This weekend has seen work continuing on the 10 year overhaul of No. 7. The boiler tubes have been ground off at the firebox end and then each tube is individually heated and then rapidly cooled in order to shock the metal into a rapid contraction so that it can be hammered out of the boiler with a slide hammer.
Meanwhile in the machine shop, a newly acquired horizontal boring attachment for the Huron mill was delivered and tried. It will now be overhauled and painted before being put straight to work on the overhaul of No. 7.
Whilst the loco shed is busy with the 10-year overhaul of No. 7, other areas of the railway have not been in hibernation. The signalling and telegraph department have been working on the signal box where the installation and testing of a token machine is complete and ready for the changeover to EKTs from the current staff system in operation between Maespoeth Junction and Corris. New interlocking for the lever frame with dogs made in house by Phil Scott has been installed and undergone final adjustments and testing. Meanwhile, work continues in the carriage shed with the painting of coach No. 24.
In this short video, head of S&T Samuel Knappett runs us through the working of the lever frame with the new interlocking dogs in place.
In order to survive in the 21st century as a viable tourist attraction the Corris Railway needed a working steam locomotive so as to give visitors the unique experience of travelling part of the oldest narrow gauge railway in Mid-Wales aboard an early 20th century-style train. The members of the Corris Railway Society were asked if they would help to finance the building of a modern version of the Kerr Stuart “Tattoo” class locomotive, similar to loco No. 4 (now Talyllyn Railway No. 4 “Edward Thomas”). A majority of those who responded to the survey said they would support an Appeal Fund to build the engine. The Project was started officially on 1st February 1995 and with funding provided by members’ covenants plus many other fund raising initiatives. The new locomotive, numbered 7, entered service in 2005, bringing the sound of a steam engine at work back to the Dulas Valley after half a century.
2025 marks the 20th year of service on the railway for No. 7 and the second “10 year” major overhaul of the locomotive is now due, following the expiration of her boiler ticket at the end of the 2024 running season.
In the last decade No. 7 has proved a reliable locomotive suffering only one major failure whilst working Santa Trains in December 2018. Whilst taking empty coaching stock back to Corris station to collect extra passengers, a lack of lubrication caused a section of the valve gear on the driver’s side to seize. As the locomotive was working uphill with the regulator open this caused stress and damage to the valve gear as a whole. The locomotive was taken out of traffic immediately and repairs were carried out with the help from the Vale of Rheidol Railway. The “Tattoo” was ready just in time to work a photographic charter and a “Your Railway for the Day” experience package before passenger train services for 2019 were due to commence at Easter. More recently, a failed steam gasket during the 2024 gala meant that she had to be withdrawn after working the initial double header with Falcon steam locomotive No. 10.
Overall however, she has proved to be a reliable locomotive for both the Corris Railway, heading the majority of passenger trains and private charters as well as a couple of brief visits to the Talyllyn Railway where she worked alongside her sister locomotive No. 4. Since the last “10 year” overhaul she has completed 3,978.5 miles, primarily on Corris metals, although this figure does include a couple of hundred miles working from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol on the Talyllyn Railway.
An entirely volunteer force started the strip down of the locomotive between Christmas and New Year 2024, not least in an attempt to burn off some Christmas calories, although primarily in the hope to maintain a schedule of work that will see the locomotive returned to steam in time for the 2025 Corris Railway gala due to be held on Saturday 24th May.
The saddle tank, cab, coal bunker, boiler cladding, steam fittings and pipes and the motion were removed within a couple of days and have been stored indoors on a flat waggon in order to allow work to progress on the boiler and smoke box. The boiler will be re-tubed at Maespoeth and the boiler metal and welds will be inspected and measured to ensure that they meet the necessary safety requirements to pass certification for the next ten years. After the boiler is lifted from the frames, the driving wheels and pony truck will be removed and the frames will be cleaned down and repainted.
The workshops at the Vale of Rheidol Railway have been contracted to fabricate a new stainless steel smokebox for the loco as well as re-profiling the tyres and fitting new crank pins. New bearings for the driving axles will be produced in-house at Maespoeth in the newly revamped machine shop, under the auspices of engineers Phil Scott and Ian Cross. The recently acquired Huron mill has also been used to take measurements to a three decimal place accuracy of the axle centres and the motion using the digital read out.
The cancellation of the 2024 Santa Specials owing to Storm Darragh meant the total loss of the much needed revenue usually accrued at this time of year in order to ‘keep the lights on’ at the Railway outside of the running season. Anyone wishing to donate to the Railway to help with general running costs or the overhaul of No. 7 can do so via the Railway’s website – www.corris.co.uk – or cheques payable to Corris Railway can be sent to The Corris Railway, Station Yard, Corris, Machynlleth SY20 9SH.
For the full story of the construction of Locomotive No. 7 see The Tale of a “Tattoo”, written by Peter Guest and available from the Corris Railway online shop or from the museum sales counter at Corris.
The running season may now have finished but that doesn’t mean that the railway has gone into hibernation. The fallen trees across the line in three places have now been cut up and cleared and dehumidifiers have been drying out the machine shop after the flood waters receded. The completion of this work means that the worst of the effects of Storm Darragh have now been dealt with.
