	Pinewood (Wokingham) Miniature Railway
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Junior Engineer training

As a Society we are keen to encourage the next generation to learn about the various facets of operating and maintaining a railway and set up a junior membership section to do this. To help us with their ongoing development the Big Lottery Fund award enabled us to construct our new station building so that it doubles as a training room where we can explain more about the railway, and our activities. We are also planning to acquire some basic workshop equipment so the apprentices can gain practical experience of core engineering skills to complement those gained out on the line.

We are delighted that the Lottery funding has enabled us to purchase a kit from Phoenix Locomotives. The 'Titan 7' battery electric loco comes as a kit of parts and an instruction manual. It is being built by the Junior Engineers, under supervision from our more experienced builders.

They will assemble the kit and learn more about the key components that the locomotive comprises; thus gaining skills in mechanical assembly, electrical systems and wiring, and an understanding of locomotive construction. There are also future 'add ons' such as lights, buffers or similar for the Junior Engineers to design and implement.

An album of pictures taken during the loco's construction will appear on our 'Flickr' gallery soon. In the meantime, some updates on the build progress can be found below.

Once complete the Junior Engineers will be able to learn about 'the rules of the road' from our regular drivers and start to take responsibility for their loco and train on our fully signalled track. During our members running days they will also be able take their friends, parents, and members of the Society for a ride round; both learning the line and how a loaded train responds differently to the unloaded locomotive. We will also be encouraging them to learn about guarding, signalling and the permanent way, all under the tuition and guidance from experienced members.

To return to the lottery projects page, please click here or for more information regarding our Junior Engineer section, please click here.

Titan build

Construction of the Titan 7 commenced in January 2012 and is progressing under the control of our Project Engineer Peter Downes. Peter has developed a project ‘Log Book’ setting out all the steps required to assemble, check, record and progress the build. These books have been issued to all the Junior Engineers and have proven an excellent way of embedding the learning associated with this exciting project.

The first activity was construction of the two power bogies (the part of the locomotive housing the wheels, axles and motors). Split into two teams, each responsible for the construction of one, and the quality checking of the other bogies. The photo on the left shows David and Matthew hard at work.

Having completed this stage of the work, the locomotive wiring was fitted to the chassis. This is a complex job, requiring careful thought, accuracy and patience – all of which were ably demonstrated by the Junior Engineers during the month of Sundays (literally!) that it took to complete this stage.

In March 2012 we were able to mount the bogies and chassis, and roll the locomotive outside to work on. Out on the steaming bays some of our Junior Engineers can be seen making some final adjustments to cable ties and cable routes, with a helping hand from one of our "more experienced" members on the ground.

The next stage is installation of the batteries, charging and power isolation, before the bodywork panels are installed.

Following a concerted effort to install the bodywork (well, with a running chassis it was difficult to temper the excitement of having a loco that could be run in the yard!) the complete loco was ready for a trial run in early May 2012.

After a period of sustained heavy rainfall, the sun shone as the loco enjoyed its first 'proper' outing on the track. The Titan 7 is shown here being driven carefelly through a new section of track by one of our Junior Engineers.

Over the coming months we look forward to showing them how to safety operate and maintain locos and trains further as part of their wider training. We will also seek to take more photos of the loco for our website and Flickr galleries.

Thank you once again to Phoenix Locomotives and MTroniks for all their help, support and patience with us during the build process.

To return to the lottery projects page, please click here or for more information regarding our Junior Engineer section, please click here.

© Pinewood Miniature Railway Society Limited 2011
Registered Office: - Pinewood Miniature Railway Society Limited, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road, WOKINGHAM, Berks. RG40 3AQ