Things never stand still in any of the departments, especially when the running season starts. The diesel fleet is starting to rack up the mileage with all serviceable locos having had turns - although the Class 26 has not operated any GWSR services, as yet, due to its recent visit to Roberts Road TMD, Doncaster for tyre turning.
The number of locos from the fleet to have reached Broadway increases. The weekend just gone (12 & 13 May) saw 'Peak'
45149 reach Broadway on the
GREEN timetable, making it the first of the class into Broadway since the fateful day in 1976 when the 0635 Toton - Severn Tunnel Junction loaded coal train, hauled by sister
45076, derailed at 'Chicken Curve'. This leaves only
D5343 and
37215 as the only serviceable locos not to have made it up the new extension.
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| 45149 became the first 'Peak' into Broadway since 1976 on the 12 May. This was taken the following day, 13 May 2018. (Courtesy of Richard Drewitt) |
It almost didn't happen, though! When dealing with near 60 year old machines, inevitably, things go wrong and, whilst working 2B10 1205 Cheltenham Racecourse - Broadway on the Saturday (12 May), the 'Peak' lost power at Gotherington. Fellow Type 4,
47376 'Freightliner 1995' was hastily prepped and sent down to rescue the errant 'Peak'. After depositing the 'Peak' back on Toddington MPD for assessment
47376 continued in its place. On a positive note, the fault was identified and rectified quickly and
45149 was able to carry on and worked the penultimate service to Broadway north from Toddington. It completed all timetabled services on the Sunday without incident.
It's amazing what can cause a 135 tonne, 2500 horsepower locomotive to become unserviceable......
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| A split contactor ring (top)...the cause of Saturday's frustrations! (Courtesy of Tim Leverton) |
The weekend also saw the railway's 2nd Bricks and Trains event, jointly organised by the railway and the Southern Lego Train Club. Last years event was very successful and this year's event seems to have been built on that - coupled with some excellent weather. I was lucky enough to catch a few of the larger exhibits setting up on the Friday evening but I couldn't get to the railway for the weekend due to my stepson's 15th birthday. Some of the items I saw on the Friday were a lot more realistic than what I remember from the Lego railway collections when I was a kid back in the 1980's. London Underground stock, a GWR IET and a Class 70 could be found on show.
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| What if the Storm Troopers from Star Wars played football?! |
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| The Diesel Shed suitably cleared ready for some of the exhibits. Others were in a giant marquee in the Car Park. |
I was afforded these 'behind the scenes' views as I had been rostered on the first Driver Experience of the 2018 calendar along with Simon T, as rostered Driver, and
D6948 as loco. I had been under the impression that we would be taking our other EE Type 3,
37215, however after prepping it Simon arrived and told me of a last minute switch to the Green Machine! This last minute change set the tone for the early part of the Friday where it was very much a case of into the unknown. Being the first Experience day to utilise the full length of the line for a couple of years, included a fried breakfast (much appreciated!) for all participants, guests and crew as well as everything being retimed, it meant that it was all very much a case of 'see how it goes'. An oversight by Admin had meant that the participants and their families were told erroneously to arrive at 0930 rather than 0830 for breakfast, safety briefing and shed tour, however, the first trip was due off Toddington at 1000! Suffice to say we played catch up for the rest of the day however, the participants were not put off by the slightly later finish. In fact, these experience days (both steam and diesel) are incredibly popular and there is rarely an unhappy conclusion. The fact they are generally sold out within days of being announced is testiment to the popularity. Three of our participants this time had done previous experience days on the GWSR - one was returning for the 4th time having previously driven
47376, 45149 and
D5343!!
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| D6948 awaits the RA at Cheltenham with the last trip towards Broadway. 11/05/18. |
The overhaul on the bogie of Class 24,
5081, is nearly completed. The two traction motors have been cleaned, primed, had top coat applied and have been resited inside the bogie. All brake structures are now fully attached and are awaiting calibration. Black top coat has also been applied all over the frame and onto the wheels.
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| Nearly there. No. 1 bogie is almost ready to be replaced under 5081 after just over a year being overhauled. |
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| The cleaned and repainted No.2 Traction Motor. |
Class 26,
D5343, as mentioned above, has returned from its sojourn to Roberts Road TMD in Doncaster for Tyre Turning. The latest turn has meant that the whieelsets are fairly close to the limits of tolerance that are allowed - a worry for the owning group as they are not cheap, or readily available! However, after allowing for time to settle and with testing in the yard completed, the wheelsets have passed fitness to run with no further issues highlighted.
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| The new profile can just be made out on the leading wheel at No.2 end of D5343 on 05/05/18. |
Just in time, too, as the locomotive will be off on yet another holiday in June!! The McRat will be heading to our friends on the Mid Hants Railway for their Diesel Gala over the weekend 1 - 3 June becoming the first of the class to work on the line.....another first for our Type 2 trailblazer!
My last 'working' weekend was the May Day Bank Holiday and I was up at Toddington for my first training turn as a Driver on the 5th and 6th May. The first order of business was to get the rostered loco out of the shed and walk through the preparation - an important task that all Drivers have to be proficient in. Lead Driver Richard Scott was my chaparone, firing questions at me left, right and centre to gauge the knowledge I had picked up in two years as qualified Second Man. Class 04,
11230 was fired up and
37215 was pulled out of Road 10. As we did so I happened to look up and noticed we had a new addition to the shed.........
