Great Gable News No. 158 - December 2008
Dear Club Members,
Best wishes to you all for the New Year. Welcome to issue 158 of our newsletter where our cover view shows 45103 at Nottingham. Read more about what happened that day and that night in my memories section at the end of this newsletter.
As part of my editorial, I must mention a nice letter received from Bradford member Howard Richardson who raises some points and may well is of interest to the wider Club membership. Howard writes on the theme of 2009 and the 50th anniversary for Great Gable and suggests some fund raising ideas like a draw or raffle to win a can ride in one of our locos, a Christmas competition with a cash prize, a calendar of Peak pictures and encouraging Bachmann to produce a OO scale model of 45041 Royal Tank Regiment.
Although I donât use titles very often, it is probably worth pointing out that I (Mike Kerry) act as Club Secretary producing the newsletter as well as being Chairman of the Peak Locomotive Company leading the team that does the work so feedback such as Howardsâ is very useful to me. The issue of fund raising is very important to our voluntary activities but the sales stall we had for this purpose was disbanded twelve years ago because the revenue generated was not worth the effort put in to earn it. This applies also to competitions, draws and raffles too. We donât offer publications or sales items much of the time because the perceived demand for these is relatively low. However, cab rides can easily be arranged in our locos for a donation from Club members so that is one offer open to you all and can be arranged by contacting me at the Club address above when you have a running date in mind so we can plan it.
What we have found to be successful to fund our activities is monthly payments by the shareholders who then buy shares in the owning company. So, in summary the most effective way to help is to buy a Club subscription, have your newsletter by e-mail so you can print and save it in a format to suit yourself and then make a regular donation to the Club funds or ask to become a shareholder in our Company which the Club supports. I hope this feedback makes the Club and the Companies status a little clearer and answers the suggestions made by Howard. We do have some ideas for celebrating Great Gablesâ 50th birthday next year and promotional items to be sold but more of this in the New Year.
44004 Great Gable has been moved nearer to the power supply at Swanwick Junction yard so that the internal battery charger and the locoâs batteries are being regularly charged over the winter. It is planned for the loco to swap places with 45108 in the diesel depot during January 2009 for its bodywork attention to be completed where a small amount of welding remains to be done. This consists of some small patches in the bodywork and the plating over of the cab roof vent holes which does not alter the locos appearance but reduces can draughts and corrosion. A repaint into green livery will then follow and we are grateful to Club member and shareholder Tom Fisher for making a significant donation towards this cost. Internally, the battery ammeter has been removed for examination and repair since it does not show an accurate reading.
45041 Royal Tank Regiment has been in use recently. The loco worked 3 trips alternating with a steam loco during the Diesel and Steam weekend on Sunday 28th September where loco changes were made at Swanwick Junction.
The loco was also used in top and tailed formation with steam loco 73129 on the Midland Railway Butterley (MRB) evening Halloween services on Friday 31st October. The following day 45041 was again used top and tailed with steam loco 73129 on Firework shuttles between Butterley and Swanwick Junction. 45041 was started up for the final time in 2008 to ensure that the batteries were fully charged on Saturday 22nd November and was then drained of all water (it does not carry any anti-freeze) later that day and sheeted over.
Work continues at a pace on 45108 where almost all of the repairs to corroded bodywork have been made. The only outstanding bodywork required is under the nose end grills. All 4 nose end grills have been removed from the loco, 2 have been shot blasted.
Apart from the large engine room grill on one side of the loco, all other external grills have been removed, cleaned, painted and refitted. The locos gutter strips over the cab doors have been reapplied and the whole of the roof has been painted into green primer. The rain strips protecting the join between cab and body have been fitted. Both engine access roof doors (known as the bomb bay doors because they look like those on a World War 2 bomber) have been repaired where many of the rivets attaching the sheets to the hatch frames had broken.
