Category Archives: Monthly updates

August 2020 Update

Issue 13 of the Packet

 Members of the General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration have been receiving their copies of issue 13 of the Packet in the last few days. Full of information and updates on our progress despite Copvid 19! If you are not already a member you are missing out, only £12 per year join online here 35011gsn.co.uk/membership.html we welcome your support.

Proxy Annual General Meeting 2020

The Coronavirus lockdown has caused an unprecedented amount of disruption to our way of life this year and led to us having to cancel our AGM which was scheduled earlier in the spring. The Society had hoped a physical AGM could still take place in 2020, unfortunately in the last few weeks it has become clear that it wouldn’t be possible.

The option that the trustees have decided to take going forward is to hold the Society and CIC (for shareholders) Annual General Meeting by proxy for this year with the expectation of being able to return to normal and hold a physical AGM in March 2021 subject to the relaxation of restrictions to enable us to host a safe event. The proxy AGM will take place on 1st October 2020 and will deal with the Society’s financial year that ended in February 2020 and the CIC financial year that ended in November 2019.

Included with the latest issue of the Packet members will find a booklet which contains all the financial statements for the last financial year, a report from the Society chairman, an agenda for the meeting and a proxy voting form. Please read the booklet carefully and return your proxy voting forms by Friday 25th September. Please note that votes arriving after this date will not be registered, so please send them in at your earliest convenience.

We are living in very uncertain and unusual times but its key that all the legal business of the project is completed correctly, on time and in a transparent manner. This does require a certain amount of flexibility which has been provided to us by the Government.

Twenty Twenty Club

(c) Geoff Dowling
www.flickr.com/photos/geoffsimages/

We are pleased to launch our TWENTY TWENTY CLUB – a great way for you to support the General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society whilst having a bit of a flutter!

Here’s how it works…

You complete and sign the membership form and Standing Order mandate for £5.00 a month (or £60.00 annually) available for download from our website at https://35011gsn.co.uk/about-us-1/35011-twenty-twenty-club/

Fundraising Coach Trip Postponement

35011 at Southampton (Copyright P Rowlands)

Sadly due to the continuing Covid 19 situation in Lancashire & Yorkshire we have made the tough decision to postpone our joint

fundraising trip with the S&CR. With the current uncertainty and with our member’s welfare in mind we feel this is the best option. The new dates will be 21st-24th May 2021.

We intend to have the same itinerary as planned ( NRM York, North York’s Moors Railway, East Lancs Railway & Bolton & Embsay Railway) but this can’t be confirmed until the railways concerned release their 2021 timetables.

Those of you already booked will be contacted directly. Thank You for your understanding.

 

July Update 2020

Engineering

The Society is pleased to report that we be restarting working parties in July. Numbers will be strictly limited to begin with to comply with social distancing so it may be a little while before we can welcome new members to our working parties. Thank you to those that have recently sent in their volunteer forms to join the ranks of our working members, we will welcome you to Blunsdon as soon as we are able.

In June a few select volunteers restarted  stripping down work on the GSN. Most of the work focused on getting our container set up which included the installation of the container lights and electrical sockets, at the request of the railway painting the outside green and various other small tasks. Work did progress on the locomotive with the removal of the springs that attach to the center drive wheels. A preliminary visual inspection suggests they are good condition considering their age.

The Society also gained a new component in June that was originally fitted to sister Merchant Navy 35023 ‘Holland Afrika Line’. Not many parts of 35023 survived the scrapyard, but luckily after the last fires were dropped from the engines at Nine Elms, souvenirs from the locomotives were recovered, this includes the boiler pressure gauge from 35023, which had recently resurfaced from an old drivers collection. This historic component has now been secured for future use on GSN thanks to the very kind donation of one of our members.

Clothing

You can now look great whilst supporting the restoration of 21c11 / 35011.

The Society is pleased to partner with our friends at Universal Uniform to provide a range of quality 21c11 / 35011 GSN branded clothing items, in a variety of colours, such as:

 

 

 

 

With manufacturing processes having been made fully Covid-19 secure,  all items are made to order and usually despatched within 7-10 working days.

All proceeds from the sale of these clothing items will directly benefit the restoration of 21c11 / 35011.

