Death and Resurrection

I know it is a slightly depressing, morbid tone to take with the title of the blog but it is what a lot of preservation is about....taking something life expired and, where possible, giving it a new lease of life. Where we can't give a new life, we use parts to donate to keep others running.

With this in mind we start with the rapidly diminishing skeleton to Class 20, 20035. With Class 37, D6948, down at the West Somerset Railway for a holiday (more on that later) Steve M has had the carcass of the Class 20 back into the shed to start breaking down the remaining body work. At the back of the shed are several containers of spare parts that will be tested, graded and, where possible, used as spares for other locos - including Steve's operational Class 20's, D8137 and 20228 (currently at the Barry Tourist Railway) and Class 73, E6036.

The remains of the 'nose facing' control desk taken through what is left of the cab walls. 

Another view of what is left of the cab.

Now the resurrection! The extra room in the shed has seen the warflat containing the roof section and radiator fan from Class 47, 1693 returned to the dry confines of the shed to allow some welding work to be conducted.

The Warflat returns to the warm and dry.

One of the areas that the Brush Type 4's really suffered with throughout their operation was the ingress of water along the join of the roof section with the body side causing severe corrosion. You can see the effects on sister loco, 47376, where the body work has started blistering and the roof section is starting to rust. The BT4G have taken the decision to fit gullys at certain points to the roof section to aid water run off.

One of the new panels of sheet metal welded to the roof of 1693. You can see one of the new gully channels running just above the grill. 

One of the new gullys welded to the roof of 1693.

An opportunity was also taken to remove the old paint from the radiator fan ready for a new coat of primer to be added before a new top coat and reassembly.

Radiator fan housing down to bare metal. 

Radiator fan down to bare metal. 

The cabs of the Type 4 have also had more primer added and have been smoothed down. Safe to say the bodywork will look immaculate when it is completed.

No. 2 end cab. Smooth as a baby's behind!

Wednesday, 8 May was another busy day at Toddington and one that I could grace again as I could borrow the car from my partner. Mine is still in the garage! 4 months and counting! I was rostered on Class 47, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' on the PURPLE  timetable along with 'H' and Bryan P. We also had a number of others milling about getting on with some of the smaller jobs around the shed. Some bits and bobs had arrived ready for Class 37, 37215's impending date with the jacks and the work required on its dampers, traction motors and bellows. Paul G had taken delivery of 7 of the 8 new dampers to be fitted. Christ only knows where the errant one has disappeared too!!

There should be 8!! Hopefully it'll turn up soon!

However, the important task that was at hand, and the main reason that Paul, Martyn and Mark S were present, was to give the Class 24 a shakedown after its bogie overhaul. 5081 had also had a refurbished triple pump fitted, the cabs cleaned, seats cleaned and a few smaller, niggly issues dealt with whilst out of action. Sadly the loco had suffered from its near two years of inactivity and it appeared that the batteries were affected and not keeping sufficient charge. The plan was to charge the batteries fully and then, if a path was available, to take it on a test run to Winchcombe and back to check the ride quality as well as the braking when running at speed and not at 5mph in the yard!

5081 on charge before being pulled out of the shed to be prepped for a test run to Winchcombe.

5081 sits at the end of siding 1 waiting for a path to be available. Taken from the rear cab of 47376.

Sadly, I am not sure of the outcome of 5081's test run as I was crewing 47376 however, the loco made it back to the shed safely so I would hazard a guess that it seemed to go quite well. Further good news is that the Class 24, barring any other issues arising, has been rostered for use in June. It will be good to see this popular loco back in service.

Another loco on the comeback trail is DES, our shunter. More work has been completed on refitting the centre axle and the brake rigging. The axle casing had gone on well and the loco was dropped onto its wheelset with little fuss. At the beginning of May the small group had managed to get DES over the pit in order to check everything was where it should be and to take some measurements to align the brakes. It will then be on to jacking one end of DES in order to rotate the wheels to align the crankpins before refitting the rods. Photos are courtesy of co-owner Paul Jones.

