Something a little different this week! Continue reading to find out the latest new adventure for Webb-Elec! 🚂⚙
We recently received this screwjack unit in our workshop for repairs. The unit is used to lift rolling stock on a preserved railway to enable engineers to safely carry out maintenance. The repair included a full overhaul of the gearbox, clean and check of the screw shaft & nut, refurbishing the screw shaft bellows and replacing the face and thrust bearings.
It’s a good example of the varied mechanical and electrical services we provide. Chasewater Railway is a great day out for the family and a brilliant new adventure for Webb-Elec and our site support services. Here are a few words from the team at Chasewater describing their facilities and how the lifter is used when in service….
The Chasewater Railway is one of the pioneer preserved railways in the world and our history as a voluntary group goes back to 1959.
Unlike some of the more famous steam railways, Chasewater has always focused on preserving our industrial railway heritage that served our industry. The route of our railway itself is largely on the grandly titled Cannock Chase and Wolverhampton Railway and dates from 1864 so is 160 years old this year. The railway served the collieries of the Cannock Chase Colliery Company and served to transport its coal and other products from pit head to the London and North Western Railway at Brownhills and Norton Canes, The Midland Railway at Brownhills West and Birmingham Canal Navigation at Anglesey Basin. Something that it continued to do until the 1960’s, and it never got to Wolverhampton!
Our aim as well as providing pleasure rides to the public is to preserve the history of Coal and its movement by rail and we maintain 3 coal trains available for demonstration from the 1900’s, 1940’s and 1960’s, now all a thing of the past but at one time vital to our nation. Our passengers and other operation fund our restoration works.
Our locomotives come from industry and served various factories and industrial settings, collieries, quarries even breweries. We have locomotives from around the United Kingdom but many are local including Walsall Gas Works, Fort Dunlop, Albright and Wilson Oldbury & Worthington Brewery Burton on Trent.
Equally wagons and coaches as well as our normal ex British Rail operating stock represent not just the coal industry but Cadburys of Bournville, Bass of Burton & Round Oak Steel works for example.
We have a unique collection of coaches dating from the 1870’s and 80’s awaiting restoration that were used for miners’ ‘paddy’ trains to the colliery.
The vehicle lifts allow us to work on our locomotives and rolling stock for attention to wheels, bearings, and motion parts and are significantly safer that traditional jacking and packing with timber blocks. We were fortunate to acquire them from the former Metro Cammel work at Washwood Heath after cessation of manufacturing.
We made the decision that we would contract the work on this out as a number of our volunteers had used Webb-Elec in their professional careers and being local to us were the obvious choice to see what was feasible.
Now the screw and gearbox unit has been returned our own engineering team will look to reassemble the lift and we can then have them LOLER inspected and returned to use.
The Railway operates Saturdays and Sundays with public holidays though the year and has a café that is open 7 days a week as well an extensive museum.
The trains operate over our just over 2 mile railway and we are ideal for young families with a train ride of around 20min each way.
We also have a number of special events through the year.
#engineering #chasewaterrailway #screwjack