Back to the messy work.

The post-COVID operation at the railway continues to evolve and the timetabled diesel running, as far as has been scheduled, has finished with the four Sundays during September and October. But, boy, were those four days successful in so many ways. Not only did it give opportunities for our four serviceable locos (D6948, 47376, 5081 and, 45149) to have a whole running day each, it allowed some of the crews to retain competency AND bought in some extra revenue for the railway. Each of the four 'Diesel Enthusiast Days' were near, if not complete, sell outs but the feedback was also excellent on the way it has all been run. However, with the whole COVID situation being fluid, who knows what the immediate future might hold.

Still, the messy work continues with five locos undergoing repairs or, in the case of Class 47, 1693, undergoing overhaul. The overhaul of the Class 47 is now at a point where all the preparation work is geared towards the finishing touches to the internals and look forward to the loco receiving its top coat of paint. 

All masked up and ready for paint. 1693 awaits the application of its top coat. 

As 47105, the loco was one of a handful of the class that were withdrawn still wearing the corporate BR livery so it gave the owning group little in the way of choice, unless they went for livery that the loco had never worn. Given the undercoat and the lining out, you can probably guess the livery it will be repainted in. 

The engine overhaul on Class 26, D5343 is also ongoing. All liners and pistons have been removed and are now in the Diesel Shed. The liners have been cleaned and any areas of degradation marked out. 

Two of the piston liners from D5343's engine. If you look closely on the one on the left, you can see the white dotted line that marks out one of the areas of degradation on the outside of the liner. 

The piston heads, themselves, are all sat on one of the frames we have in the shed for these purposes. In the picture below you can see that the piston rings at the top of the heads vary in degrees of extension and wear. If you look very closely you can see that each of the piston heads has scribblings on them. These are the measurements of each ring on that piston head so that the engineers can look at what replacements are needed, should any be out of tolerance. You can also see the other four liners lined up waiting for assessment. The large number '1' you can see on the first is the position in the block it will go when replaced.  

Liners and pistons. 

With the guts of its engine staying dry in the Diesel Shed, the loco itself is back out in the yard where it normally resides. On the 7th October it was basking in a semi winter sunshine, making a refreshing change from the rainy battering it had taken in previous days. 

D5343 basks in the watery sunshine at the bottom of the yard in the company of Class 117 TCL, W59505, DMBS, W51370, Class 73, E6036 and the Ballast Brush. In the foreground are the spare Class 47 bogies. 

Class 73, E6036, has been taken out of service after an issue was found with #3 suspension tube bearing. On a recent ECS run debris was found in the tube. In order to prevent any further damage the loco owner has taken it out of service for an investigative look. Timing is not great as the owner's other Toddington based loco, Class 20, D8137, is still undergoing its Traction Motor overhaul. 

The DMU Team have been able to make strides with the repairs and restoration list due to the lack of running time. A niggly issue with Class 117 DMS, W51405, was rectified after a component swap and a quick test run. This also allowed engines to be run up across the fleet including on Class 117 DMBS, W51370, to ensure all was well. The Class 122 'bubble car', W55003, made further steps forward in its restoration as internal painting has commenced, albeit confined to the Guards compartment. 

W55003 keeps E6036 company in the yard. 

The completion of the majority of the niggly issues with the main set has meant that a first look could be made to TSL, W59505, which was brought in last year to eventually bring the 3-car Class 117 set up to a four car set - something that Tyseley Depot did in the 1980s to increase capacity on the non-electrified Cross City routes. The vehicle had been used on the West Somerset Railway as a loco hauled coach so was in a fairly good condition, however a year sat in the yard at Toddington has caused a level of deterioration. That said, the DMU Team are confident that the level of restoration required would be quite manageable along with the bubble. 

W59505 is shunted about in the yard back in 2019.

The return to service of Class 37, 37215, inches ever closer. Originally, the loco had been taken out of service for work on the bogies and traction motors. However, the opportunity was taken to correct a historic issue with the DSD (Driver Safety Device). When the loco entered preservation from BR stock the DSD had been isolated but for no apparent reason. When it was reactivated it would 'drop the brake' even when the DSD pedal was pressed - obviously this should only happen when the pedal is depressed and 7 seconds has passed. On Wednesday 7th October, the Growler Group Technical Officer, Paul Good, and GG vice Chairman, Mark Stanley, spent the day looking into the issue. 