To visit our dedicated clothing online shop and make your purchases click here

New Dates for Fund raising Trip.

As you are probably aware we have had to reschedule our four day fund raising coach trip to Yorkshire,which subject to getting sufficient numbers will now take place on Friday 16th October.

Profits for the trip will be split between GSN & The Swindon & Cricklade Railway.In my professional capacity as a coach driver I will behind the wheel for the trip so it will be a great way to meet fellow members & raise money at the same time.

We will travel on 3 steam railways,visit the National Railway Museum* at York & generally have a fun weekend. We will be based at the Best Western Guide Post hotel on the outskirts of Bradford for 3 nights on a half board basis.

The program is as follows:

  • Fri 16th Oct. Travel from Blunsdon to Bradford
  • Sat 17th Oct Steam Journey on the Bolton & Embsay Railway followed by a journey from Rawtenstall to Bury on the East Lancs Steam Railway.
  • Sun 18th Oct Steam journey from Pickering to Whitby on the North Yorks Moors Railway.
  • Mon 19th Oct Visit to the NRM York (Subject to NRM reopening after corona virus shut down) before returning to Blunsdon.

Price £299pp. This includes all train fares. There is a £50 single Supplement.

This trip is run in conjunction with Holidays & Cruises in Melksham . To Book please call them on 01225 865725 option 3.

 

How you can help

You can help with the restoration of 21c11 / 35011 back to original condition complete with air smoothed casing and chain driven valve gear in several different ways.

Membership

The General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society Membership costs £12 for the year click here for more details on how to join us.

Shareholding

The General Steam Navigation C.I.C. offers our supporters the opportunity to purchase shares in the locomotive. To find out more about becoming a shareholder and the levels of benefits click here.

Sponsorship

The Society does have a few components available for sponsorship.

Gauge glass protector (1 available for £80 – 1 already sponsored)

Safety valve castings (1 available for £250 – 2 already sponsored)

Front end cladding and lamp irons are also available for prices

To register an interest in sponsoring any of the components please contact us directly via email, social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or using the contact us form.

As always thank you for your continued support.

 

May Update 2020

May Engineering Update

In January and February work progressed on the locomotive at the Blunsdon site. The majority of the effort was focused on preparing the boiler for the lift later in the year. This saw our volunteers removing tubes from the boiler and the various bolts securing the boiler to the frames. The Society is happy to report that all the large boiler tubes have been removed with work now starting on the smaller tubes. It had been hoped the smaller tubes would be all removed before the boiler lift but with workings cancelled until further notice that might not be possible. Whilst our volunteers have removed the majority of the bolts securing the boiler to the frames, several have been left in for safety reasons. Once the boiler lift gets closer the last of these bolts will then be removed and the remainder of the smokebox will also be removed.

Exposed frames after ash pan removal

The stripping down of the locomotive has also seen progress with the ash pans on both sides now removed. Whilst the crane is on site for the boiler lift the Society also plans remove the front bogie and trailing truck. Once these have been removed the bogie, which appears to be in better condition then the trailing truck, will become the main focus of our restoration efforts. It is the aim to restore the trailing truck at the same time although his will depend on the cost effectiveness of the exercise.  It is believed once the Society has delivered a major restored component our credibility will improve and more serious investment will come in.

CAD Boiler support and inside slide bar bracket

During the shut down the Society has also been able to agree a very good value-for-money deal that will see our entire frames, stretchers, bufferbeam and both the front and rear dragboxs drawn up in CAD. Once the boiler has been lifted and the frames stripped back this CAD will then be used to check the frames. The Society has had some CAD produced in the past such as the boiler support which forms the back of the oil bath that contains the chain driven valve gear, mounts the inside slidebar and holds the plunger that transfers the valve motion to the piston valves (see right). The Society will need to check that the locomotive’s frames actually match the CAD and the drawings. Once the frames have been scanned to ensure they are in good condition (and fingers crossed, no cracks or damage) the CAD will then be used to cast any stretchers that will need replacing, along with a new dragbox and the boiler support. The cost of getting the frame CADs done was agreed for a price for £1,500. With funds being very tight after the AGM’s cancellation if anyone would like to contribute towards the cost of the CAD project please do get in touch using the contacts details on our website.

