Close season Part 1.

Winterisation has begun on the whole fleet as the railway gears up for the festive season. The diesel fleet sees little running between November and April which gives the department volunteers plenty of time to throw themselves into the heavier side of the maintenance schedules.

The Saturday just gone (03/11) saw a healthy number of people milling about - and not least because there was a Department Meeting in the morning. 10 of us were floating about and activity spanned the whole fleet with work ongoing on 1693, D6948, 37215, D5343, 45149 and 20035.

Steve M has made significant progress on the stripping of components from Class 20, 20035. With the loco resident in the shed (his operational Class 20, D8137 has been temporarily banished outside) huge strides have been made in removing the larger items from the engine bay. Tanks, boxes, pipes and a whole host of other items adorn a variety of boxes, bags and floor space.

One side of the loco has now been removed enabling clear access to the power plant and the cab has been stripped of all the equipment. With the deadline for disposal of the loco getting ever closer a lot of work will be undertaken over the winter to salvage everything before removal of the power plant itself.

Very little left in the cab. Seats, glass, instruments...gone!

Work has continued with the Class 24 bogie overhaul and it is hoped to be completed before the start of the 2019 season. All the brake rigging has been primed and new slack adjusters have been commandered. The frame has also been given a covering of undercoat with the springs almost ready for fitting.

The other long term overhaul on Class 47, 1693 progresses further. The body work continues to be sanded and any imperfections attended to with filler. The radiator and fan section of the roof has been placed back above the loco after being needle gunned and primed. It hasn't been fitted securely to the loco but has been secured to temporary spacers using a ratchet strap.

Tim, Dave and H were all busy with the tasks of sanding down the layers of paint. Dave and H, stationed at opposing ends, were sanding back the paintwork above the cabs. After the DMG, Tim also joined in with the sanding.

One of the key jobs of the winterisation process is to give the locomotives a good clean. I made a start on cleaning the cab of D6948. The 'Green Goddess' (the nickname given to the Class 37 by Jo who does our Extension Blog) has seen a number of rostered turns in the last few weeks due to its steam heat facility, however, the weather has been quite wet meaning lots of mud and dirt has ended up being trapsed into the cab. Armed with a hoover and cleaning rags I made a start on No. 2 end.

Have hoover....will travel!

Elsewhere with D6948 the safety valves on the boiler had been refurbished and refitted allowing the boiler to be pressure tested and used in anger on the last PINK timetable weekend. Given the downturn in the weather it couldn't have come at a better time! There had also been an issue identified with the electrical supply to the boiler. Some scorching had been identified on the wiring to the boiler. One of the locomotive's four owners, Peter S, had a brief look after the DMG meeting to identify the extent of the issue and to see what would need to be done. Sister loco, 37215, also received some maintenance from Growler Group vice Chairman, Mark S.

During the week (07/11) both Class 37s were placed over the pit road 9 so that both locos could have their undersides checked, traction motor brushes checked and changed and, the motors themselves could be greased. The opportunity was also taken to try and rectify a long standing, but minor, brake issue with D6948. Due to the changing personal circumstances of some of our department we have suddenly ended up with a regular 'Wednesday' gang - our Technical Office, Paul G, along with Kev J and Dean T now regularly attend on weekdays rather than weekends. One reason is that Kev has another great responsibility with the mighty 'Black & Ambers' - or, Newport RFC - which swallows up large chunks of his winter weekends. This particular week saw them joined by Mark S to complete the work on the two EE Type 3s.

Over the pit. (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis)

The environs of the pit. Even with new lighting it isn't a pleasant place to be! (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis)

Mark and Paul check the grease levels of one of the traction motors. (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis)

Spare set of bushes for a traction motor. (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis)

Nipple! Grease, that is! (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis)

Back to the weekend and work was also being conducted on the winter maintenance program for both CMDG locos - Class 26, D5343 and Class 45, 45149. The group have decided that, for the immediate term, the Peak will continue to run on 5 traction motors until such time as circumstances allow for further investigation into the damage and possible repair. The Class 26 has now been decommissioned for the close season and preparations have been made to allow the loco to survive being outdoors through the rigors of a Cotswold winter. Tony, Simon and Andy were busy attending to the two locos.

The weekend also saw the DMU crew make a start on the 'M' Exams on the 3-car set. The DMU will be the most active member of the Department over the next few months seeing regular use during the Xmas Season, therefore any scheduled maintenance only has a small window in which to be conducted. One slight hiccup has surfaced with the ongoing restoration of DMS, W51405, which has been at Carriage and Wagon at Winchcombe since June. C&W have a couple of more pressing issues that need completion prior to the Xmas period. This will necessitate the DMS potentially being moved back to Toddington for a short period before it can be placed back with C&W and its refurbishment completed. Elsewhere, the Class 122 sees ongoing work from the team with the cabs contiuing to be fitted out and the bodywork on the final stages before top coat can be applied.

Finally, our shunter fleet. DES inches slowly towards being back in service. Timken are currently machining spacers and ensuring they are within accepted tolerance levels. The date for return of the wheel set is still pending however the owners are hopeful that the axle can be refitted and the shunter back in surface before the new running season. Our new Class 04, D2280, has had to be pressed into emergency duty as Toddington Yard Pilot despite only just being released, temporarily, into traffic. Our other Class 04, 11230, has had a long standing problem with its uploader valve. This has got to a point where it is now in need of further investigation and rectification therefore the decision has been taken to remove it from traffic for a month in order to get it fixed. Elsewhere, our Winchcombe based Class 03, D2182, has seen a lot of work recently moving wagons and coaching stock around the yards at Winchcombe and remains in frequent use.

With the close season now in effect, the diesel fleet status stands at:

DES - Unserviceable. Wheelset repairs.
D2182 - Serviceable at C&W, Winchcombe.
D2280 - Temporarily serviceable at Toddington MPD. Full FTR Assessment to be conducted.
11230 - Unserviceable. Uploader Valve issue.
D8137 - Serviceable.
20035 - Component recovery. 
5081 - Unserviceable. Bogie overhaul.
D5343 - Winterised.
37215 - Serviceable.
D6948 - Serviceable.
45149 - Serviceable.
1693 - Unserviceable. Overhaul.
47376 - Serviceable.
E6036 - Serviceable.

W51360, W51363, W59510 - Serviceable
W51405 - Unserviceable. Refurbishment
W51372  - Unserviceable. Awaiting decision.
Sc52029 - Unserviceable. Awaiting decision.
W55003 - Unserviceable. Overhaul.

The DMU will be in service during the Santa Specials in the run up to Christmas. The unit will run five services a day from Toddington on the following dates:

Saturday 8th December
Sunday 9th December
Saturday 15th December
Sunday 16th December
Friday 21st December
Saturday 22nd December.

Tickets are going fast but you can see the timetables and book tickets here.

The mainline fleet sees only four more running days of the 2018 season. We see Class 37, D6948 running on Boxing Day (26/12) and New Years Day (01/01/2019) on the GREEN timetable. First train being the 1100 Toddington - Cheltenham Racecourse.

Between Xmas and the New Year we have the annual, two day Christmas Cracker gala on the 29 and 30 December. This sees a more intensive timetable utilising both steam and diesel traction. Locos to be used are to be confirmed, although D6948 will be in use utilising its boiler throughout both days. There are also BLUE timetable days on the 27, 28 and 31 December.