Although diesel running is currently limited to three 'Diesel Days' - one of which has been successfully completed - as ever, work continues to keep the fleet maintained to the high standards we set ourselves. The larger maintenance jobs concerning the Class 20s and the Class 26 continue apace while the full overhaul of Class 47, 1693, gets ever closer to conclusion.
The chaps in the Brush Type 4 Fund have continued with the painting of the underframe pipework on 1693 with the electrical, air, oil and water pipes in their respective colours. The bogies and wheels have also had their top coats of chassis black. For those unfamiliar with BR pipework colouration, they are:
Electrical - ORANGE, Air - WHITE, Oil - BLACK, Water - BLUE, Fuel - BROWN
The loco is looking incredibly smart already and it won't be long before the body work will get the top coat treatment, too. A date has been agreed for the contractors to come in and do the job and a provisional date has been set for the loco's return to service. This will be disclosed in due time.
Class 26, D5343, has had more holes cut in it as the CMDG guys continue to sort out the corrosion issues along the solebar and bodywork base. Dave S has been even more busy with the angle grinder cutting out corroded steel plate as well as some of the steel (rust!) frame behind. More evidence of water ingress and accident damage has been uncovered as they progress but new steel has been welded in to the areas that had initially been cut out - making it look much tidier and strengthening the body.
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| Another of the cross hatch beams...more dust and muck than steel at the joint! (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
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| More of the lower bodyside removed and more detritus, rust and corrosion uncovered. (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
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| Now steel has been welded into the original area that was cleared behind the cab door at No. 2 end. Red oxide has been added to protect the metalwork. (Courtesy of D. Stanton) |
The four new cylinder liners for D5343 arrived on the 12th May which means that, in due course, the rebuild of the engine can begin alongside the body side repairs.
The ongoing saga with D6948's boiler took a big step towards completion with a visit by a representative of the loco owners to MII Engineering in Bedwas, near Caerphilly. MII have been charged with completing the repairs to the Boiler Coil that failed at New Year 2018 with a pinhole leak. After the lockdowns had stalled the work, the boilersmiths have welded in a new section of pipe to the coil to replace the failed section.
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| Two photos showing the new welds joining the new section on D6948's boiler coil. (Photos courtesy of K. Jarvis) |
It's still going to be some time before the boiler is refitted and the loco steams again however, after the frustration of having little in the way of progress on this it is good to see it finally progressing. The loco lift is still to be scheduled so that the main reservoir air leak can be found and repaired as well as maintenance work on the traction motors and bogies.
On the subject of the Diesel Days, our second one is fast approaching. 'Peak' 45149 is the star of the show this time on Sunday, 23rd May and seats are nearly sold out. If you are planning on attending you need to pre-book your tickets, so you will need to be quick. You can book seats on the GWSR Page. In preparation for this the 'Peak' was taken out on a couple of runs. Last Sunday the loco was run up and taken for a quick test run before being used today (20/05) to take two 'Dogfish' ballast wagons to Winchcombe.
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| 45149 at a damp and gloomy Winchcombe with two ballast wagons. (Photo courtesy of K. Jarvis) |
The final 'Diesel Day' sees Class 47, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' out for it's first run of the season on Sunday, 27th June. Tickets are nearly sold out for this one with seats only available in the open coaches. June also sees a return to non-Covid timetable running (hopefully), with the Purple and Pink timetables returning with diesel running on all days. We also see 'Gala' days returning, albeit home fleet only, on Friday, 30th July and then 25/26th September. More details closer to the time and in respect of the latest COVID easing. We also see the DMU get a run out in August on a Red timetable. More details will follow as COVID restriction easing is confirmed during June.
