Great Gable News No. 160 - April 2009

 

 

 

Dear Club Members

 

Welcome to the 160^th issue of Great Gable News. Our cover view shows Great Gable at Cardiff Canton depot and illustrates our memories feature which remembers another great day out with D4 back in July 1985. About a third of the current membership now receive the newsletter by e-mail which reduces their subscription at renewal, saves the Club production costs and allows some of the subscription fee to be sued for loco restoration. Please mail the Club address above if you wish to take up this option.

 

Our collection of 48 best all time Peak sounds is now available on CD for £8.99 from the Club address above. Please make cheques payable to Great Gable. Its got engine start ups and shut downs, run pasts, engine room recordings, sounds from behind the engine in the front coach, rail joints, storming station departures and if you listen carefully you can also hear air compressors, priming pumps, turbo chargers and all of the normal Sulzer roar our favourite loco types are remembered for. Proceeds generated go towards repainting Great Gable into all over green livery this summer.

 

Club member Mark Walker is building up a new website for us at www.greatgable.co.uk

The 2009 MRB timetable is available at www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk or phone 01773 570140 for a paper copy.

 

44004 Great Gable. The batteries are charged regularly over the winter and the locos repaired voltmeter and ammeter fitted. As soon as the repaint of 45108 into blue livery is completed, that Great Gable will take its place in the Swanwick Junction diesel shed for its restoration to be completed. A repaint into green livery in the same condition that the loco was delivered back on 26^th September 1959 and as shown on the cover is planned. A weekend of peak running featuring D4 as the star has been scheduled for the weekend of 26^th/27^th September in celebration of the locos 50^th anniversary with D4 and all of the other serviceable peaks at the MRC taking part in the event.  We have spent about £1100 on paint recently to repaint of 44004, 45041 and 45108 this year.

 

45041 Royal Tank Regiment will have its leaking heat exchanger examined and repaired before being filled with water in readiness for the loco to take part in the Diesel gala taking place over the weekend of 25^th/26^th April. The locos batteries are charged on a weekly basis and it is hoped that the loco will get bodywork repairs and a repaint towards the end of this year. If repaired in time she will run on Easter Monday April 13^th.

 

45108’s bodywork has been filled, rubbed down, painted in green primer and the loco is now receiving blue undercoat. Bogie cleaning is also taking place with the bufferbeams also in undercoat. All of the locos aluminium bodyside grills have been refitted to the loco and all of the cab doors have been removed, new door locks fitted and the doors put back. At number 2 cab, the drivers' window has been replaced and both cab windscreen wiper blades have been renewed. Cover plates are to be fitted over the bodyside boiler room grills since this is the condition 45108 ran in.  Number stickers and arrow symbols have been ordered to complete her appearance and she will carry four numbers, one behind each cab since this is the style she was outshopped in when first converted from a 45/0 to 45/1 in 1973. It is hoped that the loco will be on display in ex-works condition at the MRC diesel gala which is been held over the weekend of 25^th/26^th April.

 

Inside, the engine room has been cleaned and tidied and all of the locos bodyside filters and frames have been removed, cleaned and refitted. The missing drivers brake valve at number 2 end has been fitted as well as the missing AWS cancel buttons in both cabs. In the brake frame, a missing pressure switch has been replaced. A start has been made on assessing the damaged air pipes under the floor in the old boiler room. Some of these pipes have corroded through and one major and 6 minor pipes need to be replaced. The age of the pipes has not helped but the corrosion damage is to the pipes directly below the urinal, aggravated because the urinal drain pipe was broken where it passed through the floor. This allowed the rich fluid to do a lot of damage. Elsewhere, the radiator area has been cleaned and is to be painted shortly.

 

Over the next few weeks a replacement set of batteries is to be fitted and the main generator is to have a good clean in addition to static tests being undertaken on other equipment.

 

D182 has had a replacement water pump relay coil fitted as the one fitted had burnt out. This may have been the cause of the loco shutting down on the last occasion it was required for traffic. The loco had a replacement set of batteries fitted on Sunday 29^th March and was started up and successfully tested. The loco has been pencilled in to take part in the diesel gala as well as the 1960’s event which is being held over the weekend of 9^th/10^th May as well as the April 25/26^th diesel gala.        

 

44008 Penyghent has a 50^th anniversary running day at Peak Rail on Saturday 25^th July, where the loco is expected to haul all of the day’s services. It is also expected that the loco will take part in the Peak Rail diesel gala over the weekend of 27^th/28^th June.    

 

A nameplate from 45044 Royal Inniskilling Fusilier was sold at the Sheffield Railway auction on 14^th March 2009 for £6000. It is not known if this is the same nameplate that was sold at the GW auction in Pershore back on 15^th November 2008.

