Just a short update on the last few weeks within the Department. Again, due to family and personal commitments, I have had a bit of a break from Toddington so haven't been able to bring a full scale report as usual.
However, things haven't stayed still in my absence. On my last visit, Mark B and myself got to work on 45149's rocker covers. The seals had started to perish causing some leaking so four were removed and, making use of the good weather, new sealant was added along with new rubbers.
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| Mark B makes a start on removing the old seals and cleaning the grooves ready for the new. |
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| Ready for the adhesive! |
Mike had squirreled himself away in the van with a wire wheel for getting rid of the more stubborn bits and pieces before the covers were re-sealed and re-fitted to the 'Peak's Sulzer lump. Elsewhere Andy M was busy working on the air feed system in number 2 end cab and Dave M continued working on 47105's liners.
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| Andy M gets intimate with the Drivers foot well of 45149. |
The following weekend I volunteered to visit the Great Central Railway to 'look after' D5343 during the Sunday of the GCR's autumn Diesel Gala. Originally down to do two trips on the Rothley shuttle and one round trip of the full line, D5343 was pressed into service to cover the turns of the Heavy Tractor Group's 37714
'Cardiff Canton' which had failed earlier in the day. We ended up doing three full round trips with the 'McRat' working admirably and not putting a foot wrong. It was also interesting to crew a loco on another line, see how their crews work and operate and, of course, crew on a double track preserved line! The Class 26 should have arrived at the Epping and Ongar Railway by the posting of this tome ready for their coming gala before returning to the GWSR for our autumn Gala over the weekend 7th and 8th October.
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| D5343 stabled with an old friend at Loughborough - the DEPG's 'Hymek' D7017. |
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| On arrival at Leicester North with the first round trip - little did we know that we would be doing a few more! Paired with another friend, Class 25, D5185. |
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| On arrival back at Loughborough with the penultimate train of the day. Cue a 3 hour drive home....thanks M5! |
Back at Toddington, Sundays mean the DMU gang are present continuing their work on the 'Bubble Car'. A corner had been turned this Sunday gone with the final plate welded in, sanded and door hinges re-fitted. All photos are courtesy of the GWSR DMU Group/CDRG.
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| The final panel is welded and smoothed on the side of W55003. |
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| The door hinges go on and another objective is achieved. |
In the afternoon W55003 received some final filling followed by its first application of undercoat.
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| Undercoat is applied. |
And, finally, a note to remind everyone that it is our final all-diesel event of the year coming up - our Autumn Diesel Gala running over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of October. Over the weekend all of our Mainline locos (except the Class 73) will be in use at some stage. All details can be found
here including timetables, loco allocations and ticket info. This event, like our Summer Gala is
ALL TICKET. Come along and help us relieve the 1960s and 1970s for the final time this year.
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| D6948 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995' at Toddington during our Summer Gala in 2017. |
