20137 is back!

You may have seen on some of our social channels, if you follow them, that our Class 20, D8137, is no more. Owner, Steve M, has been toying with bringing the loco into the post-TOPS world and decided he would do just that last week. D8137 disappeared from the roster to be replaced by 20137, a number the loco hasn't worn since it was repainted into BR Green. 

Welcome back 20137. (Courtesy S. Madge)

As you'll notice, the loco is still in BR Green and not BR Blue despite the fact it now has it's TOPS number. Not all locos received a repaint when they were renumbered for TOPS - Total Operations Processing System - with some remaining in a very worn BR Green until their next major overhaul. Some would also receive a blue TOPS panel.

The blue TOPS data panel. These were procured by Phil S, one of our other volunteers. 

20137 was one of those to maintain BR Green with it's TOPS number and blue data panel well into 1975 and so is prototypical. After posting the pictures up on our GWSR socials, a photo surfaced to highlight that this was indeed prototypical for the loco.

20137 sits on Polmadie TMD, Glasgow, on the 31 March 1975. (John Strong) 

This picture was posted by Bruce Strong and was originally taken by his father, John. Bruce gave me permission to share to demonstrate that 20137 did indeed wear BR Green with its TOPS number and with a blue data panel. Although, I don't expect the loco will be reunited with snowploughs!!

I had the luxury of taking the loco out on it's first turn in it's new 1975-guise along with owner, Steve, on Sunday 12 June on our PINK timetable.

20137 at Cheltenham after it's first run from Broadway. 

At Winchcombe on the first trip back from Cheltenham Race Course. 

It will certainly look the part when sister Class 20, 20228 is fit for service and they are paired together - evoking the images of the class working on the line in the 1970s between the Midlands and Severn Tunnel Junction. Sadly, this won't happen at the impending Gala in July as the overhaul on 20228 has taken a bit of a back seat while 20137 has had a large number of running days. This has meant that Steve has had to spend a lot of time on the footplate, as there are not many others who are passed out on the Class. Hopefully, though, we will be able to experience the sounds and sights of a pair of 'Choppers' back on the line by the end of the running year. 

However, you don't have to look back too far to the last time we had a pair of Class 20s on the line. In fact, we had D8098 visit for the 2017 Gala from the Great Central Railway which worked in multiple with the then D8137 replicating a likely pairing from the 1960s or 70s as both were allocated to Glasgow Eastfield. 

D8098 and D8137 power round the curve at Didbrook, heading towards Hayles Abbey Halt in 2017. (Photo by the late Malcolm Ranieri)

Speaking of Galas....another reminder that ours is just around the corner and will take place, as always, on the last weekend of July. In this case, the 29, 30 and 31 July. 

'Ere, mate, is that a Deltic??' Anything with a bonnet or 'nose' seems to provoke this question from the uninitiated. But, even the GWSR Marketing Team seem to be confused by what a 'Deltic' is, using a quality picture of 45149, instead. Possibly, just an innocent mistake. 

In case you have been living under a rock for the last few months, our guest loco this year is going to be pretty special - we have reached an agreement with the Deltic Preservation Society to have Class 55, 'Deltic', 55019 'Royal Highland Fusilier'. 

This is a 'Deltic'!! 55019 'Royal Highland Fusilier', our Gala visitor for 2022.

This will be a big first for the railway in that a 'Deltic' has never traversed the line - in BR days or in Preservation - so this will prove to be a big event. Help us to celebrate that by heading along and enjoying the Gala with us. 

As well as the guest loco, we will also see the available 'home' fleet in action (barring any unforeseen events) which will include:

Class 20, 20137

Class 24, 5081

Class 37, 37215 (as long as it's B Exam and FTR are successful)

Class 45, 45149

Class 47, 47105

Class 47, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' 

We will also have Class 20, 20228; Class 26, D5343 and, possibly, Class 37, D6948 on display with at least one of them available for cab visits. It is also hoped that Class 122 'bubble car', W55003 will have had it's repaint completed and will also be on display, although the interior will still be in need of completion.

You can, of course, keep up to date with all Gala happenings in the run up to the weekend by keeping an eye on the social channels on Twitter, Facebook and on the GWSR website.

Twitter

@GWSRDiesels

@TheGrowlerGroup

@BT4Fund

@Leyland680

@GWSR

Facebook

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

The Growler Group

Brush Type 4 Fund

GWSR DMU Group

https://www.gwsr.com/Diesel_Gala.html

The weekend before last was the Cotswold Festival of Steam. Not usually the bastion of diesel traction but, for this event, the steam department asked if we could provide a little insurance and have a Thunderbird loco on standby. It also meant that there were some stock ECS moves needed to get the rakes of stock into the right starting places. Class 24, 5081 was nominated to undertake one of the ECS moves. 

