritage is preserved in some form, We will let you know more about this and other matters as soon as we can. An update on progress will be given at the start of every Open Meeting and the latest news will also be published on the Web Site as soon as possible. We also hope to publish a News Sheet like this on a regular basis. The Committee are very grateful for the hard work being done by a number of members. This includes Permanent Way work such as spot sleepering, reballasting and clearing the drains along the running line, ongoing work with the Austerity and other locomotibes and stock, and running the Society's Shop in Swansea High Street Arcade. We are pleased to report the Shop is doing well. This is a particularly important source of income for the Society whilst we are not running trains. Many thanks to everyone who helps run the Shop and who contribute items for sale. Please do come along and have a look at the Shop if you haven't already done so. We are especially grateful for the valuable contribution made to the Society by Alan Williams from the proceeds of the sales of his book about the Swansea Vale Railway. The book us very well worth looking at.
14th
October 2005
Cwm
Crossing
Before work could commence installing the cycle way
we refurbished one panel of track, changing three concrete sleepers
and finally leveling and ballasting. When the track work is completed
a start will be made on the refurbishment of the track down to Upper
Bank North
British
The North British loco 0-4-0
Diesel Hydraulic has resided at Upper Bank for the past 20 odd
The cylinder heads have
been removed and examined, some pitting of the valve seats was noted
and will be refurbished as necessary, it was also found that one
of the piston crowns had been damaged by a broken valve, when removed
it was noted the piston rings had suffered as well as the side of
the piston being badly scored, hopefully we have sufficient parts
in stock to replace these items. Last but not least the fuel pump
will be examined thoroughly, hopefully no damage has been done due
to its inactivity.
Engineering
When it returned to our work shop the valve surfaces had to be plated to bring them back to spec. The block has now been fitted back in the frame. The boiler had a considerable amount of work done to it over the past months. The foundation ring rivets (due to corrosion ) have been drilled out one at a time and replaced with bolts ready for fitting new rivets. The smoke box, deflector plates were removed ( what was left of them) and new ones manufactured and fitted. The boiler is now ready for new boiler tubes and foundation ring rivets to be fitted by outside contractors. In 2004 we saw the completion of work on the restoring of 6 panels on the curve, just North of the overbridge leading to Nantyffin Road Station, (ex Six Pit Station) see note.
In May 2005 the whole track
from just short of the signal box to the end of the track North
of Nantyffin Road Station was sprayed with weed killer. This has
had a tremendous effect on the visual aspect of the line. Rolling
Stock
During the latter part of 2004, a box van was taken into the workshop for repairs to the woodwork, and the manufacture and fitting of a new timber sliding door, the stripping and re-covering of the roof, and a complete paint job, Bauxite for the timber work and black for the underframe's with white lettering as per original, with the exception of the name of the new owner on the side.
The other item of note to have a considerable amount of work carried out on it, was our GWR "Toad" Brake Van no. 114762 ex Swansea Dock, both sides were removed from the veranda and replaced with new steel work. The side doors were refurbished and a new timber floor fitted. The van has been painted in light grey, black underframe and white lettering.
Last but not least, a 16
tone ex. INCO Europe Ltd was given a coat of paint, light grey top Llantarnam
Abbey is under new management.
The
locomotive is presently parked in the triangle at the back of our
loco shed at Upper Bank. The cab, bunker, water tank, boiler and
wheels were removed and positioned by the side of the frames which
are supported on blocks. The frames were cleaned, sand blasted and
painted, ready to fit a new front buffer beam which is being manufactured
in our work shop .A new cab and bunker will be fabricated from mild
steal plate. The wheels are being shipped out in the near future
for machining, The Llanelli and District Diesel Railway Society . Since the failure of Rosyth No.1. the DMU Group have stepped into the breach, taking over all passenger carrying operations on the railway.
In between operational
duties the group have continued cleaning and painting the under
frames and bogies,with the sides being rubbed down and undercoated
ready for a top coat of green gloss. Nantyffin Road Station In
anticipation of future developments of the railway and the forth
coming events ie. the 25th Anniversary, Nantyffin Road Station has
undergone a major clean up from North of the stop block and just
South of the first turnout into Nantyffin Road.
This year the decision was taken to change the name of (Six Pit Station) to that of Nantyffin Road Station being more in keeping with the locality. |
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Site maintained by Swansea Vale Railway Society with the much appreciated help of Lynne Berridge (EdenDigital)
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