The Final Countdown

I've probably used that heading before to signify the countdown to the annual Diesel Gala but, they say never tamper with a classic! The 2022 Diesel Gala is just a day away and it's been all hands to the pump to get everything ready. If you are planning on coming along to any/all of the three days and haven't yet looked at the details, timetables or tickets, then head over to the GWsR website via this link ====>>>> https://www.gwsr.com/Diesel_Gala.html

There is important travel information regarding the Car Park at Cheltenham Racecourse due to last minute changes of mind by the Racecourse Management, who own the car park. 

Anyway, back to the action. Our guest loco arrived safe and well at Toddington on Tuesday 18th July, being offloaded quickly and then shunted into the yard. 

Courtesy of Allely's, 55019 'Royal Highland Fusiliers' arrives through the gates at Toddington. (Neil Carr)

It wasn't long before the grapevine was overloading and a myriad of photos started to appear on social media of the 'Deltic' sat on Toddington MPD. 

55019 sat on Road 11 at Toddington awaiting it's FTR Exam. (Paul Jones)

During the early part of this week, the 'Deltic' underwent it's Fitness to Run exam with no problems identified. The loco's engineers from the owners, The Deltic Preservation Society, were on hand to undertake the familiarisation and assist our own Technical Officers with completing the relevant paperwork. It culminated with a test run of the line on Tuesday 26th which surprised visitors and staff alike.

Three of our senior operations staff members - Paul, Kev and Neil - get their inner 'Ned' on as 55019 passes through Winchcombe station on it's test. (Alex Caulfield)

With it's FTR done, a big tick on the organisational list was added and it was down to getting the rest of the home fleet spruced up and the shed area cleaned so that it can host our stalls and vendors. 

Forward to the 27th and 10 of us were present to undertake the shunts and cleaning required. 45149 had been having some last minute repairs so that it is serviceable for the gala. Over the weekend it had a resistor replaced, after one went bang and incapacitated the loco, and the opportunity was taken to give the heavily weathered exterior a bit of TLC. Simon T was busy on the 27th doing some last minute maintenance. 

It's amazing what a spit and polish can do to tired locomotive paintwork! 45149 sits in the yard on 27/07 as the yard was shunted. 

Also receiving a much needed clean was Class 37, D6948. The 'Green Machine' has been sat in the shed gathering dust for 3 years due to the protracted wait to borrow eyelets for our lifting brackets from our friends at the SRPS at Bo'ness so that we can complete repairs and maintenance on the loco. However, the Class 37 will be used for cab visits - always popular - within the Diesel Shed. Phil was in charge of the sponge. I didn't manage to get a picture of him at work as I was busy with the shunt but I did manage to get a rushed shot of D6948 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995' after they had been placed on Road 9. 

47376 and D6948 are placed on Road 9 so that Phil can get on with cleaning D6948 ready for it's role as a static exhibit. 

Myself, Andy D, John G and Paul C were all involved in the shunt which required a lot of head scratching. Everything needed to come out of the shed so that it could be cleaned and stand areas marked out. It also required the static exhibits to be moved onto Road 10 ready. This was made more challenging as it was a running day, the Steam Department were working on locos in the yard and Class 26, D5343, was parked behind the Merchant Navy. Firstly, it was getting 47105, 47376 and D6948 off of Road 11. 

With Paul C at the controls of Class 04, 11230, and Andy D controlling part 1 of the shunt, 47105 is eased out of the shed. Class 20, 20137 sits to the right and was rostered loco on the PURPLE TT. 

Next up was to move Class 24, 5081 and Class 20, 20137 out of the way as these were rostered locos for the next couple of days. It was decided to place them down on to the Diesel Pit Road - where 45149 and D5343 are normally parked. 

With the 'Peak' pushed back under the old A Frame gantry, 20137 and 5081 are parked in front to keep them out of the way.

It was then back to the shed to extricate the last two locos - 37215 and 20228. Kev and Andy T had already started to make headway with the cleaning of the shed. As I had now taken on the shunt responsibility, Andy D was also lending a hand amongst running back and forth to the shed office.

With Road 11 empty of locos, Andy T and Kev get to grips with cleaning up the huge amounts of dust and dirt that accumulates.  

