It might be just a steam engine but its different. Its geared so the engine goes around about four times the speed of the wheels. Its parked out of gear so the first challenge to moving is getting it into gear. Its got no injector so you have a steam powered pump to maintain the water level. The regulator gets stiffer as the pressure rises and its a very wet engine making a hat a must. Most of the show the coffee pot was the `modern’ traction in the colliery train as we were working the chaldron wagons up and down the yard top and tailed with Puffing Billy. We had new fangled things like a brake!<\/p>\n The coffee pot certainly turned heads mainly because as it set off up the colliery yard its sounded like it was in main valve and doing 40mph but then ambled round the corner at a fast walking pace.<\/p>\n O `This’ is Roger the Wren loaned for the event by Statfold Barn and is a completely delightful little engine. It came with no tools so I had to find a shovel small enough for it but it proved to be such a docile little machine that it never needed a shovel full of coal, just the odd lump now and again added one lump at a time.<\/p>\n To support the logging operation we had our own bolster, one borrowed from Apedale and on from the Festiniog plus our restored granite wagons and opens.<\/p>\n This gave us quite a selection of trains to operate <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n To go with the trains we had two steam powered saw benches operating at different points along the line. At the Pockerley end The logs were delivered by train and the scrap taken away by a different train,<\/p>\n The engine was operated by staff in military uniform whilst the cutting operation was in the hands of prisoners of war. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cut wood was taken away in the granite wagons to the other saw bench located on the boiler house spur<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ngtrains.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/BeamishCoffeePot2.jpg\")
<\/a>My main steed for the three of the four days was this contraption. It\u2019s a Head Wrightson Coffee Pot of 1871. The steam fair was the first time its steamed for two years having been out of use needing a boiler re-tube. With the usual \u201cin the deep end\u201d training program i.e. \u201cjust get on with it, it\u2019s a steam engine\u201d. I got to drive it Thursday, Friday and Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Of course it came with obvious twists. When on the coffee pot it was almost obligatory to have a coffee break.<\/p>\n\n
<\/a>n the Wednesday before the event I am now in the habit of turning to help but not knowing what I am going to be doing. This year it was light this up and make sure it fits everywhere.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Narrow Gauge Railway at Beamish was representing the Kerry tramway as a logging operation as the main visitor was Diana which originally worked on the Kerry tramway.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>of the line Mary Margaret, a Marshall engine was powering the long cut saw turning logs into planks, props and scrap.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n