A new era.

The new month of August saw a major change in the Diesel Department. Kevin Jarvis, who has successfully served as Department Head for the last 3 or so years, decided to stand down due to a higher calling from his other great passion - Newport RFC, the mighty 'Black and Ambers'! Kev has joined the Board of the B&As and no longer has the time to juggle work, the B&As commercial arm and keeping us unruly lot in check! He continues as Treasurer of the Growler Group and will continue volunteering in the Department around his rugby commitments. In to the breach steps Andy Durham as our new Head of Department. Andy has 28 years experience of working with diesel engines and is primarily a member of the Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group. He can usually be found working on the Class 26 or the Class 45 and, like myself, is a Secondman in the Department. I hope you will all share in commiserating, I mean, congratulating and welcoming Andy as well as also extending a huge thanks to Kev.


After the successes of the Summer Gala the heavy work on 5081 and 47105 has recommenced. Last weekend saw a team of five of us removing the remaining six cylinder liners from 47105 and fitting new CO2 fire extinguishers into 37215. The pistons had all been removed and were in various stages of cleaning.

'A' Bank pistons from 47105.

After positioning both locomotives under our gantry lift in the yard work started on 47105 first. With Tim and Matt in the engine room, myself, Mark S and Andy M took turns in operating the lift. The lift is manually intensive which was pretty heavy going on the arms!

One of 47105's 'A' Bank liners. 6 were removed in total.

With most of them removed Tim then went to fetch the JCB so we could transport them back into the shed ready for cleaning. Despite being the best part of a couple of decades old they were all in pretty decent condition...no pitting, dents or warping noted on quick inspection. Matt quickly set to work with the wire wheel clearing the outer layers of dirt and grime.

Andy M and Mark S load up the JCB being careful not to dent the liners.

With the liners removed 47105 was shunted back to allow 37215 under the gantry. The CO2 extinguishers that were in 37215 had faulty firing pins that required replacing. The new bottles have a slightly revised set of firing pins that are a little more sturdy. With no.1 end of 37215 under the gantry the older bottles were removed and the new ones hoisted up and set in place.

Four new bottles waiting to go in to 37215.

Two of the removed bottles removed and ready for disposal.

Elsewhere, DES was receiving a bit of TLC. Formerly one of the shunters at Allied Steel and Wire in Cardiff (now Celsa), DES, or 372,  has been out of action for a few weeks with a few issues including suffering low power. Chris was present undertaking some fault finding and rectification within the engine compartment. This has meant that the Class 04 has been pushed into more shunting duties across the yard, despite itself having some issues that need sorting out.

Shunter 372, or DES to friends!

When on song this little engine packs a punch having been used to shunt heavy steel wagons around ASW, Cardiff before retirement.

During the following week Class 26, D5343, was readied for another of its many excursions away from the GWSR. The destination this time was the Ecclesborne Valley Railway for their diesel gala and a chance to test itself on the fearsome 1 in 27 gradient. This would certainly be giving the Sulzer engine a workout as the steepest ruling gradient at 'home' is a more sedate 1 in 175!

D5343 awaits its lift to the Ecclesborne Valley Railway. (Courtesy: Rob Davidson)

From the photos on social media, and a quick chat with Andy Durham on Sunday just gone (13/08), the trip appeared to be another great success. Here's to a few more!

This past Sunday (13/08) was a very quiet day. Myself and Mark S were both rostered on 37215 on the red timetable and, other than Chris and his partner from the Brush Type 4 group, we were the only ones about in the diesel shed. Our colleagues in the DMU group were also in doing more work on the Bubble Car. During the week more work had occurred on 5081's wheelset and all the springs have now been removed. In order to get the last one out the frame had to be lifted slightly and it now rests on a pile of wooden blocks. Several of the motor gear casings have also been taken back to the metalwork ready for repainting.

5081's wheelset. Slightly lifted in order to get the last spring out.

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A collection of expired springs.

 A gleaming motor gear case from 5081 fresh from a date with the wire wheel.

With jobs thin on the ground, Mark S set about fitting the CO2 extinguishers in 37215 to the fire suppression pipework. I, on the other hand, set about draining D6948's bed plate of waste fluids.

Have buckets....will travel!

Towards lunchtime we also had a group of Australian tourists request a tour around the sheds. A very interested group of 10 were shown around the diesel shed before being taken around the steam side as well. Full of questions and enthused by the strength of railway preservation in the UK, they had been to Didcot Railway Centre and Swindon STEAM on the Saturday and had been shown around their workshops so were very happy that they could see what we were doing also. A number had worked for Australian Railways and all had some interest in railway preservation. One had even traveled behind 'Pendennis Castle' when she was sold to an Australian Iron Ore company in the 1970s. A few questions were also asked around the differences between the XPT and the HST and also why a Class 20 only has one cab but two driving positions! After about 45 minutes a very happy group made their way to the station in order to enjoy a trip behind P&O. Its always good to get appreciation and praise from members of the public, even more so when from the other side of the globe!

It was then onto prepping 37215 for the final round trip of the day. After a really sunny, warm day the clouds had started to gather although there would be no rain. Quite a pleasant end to the day.

The 'old girl' ready to head out once more.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel!!