A sense of relief!

The last few weeks has seen a lot of progress made on the larger repair jobs that we have had within the fleet since late last year. If you recall, by Christmas Eve the fleet was down to two operational, mainline  locomotives, the DMU and three of four shunters. But, it's amazing what can be achieved with a dedicated team, and we are now in a much better situation - which gets better with each passing week. Long may it continue! 

April saw both 47376 'Freightliner 1995' and D8137 return to traffic after opposing lengths of time under repair. 

47376 had been taken out of service at the end of 2021 with flat batteries and, whilst waiting for new batteries to be fitted, the BT4F Team decided to also do some general refreshing of the cab interiors. Once batteries were fitted, and the internal refresh complete, the loco was back in service on the 18 April. 

47376 reposes in the sun at Broadway on the Easter Monday Bank Holiday during it's return to action. (Courtesy of Chris Wall)

At the other end of the spectrum, Class 20, D8137, has been out of service since before the Covid lockdowns. If you recall, it suffered a power fault in 2019 that was traced to one of it's traction motors. Steve M, the loco owner, decided to replace the traction motor with a refurbished one from the former 20035 and to do some work on both bogies. After a lengthy period of proving and testing, the 'chopper' successfully returned to service at the end of April. It was to head out in tandem with 45149 on 24 April where it sat on the back to Broadway before double-heading to Cheltenham. 

45149 runs around it's train at Broadway. D8137 had sat on the back before working to CRC in tandem with the 'Peak'. (Courtesy of Dave Stanton)

On arrival at Cheltenham, both locos were run round independently so that D8137 was on the front. 

D8137, with 45149 now on the inside, gets prepared to work back north as part of it's test run. (Courtesy of Chris Morgan).

The test proved successful with only a couple of small faults presenting themselves. These did not stop the loco from undertaking it's first rostered turn in nearly 3 years on 30 April. 

Running nose first, and with Richard S readying himself to swap tokens, D8137 arrives at Winchcombe on the 30 April - it's first rostered duty in nearly 3 years. (Courtesy of Jo R/GWSR Heritage Herald Blog)

Having these two locos return couldn't have come at a better time as, over the last few weeks, the diesel fleet has been called upon regularly to either rescue, or take over from, our Steam colleagues as they try to get used to operating different standards of coal. As most of our steam fleet are GWR/BR(W) locos they are designed to use Welsh Coal, which is widely considered to be the best 'steam' coal. Due to the eradication of the UK coal industry and the current global crises, the railway (and, not just the GWSR. It is across the heritage railway scene) have been using and evaluating other sources and types of 'black gold', with varying degrees of success than others.

Again, a capture by Jo R from our Heritage Herald sister blog. 45149 arrives at Broadway on 28 April with the 1510 arrival from CRC. At this point it was an hour late after replacing the booked steam engine due to low steam issues caused by the coal being used. 

Back to those locos on the comeback trail. 37215 is in the final stages of it's generator repairs after suffering a flash over in December 2021. All of the ceramic insulator pots, as well as all of the brush boxes, have been repaired or replaced as was needed due to damage. The final checking required the loco to be placed over an inspection pit so that the underside of the generator and the traction equipment could be checked for any additional, unseen damage. This took place on 2 May when the 'tractor' was positioned over Road 9 for it's assessment. Both photos are courtesy of Kev Jarvis.

37215 sits on Road 9 ready for it's traction equipment check after it's flashover repairs. 

The bits people only see when in a dank underframe pit with 109 tonnes of diesel loco above you! 

The inspection seemed to go well and it is hoped that 37215 will be ready to test during June on completion of it's B Exam.

Our Class 24 is also not far from a return to service. The seals that were ordered have arrived and have been fitted and it's B Exam completed. It has been rostered in to return to service on Friday 19 May. 

5081 waits for it's turn for testing before it's welcome return to service. 

D5343 is back in the David Page shed after a period out in the yard. This is to allow more of the bodywork tasks to be continued now that the engine has had it's pistons and liners re-fitted. Below are a number of photos taken, and provided, by Alex Raybould showcasing the work completed over the last couple of weekends. 

Simon, Keith and crew ease in Liner No. 5. This is one of the original ones removed which was  considered good enough to refit rather than replace. It is slid back carefully into the block.

With the first 5 liners back in, Dave S, Simon and Keith slot the final one into position within the Sulzer block. 

With the liners in, it was time for the pistons. This is where the 'A-Frame' comes into it's own. When doing this type of work, you hope that there is no wind blowing off the Cotswolds!

A couple of the pistons laid out ready for lifting into the block. This demonstrates the sheer size of them!

Simon oils the rings on one of the pistons as Gareth, Tony and Keith look on. 

Once the pistons had been refitted, it was time to start to refit the injector heads to the space above the pistons. These had been thoroughly cleaned previously and had been repainted. Again, pics courtesy of Alex.

Cleaned, painted and ready for fitting. 

With the first injector head in place, Simon checks the fitting while Harrison and Andy D paint the parts other people couldn't reach!

