A weekend of two halves.

The Saturday just gone saw a large group at Toddington MPD with work starting on finding fault and repairing 'Peak' 45149's expired No. 2 compressor. This compressor had become a little notorious given the noise it would make when it kicked in and had failed completely during our Summer Gala in July. Mike, Andy, Tony and Simon from the CMDG group made a start on removing the compressor from the 'Peak's' No.2 end nose and stripping the offending parts of the compressor. One of the high pressure cylinder scrapper rings was removed and replaced. By the end of the day the compressor was ready for testing and refitting.

Steve M continued on the stripping and removal of parts from his spares donor Class 20, 20035. It is hoped that over the winter shutdown an effort can be made on removing some of the larger items, such as radiators, from the nose of the Type 1 ready for assessment and potential overhaul.

Mark S continued with prepping the sole bar of 47376 'Freigtliner 1995' ready for welding in new sheet steel above the buffers. By the end of the day this had been completed and left to settle.

New steel welded to the sole bar of 47376 'Freightliner 1995' ready for painting.

Sunday was a different kettle of fish with only four of us in - myself, Mark S, Tim and Matt. On arrival at Toddington an unusual sight greeted those coming through the gate. With the Broadway extension seeing several ballast drops throughout the previous week, the ballast train was sat in Platform 2 with our ED, E6036, resting in Platform 1.

Clas 73, E6036, sat in a damp Platform 1 at Toddington on Sunday morning.

The empty ballast train waiting for its next call to duty.

With only the four of us in it was a touch on the quiet side - but still productive. With the Class 37's pretty much fit for service I carried on with the cleaning of the 'new' exhauster that was started by our YMG graduate, Chris. Not the most enthralling of jobs, but, if we are going to have a range of good quality spares across all the fleet to keep them all running, it'll be jobs like this that keep the back up stock healthy. Out came the needle gun and small wire brush to get off the more stubborn paint. Some of it STILL doesn't want to let go!

More stubborn paint is removed from the exhauster

Mark S continued with the body work repairs to 47376's sole bar. Having welded the new steel into place it was now a case of finishing them off, sanding down the welds and then painting. With this done, it was time to switch to sister machine, 1693 (or 47105).

Tim and Matt had continued with the cleaning, paint removal and repainting of the fuel pump gallery doors.

All clean and repainted. Ready for refitting.

Mark made a start on the No 2 end roof section removing some of the rotten metal work around the grilles before preparing new metalwork to weld in place.

No2 end roof section. Despite the metal work underneath looking rusty, it is in good condition.

The extent of the rust line across the grill.

Class 47s were notorious for the guttering at the boiler end (No 2 end) to rust away. The original damaged strip has been removed and a new section will be fabricated.

Despite it not being even 4pm, the light had started to fade quickly and the temperature had dropped to around 3C (overnight Sunday to Monday, Gloucestershire had the lowest temperatures in the country with -4C being recorded just 4 miles away at Winchcombe) meaning that time was running out to complete the metal work cut, prime and undercoat, and weld. By the time I downed tools, Mark had completed 4 sections with primer and had left them out to dry.

New Metal. Set out on the steps to dry.

Also in on Sunday, making use of the crisp winter sunshine and giving work on W55003 a rest, the DMU group were out in the yard giving L425 some much needed TLC. DMS W51405 has been out of the set since the Autumn Diesel Gala with issues relating to its engines. Some work has gone on, courtesy of George and the team, to get her back up and running before the Santa Specials. The remaining members of the unit, TCL W59510 and DMBS W51363, were split and shunted over the pits so that pre-exam work could be completed. George also used the opportunity to take care of some of the rectification of the ongoing issues with the engines on the W51363. With the unit in use everyday during the running session it gives the team precious little time to sort out any of the niggling issues that creep in. The following pictures are courtesy of the GWR Diesel Group/CDRC.

L425 sat in the yard. The DMU team undertaking some maintenance on TCL W59510. DMBS W51363 to the left and DMS W51405 to the right.

Into the pit! Underneath W59510.

DMBS W51363 after its wash and spruce up in the fading light.

Work on Class 24, 5081's wheel set paused for the weekend. However, progress has been swift with the first set of springs being placed and more of the brake rigging fitted. The Traction Motors have also had their first coat of black as have the brake cylinders.

Part of the brake rigging jacked up underneath the rear of 5081's wheel set. As you can see, the addition of the grey primer is now complete on the frame.

With 3 of the brake cylinders in situ (the fourth is on the floor centre left) the springs are now ready for fitting. The first can be seen in the centre of the picture.

Close ups of two of the springs positioned and awaiting attachment.

Finally, on a personal note, a couple of weekends ago, I was chatting with one of our longer serving volunteers. Derek Mills is one of our Departments' retail volunteers, an ex-operational volunteer in the department, and a former British Railways Fireman based at Bristol Bath Road during the late 1950s and early 1960s. We had chatted a lot over previous cups of tea of the fact my Grandfather was also based at Bath Road as a Driver from 1957 (moving from Newport, Ebbw Junction) and that we had a lot of common acquaintances that had worked there and/or St Phillips Marsh. Derek had been chatting previously with our HoD, Andy Durham, and had found out my surname in the course of the conversation. Having never previously known it, Derek surprised me with the information that he was my Grandfathers' first Fireman at Bristol Bath Road!

It's amazing how small this world can be sometimes!