Great Gable News No. 155 - June 2008
Dear Members,
Our 155th edition sees 45108 + 47445 feature on the cover view to accompany our trip down memory lane provided this issue by Burton member Gerald Holmes. He looks back to the days in the 1980s when a regular trip for him was the Sundays only 1C22 12.10 Derby – St.Pancras. The view is taken from above Wing Tunnel whilst the service was diverted via Corby on June 8th 1986. I seem to remember on this fine hot summer day that my brothers and I discovered a nearby pub in which to have a drink (after arguing about who would then drive) and eat some rather tasty cheese and ham toasties whilst lying in wait for the train in rural Leicestershire.
44004 Great Gable
Work has restarted on Great Gable where the restoration of long term corrosion damage to the cab interior continues. The interior hardboard panels have been removed as has the fibre glass insulation applied to the back wall of the cab so that these areas can be cleaned and painted. Checks are also made to seal joints in the roof where water may enter and the two cab roof vents will be sealed over internally to stop water entering. Some repair work is needed to the external sealing strips which protect the joint between the cab and bodywork which appears to be letting water into the cab causing deterioration.
Electrical repairs are required to reconnect the battery charge circuits where a new purpose made battery charger has been installed inside the engine room to allow battery charging from a 240 volt supply. Thanks to our electricians, a similar modification has been made to 45041 about ten years ago and has proved very successful in maintaining the 96 battery cells in good condition through regular charging.
After winter storage, 45041 Royal Tank Regiment was filled with water and started up on Sunday 6th April with everything being found to be in order. The loco operated at the diesel gala held over the weekend of 19/20th April which, due to a lack of other available diesels, turned out to be an impromptu Sulzer gala. 25321, 45041 and 47401 were the only locos available for traffic but on the morning of Saturday 19th, 47401 developed a fault prior to leaving Swanwick shed leaving 25321 and 45041 to haul the services. 47401 was resuscitated by early afternoon and 45041 piloted 47401 on the 14:40 departure from Swanwick as a test run for 47401 before running round at Hammersmith and hauling the 15:20 to Riddings with 47401 remaining on the rear of the service.
The final service of the day from Riddings featured 25321 + 45041 + 47401 as far as Swanwick Junction. The following day, 25321, 45041 and 47401 worked services at the gala and the day was completed with 47401 + 45041 + 25321 hauling the final service from Riddings to Swanwick. 45041 is booked to haul services at the diesel and steam event on Sunday 15th June.
Work has begun on the group’s latest acquisition 45108 with the loco getting a thorough internal clean and number two end nose was rubbed down and painting with primer begun on Sunday 18th May. Batteries have already been sourced for the loco but no timescale has been put on when the loco will return to service. Initial work has been conducted to confirm the extent of the corrosion affecting the air pipes passing through the former boiler room at number 2 end of the loco. This was also a problem area in 44004 years ago so this repair is relatively easy if mot time consuming.
D182 was filled with water and started on 6th April where a leaking water pipe above the engine was discovered and repaired the following weekend. The loco was given a thorough checking over on Sunday 20th April and a test run was undertaken at the diesel gala with the loco hauling the 14:16 Riddings to Hammersmith piloting 25321. At Hammersmith both locos ran round and D182 was piloted by 25321 hauling the 15:25 to Riddings, where both locos again ran around and D182 piloted 25321 back as far as Swanwick Junction on the 15:46 to Hammersmith.
On Monday 28th April D182 was inspected to allow it to be hauled over Network Rail metals to Grosmont for it to take part in the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s Diesel gala. A successful ultrasonic axle test was also carried out. The paperwork to allow D182 to be hauled over the national rail network was completed on 29th April by Network Rail and remained valid until 20th May. The loco was registered on the system as 97482 with the paperwork recognising previous numbers carried as D182, 46045 and 97404 and that class 46 locos have “grandfather rights” in terms of access to the network but that D182 had been de-registered for more than 12 months. The certificate allowed D182 to be hauled over the network between Butterley and Grosmont at speeds up to 60mph by the West Coast Railway Company.
On Thursday 8th May D182 was coupled to the front of the DMU at Swanwick Junction which was working the day’s services and D182 hauled the DMU on the 14:00 ex. Butterley to Riddings to await collection by D1015 Western Champion as part of its rail move to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. D1015 hauled D182 away from Riddings at 14:40 as 0Z52 14:56 Butterley to Barrow Hill where the collection of D9009 Alycidon and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier took place. Arrival at Barrow Hill was 70 minutes early at 15:15, with departure for Grosmont 3 minutes early from Barrow Hill as 0Z52 16:03 Barrow Hill to Grosmont. The convoy ran via Swinton, Moorthorpe, Colton Junction, Thirsk and Middlesborough to arrive at Grosmont on time at 20:13.