5081 sits at a wet Winchcombe before working back to Toddington with the 'local' rake for the Steam Gala. (Courtesy of Alex Raybould)

With the stock now shunted behind the loco, it was now back to Toddington to position the rake in the North Siding. (Courtesy of Alex Raybould)

5081 was rostered to act as Thunderbird on the Friday with the loco formerly numbered, D8137, for the rest of the weekend. Neither loco was needed, so for some, it meant plenty of time to get back on with some of the work on other locos. For Alex and Harrison, more work on the Class 26, with the roof now being primed ready for undercoating. 

The roof hatch on D5343 makes for easy access to paint the majority of the roof area. The engine, below, is covered as the pistons, liners, heads and tappets are all now in place. (Courtesy Alex Raybould)

While Alex was busy on the roof, Harrison was below in the engine compartment cleaning the turbo charger housing and giving it a new coat of paint. Photos, again, by Alex. 

During cleaning. 

After cleaning and painting. Much better. 

It is planned, over the next few weeks, for ancillary work to commence prior to refitting all the repainted pipework. It can then all be tested for integrity. Meanwhile, work continues outside with the first coats of blue undercoat appearing on certain parts of the bodywork. 

It has even had an unusual cabside embellishment!! (Courtesy of Alex Raybould)

37215 will hopefully be fighting fit for the Gala. The Generator repairs have now been, more or less, completed. The loco now requires testing and a B Exam completed before it can be accepted back into traffic. It is hoped that this can be completed successfully in the coming weeks enabling the 'Growler' to have a couple of rostered turns before the gala. Sister loco, D6948, still awaits its lift but there has been a development that may see the lift occur rather sooner than anticipated, although it would mean that it would not be able to take part in the Gala. The owners have a lot of mulling over to do to see what decision best suits them and the loco.

Still looking proud, despite being stuck at the back of the shed for nearly 3 years. 

The Class 117 set, L425, saw some much needed running over our Ale Weekend, being utilised on the Toddington - Winchcombe shuttles. The set has new been retired again until later in the year where more bodywork can be treated for the dreaded tin worm. W55003 continues with its repaint down at Carriage and Wagon at Winchcombe. It won't be long until the team down there are applying the second coat of BR Green. As mentioned earlier, it will hopefully be on display for the Gala.

The loco rosters for the remainder of June and the whole of July are currently set like this. Of course, this may change due to unforeseen circumstances or unavailability of crew. * - denotes that this is dependent on passing its FTR and B Exams. 

15 June		47xxx
16 June		45149
18 June		45149
19 June		47xxx
21 June		45149
22 June		47xxx
23 June		47xxx
25 June		45149
26 June		20137
28 June		5081
29 June		37215*
30 June		45149
02 July		45149
03 July		47xxx
05 July		5081
06 July		45149
07 July		5081
09 July		5081
10 July		5081
12 July		37215*
13 July		37215*
14 July		37215*
16 July		45149
17 July		45149
19 July		45149
20 July		5081
21 July		5081
23 July		45149
24 July		20137
26 July		20137
27 July		20137
28 July		5081
29 July	GALA	20137, 5081, 37215*, 45149, 47105, 47376, 55019
30 July	GALA	20137, 5081, 37215*, 45149, 47105, 47376, 55019
31 July	GALA	20137, 5081, 37215*, 45149, 47105, 47376, 55019

  

4 Arrivals and a Departure!

Sadly, though, the arrivals were concerned with the impending 'Cotswold Festival of Steam' as four of the five visiting engines arrived during the last week. As the theme revolves around the much lamented Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, there was one particular visitor that was rather unusual. It isn't a diesel, despite having internal engines, but isn't a conventional steam engine either....although it does run on coal. 

Sentinel 0-4-0 47109 'Joyce'. A former S&D shunting engine that has two, transverse, steam-powered engines! Despite the number, it most definitely is not a Brush Type 4!!

It certainly had a lot of attention on Saturday. Our two serviceable shunters at Toddington, D2280 and 11230 have been incredibly busy shunting the new arrivals around the yard as preparations got underway on the weekend. Both were used to shunt wagons and locos around as preparations for the Gala were in full swing. 

However, the major event the past weekend was the 'Steam and Ale' event on the Friday and Saturday. A bit of a misnomer as the diesels were in use as well, but that is one for the event organisers to mull over. On both days, the Class 117 set, L425 was used to provide a shuttle service between the two beery hubs of Toddington and Winchcombe with Class 24, 5081 and Class 20, D8137 being used on the Friday and Saturday respectively. 

I was present on the Saturday as I was rostered to crew the Class 20 and to start conversion to this class, as I had done with 45149 a few weeks previously. I was rostered with the loco's owner (and owner of 20228), Steve M. Also in attendance, working on D5343 was Dave S, Alex R and Tom C. 