 

45060 Sherwood Forester has had its nose end crown fitted as well as the 2 nose end grills. On both sides of the nose end, new steel work has been welded in under the grills. At number 1 end the roof vents have been removed from the cab roof, the holes welded up and the vents refitted but with the holes filled in. The vents were to give the loco cab an air-flow at higher speeds but in preservation at low speeds they are ineffective. It has been found that the roof vents allow rainwater into the cab and as a consequence many of the preserved peaks have had their vents sealed. All of the rotten steel work around the cab door at the driver’s side at number 2 end has been cut out and replaced.

 

Inside the loco, 5 overhauled resistor panels have been refitted as well as the wiring to these panels renewed. The field divert resistor panels have also been refitted as well as the battery charge rectifier. This has allowed the locos boiler room roof to be refitted.

 

Work on the locos generator has progressed well over the last few weeks and the bottom windings for the generator were put in and around 10 of the top windings completed. All of the end clips were soldered on to the commutator and then the windings were tested which revealed that some of the old windings were giving poor readings. Because of this, it was decided to re-solder the old windings as well. All of the cables in the auxiliary generator have been renewed and the auxiliary generator and generator field frames have been bolted together as well as the brush boxes being re-fitted to the brush ring.

New bandings were put on to the armature and then varnish was poured into the core of the armature. The windings were then varnished and the armature baked in an oven for 12 hours. The armature was then sent to Chesterfield to be balanced and the commutator to be skimmed. When the armature returned it was positioned into the generator field frame and the turn buckles were put on to support the armature in a central position. A new bearing was also fitted at this point.

 

The generator arrived back at Barrow Hill on Saturday 21^st March and was craned into the loco mid afternoon. The two drive flanges were then bolted together. By the evening of Monday 23^rd March the generator was bolted down in position following alignment by two ex-Derby Works loco men. The following weekend saw the completion of the work on the generator with all of the bus bars and brushes re-fitted. In addition to this, the turbo charger has been refitted and the labyrinth sealing plates have been put back on with new seals. The loco has been filled up with water and pressure tested without problem and a start of 45060 is hoped for over Easter when the locos silencer has been fitted.

 

Photo site http://carl9188.fotopic.net/ is regularly updated with the on-going work on 45060 (and 45105) and recent updates show the work on the generator as well as its installation in the loco in addition to other work completed on 45060 and 45105. It is hoped that the repairs to 45060 will allow the loco to take up its invite to appear at the Swanage Diesel Gala, which this year is being held between Friday 8^th and Sunday 10^th May 2009. 45060 has also been provisionally booked to haul the Swanage diesel diagram on Saturday 16^th May.  No work has been undertaken on 45105 during the period under review as the team at Barrow Hill have been concentrating on the restoration of 45060.   

 

45112 The Royal Army Ordnance Corps is being used as an Electric Train Heat source for testing coaches at Barrow Hill. Whilst the starting problem with the loco (the loco fires and the engine turns over but shuts down when the start lever is released) has not been found and fixed, the loco is currently starting without any problems. It was thought that one of the electrical machines (traction motor blowers, compressors etc.) that run immediately that the loco is started could have been causing the starting problems. Initially all of the fuses for these machines were removed and one by one refitted as a subsequent start of the loco was successful. Unfortunately the starting problem did not occur whilst this testing was undertaken. 45112 has had an electronic Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) manufactured to replace its existing one, in case the locos problems are with the AVR. When Brush works at Loughborough converted some class 47’s into class 57/0’s a few years ago they designed a new electronic type of AVR for the 57/0s using an AVR from D123 as the guide. 45112 is well down the queue for the fitting of OTMR to allow it to resume its mainline career but this is still planned and a set of OTMR equipment has been delivered. 

 

The insurance claim over the copper cable theft to 45118 The Royal Artilleryman at the Northampton and Lamport Railway is still on-going.

 

D123 has had a very busy couple of months. The loco was used on Monday 9^th February with 6 coaches to assess the GCR’s’ current class 45 drivers for driving at 60mph. The Great Central Railway track and infrastructure has been examined and passed for testing at up to 75mph when the railway is closed to the public. The high speed sections of the railway are from just outside Loughborough to Quorn and from Quorn to just before Rothley in both directions. The single line section between Rothley and Leicester North only allows a maximum speed of 25mph. The test runs needed to run from Rothley to Leicester North and return in order to allow the loco to run around the coaching stock. Years ago when the signalling was put back in on the railway; the signals were placed to allow 60mph running. Several drivers were examined and passed as competent for driving at 60mph in readiness for conducting Army personnel driving at 60mph.

