14A, The Guinea Pig

When 14A came into the workshops for its last exam late in 2015, it was noted that one of the lens rings joining the main steam pipe from the header…

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Fox Bogie Progress

There’s been some good progress since this project was first introduced. All the laser cut plates have now been welded together, the progress of which can be seen in the…

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NG/G16 Into 2016

     It might look to the untrained eye as if work on the Garratt had pretty much come to a halt once the boiler was in place. As with…

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White Metal Or White Nylon

If there are any recurring themes running through this Blog, one of the foremost will most certainly be the number of repetitive, labour intensive tasks required to keep our century…

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Whistle Stop Wales

With “coincidentally” overlapping trips to the UK planned for June 2015, myself and David Clowes, Puffing Billy’s Maintenance Engineer, decided to make the most of the opportunity and planned a…

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Norm’s Engine

The workshops at Puffing Billy have carried out all kinds of jobs over the years, on a variety of scales, but ‘Tywyn’ probably rates as one of the smallest locomotives.…

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Garratt 129 Progress

All the suspension components are now complete, and most have now been trial assembled on the engine units (above and below). This has been a useful exercise to prove everything…

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Trial Fitting A Garratt Boiler

Another milestone for the restoration of Puffing Billy’s NG/G16 Garratt was reached early in November when the new boiler was lowered into the boiler cradle for the first time. Following…

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The Fox Bogie Revisited

First patented by Englishman Samson Fox in 1893, the Fox style bogie carried virtually all the rolling stock on the Victorian Railways 4 narrow gauge lines from construction to demolition.…

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A New Smokebox Door Seal For 6A

  One of the many constant challenges for the workshop staff at Belgrave is being able to create and maintain an air tight seal around the smokebox door. A poor…

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