The Society had also hopFront end casinged to unveil some of the front cladding with fitted lamp irons at the AGM in March. The cladding had been produced in order to give the locomotive her face and the start of the outline unique to an original condition Merchant Navy. To create the look some wooden frame extensions were fabricated in order to temporarily fit the new cladding. The cladding had been completed in time for the AGM but with the Covid-19 lock down the Society have been unable to send someone down to collect the finished project. Until the big unveiling the completed cladding will be kept under wraps. The Society would just like to thank Leaky Finders for there hard work constructing the cladding in record time.

The Society was able to acquire a new original electric headlight  for the locomotive.  At this point the Society now has 5 brass lamps and 1 steel one. The Society has also agreed a price for a Smiths speedometer axle box generator and a cut-off indictor plate for the steam reverser which we will be collecting later in the year.

At this moment in time GSN is a dormant creature, waiting for its time to live again & with your help we can do just that. No matter what skills you have we can use your help. Please contact our volunteer liaison officer by email to Andrew Collett or write to him  with your contact details if you fancy getting your hands dirty.

Issue 12 of the Packet

The latest issue of the Packet went out to our members this month and was another bumper issue. The issue features the latest news from the engineering team, the boiler lift appeal,  GSNs backplate build up and much much more.

If you are not yet a member, it’s only £12 per year, you can sign up here. Membership in the Society ensures you’ll be kept up to date with the latest achievements, via our members magazine ‘The Packet’ published three times a year with progress reports on GSN and articles about Merchant Navy’s and the Light Pacifics, access to the locomotive when possible and the ability to get involved with the Society.

With the Covid-19 lockdown in place the Society’s finances are under great strain following the lose revenue generated from our sales stand visiting heritage railway gala events over the year. To help ensure work can continue following the lockdown the Society does ask to consider supporting us if your able to and any support would be gratefully appreciated. You can sign up for membership for only £12 per year here, donate to the Society here or even better join us as a shareholder here.

As always thank you for your continued support.

 

 

March Update 2020 – Boiler Lift Appeal

 Boiler lift “Sponsor an inch or more” and prize draw.

As with all things in life what goes up must come down… and the boiler is no different. It will need to be lifted clear of the chassis, swung away, and then lowered to its new temporary location.

The approximate cost of the crane hire will be £1500 that also equates to approximately the distance in actual up and down travel of 150 inches of the boiler by the time it has been raised to clear the chassis and lowered again.

We are therefore offering supporters the opportunity to sponsor a part of the lift for as little as £10 per inch, of course supporters can also sponsor multiple inches!

How to “Sponsor an inch or more”

To “Sponsor an inch or more” head to our campaign ‘JustGiving’ page here  to complete your sponsorship.

Free prize draw

Every “inch or more” sponsored will be entered into a free draw to win a number of prizes, be drawn at random at pivotal points during the boiler lift, including: model railway locomotives in N and 00 gauges including a star prize of a Graham Farish N Gauge Merchant Navy Pacific locomotive, a year’s free membership of the GSNLR Society, General Stream Navigation merchandise and other prizes.

The more inches sponsored increases your winning chances.

Note: the prize draw is registered with Plymouth City Council in accordance with the Gambling Act 2005 for non-commercial Society’s

Click here to sponsor an inch

AGM Cancelled

We also regret to inform you that we have had to cancel our Society and C.I.C. AGM’s planned for Saturday March 28th. The Swindon and Cricklade Railway have cancelled their Steam Gala and all trains until at least the end of April as a precaution against Covid-19 and your Board has decided that we should follow their very sensible lead.

We hope to be able to arrange the AGM’s for a later date when the current situation resolves itself and we shall announce a new date in a future edition of The Packet and will be writing to all shareholders as well. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to any of you who intended to attend the AGM’s but I am sure you will understand our decision under the circumstances.

Engineering

Our volunteers have also been hard at work removing various components off the locomotive including the rear and middle brake hangers on the right hand side, the remaining parts of the slide bars from both sides, the outside exhaust steam pipes, the reversing screw and the regulator operating bar from inside the boiler. All of the removed components are then assessed, put into storage and if they are a component that is exclusive to the rebuilds they are offered to other Bullied owners group.