D182 was fuelled first thing the following morning in readiness for hauling services over the 3 day NYMR diesel gala. As a positioning move D182 was hauled on the rear of the first train of the day, the 09:30 Grosmont to Pickering by D9009. After arrival at Pickering, D9009 was detached from the train and D182 hauled its first train in preservation on a railway other than the Midland Railway, Butterley. Departure was from Pickering at 11:00 and following arrival at Grosmont D182 ran around and hauled the 12:30 service back to Pickering. The loco then had a layover at Pickering before hauling the 15:00 service to Grosmont, returning at 17:30 on the 8 coach dining train. Following arrival at Pickering D182 was allocated to work the 20:30 service to Grosmont, with 55019 hauling the 19:30 dining service to Grosmont.
55019 was duly coupled to the dining train but would not take power when the 19:30 departure time came around. After some 40 minutes, 55019 was declared a failure and D182 was allocated to haul the service. Unfortunately, a points failure at Pickering then meant that for a further 30 minutes D182 was unable to couple to the front of the dining service, which by now had seen diners having their 4 course meal while looking at Pickering platform! At just after 20:30 D182 departed Pickering on the dining service hauling 55019 and 8 coaches – a very heavy trailing load, and certainly the heaviest load it has hauled since at least 1984. With the train now running in the dark, flames could be seen shooting from the exhaust as the loco got to grips with the train. Following arrival at Grosmont, D182 ran round the service and 55019 was left behind with D182 returning the diners to Pickering where arrival was around 23:00. Due to the late arrival time, D182 was left in the platform rather than running light engine to New Bridge Yard as had been originally planned.
The following morning D182 departed Pickering at 08:30 with the first service of the day to Grosmont. D182 was then hauled dead on the rear of the 11:00 Grosmont to Pickering service by D1015, as a planned positioning move and the loco then worked a further 2 round trips of the railway completing its day arriving back at Grosmont at 22:30. The final day of the diesel gala saw D182 haul three return trips of the line starting with the 09:00 Grosmont to Pickering and finishing on the 17:30 Pickering to Grosmont, a service it had been planned to be hauled dead on the rear of, but due to the failure of 55019 earlier in the gala and therefore with one loco less in the subsequent re-jigged timetable, D182 hauled the service back to Grosmont.
The return move from Grosmont was again undertaken by D1015, with the departure of 0Z52 on Tuesday 13th May being 54 minutes early at 08:36 from Grosmont on its first leg to the National Railway Museum, York. The convoy returning south consisted of D1015, D182 and D9009, as 55019 had been booked to stay at the NYMR over the summer and was therefore left behind.
D9009 was ‘dropped-off’ at the NRM at 12:49, with D1015 then hauling D182 as the 13:40 York to Butterley where arrival was 15 early at 16:00. D182 then hauled the Barclay diesel shunter (which had been sent to Riddings with the crew to collect D182) from Riddings to Swanwick Shed, with D182 being shutdown at 16:30. Its first trip away from the MR-B having been completed very successfully.
The original intention was for D182 to stay at the NYMR for a while as the railway had a requirement for a boiler equipped loco over the winter months. With the overhaul of resident D5061 underway (which has a working boiler), the NYMR decided that D182 could return to the MR-B as it was planned that the overhaul of D5061 will be completed before the winter. The earlier than planned return to Butterley allowed D182 to take part in the 1960’s event held over the weekend of 17/18th May where D182 hauled a variety of freight and passenger services alongside D8001, D8048, D212 and steam locos 53809 and 73129.
D182 has been invited to attend the East Lancashire Railways Diesel Gala which this year celebrates its 20th consecutive year. The gala is to be held over 9 days between 28th June and 6th July where D182 is currently planned to operate on June 28th, July 1st, 5th & 6th.
44008 Penyghent took part in the Peak Rail Diesel Gala, held over the weekend of 10th/11th May alongside 31270, 37152 and D9016 hauling both freight and passenger services. The loco is expected to feature in a Diesel and Steam event over the weekend of 28th/29th June, at a further diesel gala to be held over the weekend of 20th/21st September and a D8 running day on 4th October where it is planned to haul all of the railways services for the day.
45060 Sherwood Forester still awaits the return of its main generator which is being repaired following the flashover it suffered last year. Pictures of the damage to the generator and the on-going work on 45060 including pictures taken on visits to Bowers where the generator is being repaired can be found at http://carl9188.fotopic.net/ The site is regularly updated with pictures of the repair work on 45060 as well as pictures of the restoration of 45105.