The heads, injectors and pipework is now all in place. 

A view from the roof.

There is still plenty more to do before the loco is fit for a test, including plenty of body work and the repainting/refitting of assorted pipework. In this regard, a lot of us are lending an additional hand to speed things along a bit. As they say, many hands make light work. 

The torpedo air intake pipe and the crank case doors have all been spray painted by Dave M from the BT4F. (Courtesy of Alex Raybould).

Over the weekend just gone (8 May), myself and John made headway with some of the water and coolant system pipework. John parked himself down in the yard with a drill and wire wheel to strip some paint from a pair of pipes before priming them. 

Before......

After. 

Whilst John was busy out in the yard, I was in the shed adding top coat to a set of pipes that had been primed and undercoated. 

Two sets of water pipes being cleaned of dust before receiving their top coat of blue paint. In the background you can see some of the ceramic insulator pots and assorted brush box bits from 37215. 

After lunch John and I headed to D5343's engine room to remove the water rail from the side of the engine block. This had been fitted to test the integrity of the coolant system around the fuel rack. After removing several buckets of water, we were able to remove the pipe so that it can be painted before being refitted. 47376 was out on the line on our PINK timetable so it meant that the shed had a very blue feeling.... 

It could almost be the 1980s! Blue is most definitely the colour - except for D6948 which is parked behind 47105. 

D6948 has also received some preventative maintenance while it waits for some positive news concerning the commencement of it's repairs. Work has taken place on it's batteries to ensure they remain in good condition and that the engine remains lubricated and free of dirt. 

A forlorn looking D6948 sits at the back of the shed whilst awaiting some positive news on it's repairs. 

Sadly, the timescales for getting the 'Green Machine' repaired and back in to action have taken another hit. 

Out in the yard D2280 was shunted around so that owner, Brian, could get some outstanding work done on the Class 04.

D2280 sits in the yard awaiting work to commence on a couple of small issues. 

Only D2280 and 'sister', 11230, are available for traffic at Toddington for shunting. 

Sadly, DES, remains in limbo with it's electrical issues. Owner Paul has had it assessed by Pete and Andrew Briddon, who know a fair bit about Yorkshire built shunters and the issues were confirmed as being generator related. Having been through the wringer on a personal level for the last few months, including losing his Father (who was also a co-owner of DES), Paul is assessing what his next steps will be. He does have a spare generator which is in better condition than the one currently in DES, however it will need a lot of preparatory work and cleaning to prepare it for use - all with the associated costs. We wait for further developments. 

Pete and Andrew Briddon assist with the diagnosis of the electrical issues on DES. (Courtesy of Paul Jones)

Class 117 set, L425, has also had some preventative maintenance completed as it is due to see some service in May during our Steam and Ale event. Some of the components on the Malvern side of the unit have had a bit of a tidy and clean, whilst some more tin worm has been 'dug out' and the holes filled. 

Some of the tin worm patches that have been filled. One of the consequences of the unit being stabled outside in all weathers.  

'Bubble Car', W55003, is still at Carriage and Wagon in the process of it's exterior repaint. You can keep up to speed on the progress on the Class 122 on the C&W Blog - https://gwsrcarriageandwagon.blogspot.com/

With all of this going on, the fleet is also seeing use again on more ballast work as P'Way continue to replace rail and sleepers along the line. Both Class 47s and the 'Peak' have seen, or are due to see 'pebble dragging' action on Mondays through May. 

47105 at Gotherington during an earlier ballast drop in March 2022.

The loco roster for the remainder of May looks like this....

Sat 14 May		D8137
Sun 15 May		47376
Tues 17 May		47105 or 47376
Weds 18 May		47105 or 47376
Thurs 19 May		5081
Sat 21 May		45149
Sun 22 May		45149
Tues 24 May		D8137
Weds 25 May		D8137
Thurs 26 May		45149
Fri 27 May	Ale Festival	47105 or 47376 L425
Sat 28 May	Ale Festival	D8137 L425
Sun 29 May		D8137
Tues 31 May		D8137

And, finally, don't forget that the Diesel Gala is only a couple of months away. Our special guest loco will be EE Type 5 'Deltic', 55019 'Royal Highland Fusilier'. This is a huge occurrence for the railway as a whole - the first time a 'Deltic' has run on the 'Honeybourne Line' EVER!! Details can be found here ==> https://www.gwsr.com/Diesel_Gala.html

55019 on the GCR in 2022.

And, not only will we have one, but, in partnership with the Deltic Preservation Society, we will have a second Class 55 when we will be helping the DPS celebrate 40 years of both 55009 and 55019 entering preservation. On Friday 19 August, 55019 will be joined by 55009 'Alycidon' for a 'Deltic Running Day' where both locos will be working timetabled services. Not only that, but both locos will also work over the weekend of 20/21 August. Details will be available here in due course ==>

https://www.gwsr.com/Deltic_Running_Day_19th_August--post--123.html