 A bit of a rush shot, 37215's nose doors are open to allow light into the nose as Paul and Mark trace the DSD pipework whilst trying to rectify the DSD fault.

By the end of the day both Mark and Paul were fairly confident that they had traced the source of the problem - possibly, a 'modification' done during BR days for Driver Only operation. Corrective measures had been undertaken and static tests had been completed successfully. Hopefully this will mean that a test run can be completed once the B Exam and a FTR exam has been completed. With the lack of running and the repairs to 37215 nearly complete, sister Class 37, D6948, has been taken out of service so that the repairs can be made to the air leak that has been extant for some time. This does mean another use of the loco lifts which have certainly proved their worth in the last 2 years! This has meant readying D6948 for removal off her bogies. So, on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th October, a small group (including myself on the Wednesday) took charge of the lifting preparation. This entailed shunting the loco out into the yard and over a pit followed by the removing of all equipment that links the body to the wheelsets as well as removing the majority of the traction motor brushes. The pits are not the most inviting of places and doing the most basic of jobs can leave you absolutely filthy. A big dent was made in the work by the group working on the Tuesday and, for the Wednesday, myself and Mark W could make a start on the brakes - dismantling the slack adjusters - as well as cleaning up some of the electrical cabinets of several decades of filth. 

D6948 basks in the watery sunshine over the Road 9 pit. Luckily it wasn't raining!

Whilst Mark finished off some of the work left over from the Tuesday, I made a start on cleaning the traction motor electrical cubicles. These hang down from the base of the loco with the Traction Motor cables then slotting through four holes and being coupled to a set of plugs. As they are slung under the loco these electrical boxes pick up a lot of dirt and detritus and so it was an opportunity to just give them a tidy up. 

   

As you can see, above, the cables from the traction motor are released and hanging down. The cables are fed through the box at the top of the picture with the four holes in and are plugged into four electrical receptacles that transfer the electrical current from the generator to the motors. 

Peter S had gone through and had unclipped all the cables. To his surprise, whoever had affected the last lift, had done a bit of a half hearted job at securing all the wires back in place with a number of the securing brackets being not much more than hand tight! When you think that these things can carry up to 2000+ amps, having them loosely secured seemed a bit of a poor job. To be fair, though, it would take something pretty serious to cause them to break free. 

The view inside one of the electrical cubicles. You can see the four receptacles that house the cable ends for the transfer of the electrics to the motors. 

After finishing up it did leave a little bit more on the disconnection of the electrical equipment which Peter completed the following day. Next stage will be to look at booking the lift. Elsewhere, D6948's boiler is still awaiting the insurance company go-ahead for the repairs to be completed however, as the loco is not needed for the winter then the urgency is not there to get it done - however, the lack of movement is becoming a bit frustrating!

Elsewhere in the yard, our colleagues in P'way were up on the unloading road. During my absence the infill around the track had been removed, exposing the track and sleepers. Obviously some work was needed and now was the right time to work on it. 

The P'Way Team on the unloading road. 

On the shunter front, 'Class 04', 11230 and DES are both in service and have seen some action throughout the return from lockdown. DES has received some work on its Battery Box and its charging as it was having a tendency to drop charge after use. 

DES and 11230 rest outside the Diesel Shed. 

Class 04, D2280's wheelset overall seems to have been completed as the shunter is sat in the yard in its coat of many colours. However, the wheelsets have had a new coat of paint as well as what looks like a new set of brake blocks and, the rods have been cleaned up. 

D2280's wheelsets showing off new paint work and a new set of brake blocks. 

The shunter remains out of service, I assume, for some bodywork attention and a new coat of paint. 

D2280 in its coat of many colours. 

Away from the day to day work that goes on, the GWsR as a whole are one of the Heritage organisations that have been awarded a grant under the 'Here for Culture' scheme from HM Government. The GWsR has been awarded £318,000 to cover lost revenue to go towards routine maintenance and running costs. This means that the financial hit taken because of COVID has been softened a little and will allow the railway to continue to strive for a decent cashflow for this year alongside the restricted running we continue with. In the words of a large retailers strapline....every little helps!