An absence of noise does not mean silence!

Its been some time since the last tome from the Diesel Department. However, the lack of updates certainly does not indicate an absence of any happenings within the department.....far from it, in fact! The dust has well and truly settled on the main Gala and attention, once again, has turned to the run down to the end of the year and the Autumn Diesel Weekend.

It had been hoped to plan a bit of a coup and a first for the line for the weekend. We tried to entice the Class 17 'Clayton' from the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway as a guest locomotive; the deal was close to being signed, sealed, but delivery was snatched away as the C&PRR suddenly required the 'Clayton' for their own services. Foiled!!! Still, we have our excellent home fleet in use over the weekend with regular departures from Broadway and Cheltenham Racecourse. Usual ticket prices apply and these can be booked by visiting the GWSR website. You can also click HERE to access the download for timetables and the link to the tickets.

Anyhow, on to the up dates of happenings within the fleet. August was a bit of a washout for me with a family holiday (it was lovely, thanks!) and preparation for the new Academic Year at work (not so lovely!) taking up a lot of my freedom. By the time I was able to have some free time it was nearly the end of August and another spate of late afternoon running on the PURPLE timetable. I was rostered on 37215 on the 27th August, continuing my Driver Training with Kev Jarvis. After picking Kev up at Bristol Parkway we headed to Toddington. First order of business was to put the EE Type 3 on charge for a bit. It hadn't run for a little while so a top up was insurance against a non start.

One of our slightly archaic battery chargers. I guess, given that it has and RG depot sticker, that it is ex-Reading TMD. It does the job, though.

With the loco on charge, job two was to head into the engine room of sister loco D6948. The boiler pressure release valves needed removing in order to be tested and re-certified. They aren't in a particularly easy place within the engine room - long arms and patience are definitely a pre-requisite! Kev ticks both boxes here and, with me ably assisting on torch holding and tool fetching duties, both valves were removed in about an hour.

With one of the valves removed, you can see the second one just to the left of centre, with a tag on it, poking out from behind the main boiler tank.

The first one sat on D6948's battery box.

With them both removed and marked up Kev started on cleaning them up and I went to clean up the rather rusty bolts and washers. Not the most glamourous of jobs but vital for the efficient workings of all our engines.

NUTS!! Well, bolts actually!

Adjacent to the Class 37s in the shed, the cannabalised remains of Class 20, 20035 awaiting further component removal and then a date with the hereafter. Loco owner Steve M had been particularly busy over the weeks I had been absent (certainly with the help of others in the department) and the fruits of that labour were very neatly stored around the immediate shed floor area. These will find their way into Steve's spares resources for his other Class 20's - D8137 and 20228 - as well as being sold on to others.

Steve gets to work on removing more bits from 20035.

The area where the battery box and fuel tanks would normally be housed.

Two of the many air tanks.

A variety of cylinders and pipework.

We were able to distract Steve enough in order to shunt D8137 out of the way of Road 10 so that we could get 37215 out of the shed.

Steve gets ready to fire up D8137.

Work also continued on the extensive overhaul on Brush Type 4, 1693 (47105) with Tim L and Dave M continuing with sanding of the bodysides and external components. The makers plates have also been removed ready for snading and priming. The plates will also be tidied up, paint removed and returned to original condition.

The makers plate removed from the cab side of 1693.

Work has also been continuing on the No 2 Bogie of Class 24, 5081. Most of the work has been progressed during the week, primarily on Wednesday's, with some work being completed on weekends. The frames have been needle gunned and everything stripped for refurbishing or replacement. Work has progressed at a quicker rate than No 1 bogie as the original experience has allowed for problems to be identified and rectified much more quickly. It is hoped that the turn around for this bogie will be completed before the start of the 2019 running season.

Raised, needle gunned and with all riggin and cylinders removed.

The next visit was the 1st September. A DMG Meeting was planned for the morning which saw updates on a number of internal matters. Progress is steady with looking at securing our Gantry Crane and extending the concreting of the apron outside the shed with a view to completion of planning by the end of the year. This will cretainly make removing engine components easier. Yours truly is also, slowly, working on a design for a booklet/brochure detailing the history of diesels on the GWSR and Honeyborne line, our current fleet, visitors and informative details for both the average member of the public and the most devoted of enthusiasts. Elsewhere, discussions were started on next years' main Gala planning, as well as our initial draft of the new timetable for 2019.

In the shed, Dave M was joined by Richard W working on 1693. More sanding, priming and body work filling. Still no details on the chosen colour scheme for when the preparation work has been completed.

1693 shows the progress being made on the bodywork.

The following week (8th September) was another rostered turn for me. This time on the EE Type 1, D8137. Last year I had been rostered on this loco a fair bit, this turn was to be my first of 2018! However, fate conspired against me and Driver, Richard S. Before all that, though, attention was turned to 'Peak', 45149. Simon T needed a hand with removing a leaking brake cylinder and seal. Simon fired up the Class 04, 11230 and, with Richard S, manouvered the 'Peak' over the pit on Road 9.

With 4270 having a boiler wash out on Road 8, 45149 is positioned on Road 9. 

With Simon off getting tools from the CMDG's Fruit D van I had a nosey around the outside of the loco. The'Peak' is, other than our Class 73, the locomotive I am least acquianted with so I decided to have a look at the bogies and external hardware. The bogies are of a Bullied design and were famed for cracking under speed and rough stress...something that hastened the Class's withdrawal in the 1980s. 45149 has a couple of small cracks but they are all very closely observed during examinations and are still well within agreed tolerances. In fact, very little (if any) movement of these has occurred since the locomotive was withdrawn from BR service in the mid 1980s.

