Firstly, a very belated Happy New Year to you all and hopefully a safe festive period was had. As we headed into the New Year period, we were greeted by the Government's 'Plan B' for Covid which saw services for 2021 curtailed after the final Santa Train on Christmas Eve. This meant there was a massive surfeit of mince pies hanging around for those on duty as no Mince Pie Specials would run between Christmas and New Year. I can safely say that those of us rostered on Christmas Eve (and the day before) made a serious dent in the stock pile!
For the Diesel Department it was a bit of a relief, although the loss of revenue that that period generates would have been a nice extra as we try to recoup the income lost over the last two years. The end of 2021 was not a pleasant one for the fleet, or the owning groups, as by the 24th December the mainline fleet was down to two serviceable locos, coupled with the DMU and our shunters! A situation that, certainly in the time I have been volunteering, is unprecedented. At the end of 2021 the fleet situation was thus:
Shunters
Class 03 D2182 Serviceable
Class 04 D2280 Serviceable
Class 04 D2280 Serviceable
Class 04 11230 Serviceable
DES Unserviceable - Electrical issues
Mainline
Class 20 D8137 Unserviceable - Testing after maintenance
Class 20 20228 Unserviceable - Restoration
Class 24 5081 Unserviceable - Awaiting repairs
Class 26 D5343 Unserviceable - Body work and repairs
Class 37 37215 Unserviceable - Generator repairs
Class 37 D6948 Unserviceable - Awaiting body lift and repairs
Class 45 45149 Unserviceable - Awaiting repairs
Class 47 47105 Serviceable
Class 47 47376 Unserviceable - Awaiting new batteries
From the DMU fleet, the three car Class 117 set is serviceable and the Class 122 'bubble' car remains under restoration.
As you can see, things were a bit worrying! Most concerning was with 37215. After being removed from service in early December for repairs to it's engine governor the loco was to suffer a main generator flashover just a few days later. This is where a large electrical charge builds up and is then released across the generator causing a loud bang, lots of flashing and, in some cases, quite extensive damage.
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| The generator of 37215, at the bottom centre of the picture. Above it sits the intercoolers for the turbos. |
With 37215 out of traffic, the next knockout was to see Class 45, 45149 removed from traffic on account of a fuel leak. This left just three locos serviceable in order to finish off the Santa trains - 5081 (which was in need of traction motor contactor repairs), 47376 (suffering from flat batteries) and the newly restored 47105.
Nobody said this was an easy hobby, but to suffer all these issues around the same time, and on top of the current restoration projects, it certainly caused some stress! But, we got it done and all Santa services ran, bar the final DMU service due to changes in the Covid restrictions before Christmas, and all the visitors left happy. Job done!
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| The penultimate day of Santa trains saw these two out to play, along with the DMU. 47376 was nursed back into use due to both 37215 and 45149 being removed from the active roster. |
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| The evening begins to draw in as the two Brush Type 4's await their return north. |
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| I don't get to crew the 47's too often so this was a nice opportunity to become more familiar with them. That included putting 47376 to bed!! |
However, that was not the end of things for the 2021 season - or at least for the railway. After New Year 47105 was reawakened on the 4th Jan to work the ECS services to Winchcombe taking the two sets of 'Santa' stock down to Carriage and Wagon so that our colleagues there can ensure that the rolling stock is in tip top shape ready for March.
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| 47105 arrives at Winchcombe with the first of the two Santa rakes. (Courtesy of Dave Clark/C&W Blog) |
47105 was to be followed down by an unusual movement. Our shunter fleet rarely get a chance to stretch their legs on the main running line. Class 03, D2182, is probably the one that sees the main line most frequently but only in the confines of Winchcombe station limits. Earlier in 2021 D2280 stretched it's 0-6-0's when it was used to take the returned, loaned North York Moors coaches down to Winchcombe, however, this time it was the turn of the other 'Class 04', 11230 which headed to Winchcombe to help out her Class 03 sister with the shunting of the coaching stock.
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| 11230 sat outside Carriage and Wagon at Winchcombe after arrival. (Courtesy of Save Clark/C&W Blog) |
I wasn't aware of this but 11230 was at one time also resident at Winchcombe along with D2182 before it was bought by its current owner and moved to Toddington. Somewhat of a homecoming, perhaps? At least temporarily.
However, in keeping with the theme of being down to bare bones, the Toddington MPD shunter fleet is currently down to just Class 04, D2280 or 'Shunty' as our third yard shunter at Toddington, DES, has had long standing problems with its electrical systems. The last couple of years has seen the ex-Port of London and ASW, Cardiff shunter in and out of service whilst the owners have tried to get to the bottom of what is causing the issues. After Christmas and New Year, one of the owners, along with a number of other department volunteers, spent some time trying to get to the the bottom of the ongoing electrical issues. After lots of checks, replacing of parts and attempted starts the engine continued to fail to start, although it did appear to try and tick over. Plenty of arcing and shorting seems to lead to the possibility of the generator starter windings being defective. Paul, one of the owners, has put out a request for assistance from anyone that may have worked on Yorkshire Engine locomotives via 'DES's Facebook page. If you might be able to help then get in touch - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1543973082346796
The Class 117 DMU set, L425, has had its winter examinations ready for its return to services in March. During the exams there were spots of corrosion that were cut out and treated to stop the travel of the corrosion temporarily.
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| Some of the corrosion waiting to be cut out and treated on the Class 117. (Courtesy of the GWSR DMU Facebook Group) |
Some small interior faults have been rectified, as have some small issues with the engines on both power cars. Electrical work has also continued on Class 122, W55003 along with reinstating more of the interior panelling.
