Winter has definitely hit the GWSR with a vengeance over the last week with incredibly low temperatures and the first dosing of the white stuff, which is making the Santa Trains even more festive than usual. However, that comes with its own trials of trying to keep the trains running, trying to stop things from freezing and, because of where the GWSR is situated and that a lot of volunteers are not 'local', just getting to/from the railway safely can be quite a challenge. Sadly, it did mean that services yesterday (11 Dec) were cancelled - a decision not taken lightly.
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| Sometime in the latter 2000s, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' sits on the Parlour Road under a blanket of snow. (Courtesy of Richard Drewitt) |
Although not common, the GWSR is no stranger to extreme winter weather. Frost is usually the biggest issue we have to deal with during the Winter months, but snow does occasionally wreak its havoc.
With the diesel fleet now not in use until the end of December for one last fling for 2022, most locos are safely undercover and only having to deal with the cold temperatures - although, these can cause their own problems for those under cover. Damp and condensation for instance.That said, the cold hasn't stopped the intrepid members of the department from continuing with the maintenance schedules for the fleet. Class 37, D6948 continues its reinstatement after the body lift and repairs. After completion of the lift things have moved on to getting everything reconnected electrically and mechanically, as well as some work needing to be completed on the timing chain. At the end of November the brake rigging was reconnected on the wheelsets. This includes balancing the pressures in the pistons so that the forces applied to each wheel are as even as possible when brakes are applied. The last thing you want to happen is to apply the brakes and either nothing happen or you get so much force that the wheels lock. Having assisted when the brakes on 37215 and 5081 were reconnected after their subsequent body lifts, it is a vitally important job and one that requires a lot of patience to get right.
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| Paul Good, Growler Group Chairman and Technical Officer, instructs Keith R, Kev J and Andy D a crash course in refitting and resetting the brake rigging on D6948. (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis) |
In the department we are very lucky to have a number of people who have substantial knowledge of the locomotives we work with. Paul Good is just one of those and, after a career with British Rail based at Plymouth Laira and Cardiff Canton, what Paul doesn't know about Class 37s isn't necessarily worth knowing and, it is always a pleasure to watch and learn from him - even if you are a mechanical idiot, like myself!
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| D6948 back in its temporary lodgings in the David Page shed. Replace the 'Merchant Navy' with GWR 2-8-0, 4270, and you could almost believe that this was somewhere like Tondu shed in South Wales in 1964! (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis) |
D6948 still has a number of jobs outstanding before it will be ready for testing. This includes some work on the timing chain as this has become stretched and out of tolerance, the electrical systems need to be reconnected and tested and then there is the small matter of the B Exam. It is still hoped that the loco will be back in service for the start of the 2023 season.
Sister loco, 37215 is scheduled to work some of the services after Xmas (the roster for those dates is below) and so the major works to complete will wait until January. As mentioned in the last edition, the loco will have its OLEO round buffers removed as these have started to show evidence of expiration on some of the internal parts and these will be sent away (along with a number of other sets of buffers) for complete overhaul. So that we can still shunt the loco safely, and continue to use the loco if needed, a spare set of oval buffers has been sourced and given a spruce up ready to be fitted.
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| Two of the newly painted buffers that will be temporarily fitted to 37215 whilst the OLEO buffers are sent away for overhaul. (Author) |
The loco is not a stranger to oval buffers as it was fitted with them in the latter part of the 1980s when still based at Tinsley, although the domino headcode had, by now, been plated over.
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| 37215 at it's, then, home depot of Tinsley TMD in 1987 complete with oval buffers. (Courtesy of the Growler Group Website/Dean Tabor?) |
The Winter break will also allow the Group to look at removing the leaking compressors and replacing them with the newly overhauled versions that have been returned.
After having an extended run of operation at the end of October, the DMU Team have now set about prepping the groups vehicles for 2023. With no Santa DMU services this year it gives the group a longer time to get some of the 'sticking plaster' jobs completed and off the 'to-do' list. One of these jobs was to finish the installation of a new brake feed valve on DMS W51405.
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| The new feed valve in situ on W51405. (Courtesy of the GWSR DMU Twitter) |
Having been somewhat neglected whilst work was focussed on the 'bubble car', spare Class 117 DMBS, W51360 has been sat in the yard for some time with little work conducted on it. However, with L425 having it's time in the autumnal sun, the group were able to give the power car some much needed TLC. Starting with a semi repaint into BR Green, some of the mechanical repairs have also been conducted to bring it back into running order.
One of the issues revolved around poor vacuum retention, so with the opportunity to get W51360 over a pit, it was identified that some of the parts had perished or were expired.
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| One of the life expired fittings was this vacuum pipe. This, along with other damaged or expired items were replaced. (Courtesy of the GWSR DMU Twitter) |
With the expired parts removed and replaced the brake system was retested and able to retain vacuum sufficiently. With the brakes also tested on L425, and a reshuffle of siding 2 required, an opportunity was taken to have all four serviceable vehicle coupled together to test the brake continuity and electrical system integrity. Safe to say that it was a success and, despite a set of jumper cables requiring replacement, the vehicles all did what was needed and the DMU ran as a 4-car around the yard.
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| All four operational DMU vehicles sit in the headshunt as they are shunted around the yard. W51360 is nearest the camera. (Courtesy of the GWSR DMU Twitter) |
The 'bubble car' is not being neglected as work continues on the internal fittings and on some external fettling.
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| Class 122, W55003 and Class 117, W51360 over the pits at Toddington. (Courtesy of the GWSR DMU Twitter) |
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| From back on the 12 Nov, the removal of the cab side plate revealed this nice looking dent. (Author) |
With this dent in the pillar exposed, a look at the cab front itself showed that it had had at least two previous skins - some of which were still extant behind the newest skin.
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| With further plate removed above the solebar, you can clearly see the curve of the solebar underneath the lamp bracket which shows further evidence of collision damage. The steel should be straight and level! (Courtesy of Tony Richards) |
One bonus of stripping the steel back so much is that you can now get access to all the pipe work that would usually be hidden. Despite the state of the body work, the pipe work is actually is reasonable condition.
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| From inside the cab you can see the array of pipework that the has become exposed after removal of the steel work. (Courtesy of Tony Richards) |
Further plate was removed from the Driver's side, as well as the corroded and buckled pillar by Dave S and his trusty cutter.
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| Have plasma cutter....will cut! The job has now gone from replacing some life expired plate to complete surgery. The pillar has been about 60% removed (you can still see the buckle) and you can see how thin the skin is around the cab. You can also see how straight the sole bar should be compared to the Secondman side. (Courtesy of Tony Richards) |
As you can see, this has become quite a major job now and will see the cab almost completely rebuilt with new steel. Whether No. 1 cab will be treated to the same level of work is yet to be decided, but if it is, then we could see the plans for D5343 to be back service in 2023 pushed back - especially if no. 1 end is on a par with no. 2 end.
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| After decimating the cab, Dave S gets to work on the door frames. (Courtesy of Tony Richards) |
At the end of the day, however, doing a thorough job now will only benefit the loco and the owning group moving forward even if it does see the loco out of service for a while longer.
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| Simon smooths down the final piece of new plate that had been added to the bodyside. (Courtesy of Tony Richards) |
Loco Roster
|
Date |
TT |
Loco
Allocated |
|
27 December
2022 |
|
47105 |
|
28
December 2022 |
|
47105 |
|
29
December 2022 |
|
47105 |
|
30
December 2022 |
|
37215 |
|
31
December 2022 |
|
37215 |
|
1 January
2023 |
|
37215 |
|
2 January 2023 |
|
37215 |
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