The crack in No2 end bogie. 

With Simon's return we ventured into the unsavoury confines of the pit. These pits are usually used by the steam engines for clearing out ash pans and other hugely filthy jobs.

The underside of 135 tonnes of prime Class 45. 

The offending cylinder was on No1 bogie at the far end.

The offending cyliner casing and its uncooperative joining nut.

The casing removed and a problem encountered. Its full of oil, grease and dirt. This needed clearing out before the casing was cleaned, primed and repainted

The errant brake cylinder. This was also removed, cleaned and refitted.

The cylinder had leaked and become clogged with dirt and solidified grease and oil. I cleaned the dirt out and went into the oil store to use the paraffin bath to remove some of the ingrained dirt.

Once cleaned it was back to the Fruit D to clean and prime the casing. Simon had started cleaning out the cylinder and was nearly ready to refit it. With the wire brush, the dirt came away easily and within the hour was painted in primer. With the primer dry, the top coat of chassis black went on.

The cleaned and refitted unit. 

With the unit back in place it was time to go and prep the Class 20. Elsewhere in the yard members of the steam department were busy moving a tender with the Class 04. However, the tender took a disliking to a set of points and decided to jump the tracks blocking Roads 7 to 11. The Class 20 was steadily warming up on.....Road 11! The only locos not affected by this mishap were the Class 73 or Class 26. Richard S was passed on both but the decision was taken to use the Class 26, D5343, as the ED would not cope well with an 8 coach rake on diesel power. D5343 was hastily fired up, prepped and rolled off shed to work the last service to Cheltenham some 20 minutes late.

During the following week, the Class 20 had an unexpected trip to Winchcombe on the 12th. Neil C was required to delivery a flat wagon containing scrap rail to the P'Way yard at Winchcombe before bringing back the wagons that would be used as the 'Troublesome Trucks' for the Thomas weekend. One of our P'Way colleagues took a couple of photos as well as photo of the Winchcombe based Class 03, D2182. The following are courtesy of Jonathan Taylor. Thanks Jonathan.

Resplendent in its new coat of paint (although some aspects aren't in line with BR standard colour schemes), Class 03, D2182 sits in the yard at Carriage and Wagon. (Courtesy of J Taylor)

D8137 arrives at Winchcombe and backs into the P'Way sidings with a single bogie flat. (Courtesy of J Taylor)

The Class 20 then prepares to propel the 'Troublesome Trucks' back to Toddington. (Courtesy of J Taylor)

Finally, speaking of Thomas and Friends, the weekend just gone (15th and 16th September) saw our last Thomas themed event. With costs increasing year on year and the Trademark holders requiring a greater share of the money, it was decided that the very popular weekends would come to an end. On the Saturday I was paired with Simon on 'Peak' 45149 doing the Winchcombe - Cheltenham shuttles. The first thing we needed to do, after prep, was to pull Class 37, 37215, from the confines of the shed.

In autumnal sunshine 45149 draws 37215 out into the yard. 

After running LE to Winchcombe we needed to back into the P'Way sidings to collect the scratch rake for the service. The trackwork in P'Way is very heavily ballasted and, with the track itself laid in a fairly haphazard way, a careful procedure is always required. It is also on a curve so sighting is difficult requiring, not only the Guard but also, the Secondman to convey hand signals to the Driver. Everything is done at a crawl.

After coupling the 'Peak' prepares to draw forward into the platform. 

Back in the yard at Toddington, it appeared that someone had forgotten to move Class 04, 11230, into the dock siding with the 'Troublesome Trucks'. However, he seemed happy enough to stay where he was!

Someone seems happy!

The Sunday was a much busier day, not only on the public side, but also in the shed. Work was continuing on Class 24, D5081. The Oil Priming Pump was removed on the loco; it had seized and would require a like for like replacement. Ben E also carried on with needle gunning the bogies. There was also more work on the Class 122 'Bubble Car'. Some prep work was also carried out on an ongoing requirment with the boiler on D6948. The loco needs to be retro fitted with a boiler pressure gauge in each cab. Only a couple of people are capable of working the boiler at present, requiring them to act as 'Boilerman' whenever it needs operation, however, it is hoped that the lead up to Christmas (yes, I used the 'C' word!) a number of Secondmen will be trained to operate it and lessent he requirement for a third member of footplate crew. This though, requires, as terms of insurance, both cabs to be fitted with pressure gauges to ensure correct operation. This will be a long and costly job but safety critical.

On the service front, due to not being able to raise a crew for the Sunday, 45149 was replaced by 47376 'Freightliner 1995' at short notice. Richard W and David F crewed the Brush Type 4; myself and Matt P crewed 37215 on the Toddington - Winchcombe shuttles alternating turns with the 'Really Useful Engine'.

47376 runs round at Winchcombe.

Class 47 and Class 37 front end profile. 47376 runs round before heading to Cheltenham whilst 37215  waits in Carriage and Wagon for the arrival of Thomas.

 At the northern end of the line, the Class 117 was utilised on Toddington - Broadway shuttles. 'Daisy' was the only 'mainline' diesel that actually wore a face througout the weekend. The faces that were made for the 'Peak' and the Class 37 were not officially licensed by HIT Entertainment therefore we were not allowed to use them. Those that remember the original series will probably already have noticed that 'Daisy' was actually a Class 101 DMU! But, why split hairs?!

'Daisy' departs for Broadway as we wait to run round and return to shed...our job done.