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| Let there be (LED) light!!! |
We have new shed lights! These have been a long time coming and have been awaiting a suitable time that they could be hung and wired up. Whether that had been done, I can't say, as the weather was stunning and illumination in the shed was not required! However, they will certainly be a big help come winter shutdown when we routinely had to stop work around 4pm because it got too dark!
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| Class 37, 37215, basks in the mid morning sunshine after prepping. |
With the blue 'Growler' all prepared and on stand by it would have been a shame to have stayed indoors so Richard and I walked down to the site of the new southern turnout where a small gang of the Saturday P'Way team were busy replacing some of the temporary fish plates and checking the heights of the rail in the increasing heat.
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| P'Way hard at work. |
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| Never ceases to amaze me how much effort these guys put in!! |
The new (or reinstated depending on how long your memory stretches back) southern turnout is nearly ready for hooking up to Toddington Box by S&T and will allow locos to head straight to Winchcombe rather than have to do a multitude of reversing! It may also be put to other uses in the future! It was really quite interesting to see the work P'Way do at first hand and, despite not using 'modern' equipment, are more than capable of giving the railway top quality permanent way.
Back in the yard, the open doors and engine room window gave indication that someone was at home inside
D5343. In this case, Richard G and Ian C were busy doing a bit of spring cleaning and completing some basic running maintenance after the locos' extended 'holiday'.
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| Ventilation is much in evidence! With its fibreglass roof D5343 does a good impression of a green house! |
Behind the '26' our non-Class 04 shunter '
DES' was loitering over the pit. Preparatory work has started on the undercarriage of the shunter in readiness for the refitting of the new axle. Chris was also around doing some minor work to the engine and air system. The good news on the axle front for
DES is that the owners have identified someone to complete the required welding and its now just a case of matching schedules and finances to allow the work to go ahead. Hopefully, we will see the powerful shunter back in traffic sooner rather than later.
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| DES still awaiting its return to traffic. Hopefully, not much longer now. |
Back in the shed Mark S, Dave M and Tim L continued on
D1693's
(or
47105's) overhaul. The loco's bufferbeams and solebar have been sanded down to remove dirt and corrosion. Some areas around the solebar have also had new steel welded in and coated in black primer.
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| D1693 or...... |
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| 47105! |
Sunday 6th started how the Saturday finished - another superb day, perhaps even warmer. I was rostered again on
37215, with Mark S this time and new Secondman Trainee, Alex. After prepping the loco and placing her out in the sun we were joined by Ben E, Frank and Steve. The order of business was to get
20035 into the shed to complete some of the cannibalisation of the body work ready for removing the English Electric 8SVT Mk II engine. With Mark at the helm on
11230 (with
D2280 along for the ride) and Alex getting a taste of shunting the yard and using his hand signalling in anger for the first time, we set about getting the rusting hulk of Class 20 into the shed.
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| 20035's roof panel taking up real estate on the ground in the yard at Toddington. |
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| The cannibalised remains of 20035, along with the Class 04's, is shunted back towards the shed. |
Once safely scotched on Road 10 work was to begin in earnest on continuing component recovery on the demic Class 20. Steve, who also owns two other Class 20's,
D8137 at Toddington and
20228 at Barry, and ED Class 73,
E6036, had identified that
20035 had unmatched buffers. Two of these were the correct size for spares for the Class 73. Frank and Ben were given the task (with assistance from Steve) of removing these buffers for refurbishment and placing in store.
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| Ben, Frank and Steve discuss the plan. Gas axe, is it? |
Meanwhile, Mark and I went about removing the doors on one side of the loco. One of the nicknames of these venerable locomotives is 'Whistling Wardrobe' and this is earned due to the number of bodyside doors running the length of the nose. The reason for removal is to make an easier job of removing the power unit. Rather than hire in a crane to lift it up through the roof space the plan is to remove the side frame and slide it out with a lower level crane. Some of the bolts were very resistant to the usual ways of removal, even with copious amounts of cleaning and WD40! Cue Mark and his trusty angle grinder!
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| With doors removed, the prime mover is revealed. Although it looks in poor condition there is nothing a good clean couldn't sort! |
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| Shut that door! No, not that one, this one!! |
With the doors removed Mark could get to work removing the frames in order to give a clear space to eventually remove the power unit. However, work needs to be done to create a hardstanding area for the power unit to be stored on before a lift can be done.
In case you missed it last time, the first details of our 2018 Summer Diesel Gala have been disclosed. The gala will be over the 27, 28 and 29 July 2018 and a visiting locomotive has been confirmed in the shape of BR Type 4 Diesel Hydraulic 'Warship',
D832 'Onslaught' courtesy of the Bury Hydraulic Group and the East Lancashire Railway. Built in 1961 by BR at Swindon Works the loco was withdrawn after only 11 years service in 1972 due to BR wishing to standardise their fleet. Along with
D821 'Greyhound' they are the sole remaining locos of the iconic 'Warship' fleet of Classes 41, 42 and 43. Although 'Warships' weren't common on the Honeybourne Line, with fellow BR Green Class 37,
D6948, there will be a very BR (W) vibe running through the whole event. A public timetable will be made available soon where we hope to have up to 10 departures from Broadway each day and over 1000 miles traveled over each day. Remember, to gain access to any part of the site over the weekend of the gala, you will need to have a valid ticket.
NO TICKET - NO ENTRY!!
You can keep up to date with regular news on the gala by clicking
HERE.
