A visit to the Steeple Grange Light Railway.

Today I found myself in Wirksworth. I went to compete in the Wirksworth Incline Fell Race, and as the Steeple Grange Light Railway was nearby I decided that a visit, long overdue, would be in order.

The railway is built to 18" gauge and runs along the Killer Branch, an old limestone quarry branch line. We were met by friendly and enthusiastic staff, and after buying our tickets and liberating Small Dog from the car (the railway is dog friendly) our train arrived in the platform, returning from a line inspection. This consisted of a Greewood Batley (GreenBat) battery electric loco and a mine manrider, a crude form of carriage that was built to carry miners undergound, in rather cramped conditions!

The ride took about 20 minutes along a very picturesque route mostly through cuttings. Small Dog didn't appreciate the ride, but then he's never been keen on train rides. At the furthest end one of the volunteers gave us a brief history of the branch and of the associated quarries, and again on the return we stopped close to the carriage sheds so that we could see some of the stock.
Outward bound;

On the way back;

I did hope to ride behind the resident Ruston but it was having its injecters bled as we arrived;

But after our ride it was up and running again, and being used to collect a wagon from the carriage shed

Here's some more photos from the day, first up a couple of tubs;

Another battery loco;

And a Hibberd or two;

The view looking away from the main building;

And lastly;

This fenced-off section goes out in the opposite direction from the station end. I forgot to ask whether its in use or not.

A very friendly very pretty railway, well worth a visit.

Paul.

Grounded van bodies 12.

Whilst out running today (recce'ing the course of a forthcoming trail race) I found 3 van bodies around the back of a farm building, surrounded by chickens. They can be found near Hartington in Derbyshire on Reynards Lane, grid reference SK131599. Here's the first, which I think is an old horsebox;

 At the left hand end sits the remains of a van, note the lack of vent in the end;

And across the yard another horse(?) box;

I managed to get another couple of shots from the other side, although there's a half-built building in the way;

It would have been nice to enter the compound to explore further, but I had my dog with me and I don't trust him near chickens!

A lot of photos today, hopefully folk will find these finds interesting. I certainly do!

Paul.

Cutting down a motor shaft.

Sometimes you need to cut down a shaft on a motor to fit into the available space. This can be done in several ways, most commonly using a carborundum disc in a mini-drill. The shafts are usually hardened steel so most files and saws won't make an impression. As I once wrecked a Mashima 1220 using a cutting disc I decided that it might be wise to find a different method. The problem with using a cutting disc is that it generates heat, which in my case melted part of the plastic motor housing and left a bearing hanging loose. So here's how I do things now:

First job is to wrap up the motor in masking tape, to prevent any filings getting inside;

This is particulary important in this case as I'm using an open framed motor.
I've made a mark where I want to cut. Then a 3-sided diamond coated needle file is used to cut a groove around the shaft;

When the groove is deep enough the end can just be snapped off with a pair of pliers. Finally the cut end is cleaned up, again with the diamond file;

Job done.

Apart from not creating heat, which might damage the motor, this method also has a couple of other advantages. Firstly any mess is contained in a very small area, no sparks or dust flying around. Secondly it saves me the effort of digging my seldom used mini-drill out from the back of the cupboard.

Now I know that there will be a lot of folk thinking 'well I've been using a 9" angle grinder for cutting tiny motor shafts for the past 30 years with no problems', which is fine, but I'm just putting forward an alternative method. My way is not the only way, just something that works for me.

Paul.