45105 now has a complete number 2 cab with seats fitted and the instrument panel in the nose end having a steel cover with an access panel cut into it to enable access to the bulbs and gauges. The final task was to apply new labels the drivers’ instruments. Work has now turned to the number 1 end cab, where a similar amount of work is required. All of the gauges, switches and bulb holders for the warning lights have been fitted following replacement cables being run from them to the terminal block, the housing was then refitted. Replacement conduit from terminal box number 7 to the instrument panel has been cut, bent to shape and then fitted. All of the cable ducting has been cleaned out and painted in primer and the number 7 terminal box has been cleaned up and fitted with new brass nuts.
The vacuum exhauster, which was removed at Christmas, has had its armature varnished and it has been painted with anti-track paint. All of the brush-gear in the vacuum exhauster has been shot blasted and re-assembly is about to start. The marathon repaint of the engine room continues with almost all of the panels now scraped back to bare metal and painted into green primer.
A nameplate from 45111 Grenadier Guardsman complete with regimental crest was advertised at the Stafford Railway Auction on Saturday 3rd May and the nameplate complete with crest sold for a staggering £18,400.
45112 The Royal Army Ordnance Corps can be found at Barrow Hill where it moved to for work for a proposed return to mainline service. Unfortunately since arrival at Barrow Hill the loco has not had any work done to it and the locos paintwork is very faded.
45118 The Royal Artilleryman continued to work the Sunday services at the Northampton and Lamport Railway during the period under review. 45118 hauled all services on 30th March and 6th April but due to a problem with its triple pump, 47205 hauled all services on 13th April. 47205 was booked to haul all services on Sunday 20th April but it failed prior to departure and a repaired 45118 stood in for the day. 45118 also hauled the railways services on 27th April which included an additional service for the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society who were visiting the railway.
Over the May Bank Holiday 45118 top and tailed services between 3rd and 5th May with a visiting Thomas the Tank engine loco with 45118 being on the South end of the trains. On 11th May, 45118 hauled the Sunday passenger services but failed with an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) fault on the second to last service of the day and 47205 had to rescue it (unfortunately 47205 then failed itself). The AVR fitted to 45118 has been temperamental for a couple of years and had a tendency to trip if the weather was very warm. Unfortunately on 11th May, the AVR gave up completely and the loco awaits the fitting of a replacement.
D123 was fitted with new batteries on Saturday 5th April and after charging the loco was started up on Thursday 10th April and used as the shed shunter for a few hours. On Friday 11th April the loco worked several passenger trains as well as drive-a-loco courses between Loughborough and Rothley at the Great Central Railway diesel gala. On Saturday 12th April, D123 hauled the first service train of the day from Loughborough to Leicester North and was piloted by D5830 as far as Rothley, D123 then returned from Leicester North to haul another passenger service to Leicester and back. The loco was shutdown in the sidings at Loughborough over lunchtime but when it was restarted, whilst the loco started immediately, once the start handle was released the loco shutdown.
33116 was substituted on to D123’s trains for the remainder of the day whilst fault finding went on. After some considerable effort the fault was diagnosed and fixed.
On Saturday 26th April, whilst working a service departing from Leicester 8F steam loco 48305 was failed with leaking tubes immediately upon leaving the platform and D123 was scrambled from Loughborough to rescue it and its train. D123 then hauled the remainder of the services booked for 48305 on the day, the 13:15 and 15:15 services from Loughborough to Leicester North and return.
On Saturday 3rd May, D123 hauled the GCR’s diesel turn of 12:15 and 14:15 from Loughborough and return and finished the period under review hauling services as part of the GCR 1960’s event on Saturday 17th May alongside D5185, 30777, 78019 and 70013 Oliver Cromwell. D123 has been allocated to haul the GCR diesel turns (12:15 and 14:15 ex. Loughborough and return from Leicester North) on Saturday 31st May and Sunday’s 1st June, 20th July and 31st August.
Work on 45133 continues and a return to traffic is hoped for later this year. A full repaint into BR Blue livery is planned for later this year for which under cover shed space is required. The heat exchanger has been tested and awaits installation before the loco can run again. 45132’s generator has been disconnected and is now waiting for the Mid Hants Railway steam crane to lift it out so it can go away for repair for which finance is in place. A new silencer is required because the current one is rotten and the associated roof section also needs repairs. The number 1 end nose end is still dismantled and the batteries require attention before use. It may pull a train again in 2009.
45135 3rd Carabinier is in the process of having 6 cylinder liners overhauled at Barrow Hill, with the cylinder heads to follow. It is planned for all of the 12 cylinder liners to be overhauled which will mean that the loco is likely to be out of service for a few months.
