What’s happening to…
Our monthly round up of restoration projects around the country, compiled by Pip Dunn.
D2302 – Moreton Park:
By the middle of August D2302’s cab doors had been rehung for final ‘snagging’ work and for the fitting of their handles, locks and other door furniture. Once this had been finished, the doors were taken off again and put into store until the cab painting has been finished. The chassis and rear bufferbeam have been painted, with the latter being painted in a fetching shade of pink undercoat. Various bits of the cab heaters and roof were also cleaned and painted as required.
The last two Sundays in August saw work proceed on starting work on cleaning up and then rubbing down the cab. The roof was given a light rub down and then a coat of light grey undercoat. Various bits of the chassis also saw attention, first being rubbed down and then primed, or given a coat of chassis black paint.
Both sets of cab steps were also refitted, making access to the inside of the cab easier for the painting gang, who promptly set about rubbing down/cleaning up the inside of the cab roof, and then putting a coat of primer on it.
Having received a coat of pink undercoat, the rear bufferbeam had a few badly pitted areas showing up, so filler was applied to those areas before being rubbed down again and a fresh coat of pink applied. The remaining two sections of the bonnet front came apart easier than the first section, so a start was made on the work required to get it to fit back on the locomotive better than before.
The main problem was an area at the front right-hand side of the running plate which had bulged due to accumulated rust underneath it. Attempts to flatten out that section proved problematic and was only cured by cutting out a section of the running plate to clean out the rust beneath. Once cleaned up and straightened out the removed section was bolted back in place temporarily. It will be welded back in place at some time in the future.
D2302’s right-hand cab side also came in for attention, with all the paint removed before applying a fresh coat of primer on it. Filler was also applied onto any dents or imperfections shown up by this work.
D2578 – Moreton Park:
Early August saw the group celebrate the 20th anniversary of D2578 and 03145 arriving at Moreton Park on August 6, 2001. The occasion was marked with a rare Saturday running session for the benefit of group members and their families, with both 03145 and D2578 having a good run out around the Moreton site and performing well. However, this was not to last and D2578 failed the next day and refused to start.
The Class 05 had been having a few starting issues in the previous few months, which was thought to be because of a faulty oil pressure switch. A replacement had been sourced, but issues with plumbing it into the existing system meant that it had been isolated at the time of this latest fault, indicating that D2578’s refusal to start this time was a starter motor issue.
The group’s resident electrical guru traced the fault to the starter motor not engaging properly, although the exact reason was not immediately clear. With the starter motors off D2302 removed from the locomotive, it was decided to swap out one of those for the suspect one on D2578 so that it could be bench tested.
This proved to be a lot easier said than done, as both starter motors, being rather heavy in themselves, also proved to be a very tight and precise fit in the mounting brackets. But perseverance won through and the suspect motor swapped out for one off D2302, which had been bench tested to make sure it worked beforehand. This temporary fix for D2578 was not initially successful, as D2302’s starter motor was not identical to the one removed from D2578. It had a connection for an extra wire, which was something of a puzzle.
After much head-scratching and taking apart and bench testing D2578’s defective starter motor and D2302’s other good motor, a solution
was found, and with a ‘temporary’ wire fixed in circuit D2578 burst back into life with no hint of hesitation on the part of the starter motors, which had not always been the case in the past.
The group’s electrician has been looking at the condition of all the starter motors on all the group’s three locomotives. The result of this was that D2578’s starter motors were found to be slightly different to those on D2302 and 03145. The starter motors on both D2302 and 03145 are of the CAV 24 Volt axial type U624B-49M, while those on D2578 are type U624A-17M.
The main difference is that D2578’s starter motors do not have a SOL negative terminal – the connection being done internally. It is not impossible to swap them over if required, you just have to take this difference into account when wiring them up to the locomotive. While checking over all the starter motors, the electrician found that they all had a freewheel function on motor pinion to stop damage being done to the starter motor in certain conditions. On D2578’s defective motor this freewheel function wasn’t working, so the motor remained on the bench whilst the cause of this was explored.
