Those of us from a certain generation will remember the oft-echoed sentiment from the late, great George Peppard in his role as John 'Hannibal' Smith from the 'A-Team'. Luckily, the title of this post doesn't demonstrate that we have gone all guerilla warfare in the department. Rather that two of the larger maintenance projects are very much within touching distance of their respective finish lines - one much earlier than expected (bar the essential tests and running in) and the other a lot later than envisaged.
Before all that, the new season has started in earnest. It really doesn't seem three months since the end of the hugely successful 2018 season but, here we are! For our mainline fleet winter maintenance is coming to an end with locos receiving 'B' and Fitness to Run exams ready for return to services in April whilst the DMU has had all of its 'M' exams and has been out and about on the
BLUE and
RED timetable days racking up the early season mileage. The Class 73 has finished on its ballast jobs for the winter P'Way relay at Toddington and a refreshing drop at Buckland whilst we have had a fleeting visit from a Tamper. Running a heritage railway is a year round activity....its not just about running trains! On that subject if you are interested in volunteering, even if for just a few hours a month, we have volunteering events planned in April, May and June where you can come and see what is on offer. You can click
here for more information or email
recruitment@gwsr.com. There really is a job for everyone whether you are interested in railways or not.
Anyway, back to the Diesel fleet. As I mentioned two of the longer term maintenance projects took massive strides towards their respective completions over the last few weeks. In the last episode I mentioned that '
DES', our ex-Allied Steel and Wire shunter, had had its repaired axle and wheel set returned and was waiting for its time on the jacks to have it set back under the loco. Well, with the wheel and axle box back on site the team made hay while the sun was shining (quite literally with the weather we have had this week) and set to refitting the bearings and greasing the axle box and getting it back on the pre-profiled wheel set. Photos are courtesy of Paul Jones, one of the oweners of '
DES'. Thanks Paul.
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| The re-profiled axle casing ready for refitting. (Courtesy P. Jones) |
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| The new bearings. (Courtesy P. Jones) |
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| Chris checks for clearance as he refits the axle casing. (Courtesy P. Jones) |
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| All in place and running freely. (Courtesy P. Jones) |
All that is now required is availability of the jacks in order to lift the loco and then for the wheel to be placed back in its rightful place. It is hoped that this can be done in April and, after successful testing, have '
DES' back in service before the middle of the year. Early availability of the jacks, however, was resting on our other long term project being completed. Of course I refer to another loco having maintenance on its wheelsets, Class 24,
5081. In this case not just one axle but both bogies being refurbished for the first time since 1975, as we presumed from the dates scrawled on both bogie frames. No1 end bogie had had its refurbishment started back in 2017; this Thursday 28/03 saw
5081 shunted back into the David Page shed and between the four jacks ready to lift the body off of its bogies for the return on No2 end bogie aftercompletion of its own refurb. The loco was carefully lifted off of the 'spare' bogie, carefully removed and the refurbished bogie placed back underneath the loco, the various cables and lines reattached and then the loco gradually lowered back onto its own bogies once more. The
24081 group had set a deadline of having the loco fully fit for our gala in July and, bar any issues flagged up during Fitness to Run testing, its definitely a job well done! Photos are courtesy of Kev Jarvis. Thanks Kev...again!
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| 5081 clear of its accommodation bogie ready for it to be removed and swapped for its 'proper', refurbed bogie under the watchful eye of Mark S. D5343 sits on the adjacent road as it undergoes some corrosion repairs - it could almost be St. Rollox Works, Glasgow in the 1970s! (Courtesy K. Jarvis) |
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| 5081 is gently lowered onto the refurbished bogie. (Courtesy K. Jarvis) |
Also in the David Page shed Class 26,
D5343 has had some anti-corrosion work completed. It has also been awakened from its winterisation ready for the new season. In the meantime, the CMDG has arranged for their spare Class 26 traction motor to go away for refurbishment. On the 22/03 it was removed from storage and placed on a low loader. Thanks to our HoD, Andy Durham, for the pic.
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| The season of heavy lifting continues! D5343's spare Traction Motor gets lifted onto a flatbed before being whisked away for refurbishment. (Courtesy A. Durham) |
The weekend just gone saw the turn of Class 37,
D6948 to have its 'B' and Fitness to Run exams. A little over two weeks ago the loco had its boiler lifted out to investigate the leakage issues that reared their ugly head over the New Year. The EE Type 3 is due to be one of the first diesel locos in service during April, including a Driver Experience day, so it needed to be in tip top condition. Kev, Phil and Ben set to it - ably assisted by other members of the Growler Group. Photos, again, courtesy of Kev Jarvis and Phil Seymour. Thanks gents/
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Above, is a photo (courtesy of Phil) of the 'B' Exam checklist that we use at the GWR. It is based on the exam schedule that would have been used by BR but has been adapted to fit in with the use our locos get. Each locomotive is fitted with a timer that reads 'Engine Hours'. This is basically the length of time the engine has been running since factory overhaul and each exam should be conducted in line with the length of running time each engine had received - rather than an odometer that measures mileage, although it works on the same principle as that with a car. With Class 37/0's BR would undertake an 'A' Exam every 55 or so engine hours, a 'B' every 275 hours and so on but this isn't practical with our locos given the lower amount of usage. Therefore we tend to use the rule of thumb of an 'A' Exam during mid season prior to the Gala, a 'B' Exam prior to the start of the season therefore ensuring more major assessment is done before the strains of the season with a mid year 'check-up'. We don't tend to cover 'C', 'D' or 'E' exams as the time scales for these usually fit in with more detailed restoration work such as strip downs or full refurbishments - more akin to the CEM Works overhaul. The 'B' Exam covers basic things such as the removal and replacement of air filters, below (photo again courtesy of Phil) as well as more safety critical work such as testing of the brake system and air flow.
One of the jobs that everyone clammers to do (NOT!) is the checking and topping up of the Motak levels. It isn't a very glamourous job, most certainly not a clean job but is a highly necessary job. Motak is the lubrication fluid used in all high temperature, high friction areas on all locomotives. It isn't a substance you want to be around for any length of time nor do you want to get it on your skin or clothing but it does its job exceptionally well. With the loco now over the pit it fell to Ben and Phil to do the honours. Photos courtesy of Kev Jarvis.
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| D6948 is placed over the pit ready for the underframe inspection and Motak check. The 'Not to be Moved Board' adds to the overall 1960's appearance of the locomotive. |
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| Phil and Ben prpeare to remove the Traction Motor inspection hatch. |
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| Ben fills up the Motak reservoir. |
As the season gets into full swing the mainline diesels will start to see more action from April. As mentioned in an earlier blog the overall calendar has had a bit of a revamp with the mainline locos out on
PURPLE and
GREEN timetables and the
117 out on
RED and
BLUE timetable days. The rosters have been allocated for April and May and are listed below with the usual caveats around availability etc, etc.
RED -
Class 117 DMU
- March - 30th
- April - 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd
- May - 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th and 18th
BLUE -
Class 117 DMU
- March - 31st
- April - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 18th and 25th
- May - 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd
1940's Weekend - Class 117 DMU
PURPLE (1510 Broadway - CRC; 1625 CRC - Toddington)
Class 37, D6948
Class 20, D8137
- April - 16th
- May - 21st and 22nd
Class 26, D5343
- April - 17th
- May - 1st and 19th
Class 45, 45149
- April - 23rd
- May - 29th and 30th
Class 47, 47376 'Freightliner 1995'
- April - 24th and 30th
- May - 7th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 28th