The number 1 nose end has had the centre headcode modified from a split centre to a four character one piece centre headcode using an original peak route indicator glass retrieved from Derby Works twenty years ago. The route indicator mechanism has been refitted at number 1 end as well as the nose end being cleaned, primed and painted inside. The nose crown from number 1 end has been removed, received weld repairs and fitted back to the loco (new screws £80). The locos radiator fan roof grill has been removed and painted into primer and the radiator fan has been cleaned, primed and top coated in readiness for the grill to be refitted at the end of November.
Work started over the weekend of 22nd/23rd November to re-instate the full 4 character headcode at number 2 end, with the removal of the two headcode glasses and route indicator mechanism. The work is expected to take 3 weekends and will include completely repainting the interior of the nose end. Inside the loco the radiator tunnel panels have been removed on one side in readiness for repainting.
The batteries fitted to the loco when it arrived at Swanwick are unlikely to be serviceable but have been given a short charge to check their condition. The lights worked although very dim so a selection of newer batteries surplus batteries from 45133 along with some pares of our own may well be fitted next year. It is hoped that 45108 will be completely in undercoat by January 2009 which will allow it to be removed from the diesel shed and sheeted over in the yard. Its place will be taken by 44004 in the diesel shed and 45108 will be painted into BR Blue next year when the weather is warmer and drier.
Some fault finding work by our electrician Adrian Ford revealed D182 to have a faulty coil in the vacuum relay which prevented the vacuum exhauster from running unless switched to the emergency position. The loco was subsequently discovered to have a fault with compressor number 2 which would not run which was traced to a defective connection in the control cabinet. This was located and fixed on Sunday 23rd November making the loco dual braked once again. The MRB loco department then used D182 to move steamer 46233 down and then back up the incline at Swanwick Junction from the steam locos normal base for boiler attention.
The MRB has requested use of the loco on the following dates in December as part of the Santa Special program; 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st. It is expected that as in previous years the loco will haul the âextraâ services on the above dates which is generally the Super Santa services on Saturdayâs and the Yuletider dining only train on Sundays. Availability currently depends on repairs needed to the boiler water pump which has a fracture.
44008 Penyghent hauled all of the services at Peak Rail on Saturday 4th October starting with the 11:00 Darley Dale to Matlock Riverside and finishing with the 16:28 Matlock Riverside to Rowsley South before running light engine back to Darley Dale. The loco was also booked to work top and tailed with a steam loco at the Peak Rail Halloween event on Friday 31st October. D8 is booked to haul Santa Special trains at Peak Rail top and tailed with a steam loco on 7th, 14th, 21st and 23rd December.
A nameplate from 45044 ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIER complete with Crest was auctioned at The Great Western Railwayana auction held at Pershore on 15th November 2008. The auction gave the following information on the nameplate and the regiment; Ex British Railways Type 4 Co-Co Class 45, originally numbered D 63, later 45044.
Built BR Crewe in March 1962 and allocated new to Derby, named in September 1965 without ceremony. Withdrawn from Tinsley in June 1987 and cut up at MC Processors in November 1988. A cast alloy 54" long plate with everything from name, cast alloy crest measuring 12½" in diameter and backboard totally original and ex loco condition. Note: The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry). It saw service in the South African War, the First World War and the Second World War, before being amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968. It sold for £14,000 I think.
45060 Sherwood Forester was brought inside the roundhouse at Barrow Hill on Sunday 19th October taking the place of 45105. The locos no1 end nose end was removed to allow a nose end with headcode boxes to be refitted. You may recall that 45060 had its number 1 nose end changed from headcode boxes to a nose end with marker lights in June 2002. The loco was fitted with box headcodes as part of its refurbishment following preservation, back in September 1987 when it was also painted into green livery and numbered D100.
The air tanks located in the nose end at number 2 have been removed as well as some of the air pipes to them as the nose end floor needs replacing. The rear of the cab instrument panel box was also badly corroded where the bottom of the box had totally corroded away. A replacement box has been fabricated and is in place after the surrounding area was prepared with a needle gun and primer paint. The conduit that feeds the instrument panel box fell apart due to corrosion and 2 new runs of 25mm conduit have been put in place. Rewiring of the instrument panel has begun.