D4118–tenterden:
The K&ESR resident Class 08 shunter was temporarily moved to the Avon Valley Railway on September 23 to undergo a general overhaul and removal of the remote control equipment. Suffering from a persistent fault that could not be cleared, and the lack of remote control spares, the decision has been taken to convert the locomotive back to a standard BR design.
Valley Rail Preservation, based at the Avon Valley Railway, is undertaking the works which will see the power unit, main/auxiliary generators and traction motor blower removed and overhauled. It is anticipated that the former 08888 will return to the K&ESR in 2023.
D9525 – Rowsley:
The Class 14 has been offered for sale, but as yet has not left the Heritage Shunters Trust’s fleet.
D9551 – Bridgnorth:
Having returned to its home line at the Severn Valley Railway after a brief visit to the Epping & Ongar Railway, the ‘Teddy Bear’ was straight back into use at the SVR’S September 30-October 3 diesel gala. On the Sunday it was needed to assist visiting Class 24 5081 after it failed at Hampton Loade on the first train from Kidderminster.
D8233 – Bury:
There has been another busy few months on the lengthy restoration of the sole surviving Class 15. In August, the group took delivery of four overhauled MV137 traction motors from Bowers Electrical, which have been put directly in to dry store until they are required when the bogie rebuilds start. There are still some items outstanding, with linkages and plain bearings being the main ones. The bogie overhaul is still ongoing, with attention turned to the brake cylinders and gearcases. With reference to the latter, the cases were sourced from Ireland (EX-CIE A Class) and it was assumed they would fit. Sadly not, the gearing on the Irish locomotives was slightly different, which means the cases are too small. Drawings have been sourced from Serco in Derby and new cases will be fabricated.
Axle No. 4 is now on the lathe and as this issue went to press, its time on the lathe should have been completed and its gearwheel polished too. The owning group does have to renew one of the axle box roller bearings as it failed an inspection, but it has a new bearing in store and that will be fitted in due course.
With the bogie overhaul coming to an end, volunteers’ attention has now turned to the underside of the locomotive, with the removal of one of the battery boxes. The other battery box and the fuel tank are also ready for removal as and when, and then the team can move the locomotive out of the works, as access is currently limited.
Electrically things are progressing. Six relays have been overhauled by one of the volunteers, although some were found to be damaged, so some fettling was in order. The fuse board has also been restored, which will be stored away ready for mounting on to the cab wall when the wiring commences.
20227 – North Weald:
The Class 20 Locomotive Society’s Type 1 is expected to be retired from main line running due to its wheelsets, but in October it moved to the Epping & Ongar Railway and was in action on October 9/10.
5081 – Toddington:
The Class 24 was a visitor to the Severn Valley Railway for its October diesel gala. It missed one turn on the Friday due to crewing issues and failed on the Sunday, but was soon repaired.
26038 – Bo’ness:
The weekend of October 2/3 saw more progress on 6LDA Group’s 26038, with a variety of parts refitted including the cubicle doors and generator hand rails.
No. 1 end of engine room has been
steam cleaned around the triple pump and exhausters, the rocker gear stripped down and the oil ways flushed out. The rocker covers and engine/generator quadrant covers have been degreased and wire brushed.
D5401 – Loughborough:
Progress is ongoing on the Class 27’s overhaul and some painting has been undertaken on the bulkhead which has seen each item removed, stripped, cleaned, painted and bench tested prior to refitting. The bulkhead has been stripped to bare metal, smoothed and painted.
D5705 – Bury:
On August 13, the Class 28 restoration team took delivery of the generator that was freshly overhauled by Bowers Electrical in Heanor. The same day that the generator was delivered to site it was lifted off the back of the road trailer and, once the feet were refitted to it, it was lifted into the locomotive for storage until such a time that it is reunited with the engine. With the generator in situ the restoration team will be taking the time to connect up the 12 cables that go from the auxiliary and main generators to the electrical cubicle.