Trailing Truck

 Work was not just focused on removing components but also saw our volunteers test fit some of the components the Society had made last year. The main highlight was the trail fitting of all the components for the trailing truck. The spring beams were successfully installed with the hangers. The Society needs to acquire some new springs but was able to use the bogie springs for the test fiting. The axle box cover and dust cover were fitted which gave us the slight of a fully equipped fabricated trailing truck for the first time since the 1960s when GSN had the covers removed at Barry. The Society would once again like to thank all the members who sponsored the various components for the trailing truck.

Boiler

The main focus on the work on the locomotive has been centred around detubing the boiler ready for the boiler lift. As it stands all of the bigger boiler tubes have been removed from the boiler and our volunteers have a start removing the small tubes.

The boiler lift will be part of a big on-site move so getting the boiler prepared and the funds in place beforehand will be key. Once again if you like to help fund the boiler you can “Sponsor an inch or more”  by donating to our campaign ‘JustGiving’ page here  to complete your sponsorship.

As always thank you for your continued support.

January 2020 Update

January 2020 Update

Looking back to progress in 2019

Since the move of General Steam Navigation our new home at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway   in April 2019 we have held a number of enjoyable and productive working parties made all the more effective by being at our new permanent base, see also our May 2019 update here.

Working alongside our friends at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway   we have obtained and installed a new 20ft storage container alongside 35011 in the Barn at Blunsdon. This gives us a secure base for our tools, equipment and most importantly storage of many of the components that have been removed from the locomotive to enable the next steps of restoration to take place.

In preparation of lifting the boiler during 2020 we have continued to remove the boiler tubes, with the majority of the large tubes now removed. We also removed the top of the old smokebox, this being both badly corroded and also a of a rebuilt type and therefore not suitable for 35011 when restored to original form, this have given us easier and safer access to the boiler front tubeplate. All the boiler mounting points have been regularly oiled up to enable easier removal of the boiler later this year.

As with a restoration of this kind there are many components that need to be removed from the locomotive as part of the process, some of these items will be restored and reused whilst others being for the engine in her rebuilt form will not be required and where possible a offered to other locomotive owners. All the components so far removed have been catalogued and securely stored. These items have included: slide bars, reverser, cylinder and valve chest covers, glands and packing and brake gear.

We also have continued to work on the production of new items including a wide range of new castings, Klinger valves and bogie and pony truck spring beams and hangers being machined, and trial fitted.  Research and Design work and material sourcing is continuing in earnest for the new centre crank axle and new tyres have been ordered for the wheels for the centre axle.

At our November working party that coincided with Remembrance Sunday, those attending marked the occasion by observing a 2 minutes silence, to remember specifically all those in the Merchant Navy whom lost their lives alongside our service personnel. 35011 was also suitably adorned with the Red Ensign flag of the Merchant Navy.

More details and information about the progress being made on 35011 General Steam Navigation will be in the next issue of our members magazine the Packet due later this month.

If you are not yet a member, it’s only £12 per year, you can sign up here  or even better become a shareholder here.

Upcoming dates in 2020

 

Our next planned working weekends are being held on 25th / 26th January & 29th and February / 1st March.

As always with our working weekends, no experience is necessary just enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved. If you are interested, please contact our chairman at andrew.collett@35011gsn.co.uk for a volunteer form to fill out.

Please note that as well as being a member of us you will also need to be a member of and or join the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

Also our AGM will be held on the 28th March at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway,  where all members and shareholders are invited to join us. We have a guest speaker from Steam Railway Magazine and it is also a Gala Weekend on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway , so along with seeing the progress that has been made on No.11 there will be plenty going on to make the visit worthwhile.
The formal AGM notice will be in the next issue of the members magazine the Packet.

As always thank you for your continued support.

May 2019 Update

Since the last update the Society the project has been incredibly busy with the biggest news being the locomotive has arrived at her new home on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. The move which took 2 days and involved a crane, 2 low loaders and around 30 volunteers was a complete success with the locomotive arriving at the railway on the 20th April.  The Society would like to thank Reid freight and all the volunteers at Sellindge and Swindon for their help during the move. The Society is also incredibly grateful to all our members who donated towards the costs of the move and raised £1,700 in just under a week. You can still support our efforts to cover the move by donating at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/35011gsn.

