album:September 2020

Three George England locos in working order together for the first time in about 80 years! No2 Prince of 1863, No4 Palmerston of 1864 and No5 Welsh Pony of 1867. All three locos have been busy on the 2020 COVID services.

Linda on a COVID service at Minffordd, driven by Paul

Trial-fitting new 3D-printed access hatches for the turbogenerator. There's a bit more work to do to optimise these.

The turbogenerator housing with the turbine disc removed.

The turbogenerator turbine disc finally removed. Sadly both the blades and the disc are badly damaged so we will have to make replacements.

Dismantling more of the turbogenerator. The Chinese manual helped us understand how to take it apart and what tools were required.

The electrical half of the turbogenerator.

Here is the rotor of the generator. It actually looks in reasonable condition but we will probably have it re-wound.

One of the turbogenerator stator coils.

Paul drives Merddin Emrys on one of the few double-engine turns in 2020 (c) Graham Bond.

Paul drives Blanche across the cob in some of the more dramatic weather conditions we've had this summer (c) Roger Dimmick.

Paul and Ed were rostered together on the Blanche for a weekend and took the opportunity to wear C2-branded bandannas as their face coverings. Paul's hat is the closest he could get to a Chinese C2 driver's hat, and carries an original Chinese forestry railway cap badge (similar to the pin badges available on our merchandise page) (c) Kevin Pye.

The 2020 COVID service has seen a variety of heritage rolling stock in use, as the individual compartments allow separation of each party of passengers. Here Britomart hauls two bogie coaches on a short service train, passing Moelwyn shunting some spare 4-wheel coaches (part of Ed and Paul's job that day). All six vehicles in the photo are over 100 years old, the oldest is the nearest carriage dating from 1865.

One of the many great things about working at Boston Lodge is the scenery. Here is a view across the estuary towards Snowdon, early morning in late September.

Alan at the controls of the newly rebuilt Welsh Pony, still yet to be formally named. It's been a mainstay of the COVID services this year and has performed very well.

One of the other turbogenerator feet has previously been repaired by welding. We will ensure that all four feet are machined flat after repair, so that they are less likely to fail again.

A view showing the broken foot of the turbogenerator housing. We have the other part and will get them welded back together by a specialist firm.