45149 has seen the completion of the free end of the power unit with 4 new flexible pipes been fitted for the gauges on the brake frame. Some of the power units missing pipe runs have been sourced from the spare power unit purchased for 45133 many years ago. This power unit was from 45058 and was removed from the loco at MC Metals, Glasgow. The replacement pipe work has been cleaned, spray painted and fitted to the power unit of 45149. Another missing pipe is that from the air manifold to the governor and the group are modifying the pipe that did the same job on a class 47. Some of the exhaust sections have been fitted with new fabric insulation and they in turn have been fitted to the power unit.
The bus bars, damaged when the locos power unit was removed many years ago whilst owned by Pete Waterman, have been repaired with new clamps and insulating spacers manufactured and fitted. Braze repairs to a leaking water cock have been made followed by the cock being sprayed the correct colour (blue) prior to fitting. Two of the locos handrails have recently been cleaned of old paint back to bare metal and sprayed white. The loco was hauled out of the shed it has been a resident in for the last year recently to allow some work to be undertaken on the bogie segmental bearings.
46010 is still waiting shed space at Llangollen to allow bodywork repairs to begin. It is planned to start the loco up at the end of May to ensure that it is still runs satisfactorily and thoughts are turning to starting the bodywork repairs outside rather than waiting for shed space to become available.
The increasingly forlorn looking 46035 Ixion still resides at the Crewe Heritage Centre sheeted over with no work being done on the loco and its days on the mainline looking to have come to an end.
Peaks, Pints and Playing cards by Gerald Holmes
After a mammoth shunting exercise one Sunday recently, we ended up with 45108 buffered up to 45133. This got me thinking, when was the last time I had travelled behind a pair of 45/1’s on the main line. Back in the “good old days” one regular working for a pair of 45/1’s was the 12:10 Derby - London Sundays only 1C10 I think, a very relaxed journey which normally involved lots of beer and never ending games of cards.
One particular Sunday, Dave Morton and I arrived at Derby Station thanks to a fast journey in Mr Morton senior’s Ford Capri to find 45113 and 45115 at the head of the train. So armed with cans, cards, a pocket of change and a valid ticket we head for the front coach to be met by the exuberant antics and noise of the usual bashers who were regulars on this train.
Seats with a table had already been secured by two of the crowd so that we could commence the all important card games where Newmarket, Chase the Lady or Sevens were the preferred choices and it was always penny a spot.
As soon as we were moving the game started, if my memory serves me correctly this game had about eight of us playing. Round the curve at Derby and the first can is opened. Before Long Eaton station nearly everyone would make sure they caught sight of the “North Notts Chopper Squad” graffiti on the old permanent way hut and some comments would be passed about these engines and the people that followed them.
Both engines were performing well and Loughborough arrives in no time at all and next it’s Leicester. Normally a good 30-40 minutes lay over at Leicester station (this probably allowed for the train times to be maintained if diverted via Corby) meant a quick run over to the Hind public house on the station bridge for a pint of Draught Burton Ale. No one ever missed the train onwards to London but I have no idea how! There must have been some close calls.
One of the things that will always stick in my mind is watching from an open window the Peaks weave across the tracks, an amazing sight and poetry in motion. The card game continues, as does the drinking of alcohol, this of course is having an effect on the ability of the card players! Somewhere between Leicester and London I distinctly remember “Stackhead” leaving the train at a station and running to the nearest off licence because he couldn’t stand drinking another can of McEwans Export better known as Red Baby.
No numbers were ever taken on these trips as it was considered to be beneath us Peak bashers! Consequently a few of our beloved peaks were viewed but never recorded for future use. Oh how I wish I had not given in to peer pressure!
So St. Pancras Station comes into view and with it a tinge of sadness as the journey is at an end. If my very drunken memories serve me correctly this was the last this train would work into London due to time table changes and of course the dreaded influx of the HST. I may be wrong but like I say I was very, very drunk.
I can never remember how we got home but I know it had something to do with a train, a narrow boat and sometimes a jolly fisherman! Thanks to Mort and his dad, Stackhead, Piper, Hayes, Bad trousers, Scunthorpe, Summerfield, and any one else who I forgotten they were great times and sadly missed. I really am actually quiet surprised that I can remember this much, as Meatloaf once said, “A misspent youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age.”
NEXT NEWSLETTER issue 156 out during the first week of August for which contributions of news, views, nostalgia or donations should be submitted to the Club address at the head of the page on way or another by the end of July for consideration. Want to help? Why not donate your subscription to the group to spend on our four Peaks? Simply ask for your newsletter to be sent electronically and this will release your subscription fees to be used on loco restoration. Many thanks to those members who have generously chosen to do this already and for the donations made with and without subscription renewal.