General Steam Navigations move to the Swindon generated quite a bit of main stream media coverage for the project. The stand out achievement was a 3 minute feature on the local BBC 6pm news program ’Points West’. The feature included footage of the locomotive arriving, some old photos, interviews with Andrew Collett one of our trustees and Allan Bott one of the Swindon and Cricklade volunteers. Getting the feature was a great scoop for the project as the program gets an average of 580,000 people tuning in.

Andrew Collett and Allan Bott were also interviewed for BBC Radio Wiltshire’s  Drivetime program. General Steam Navigation also made the front page of the S&CRs local paper the ’Swindon Advertiser’. All this mainstream coverage is a great success for the project and our new hosts as we look to build our volunteer and supporters base in the local area.

The Society held its AGM on the 18th May at Blunsdon station on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. This year’s event was the first time the Society has been able to hold the AGM with the locomotive present and was the majority of our members’ first time seeing 35011 in person. A full write up will appear in Issue 10 of the Packet out in the next couple of months.

If you are considering getting involved with the restoration of the locomotive joining today is the perfect opportunity to join. Working parties will be starting soon at the Swindon site and will make the next stage of her life and you could be part of that new chapter. For more details please do get in touch with us through our website or various social media platforms.

As always thank you for your continued support.

February 2019 Update

The General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society are delighted to report that on Wednesday 13th March the Society will be announcing the new base that the locomotive will be moving to. The new base will see the restoration and eventful running of the Society’s Merchant Navy class engine.

Issue 9 of the Packet which will be posted to members in the coming days will feature an indepth article on the new base and the exciting times that lay ahead for the project.

Feburary was a busy month for the projects engineering team with volunteers working on the locomotive at Sellindge to prepare her for the upcoming move.  We do have to inform our supporters that unfortunately we won’t be publicizing any dates for the physical move of the locomotive due to space requirements at both ends of the trip.

Ian Ferguson one of our expert machinists completed the work on the Klinger valves and have been collected by one of the Societys trustees. We’d like to thank Ian for all his hard work on the valves and the Society plan to fit them to the manifold during the AGM to display to our members,

Work on the bogie spring beams was progressing with the profiles being machined for us by Asbrook Engineering in Devon.  These beams are being made the same way as the beams for the trailing truck and should be delivered by the end of March.

As always thank you for your contuined support

January 2019 Update

At the start of a each year we tend to look back at the previous years achievements and 2018 was another stand out year. Amongst the highlights were the new nameplates for the locomotive which sponsored by 2 of our members and unveiled at the Societys in March. The biggest engineering success was gathering all the major components required to overhaul the trailing truck once the locomotive has been stripped down. Securing all the major parts for the trailing truck saw the project undertake many firsts including the first component made from our own patterns (axle box covers) and the first component made from Society generated CAD (trailing truck spring beams). All this work allowed us demonstrate the difference between our unique fabricated trailing truck and the far more common cast version. Work was also undertaken at Sellindge in the form of general maintenance and preparing the locomotive for a future move. Thanks to our amazing supporters we also secured many original parts for the locomotive including a whistle valve, lamps and a speedometer.

Work is on going with the machining of the Klinger Valves with Ian making steady progress. Inside the valve is what is known as a lantern. Its job is to apply pressure to the packing that seals the valve piston by allows steam to pass through it when the valve is open. It is not been possible to obtain stainless steel castings which meant Ian had to machine them out of a solid billet of stainless steel. The caps of the Klinger valves have been fully machined which was made easier through the use of special trapezoidal taps that sped up the process no end. At our AGM the Society plans to have the completed valves on display test fitted to the manifold. The machining of this particular component is very complex and the Society is extremely grateful to Ian for all his hard work over the past year.

