....as a famous saying begins and, although it was sunny at Toddington on Saturday 26/02, there was a very chilly wind that blew down off the Cotswold escarpment and down into the yard. It wasn't perhaps the place to be but most of the activity was centred around the yard and the locos within.
It had been over a month since my last visit (sadly, work and home life has got in the way) and it was good to get back to it and see what has been going on since my last attendance. To be fair, the answer is quite a bit!
47376 'Freightliner 1995' has been receiving plenty of TLC now that sister 47105 is back in traffic. Both engine room side doors have been removed and the internal sides repainted to tidy them up. The cabs are also receiving a refresh with the desks and walls being given a new coat of paint and general tidy up. It will hopefully return to traffic in April. Sadly, I didn't get any pics as my mobile battery had died so here is one from back before Christmas on its last outing.
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The BT4F's other machine, 47105 has been in action over a number of days in early February and has a few lined up before the start of the season in a couple of weeks time. A number of P'Way jobs are coming to an end and these required ballasting. During the close our P'Way team have had to remove and replace three sets of points at Toddington, including the MPD south turnout and both sets allowing access to the station. We also have a Tamper on the line to make sure they are all correctly set and level. There will be more ballast services to come as access is returned at Winchcombe to the southern end of the line and the works that have been going on at Dixton and Cheltenham become reachable by rail. The photo below is courtesy of Chris Wall.
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| 47105 becomes the first loco to test out the newly re-laid southern exit at Toddington. At the base of picture you can see the only colour light signal on the GWSR, controlling access out of the depot headshunt. (C. Wall) |
Over the next few weeks, not only will 47105 be out but also 45149 will return to action after it was removed from traffic for a number of repairs. The 'Peak' was withdrawn from traffic just before Christmas with a fuel leak meaning it couldn't take its turns on the Santa Specials. However, repairs have been undertaken which has also included the re-fitting of the returned no.2 end compressor which was removed back in the late Summer after it failed in service. Sadly, it hasn't come back any quieter!!
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| 45149 basks in the early spring sunshine at Toddington on 25 Feb. |
Still, having one more loco back on the roster is a blessing as we are still without most of the fleet due to ongoing repairs or restoration.
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| Taken late last year, the sign of things to come for our 2022 Gala....hopefully. D8137 and 20228 in the yard at Toddington. |
Above, you can see one of the brush boxes removed form the generator of 37215. Although the other three were very dirty this one appeared to take the brunt of the flashover, as you can see on the flash shield and the damage done to the contactor arm. Whereas the other three boxes will be cleaned and brushes replaced, this one has been split ready for parts to be replaced.
So, to the weekend just gone. On Saturday there were a fair number of us milling around the shed and yard at Toddington. Working parties were split between D5343, DES and D6948. On the Class 26, Simon, Tony and Alex were busy on the continuing restoration of the locomotive's exterior - Alex was busy continuing with sanding with Tony and Simon taking care of the metal work. As the loco is now back outside it has been fitted with a large tarpaulin sheet which has been ratcheted down to stop it blowing around. In the recent high winds the loco was shunted onto the unloading road to protect the tarpaulin and hopefully prevent it from working loose and being blown into the next county!
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| D5343 is placed between the Goods Shed and the David Page shed to protect it from the anticipated high winds on the 17th Feb 2022. (Courtesy of David Holmes) |
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| In much calmer weather, D5343 sits in the yard on 26th Feb awaiting the attentions of Simon, Alex and Tony. |
Tony had already made a start on adding primer to the bogies which had been needle gunned back to the metal. To get into the awkward and fiddly places, a drill is being used with a wire brush attachment. However, it is a case of two steps forward and one step back as other issues with the body work have been identified - particularly on the cab sides. On the driver's side of no. 2 end, a discovery was made that indicated that the loco had had a bodyside collision at some point in BR service and a new 'skin' had been put over the damage. In the picture below you can clearly see through the cut away that a new sheet has been placed over the original metalwork. Over time, water has got between the two sheets and caused bloating. Therefore the cab side will need a new panel welded in at some point.
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| The original cabside is clearly visible in the cutaway of the 2nd sheet. You can even see some of the original green livery on the remains of the original sheet. |
However, it isn't all doom and gloom as, with the repairs to the gantry having been completed, it won't be long before some of the engine repairs can be started and the pistons and liners placed back into the engine itself.
In the shed, two of D6948's owners, Peter S and Mark W, had convened to undertake some maintenance tasks on the loco. Still awaiting a final date for its lift and completion of the underbody repairs the loco has been receiving general maintenance to ensure that things elsewhere didn't start to deteriorate or have the potential to cause problems due to the inactivity of the loco. As part of the work done on Saturday, the batteries were checked and topped up as required with distilled water before being put onto charge and the electrics checked. There is still a hope that, if everything goes to plan then D6948 will be back in traffic for the Gala in July. It will be an immense effort if it is but, either way, it will be a massive relief (not least of all to the four owners!) when 'the Green Machine' does return to traffic.
The third party saw myself, Andy D and Richard S, along with Simon when he wasn't busy with the '26', lending a hand with DES, our Yorkshire shunter. DES has been out of service for some time with an electrical fault. When starting you end up with lots of flashing and fizzing coming from under the desk and the starting circuit.
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| The source of the flashing and fizzing. Inside DES' control desk. |
Simon, Andy and Richard have spent a number of days doing some investigative work to try and identify what might be causing the problem and help out the owner, Paul. The initial diagnosis was not good. It had been narrowed down to either a problem with the starter or the generator. Initially, myself and Andy took to the engine compartment on DES to see if there was anything obviously errant between the desk and the generator.
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| Andy gets to grips with the wiring loom. Spaghetti Junction has got nothing on this!! It was an absolute mess! |
It really was a case of clutching at dead ends with the number of wires that were cut, disappeared or led to nowhere! Without accurate wiring diagrams it was impossible to see what was what. With Richard arriving later in the morning, we had someone who was a bit more clued up on the electrical side of things than myself and Andy. We set about checking the readings from the battery and identified that the four batteries were wired up incorrectly. From the voltmeter readings Richard identified that the two positive terminals were the wrong way round. These were swapped and the readings were then correct.
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| The four 12v batteries. The shunter runs on 24v but needs 48v to start. |
We then checked the readings from the batteries when attempting a start, but without pushing the start button. These all checked out so meant that the fault was not with the batteries or the starter, however, without the wiring and technical plans we couldn't really take the fault finding much further. So, for the time being DES remains out of use. Not ideal as Class 04, D2280, is the only serviceable shunter at Toddington as 11230 remains at Winchcombe to help Class 03, D2182 and Carriage and Wagon with shunting the main rakes into the correct formation ready for the season start.
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| 11230 (L) and D2182 at Winchcombe. (Courtesy of the GWSR C&W Blog) |
Not to be left out, Sunday saw the DMU team carrying on with preparing L425 for the new season. Although it won't be seeing a lot of use until the end of 2022, the DMU will have a couple of Sundays in March where it will run, so needs to be in tip-top condition. The corridor repairs on TCL 59510 were completed before the set was reformed and refuelled. 'Spare' TCL, 59505, has had a coat of green paint to make it a little more presentable to passing punters, given that it now sits opposite the Signal Box at Toddington, in the spot originally taken by the Steam Department mess coach.
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| Great picture of the base of the Toddington bracket signal! 59510 is behind, in case you were wondering! (Courtesy of the CDRL GWSR DMU Facebook page) |
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| L425 all fuelled and ready for its return to action. (Courtesy of the CDRL GWSR Facebook Page) |
