Winter maintenance is well underway across the railway, despite Santa Specials now being operated, yet Sunday (01/12) was reasonably quiet in the Motive Power Department. Only 8 of us in the Diesel Department were 'on shed' with work ongoing with
D5343,
D8137,
D2280, and the DMU. In the David Page shed, the ongoing corrosion repairs on the Class 26 continued apace. Most of the work has been centred around both cab ends with the metal work around the windows and roof being given the attention. David Stanton had previously sent me some pics from the previous weekend's work......
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| The metal work and filler has been stripped away to reveal a variety of imperfections and holes. (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
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| More filler has been removed along with corroded metalwork above the window frames. (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
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| Taken back to bare metal so the corrosion can be treated properly (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
.....and, this weekend saw David and Simon continuing the repairs. David was busy on the tower sanding, hammering and scrapping at No. 2 end removing a lot of the filler used when last repaired along with the corroded metal work.
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| All PPE'd up, David sets about the McRat's front end. |
Some new steel sheet had already been welded to the front end where the old headlights used to be, although I think the new embellishment that accompanied it wasn't particularly appreciated.
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| Someone is having a laugh! |
Adjacent to the
D5343 in the David Page Shed, Class 04 shunter,
D2280, had finally found its way on to the jacks and was suspended in the air whilst work continued to rectify issues with its wheelsets. All the con-rods, wheels, axle boxes and bearings had been removed and work was well underway on its repairs.
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| D2280 becomes the latest diesel loco to make use of the jacks. You can also see that the Class 04 has undergone some bodywork repairs by the primer that has been added around the cab front. |
With the Class 26 in the David Page shed the Class 122 'bubble' car,
W55003, has moved outside into the yard. Work has been continuing on the internal fittings with the lights and ceiling sections being the latest to be given some TLC. Elsewhere in the yard George was busy readying the Class 117 set for its festive programme and tinkering about with DMS
W51405, which should be reacquianted with the '117' set after Xmas.
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| W55003 sits in the yard along with Class 117 DMS, W51405. The 'bubble's' paintwork looks good, although there is more to do. |
Elsewhere in the yard, the new mess facility has really kicked on and is now looking more and more like a building rather than just a floor plan with some brickwork. The roof trusses are up and it is hoped that the roof will be on before Xmas as the scaffolding is due to come down in January to allow the unloading road to come back into use. The Steam Department have instigated a competition to come up with a name for the building which has been extended to the Diesel Department as well. So, you know what to do if you have a (serious) idea for a name...
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| ....answers on a postcard! |
Back in the diesel shed, work had been done on cleaning up
37215's bogies. A lot of the grime and dirt has been cleaned away from the frames and axle caps.
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| Its been a while since they looked this clean! |
Steve M and Derek were also working on cleaning mess from bogies - this time from Class 20,
D8137. The Traction Motor repairs have been steadily progressing although there is still quite a bit of accumulated dirt and grime to remove.
We had also received a delivery of brake blocks for the Growler Group. One of the jobs to be done was to get 24 of them ready for fitting to
37215's calipers. Yours truly was charged with getting them organised! The remainder, about another 50 of them, had to be stored somewhere else in order to get them out of the car park where they were taking up room and were also open to the elements. These things are suprisingly heavy as they are solid, cast metal. Shifting nearly 75 of them was a work out in itself. Still, job done.
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| 24 new brake blocks for fitting to 37215. |
As mentioned some time back the timetable for the end of the year has been altered somewhat due to the continued absence of
D6948's boiler, which is still awaiting pressure testing before it can be returned to Toddington and refitted to the loco. With no diesel loco able to provide steam heating, the
GREEN timetable days have made way for
RED with a view to being re-established for next year with
D6948's boiler recommissioning.
The timetable therefore looks like this....
RED - DMU
Thursday 26/12/19
Saturday 28/12/19
Sunday 29/12/19
Wednesday 01/01/19
PURPLE
Friday 27/12/19 -
45149 (1450 Todd - B'way (rear);1510 B'way - CRC; 1625 CRC - Todd)
Monday 30/12/19 -
47376 (1450 Todd - B'way (rear);1510 B'way - CRC; 1625 CRC - Todd)
Tuesday 31/12/19 -
D6948 (1450 Todd - B'way (rear);1510 B'way - CRC; 1625 CRC - Todd)