Loco No. 10 has had her bunker cleaned out, and both the tank and boiler drained. At the start of December she successfully passed her steam test and so she is now going to have a period of rest before a busy season next year.
Preparations are underway for the 2nd 10-year overhaul of Loco No. 7. The Talyllyn Railway has kindly loaned two boiler cradle wagons to support and facilitate movement of the boiler once it has been lifted off the frames. Work will begin on the dismantling of No. 7 at the end of December when volunteers will be stripping the engine down in Maespoeth shed under the aegis of the railway’s chief mechanical engineer, Trefor Davies.
The boiler tubes will be removed in order to prepare for the ultrasonic testing of the boiler metal and welds as well as checking the integrity of the firebox. The frames will be lifted and the wheelsets dropped out. The wheels are going to be re-profiled by the Vale of Rheidol workshops and they will also be making new crank pins. The Vale of Rheidol are also making a new smoke box out of stainless steel similar to the one they made for No. 4 on the Talyllyn Railway. New white metal bearings for the loco are being made in-house at Maespoeth.
With the boiler and cab removed from the loco, there will then be the opportunity to clean and degrease the frames and the motion, prior to repainting. The boiler will be re-tubed and the whole reassembled, before the loco undergoes extensive testing in order to receive another 10-year boiler ticket.
N.B. The photograph at the top of this Press Release and those inside the engine shed shown below are of the 10-year overhaul of Number 7 during November 2014.
Owing to Storm Darragh, the Corris Railway had to cancel its weekend of Santa specials on December 7th and 8th. This was a decision that was taken by many of the other heritage railways in the country and rightly so.
Many of the volunteers who help run the railway travel from across the country from as far south as the Isle of Wight and as far north as Scotland. They had completed the setting up on Friday 6th and were looking forward to welcoming excited children on a trip to Santa’s grotto.
Saturday morning revealed that the plans of mice and men ‘gang aft a-gley’. There were landslips on the road north and south of Corris, a total loss of electricity at Corris and Maespoeth Junction and the overwhelmed road drains of the A487 meant that rain water was flooding off the road and cascading into the machine shop, engine shed and loco inspection pit. A line inspection revealed 3 trees blocking the line in various places. By Saturday afternoon, local volunteers had cleared the road drains and stopped any further water ingress into the loco shed at Maespoeth.
Corris volunteers embarked upon a clean-up process in order to undo the damage caused to the infrastructure of the railway, something which will be undertaken in the run up to Christmas.
Other larger heritage railways tend to run Santa specials over multiple weekends. Owing to the small size of the CR volunteer base this is not something that the Railway can currently undertake.
Historically the Corris has relied upon the income gained over a busy weekend of Christmas running to help provide a financial cushion for the winter months when it is not open. The non-running of the specials meant the railway was faced with the loss of this income, plus the additional loss of the not inconsiderable monies spent on setting up, including children’s presents and the food and drink which are part of the visitor experience. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of one volunteer, all the pre-booked passengers had received a complete refund by midnight on Saturday the 7th December, excepting those kind and generous people who had asked the railway not to refund them, but to keep the money instead, in the form of a donation to General Funds.
Other local businesses had suffered too, such as the Corris Café and the Slater’s Arms – both supporters of the railway with whom it enjoys a symbiotic relationship.
The 2025 Corris Railway Santa Specials are scheduled for Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th December.
There are just a few days to go now before Santa pays his annual visit to his grotto in the carriage shed at Maespoeth Junction where he is looking forward to welcoming children and parents arriving on the Corris Railway Santa Special Trains from Corris station. On arrival at the Junction there will be the chance for the children to meet the man in the red suit and receive a present, whilst there will be some seasonal refreshments for all.
There are four trains scheduled to run on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th December, leaving Corris at 11.00am, 12.30pm, 2.00pm and 3.30pm on both days. Fares are £7.50 for adults and £10.00 for children. With limited seats available on each train advanced booking is advisable at www.corris.co.uk/tickets, particularly if planning your day around a particular train time. The journey will be in the recreated 19th Century carriages and with a steam engine pulling them passengers will get a brief taste of travel along the Dulas Valley 100 years and more ago.
The Museum and Shop at Corris station will be open on both days allowing visitors to see artefacts from the history of the Railway, which once linked Machynlleth and Aberllefenni, and the area generally or to buy some late items of clothing, books, cards or children’s gifts ahead of the festive season and 2025. The range of children’s books includes “Hugh Goes Sliding” by Christopher Awdry, author of some of the “Thomas” tales about steam locomotives on the Corris and tales about the Friendly Engines written by one of our volunteers.
When it was announced that the Warley Model Railway Society were ceasing to organise their major Annual Exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham it looked like the end of a major event for modellers and also an end to the long association with the show for the Corris Railway Sales and Information stand.
However the baton has been picked up by the publishers of British Railway Modelling magazine and on November 23rd and 24th Hall 5 at the NEC will be packed with interest for modellers. There will be stalls from many manufacturers and sellers, plus stands from Societies including the Corris Railway.
And of course there will be award winning layouts in all scales and from various periods of the modelling hobby, extending back for a century in some cases and ranging forward to the current era of DCC and highly detailed locos, stock and scenery.
The Corris stand will be at stand No. 166 and will have a range of books, souvenirs, cards and other items to tempt buyers seeking something for themselves or perhaps a Christmas gift.