The axle box back in place and greased up. (P. Jones)

Chris checks that everything is where it should be. (P. Jones)

A sight the everyday punter never gets to see. (P. Jones)

Just the rods to go back on! (P.Jones)

DES getting close to being back in service is timely as there are ongoing issues with both of our Class 04 shunters. 11230, our Class 04 lookalike, has had ongoing issues with its gearbox with several gears unavailable or difficult to engage. This has now got to a point where it is affecting its ability to operate properly. D2280, our 'real' Class 04, was quickly rushed into service to cover for DES and is in need of a proper overhaul and a check on its wheelsets. It has been restricted to yard work only since arriving with its owner trying to get work done inbetween it being used quite extensively. DES' imminent return will allow pressure to be eased on the other shunters and allow them to be removed from service to have corrective maintenance.

Elsewhere on the 8th May, Tony R was the sole representative of the CMDG on site (others had been around the previous day) and he was busy removing items and clearing out the groups Fruit D van which had been loaned from one of the railways early benefactors. He is wanting the wagon back so the CMDG have purchased a new container for storage and as a workshop. While I was waiting for crew time I wondered on over to give him a hand.

The CMDG's temporary storage and workshop van. A former GWR Fruit D van.

Some of the spares for categorising and logging.

Spares, rubbish and general stuff.

The new container/workshop. 

The new container will allow the group to undertake work in a cleaner and drier environment as well as having more space and light. This will include ongoing work with the Class 26, D5343 and Class 45, 45149. A long way from the conditions of D5343's restoration. The following photo is courtesy of Andy Bright and the Glory Days of Diesel Facebook group. Thanks Andy.

26043 fresh from Inverness awaiting its restoration. (A. Bright)

We also had a visit from one of our volunteers who continues to prove that, regardless of ability, there is a role or task for everyone at the railway. Jamie is the son of another of our volunteers, who has links with many of the original members of the Diesel Department and across the railway. Jamie has moderate learning difficulties but, when he can attend and help out, whether with his Dad or, as in this case, with his Mum, he enjoys nothing more than throwing himself into whatever tasks need doing. There are always a number of odd little jobs that suit Jamie down to the ground and gets him helping out towards the bigger jobs undertaking by the more skilled and knowledgeable members of the department.

Jamie gets to grips sorting out nuts, bolts and washers. It really does show that there is a role for everyone within railway preservation.

As I mentioned earlier, I was rostered on 47376 for a Driver Training turn with 'H' and Bryan. Before we hooked up to the back of the 'Cotswold Express' we had to reposition one of the coaches from Train 1 back into the rake. It had been removed earlier in the day for some attention to its axle - duly completed in the David Page shed - and now needed recoupling to the rake. We were tasked with doing it. Cue panicky discussions about the process for operating buckeye couplings! Luckily a member of Carriage and Wagon was on hand to oversee it. As they are the ones who deal with the coaching stock more frequently they retain and use the knowledge much more than those of us in the Diesel Department. For me, it was a challenge that I had never faced before. I have coupled to stock many times but not coupling a coach to a coach. Luckily, I did it without problem. Even getting a 'nicely done' from the Operations Manager, who was watching from Platform 2 at Toddington! No pressure there!

Bryan struggles to remember how the buckeye works! He wasn't alone as its not something we tend to do very often. 

Finally, D6948 is certainly proving popular with crews and passengers on the West Somerset Railway. It seems really strange not having an operational Class 37 at the GWR at the moment but we have been blessed over the last 5 years with the reliability of 37215 and, latterly, D6948. Still, not long before we should have them both back! In the meantime, visit the WSR for a run behind D6948. Its running days, and some cracking photos, can be found on the Growler Group website, the Growler Group Facebook site and on the WSR website. This pic courtesy of Kev Jarvis.

The 'Green Machine' awaits the road from Williton on the WSR. (K. Jarvis)