The third annual General Meeting of the Society will held on Saturday 18th May 2019 however the location cannot be revealed at this time. The Society is in the final stages of a agreeing a new base for the locomotive with the contract being discussed at this time. Its planned that the locomotive will be moved to the new site in time for the AGM to allow our members attending to see her and as many of the various parts the Society has gathered attached to her. This has also seen Issue 9 of the Packet being delayed until the contract is signed. The issue is ready to go to the printers so once the deal has been agreed our members will get the news on there doorsteps soon after. The Packet features some major updates on various fronts including the crank axle,  more original components, more parts made from scratch and the galas we are attending in the coming months.

As always thank you for your contuined support

 

November 2018 Update

November has been another productive month for the project with lots of work being carried out behind the scenes which should take the GSN project to the next level. We are quickly approaching our 3rd birthday and the Society is hopeful of announcing a new restoration base that we are currently in negotiations with. Should this be agreed and the deal signed the Society will launch an appeal to raise the approximately £7,000 required for the transportation costs and crane hire fees to move the J94 chassis and its boiler that‘s currently in front of 35011 at Sellindge. This could also see our AGM being delayed by a couple of months this year in order to have the event at the new base with the locomotive present. As soon as anything is agreed be assured our members will be the first to know.

The General Steam Navigation is delighted to announce the long term loan of some original Bulleid components to be used on 35011. Kindly lent to us by Eddie Wearing the components include a Smiths Speedometer that was removed from a Bulleid Pacific and 4 electric lamps. The Smiths Speedometer‘s were installed on all of the LNER‘s top link engines, the Bulleid Pacific’s and the BR Standard Class Locomotives such as the Britannia’s. This makes them a very sort after component item within the heritage railway sector as the supply of originals dries up so securing one for the locomotive is a great achievement. Before use the Speedometer will need to be sent to a specialist company such as Wayne Jones and Partners for overhaul, calibration and certification.

Last month we mentioned with with Christmas fast approaching it was the perfect time to join easyfundraising.org.uk. We were delighted to see several new supporters sign up which has led to an immediate increase in donations.  Easy Fundraising is a great way to raise money for charities, schools, sports clubs, community groups, Merchant Navy class steam locomotives, and other good causes just by shopping online and selecting your chosen charity, in our case General Steam Navigation.

As always thank you for your contuined support

October 2018 Update

 

October was a busy month for us with the Society stand visiting both the Mid Hants Railway Autumn steam gala and the Exeter Garden Model Railway show. These events were very successful for the project with the Society signing up several new members. The Society would like to take our stand out and visit more railways in 2019 but for that we need your help. Events on our wish list include the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railways May gala, the Severn Valley Railway and the Great Central Railway. The more railways we visit the more people will see our society and hopefully join which will be a major boost to our efforts to restore 35011. If you are interested in supporting GSNs restoration through manning a sales stand please do get in touch via the website.

Issue 8 of the Packet landed on our members doorsteps this weekend and was another bumper issue.  The Packet has updates from the engineering team. new original Bulleid components, another magazine scan from Southern Railway magazine and reports from all the various departments within the Society.

General Steam Navgation made a surprise TV appearance this week albeit in 00 gauge form. She appeared for a couple of seconds on Channel 5s Great Model Railway Challenge show when Team Tonbridge were testing the layout. Sadly Team Tonbridge didnt win there heat but seeing a model GSN was a nice surprise for us.

With Christmas fast approaching today is the perfect time to join easyfundraising.org.uk. Easy Fundraising is a great way to raise money for charities, schools, sports clubs, community groups, Merchant Navy class steam locomotives, and other good causes just by shopping online and selecting your chosen charity, in our case General Steam Navigation.

How it works

  1. First go to the easyfundraising website (www.easyfundraising.org.uk)
  2. Choose a link to any of the 2,700+ retailers (e.g. Amazon, Asda, M&S, Waterstones, etc) to be taken to the retailers own website
  3. Shop as normal

By registering General Steam Navigation as your good cause on the easyfundraising website, purchases that you make, after clicking through to any retailer from the easyfundraising website, will automatically provide a donation to us. It really is as simple as that! And if you install the easyfundraising Donation Reminder you don’t even have to remember to do steps 1 and 2! There is also an App for mobile devices. Refer to the easyfundraising website for any further details.

Click here to sign up.

As always thank you for your continued support