News & Events

Update on Locomotive fleet

Bee has returned from Alan Keefs after a wheel came loose on the front axle. Other work completed including the coupling rod drive pins which were not equidistance on both driving wheels. Both issues would seem to have been down to the original manufacture of the loco back in 2004. 

Since returning and before reassembly the fusible plug on Bee broke when being removed and due to the yacht type boiler the remains have proved to be very difficult to remove. However we hope to have good news on this front in the next month or so. 

Ant has given good service this season ably assisted when needed by WASP. 

Both Ant and Bee are due to have their annual boiler inspection which it is hoped will be carried out once Bee's fusible plug issue has been resolved so that both loco's can be tested at the same time. This is hoped to be in March which is cutting it a bit fine as we are due to open at the end of the month! 

The Boiler inspection has been carried out and passed with only one minor failure, one of the safety valves will need replacing which is in hand. 

Ant has been successfully steamed with only the mechanical lubricator playing up. 

Bee was steamed today (12 March 2018) after the fusible plug was finally fully removed and the hole retapped to the correct thread. Again there were a few issues but by the end of the day we have a fully working engine. 

Next for the steam test hopefully this coming weekend. 

WASP has been sluggish over the last year or so and we now believe the casue of this is one of the twenty four batteries may have failed. We are now waiting for a load tester for the two volt batteries to identify the faulty unit so that it can be replaced. Until then the engine is soldiering on and giving good service. 

The Load tester has proved that all the batteries are OK but that all twenty four are beginning to get a bit tired (they are eight years old) So we are now looking for sponsorship for a replacement set of batteries. Any offers? We have had quotes but it would be good if we could get a local company to help us out with this project. 

We have finally managed to secure a good deal on the batteries and they are now on their way to the Isle of Man so watch this space for an update as to WASPs performance with her new batteries.