During 2021 the team has been working underneath the locomotive and the overhaul of the valves located underneath is now nearing completion, with these being tested after overhaul before being refitted. All pipework under the locomotive has also been checked.
Attention has now turned to electrical conduits, switches and sockets, that are located under the locomotive. Once these have been completed then the wires will be pulled through and everything will be connected. The internal lights have been refurbished and a start has been made refitting them. These will be wired in the near future along with the fire detection system.
D5627 – Blaenavon:
The locomotive was involved in a half day shunt of the top yard on September 20 in preparation for works and future movements.
37023 – Blaenavon:
The roof section has been advanced with the replacement of nearly all of the broken rivets. A few have been left around the exhaust surround pending a decision on what to do with them.
40106 – Kidderminster:
the locomotive starred at the SVR’S October gala and has been checked over by its owners, the Class 40 Preservation Society, pending a busy autumn and winter in use at the railway, where its operational steam heat boiler is proving very valuable.
40118 – Tyseley:
More work was undertaken on the water tanks on September 26. The last of the stiffeners have been welded on to the No. 2 end water tank.
On the engine, the turbocharger air pipes have been annealed and bent to shape. The pipes cross each other under a conduit. The first of the trial fits with both the pipes and conduit showed that the air feed pipe for the labyrinth seals was not quite right and needed to be moved clear of the conduit.
50019 – Dereham:
The owning group is planning the start of work to return Ramillies to action, with work starting from November 4 on corrosion repairs. It was planned to move 50019 undercover on October 23 for preparatory work to be carried out, prior to a contract welder starting the following week.
55008 – Barrow Hill:
In September, the back section of the cab from The Green Howards has been varnished, work then progressed to repainting the remains of the old trailer.
The BR arrows and other decals have been applied to both sides of the cab. In other areas the one set of external and internal cab door handles were rebuilt ready for refitting and the cab doors have been painted in the flake grey gloss on the inside face. A couple of weeks later, attention turned back to refitting the cab side windows, the frames for these were previously refitted but this time work turned to fitting the sliding panels back in. The driver’s side window is completed and the secondman’s side will be sorted later after experiencing a couple more issues with that panel. Other work saw the footstep on the secondman’s side marked out, drilled and refitted and the kick plates on the driver’s side drilled and refitted, these were already on but only had rivets fitted in the corners.
D9009 – Barrow Hill:
On September 19, the No.1 end bufferbeam was rubbed down and repainted in light grey undercoat in preparation for painting red.
On October 2, the radiator prop shaft on Power Unit 538 was disconnected from the Hardy Spicer coupling on the phasing case, which connects to the take-off on the auxiliary generator – another task done ready for the lift. Other work undertaken that weekend was sorting and finding the drain fitting for draining the oil from Power Unit 538. Once all parts were found, put together and coupled up, two old barrels were retrieved from on top of the container and used to drain the oil, prior to sending it to an oil recycling company. One barrel was filled and the other left on a very slow drain.
D9015 – Barrow Hill:
Work progressed in mid-september with the painting of No. 2 end bufferbeam with the colours being applied to the corresponding parts.
On the inside jobs were done in the No. 1 cab, with the bottom sections of the seats being refitted with the tanks in place too. A new baseplate was made to go underneath the base of the seat to replace one that had gone missing. The cover for the steam pressure gauge and boiler water tank gauge was refitted in the cab.
In early October, the repainted front panel to the driver’s control desk was fitted as was the cover to what was the boiler controls and the newly painted handbrake wheel, leaving just the nut to paint. Replacement discs for the top of the reverser showing Off, Reverse, Engine Only and Forward were also fitted.
Work progressed in the engine room with the painting of the floor picking up from the work done midweek. One side is now primed and undercoated and the other side three quarters glossed.
More painting was done on the external bodywork to blend the old paint in with the new. After a light sand down of the bodyside it was given a top coat of BR Green.