A Hive of Activity

As we head ever closer to the start of the new operational season attentions are being turned to getting all the locomotives and rolling stock into the right conditions for the middle of March. That has meant that the Diesel Shed has been incredibly active with lots of work going on to complete 'B' Exams and de-winterise all the serviceable fleet. Today (Sat 22 Feb) was no different with attendees into double figures and work going on with a large section of the fleet.

Having not been to Toddington for over a month it was a surprise to see the progress that has been made on Class 47, 1693, which is now almost completely in primer with the body sides looking very smooth and almost ready for the start of undercoating.

1693, the body work now at an advanced stage of restoration.

Lots of work was progressing throughout the day on the loco with Dave M, Tim and Ian R being present. Rivetting of the roof sections to the body work was being completed by Ian during the first part of the day before he ventured on to completing a few small tasks on the bogies.

Ian R gets to grips with a small task on 1693's bogies. 

The rest of the work centred around the engine room where a lot of work has gone into overhauling some of the bigger engine parts. Later in the day the noises eminating from the engine room would suggest that some testing was being carried out.

From the vantage point of D6948's nose end doors, a very strange place to keep 1693's rocker covers!

More work was also being carried out on the bogies of Class 20, D8137 where a small group of three, led by owner Steve M, were busy with a variety of jobs including clearing out the remnants of the oil and motak from the motor casings, refitting parts to one of the refurbished traction motors and checking for tolerance as well as everyone's favourite job....needle gunning!

Steve, along with Ian C and one other, get to grips with one of the traction motors replacing a part that had been removed for cleaning and testing the tolerance level. 

Steve is still very much hoping that D8137 will be fighting fit for the Gala in July however this is very much dependant on the availability/time frame for getting the loco on the jacks. Speaking of locos on the jacks, Class 04, D2280, is still resident on them as its refurbishment continues. The wheelsets have been refitted to frames and attention has turned to the body work. As you can see in the picture below, the 04 has had its body side doors removed, revealing the Gardner 8L3 engine and Wilson-Drewry gearbox, for paint removal and the remainder of the body has been taken back to metal and then primer added. Some areas still need filling and sanding and the running boards need to be treated in due course.

Class 04, D2280, minus doors, sits on the jacks during its overhaul. 

Outside in the yard, the hardy souls of the CMDG - Simon, Andy, Tony R, John, Dave S and  Richard G were busy braving the storm force winds and intermittent lashing rain in the yard preparing Class 26, D5343 for its trip to the Somerset and Dorset in early March. The loco had been squirreled away in the David Page shed and this was the last weekend the loco could utilise the indoor facilities. The extensive work to the metal on both front ends had been sucessfully completed and yellow top coat had been applied. The discs had also been cleaned, repainted and refitted with them being treated to an embellishment that, apparently, was very Scottish Region.

D5343 after being moved out of the David Page shed. The front ends are resplendent in a new coat of yellow and the discs have been cleaned and repainted - complete with black trim, something that a lot of Scottish locomotives received. 

Some minor work was also completed, alongside the general tidy up ready for its first holiday of the year. Also in readiness for its trip the loco was hooked up to the battery charger with a view to running up and its final checks before, all things being well, leaving for the S&D on the 2nd of March.

Also out in the yard, Class 122 'bubble car', W55003 sat awaiting the call to be put back in the shed where the remaining work can be done to the external conditions of the unit.

After a hard day of graft the 'bubble' has the perfect suggestion for unwinding!

Class 117 DMS, W51405, is also still in the yard. The DMS still has a few bits and pieces to be finished by the CDRL team before it can take its place back in the 3-car rake. It recently had its 'M' Exam (the DMU equivalent of a 'B' Exam on locos) and had no.2 alternator replaced and a gear selection fault is currently being rectified.

W51405 gets prepped to be moved in the yard. 

A date for Class 37, 37215, to be reunited with its bogies has been provisionally set. The 'Wednesday' team have nearly completed all the required work on the bogies and so the tentative deadline has been set for the lift. It is hoped that everything will go to plan so that 37215 can be brought back into service before the Gala and allow sister, D6948, to be taken out of traffic for its own lift to rectify the long standing Main Reservoir air leak.

Almost there. 37215's bogies await the date of refitting.

As for D6948, well my tasks for the day revolved around a few bits for the 'B' Exam that had been started earlier in the week. The Driver's windscreen wiper at no. 1 end had been identified as having split and therefore needed replacing. With a new wiper blade found and the tools acquired a quick change was completed. If only it was that easy to change a wiper blade on my car!

One nut and bolt. Simples!

The tools of the trade!

On removing the blade, it wasn't just the fact that the blade had split but the arm was also bent. This meant that only part of the windscreen was being cleared effectively.

No wonder it wasn't clearing the windscreen. 

Within a few minutes the new one had been fitted and cleared on the exam sheet.

We'll be able to see clearly when operating in the rain now!

Next job involved unlocking the louvre doors on each nose and replacing the old filters with new. After delving around in the container for the right box of filters it was back to the loco to remove the old ones.

Its amazing just how much dirt is sucked in through the vents in a year!

Dealing with these filters is like dealing with loft insulation...within minutes you are itching all over! But, it is an important job that allows the compressors and exhausters to work effectively. If they were to get clogged with dust, dirt and general detritus then they couldn't work effectively and the loco would lose air pressure.

Behind the filter cages, the fire bottles and traction motor blower of no.2 end. 

With the old ones removed the new, clean and white ones can be fitted. 

With the filters changed, another job is crosed off the list. The final task was to make a start on cleaning of the exterior of the loco. With the sanding of 1693 going on in the shed over the last few months all the locos have ended up with a layer of dust and filler material over them. On the BR blue locos, such as Class 24, 5081, it isn't so noticeable but on the green locos it is very noticeable. Therefore armed with a bucket of water and some soft cloths it was off to, carefully, give D6948 the railway equivalent of a sponge bath!

You can clearly see where D6948 has been out in the rain that the dust has started to streak down the body sides.

Cleaning 109 tonnes of Class 37 is a lot more of a challege than cleaning your car and, sadly, there isn't an old garage being used as a Car Wash around the corner that you can take a railway loco too! No2 end (the end in the photo) was cleaned, along with the windows but as fast as the dust was cleared it would resettle elsewhere. Very annoying!

As mentioned the 2020 running sesson is only a matter of weeks away. The DMU gets the early outings in March, bar a Purple day in the middle of the month. Running days are as follows:

Blue Timetable - DMU (3 round trips)
07/03, 08/03, 14/03, 15/03, 28/03, 29/03, 31/03

Purple Timetable - D6948
22/03 - 1C21 1510 Broadway - Cheltenham and 1T22 1625 Chelthenham - Toddington