With the Class 26, the trio of Dave, Alex and Tom got on with more sanding of the loco's bodysides and roof area. 

Dave S takes a quick break from sanding off filler around the vents on D5343. 

While Dave started on the body sides, Alex and Tom went up on to the engine and up through the roof hatch so that they could continue with sanding on the roof area. The '26' has quite a large space above the engine that allows you to access the roof area without needing to physically get on the roof. 

The roof hatch above the engine that allows access to the roof areas without having to physically stand on the roof! Under the tarpaulin is the engine block which provides a nice platform to stand or sit on. (Alex Raybould)

By the end of the day the areas around the roof hatch had been primed ready for eventual undercoating. 

Out in the yard, I was learning how to prepare the Class 20 for service under the expert tutelage of Steve. 

Waiting, willing and ready. D8137.

I had crewed on the loco many times before but had never had the opportunity to drive it, so this was going to be a baptism by fire! You are much more reliant on your Secondman when travelling bonnet first. You also have to re-assess braking and stopping distances compared to double cabbed locos when running that way...it takes a bit of getting used to, I can tell you!

Once we had successfully prepped and started the loco, we were asked if we could help the Steam Department with a little job. D2280 was being used to move a couple of wagons from the Goods Train for the gala and one of the wagons needed to have some 'lifters' fitted under the buffer beam. However, the buffers needed to be compressed and the Class 04 wasn't powerful enough to do this effectively. Cue 1000hp of English Electric power! However, after a couple of attempts, all we succeeded in doing was pushing the '04' and the wagons further along the rails. Back to the prep, then!

It is some time since D8137 had it's last repaint - Steve recalled it as in the early/mid 2000s - and the BR Green livery has certainly seen better days. The yellow warning panel at the cab end had been repainted about 5 years ago but the bonnet was not completed and this is also showing a lot of fading. However, Steve has a trick up his sleeve to get the paintwork looking almost fresh and shiny. 

Shiny!! But how?

Steve would return a few minutes later with a pot and a couple of rags. Later would include a couple of paint brushes....but no paint! The pot contained a heady brew of kerosene and oil. Applied liberally to the body work and it gives a very pleasing shine. Just remember to wipe away the excess!

Alex gets his revenge! Yours truly trying hard not to fall off the running plate. (Alex Raybould)

Sadly, we didn't get time to do the other side. A very effective way to bring a bit of life to the paintwork...especially on a sunny, Cotswold day. 

On the recently reinstated Siding 1 - escaping from the chaos of the shunt going on in the yard.  

We had the luxury of, not only doing the usual single round-ish trip that you get on the Purple timetable (of which the event timetable was a modified example), we also got the luxury of a second full round trip to get the punters back to their places of origin. Even on the final trip south, both Toddington and, especially, Winchcombe platforms were absolutely rammed! 

Ready for the final, ECS, trip back to Toddington. It's not often we are still going at 20 past 7 in the evening. 

During disposal, Steve had another trick up his sleeve to ensure we had the correct fuel level reading for the prep sheet.

Not the usual use of a 'T' Key!

The fuel gauge on the loco is prone to sticking and, so, tapping the ring around the dial frees up the float mechanism to give a more accurate reading. With the exorbitant cost of diesel at the moment, every little drop is sacred.  

What about the departure?  Well, you may remember that some months ago the Cotswold Diesel Railcar (CDRL) group - who own the DMU vehicles we have - decided it was time to rationalise their fleet a little and offered up for sale their ex-Strathclyde PTE liveried Class 107 DMCL, Sc52029. The DMCL vehicle had arrived at the GWSR in around 2015 (I think) but, due to the size of the maintenance team and the priorities of the Class 122 restoration and day to day maintenance on L425, the time for Sc52029 to reach the restoration phase was a considerable way off. Offers were invited back in June 2021 and the successful bid was from the Fife Heritage Railway. This would see the vehicle returning to it's spiritual homeland, as all Class 107s were based in Scotland for their entire operational lives. However, the vehicle would remain at Toddington as the new owners couldn't yet afford the transport costs. A JustGiving page was set up to raise the necessary funds and, on the 31st May 2022, Sc52029 was pulled onto a low loader for it's new adventure. Photos by Neil Carr and Alex Raybould. 

Sc52029, still wearing some of it's former Strathclyde PTE livery waits on the unloading road for it's transfer to the Fife Heritage Railway. 

The low loader has arrived and is moved in to position. 

Sc52029 locked and loaded ready for the journey to it's new, old home in Scotland. 

Good luck to Sc52029 and the restoration team at the Fife Heritage railway. Here's hoping it isn't too long before the vehicle is back in action.