The whole engine room/boiler room has been steam cleaned and the boiler room roof was taken off to allow all of the resistor panels taken out. It is planned for all of the resistor panels to be replaced. One of the removed resistor panels had a sticker on it stating it had been fitted to 45071 previously. It is also planned that the large rectifier unit found in the boiler room will be replaced as the one in 45060 is badly corroded. The traction motor resistor panel will also be removed for overhaul and this will allow the area to be scraped back to bare metal and repainted.
45060âs generator repairs are continuing with some 90 clips having been made to go on the end of the windings. Regular updates about the work on 45060 and 45105 can be found at http://carl9188.fotopic.net/
45060 has provisionally been booked to appear at the Swanage Diesel Gala, Friday 8th until Sunday 10th May 2009 after it missed out this year due to its generator problems.
Progress on 45105 has slowed recently to allow the group to continue refurbishment of 45060. With this in mind, 45105 was temporarily refitted with its number 1 end nose panel and crown as well as the nose end grills to allow the loco to be moved outside of the Barrow Hill roundhouse. 45060 was then shunted into the roundhouse taking up 45105âs former position. Once in the yard at Barrow Hill, 45105 was sheeted over.
45112 The Royal Army Ordnance Corps currently has starting problems at Barrow Hill which are proving to be difficult to get to the bottom of. It had been hoped to use 45112 as an electric train heat supply for some coaches at Barrow Hill but with some of the curves around the site a little tight for a peak so 47488 has been used in its place. I am told that it is still planned for 45112 to be fitted with OTMR and return to the mainline but with Nemesis (the company that owns/looks after the majority of the Heritage locos that were associated with the former FM Rail) setting up work flows with other mainline companies, 45112 is not top of the list for maintenance.
45118 The Royal Artilleryman has not been revisited by metal thieves since scrap metal prices dropped significantly with the loco remaining securely locked up in the sidings at Northampton whilst an insurance claim is investigated.
D123 has not been used much during the period under review. The loco hauled the 12:15 and 14:15 diesel turns ex. Loughborough at the Great Central Railway over the weekend of Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October. On Sunday 12th October D123 was sent light engine to Rothley at 08:30 to drag the 101 DMU from the Down platform where it had been failed the previous night with a seized wheel bearing. D123 dragged the DMU into Rothley carriage sidings where a temporary repair was completed to allow the DMU to be propelled from Rothley back to Loughborough at 16:00.
D123 was also used in place of shunter D4067 during a shunt at Loughborough when many steam locos were hauled out of Loughborough shed. D4067 was unable to haul the complete load and D123 was therefore used to do all of the shunting. The loco is booked to haul Santa Specials in top and tail mode with a steam loco on December 13th, 14th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th. D123 will haul the Santa Special services on these dates from Loughborough to Leicester North.
The Great Central Railway has also advertised some diesel running over the weekend of 10th/11th January with one of the former Irish Rail steam heating coaches being marshalled in the train to provide heating. Several diesels from the GCR fleet are expected to take part in the event.
No news on the overhaul of the generator (sent away for repair on Tuesday 29th July) from 45132 had been received by the submission of this report.
45133 has had its red bufferbeams repainted black. The batteries cannot hold sufficient charge to start the loco and when checking the batteries it was discovered that some 10% were completely life expired and another 20% or so not much better. The knowledge that all of the batteries were fitted at the same time and are therefore all of a similar age has led the group to investigate the purchase a complete new set of 96 cells. Other work has been on the loco recently includes some tidying up since the summer repaint and finishing off of some of the longer outstanding jobs on the loco. Plans for the loco over the winter include an equipment exam and some engine room painting.
The overhaul of 45135 3rd Carabinier at Bury on the East Lancs Railway is progressing well. 48 new steel transition bushes have been made to the original drawing. The fuel gallery on B side of the engine is now ready to be rebuilt with replacement push rod tubes. The rebuild of the engine block is about to be started once final work on 3 cylinder liners has been completed. At number 2 end, the toilet water tank and associated pipework has been removed and all of the air pipes below the floor have been cut out and removed in readiness for replacement pipes to be fitted. A similar problem to 45108.
