Cutting Thread Tap
10th January 2022
Our workshop at Churston is very fortunate in having a lot of old original railway tools acquired from Swindon Works and Newton Abbot Shed. Many tools were made by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and were specifically designed to enable fitters and engineers to carry out all sorts of maintenance and repair jobs on the locomotives. The majority of these tools are stamped GWR or latterly, after 1948, BR (W) which stood for British Railways (Western region).
However, we recently discovered a thread cutting tap in one of the drawers at the workshop and noticed that it was stamped B&ER. This stands for ‘Bristol and Exeter Railway’ which was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel using his famous broad gauge track and which fully opened in 1844. The B&ER was eventually amalgamated within the GWR in 1876 - meaning that this tap is at least 146 years old!!!
Reviews
- Excellent! - A wonderful experience and not to be missed, steam train and paddle steamer through glorious scenery.
- Chugging along! - The cruise along the River Dart was delightful and the witty commentary was also very informative. The last leg on the steam train was fantastic - chugging along past the beautiful beaches with children waving to you from the sands. Just priceless! We had the most amazing day, the itinerary is done with military precision and is therefore relaxing and exciting - we really loved it. This has got to be a "must do" trip!
- A big thumbs up... - A great time was had by all. The staff were really friendly and great at explaining. We took the steam train then hopped onto the boat where we spent some time in Dartmouth. It's a lovely touch that even the dog gets a ticket. The views from the steam train were so pretty the train and boat were both very clean and comfortable. A big thumbs up from us!