New Beamish arrival recalls the days of bus competition
The latest vehicle to join the Beamish Museum collection recalls dark days for the UK narrow gauge.
The newly restored 1933 Leyland Cub bus was originally supplied to Crosville or use in North Wales and Cheshire. At the time Crosville was owned by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the bus wears LMS crimson.
Crosville operated routes across what is very familiar narrow gauge railway territory including into the former Corris station yard following the end of passenger services on the mid-Wales line in 1931.
Further north Crosville buses also replaced the quarrymen’s passenger trains that operated over the Penrhyn Quarry Railway and the museum took the opportunity to pose the bus alongside its recently restored former Penrhyn Andrew Barclay 0-4-0WT ‘Glyder’ (1994/1931).
Beamish has recently completed modifications to its 2015 new-build replica of 1874-built Stephen Lewin 0-4-0WTG ‘Samson’. This work has included modifications to the slide valve to produce more power, completion of the lining and replacement of the wooden front bufferbeam with a cast-iron alternative.
The cast-iron replacement is closer to the beam fitted to the 1874 original and also provides substantial additional weight at the front end, countering a tendency for the engine to oscillate when working hard.
“Under test, these modifications have been entirely successful with the locomotive both stronger and more stable, particularly useful when operating over the steeply graded demonstration lines on Beamish’s compact narrow gauge colliery stockyard recreation,” the museum’s transport director Paul Jarman told NGW.