45149 has had its number 2 end nose end crown and front removed for re-plating by a specialist contractor. Once the nose end had been removed it was discovered that the floor around the traction motor blower needs some weld repairs and that the traction motor blower stand is in a poor condition. The removed traction motor blower has been stripped and cleaned and requires a replacement bearing for one end.
The compressor from the nose end of 45128 has been overhauled and painted and is now ready for fitting into the nose end of 45149. The area in the nose end on 45149 where the compressor sits has been cleaned and prepared for the compressor to be fitted and the sump drain pipe has also been unblocked. In addition to this the air pipes to the compressor and various instruments in the instrument panel box have been cleaned and sprayed white. The cab instrument panel has been removed and cleaned with the inside sprayed white and all of the lamp holders have been cleaned of brake dust.
Due to the on-going bodywork repairs, no work is currently being undertaken on the power unit which was craned back into the loco August 5th. 45149âs power unit was removed prior to the locos move from Crewe to Heysham for restoration (never started) in January 1993 whilst owned by Pete Waterman.
No work has been carried out on 46010 recently at Llangollen whilst the owning group evaluate options after the decision to reduce their diesel fleet was taken. At the beginning of September it was announced that the Llangollen diesel group will keep 25313, 37240 and D1566. D8142, 46010 and the diesel shunter will be sold.
46035 still resides at the Crewe Heritage Centre where it arrived by lorry from Leeds Midland Road Freightliner Depot on 14th June 2006. The loco had many parts removed for an overhaul that started when the loco was at Leeds but through pressure of other work was never completed. No work has been done to the loco since its arrival at the Heritage Centre at Crewe.
Looking for a gift for yourself for Christmas? A pair of peak air horns was listed on the auction site e-Bay recently and they attracted a winning bid of £72 (with a further £14 postage and packing as the air horns are solid brass). The air horns came from unknown loco(s) cut up at Vic Berryâs in Leicester and attracted 18 bids.
Mikes Memories Christmas Eve 1977
The cover view shows 45103 at Nottinghamâs platform 3 at the head of a St.Pancras - Sheffield service (probably 1E40 13.01 from London) on 24/12/77 as the driver looks back to compress the buffers so the loco can be uncoupled. By the glow of the yellow nose end on the loco she has recently seen a nose repaint at Toton depot which usually took place during an E exam which is the large maintenance examination half way between works overhauls. â103 played its part in a memorable day over thirty years ago now which began with a trip south to London on 45127. I was after spotting one last unit which I thought was at Wimbledon depot so took a selection of underground trains there, returning to Waterloo on one of the old 4EPB suburban electric units with the whining motors number 5263. 45103 then brought me back for an evening of Christmas celebration in Nottingham with my best friend Pete.
If memory serves me, that year saw the December festive issue of Mayfair magazine advertised nationally on the stations. I probably bought one since I had developed an early liking for the publication after stealing several copies from the newsagents that employed me as a paperboy whilst at school years before. I noticed recently that similar issues of this magazine now sell on e-bay for £20 so I wonder what happened to my stash! Probably still hidden in the loft at my parentâs old house.
The evening out was typical of those teenagers enjoy where the object was to fill yourself full of alcohol to get into the Christmas spirit and being young this happened. Starting at the Flying horse several different shorts were downed and we carried on around town trying different drinks in some places now closed like the Crystal Palace. Then the night air gets to you and the dizziness hits you. By eleven oâclock I was ready for the last bus home and went to put my money in the fare collection hopper. It missed and rolled back out the door where the driver, resigned to an evening dealing with drunkards, sighed and said âJust sit down mateâ. I took my place at the back of the bus and tried to keep my head level. This only lasted half way into the journey at Trent Bridge by which time I got off to go to the toilet and walked the rest of the way home. Somehow, I donât think this Christmas Eve will be anything like the Christmas Eve of 1977.
Next newsletter out during the first week of February 2009 for which contributions in the form of news of items of nostalgia should reach the Club address by the end of January. Please e-mail the Club (mk44004@msn.com) if you would like your newsletter by e-mail and if you can make a donation when you renew your subscription â thank you.