News

News

2006

During the winter, a new chimney cap was cast in bronze to replace the old copper plated one that was wearing thin. Sian will remain at Windmill Farm this year although we are hoping to visit other railways during 2007

2005

Sian spent most of the year at Windmill Farm but also had a short stay at the Bure Valley Railway in Norfolk, the first time she had returned there since SPG bought her from there in 1994.

2004

Sian will be based on the Windmill Farm Railway near Southport for 2004. Sian will be serviceable from Easter through to October, but exact steaming dates have not yet been agreed. Driver training courses will be run again. For the latest dates and further details, please E-mail  owen.ryder@tinyworld.co.uk

2003

During the 2002/2003 winter, the boiler was purged with nitrogen. This was extremely successful, with a test piece of mild steel emerging bright and shiny after a winter stored inside the boiler. This test piece corroded more in the following 24 hours than in the previous 4 months!

Sian ran only at the Windmill Farm Railway during 2003. She was steamed on 37 days and 9 driver training courses were run. On October 18th, the WFR hosted a visit from volunteers who were at Fairbourne in the 1970s when Sian ran there. On October 25th the loco was taken out of service when a whisp of steam revealled a tiny crack in a water feed boss on the boiler. Both water feed bosses have now been cut out and new ones welded in.

2002

Sian made a gala appearance at the RH&DR in May. She was steamed on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, running 35, 44 and 44 miles on each day respectively. On the gala day itself, the railway boasted a total of 1000 loco miles in one day! Sian was able to run trains on her own - our vacuum braking system came in very handy. Very few problems were encountered. A slight knock on the left hand side motion was traced to the cross head cotter, which had also come loose at last year's Windmill Farm Gala. A blow with the nearest heavy object saw it re-located and it gave no further trouble! A leaky drain cock also needed adjusting, but by Friday afternoon the loco was in fine fettle. There were six SPG members in attendance at the weekend, and plenty of cleaning meant the loco looked immaculate. Double heading with Winston Churchill on a ten coach train saw 24mph running, although Churchill was doing very little of the work and Sian was running flat out. Further running at these high speeds on the Sunday was accomplished with no detrimental effects. Bearings ran cool, the boiler steamed freely, and the drivers were very happy indeed!  : )

Sian returned to Windmill Farm, unfortunately suffering slight damage to a cylinder drain cock when being lowered onto the track. She was steamed regularly at Windmill Farm for driver training courses and service trains during the season, being taken out of service on the 27th of October.