And that brings us nearly up to date. It's rare that I get to Toddington during the week however, due to Covid and the fact I hadn't been able to use my work annual leave entitlement up as I would normally do (generally gigging with my bands or footplate duties), I have a lot of A/L still to take before my cut off date! So, I decided I would take some Wednesdays off so that I could join our 'Wednesday' group for a change. On arrival at Toddington on the 19th, I was met by a sea of cars in the car park. Not only were Per Way at Toddington, but there were also a fair few in the David Page shed, down on the Narrow Gauge and in the Diesel Shed. It was going to be a busy day!
In the shed Keith and Andy T were already hard at work on bits and pieces from Class 26, D5343. Joined by Paul C, they were busy with cleaning up some of the internal panelling as well as cleaning and painting some of the metal pieces removed from the locomotive.
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| Keith rubs down some of the internal panelling from D5343. |
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| Andy T is busy with painting one of the four securing brackets (I'm sure they have a proper name!) that sit below the loco body. Paul C was busy cleaning off and priming one of the others. |
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Out in the yard, the loco had been pulled out from its hibernation in the David Page shed. In readiness for a move back outdoors, the loco has had tarpaulin secured over the roof and bodysides to prevent water ingress. With the body work nearly ready for painting to commence with warmer weather, the areas under the solebar continue to be needle-gunned ready for repainting. Some areas have received primer and one of the cab sides has even had a test application of BR Blue.
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| With its plastic mac on, D5343 sits in the yard with D8137 and GWR 2-8-0, 4270. |
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| Below the solebar, paint removal, cleaning and priming/undercoating continues whilst waiting for the weather to warm up to allow the major painting to start. |
With the A-Frame lifting gantry fixed - the shackle needed repairs - the group are hopeful that a start may also be fairly close for getting the pistons rings and liners back into the engine. Will we see the McRat back in 2022? It's probably too soon to say with any degree of certainty.
It's yard mate, D8137 continues its return to service after its traction motor repairs. Owner Steve M has been concentrating efforts on sister, 20228, however, it is hoped that it may soon be possible to get D8137 under test ready for a B-Exam and hopefully a very welcome, early season return to service.
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| An increasingly weather-worn D8137 in the yard at Toddington. Despite the bedraggled BR Green paintwork, when paired with the ex-works BR Blue of sister, 20228, it does evoke images of the class when in service on the Honeybourne Line in the early 1970s. |
There was evidence of some work starting on 47376 as it's engine room side door had been removed and was laid on one of our mobile platforms. Along with needing new batteries, there has been some general tidying up and small bits of renovation done inside the loco.
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| 47376's engine compartment door. |
Lastly, myself, John G and, Growler Group Chairman/Technical Officer, Paul G got stuck in with 37215. Paul was hoping to assess the damage caused by the generator flashover before Christmas and get some idea of what needed to be done, in what order and the duration. He was to ensconce himself in the loco's engine room for most of the day with John supporting and me at the work bench doing the cleaning and general fetching and carrying. First up was cleaning and sorting some of the spare brush and contactor boxes so that we had an idea of what spares we had that were fit for using.
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| This will keep a mechanical idiot quiet for an hour or so!! |
Whilst I was busy with the wire brush and rags, Paul was busy assessing the damage and running back and forward between the loco and the GG container with a variety of bits and pieces.
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| One of the spares, all clean and shiny. It's not a surprise that these get so dirty which is one of the major causes for a flashover. Not only do they get clogged up with soot, but general dirt, oil and rust. |
As I was just finishing up with the box above, Paul came over carrying a piece of ceramic insulating pot. Each box (there are 4 of them) has two insulating pots on either side. They are similar to the ones found on the traction motor brush boxes only larger.
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| Comparison next to a complete pot. When a flashover occurs these crack and, in some cases, explode. |
It appeared that only a couple of pots had exploded during the event with a few more becoming cracked or were scorched. They had all been secured in place using araldite which annoyed Paul as it meant that they would need to be smashed to remove them and new ones purchased - we only had 4 spare.
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| The spare pots after a clean up. |
It was wondered if the spare engines we have contained any usable spares or whether what we already had on the bench, and in the container, were the sum of all the spares. John and I were then hastily sent down the yard to work off our lunch and to see if anything remained on the two spares.
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| It's quite a long walk down to the headshunt! Sadly, all the parts we were looking for had been robbed. They probably are the ones that were sat on the bench. In the back ground, the Per Way gang work on getting the Toddington South turnout recommissioned. |
After trudging back we had a look inside the generator to see what damage there was. Paul gave us the walk through of what he had found so far. In the picture below you can see two of the ceramic pots still in place (circled in RED) and the places where the pots had been blown off, or that Paul had removed as it was quite badly damaged (circled in YELLOW).
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| Staring into the abyss! |
In the picture below you can some of the scorching and soot damage on one of the brush boxes. As long as there is no structural damage, a good clean up might be all this brush box needs.
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Paul had already removed a couple of the brush boxes and gave me the task of cleaning them up and checking the brushes for damage or excess wear.
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| The first box to be removed. |
The first box was in fairly good condition. On inspection, with Paul, the contactors were all in situ and showed no signs of damage. The soot and grime came off with a rag and a bit of contact cleaner which allowed the brass colour to show through. There were some areas where dirt ingress had caused rusting; these were treated with a wire brush and the rag.
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| With a bit of elbow grease you can see that the contactors on the left have come up a treat. Even the braiding to the brushes cleared of grime pretty quickly. There were no signs of damage to any of this unit. |
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| The carbon brushes showing some wear but no damage - splitting or cracking. The lines on the side are the wear guide. Paul decided that these still had a fair bit of life left in them. |
We'll see what this week brings!