One of the worst things to clean up are the 'bodily fluids' from the locos....oil and, in particular, Motak. Oil can generally be soaked up and disposed of with a spill kit, however, Motak (a high temperature lubricant), is like tar when at room temperature and is nigh on impossible to get rid of. We can only do our best!  

It was decided that, for the Gala, 20228 would be placed round on the 'Parlour Road' outside of Toddington Station so that visitors could photograph it, particularly from the unique nose end. This meant that, the best place to put it for now, was on the 'Parlour Road'. 

By this point John had joined us and he is seen controlling the shunt as Paul C eases 11230 up to the buffers of 37215. 

This meant taking a jaunt up Siding 1 with Class 04, 11230....not an everyday occurrence for any of our shunters. After heading over to Toddington Box to authorise the move with the Signalman, I joined Paul C in the cab of 11230. As we were propelling 20228 and 37215, John G was on the ground as Shunter. 

Paul leans out to check that John is happy with the positioning before authorising him to uncouple 20228. 

We had to ensure that 20228 would not prevent the two rostered steam engines from accessing the coaling and disposal area so, for the time being, the 'Chopper' was pushed almost up as far as the museum - an old TPO that is sat in the bay. 

It was then back with 37215 which we placed in a very photographic place next to it's bigger 'cousin'. The popular Type 3 will be in use during the Gala as it passed it's B Exam and has successfully returned to the roster after it's air and generator repairs. 

English Electric product placement! 37215 and it's Type 5 cousin, 55019 sit on adjacent roads. 

We always get asked by those less knowledgeable as to whether our Class 37's are 'Deltics', to the point that it is a bit of a running joke - we even had one visitor proudly announce to his family a few weeks ago that the 'Peak' was a 'Deltic'! So, the above picture demonstrates the differences between these two venerable, English Electric, classes. Class 37's, however, did earn the nickname 'Welsh Deltics' to those who are from, or who frequented, South Wales during their 'spotting' years.  

And, a close up! It's all in the eyes....or windows, in this case. Class 37's have 3 cab windows, Class 55's only have 2. 

With the shunt half way complete, 11230 was in desperate need of a drink....as were we!! 11230 had only 10 Gallons of diesel left so the 'Class 04' was probably in more need of liquid refreshment than us at this point. Luckily, our new fuelling point is proving to be an absolute God-send.

11230 gets a well earned drink. 

It was then time for lunch and for John and I to look at prepping 20137 ready for service. But still time for one last photo......

It was a shame the water tank is in the way, but a quick shot of three iconic British Rail locomotives - 47376 (l), 37215 and 55019. 

As we walked back to the mess room, Kev had been busy organising some of the exhibits now that the shed was clear of locos. 

At the top, we have a brake cylinder from a Class 45 whilst the other three are some of the spares the Growler Group have acquired from 37207, which has been stripped as it is to receive all new equipment as part of Meteor's new Battery-Diesel loco project. We have two blowers, a compressor and two exhausters. 

After lunch, John and I went to wake up 20137 from it's slumber. As it was the rostered loco the day before, it was still warm enough to not need too long priming. Whilst John and I were away, the clean up and shed preparation continued with the marking out for the sales stalls coupled with getting D5343 out of the Steam Shed. 

One absentee from Toddington is our newly refurbished (externally, at least) Class 122 'bubble car', W55003 The plan was to have it back at Toddington so that the fantastic job done by our colleagues down at Carriage and Wagon could be admired by the public. Sadly, it is still sat at Winchcombe as it has been identified that its requires additional work before the interior can be started - this work can only be conducted at Winchcombe. Luckily, though, it will be an exhibit at Winchcombe and easily viewable from the Station. 

The 'Bubble' after breaking cover last week at Winchcombe. (Andrew Stratford)

It does look very impressive and was a nice sight as we headed into Winchcombe on the last 'down' train on 27/07. 

On arrival at Cheltenham. It is a shame that 20228 is not quite ready to be paired with 20137 for the Gala...but things come to those who wait!

Finally, it appears that 'DES' will be leaving us in order to be repaired off site. The former ASW, Cardiff based shunter has been out of action for nearly 18 months with generator issues. Hopefully, this arrangement will see 'DES' get the repairs it needs before heading back to the GWsR.

DES in better times. Hopefully, an agreement has been reached that will allow it to get it's generator repairs.