 

D123 was used to take a steam loco to Quorn where the steam loco was collected by lorry for a visit to another heritage railway on 10^th February and it worked the diesel diagram (12:15 ex. Loughborough) on Sunday’s 22^nd February and 8^th March.

 

Between Monday 9^th and Thursday 12^th March D123 was used running at 60mph to familiarise army personnel with driving at and braking from 60mph. It was found that a maximum speed of 54mph could be reached between Loughborough and the braking point for Quorn where a stop was made. 60mph was easily reached when leaving Quorn before reaching Swithland reservoir. In the Down direction, 60mph was reached by Kinchley Lane just before the start of the Quorn straight. A stop was made in the platform at Quorn again to get the trainee drivers familiar with stopping in the right place from a speed of 60mph, before reaching 60mph after Quorn on the return to Loughborough. Experience of night running was included in the course with army personnel driving in the dark on the evening of Tuesday 10^th March.

 

 

 

At the end of the day on Thursday 12^th March, D123 was used to collect D5401 and a coach from the reception siding at Quorn where D5401 had been a visitor to the Nene Valley diesel gala the previous weekend. D123 hauled the diesel turn on Saturday 14^th March before returning to the same pattern of 60mph test running from Monday 16^th until Thursday 19^th March. The morning trips on Monday 16^th and Tuesday 17^th utilised 37190 rather than D123 for some variety, but it was reported that the 37 struggled to reach 60mph. Evening running occurred again on Tuesday 17^th March as well as an extra trip to pass another GCR peak driver for driving at 60mph and thick fog gave the army personnel another driving experience on the morning of Wednesday 18^th March.

 

Over the two weeks, 16 army personnel gained experience of driving in various weather conditions as well as being taught basic diesel principles and the layout of a typical diesel (using class 47 D1705). The army personnel were all qualified army railway drivers but only to drive shunters within the army railway yards at Bicester and Marchwood. Such was the success of the exercise that further training work from the army is a possibility.

 

D123 was allocated to work at the GCR 1960’s event on Sunday 22^nd March alongside 4 steam locos, 2 other diesels and the class 101 DMU. D123 worked light engine to Rothley on the Sunday morning and hauled a parcels train back to Loughborough before hauling two passenger trains to Leicester North and return. The loco finished off the gala by hauling the 16:35 parcels train to Rothley Brook before heading the 17:32 local passenger service from Rothley back to Loughborough.

 

D123 was used on Tuesday 31^st March to test some newly developed equipment mounted on the rail which checks for wheel flats. The loco hauled 5 coaches between Swithland and the test equipment at Quorn at varying speeds of up to 60mph before propelling the set back to Swithland and repeating the move many times throughout the day.

 

D123 has been allocated to haul the diesel service over the weekend of 4^th/5^th April in place of D5401 for which there is no driver available as well as Sunday 19^th April. The loco is also booked to take part in the Great Central Railway Spring Diesel Gala which is being held over the weekend of 26^th/27^th April.            

 

45133 has been fitted with a new set of Crompton batteries which have been given an equalising charge. Before the batteries were fitted, the battery boxes were stripped and painted with acid resistant paint. The battery tray rollers were also removed, cleaned and lubricated in the hope that the trays will slide in and out easier. The main battery connecting cables were modified before a start of the loco was attempted. 45133 was successfully started on Sunday 29^th March but the loco would only move in one direction, indicating a problem with the reverser. Engine room painting and an on-going C exam is keeping the restoration team busy. It is planned for 45133 to head its first passenger services since 29^th October 2005 at the MRC diesel gala at the end of April.

 

Progress on the restoration of 45135 3^rd Carabinier at the East Lancs Railway has been slow over the period under review. It is hoped that this will speed up once the weather gets a bit better. It is not expected that 45135 will return to traffic during 2009.

 

45149 has seen its metalwork above the cab rain strips cleaned and painted with green primer. The locos silencer box has also been painted into green primer but two support legs need to be made for the silencer as they have corroded away. The floor in the locos engine and ETH room has been refitted following a thorough cleaning out of the areas with a vacuum cleaner. The control cubicle has been completely painted in undercoat and a rewire of the governor is underway. In the cab, the AWS sundial bracket has been refitted as well as a general tidy-up having taken place.

 

46010 has had no work done to it over the period under review and is still awaiting major bodywork repairs as well as some work on its power unit.     

 

Mikes Memories                   Cardiff Canton

 

I visited what remains of Cardiff Canton diesel depot recently with work and the changes that have occurred here made me feel rather (very) old and of course caused me to reflect on the many times I have visited this well known diesel loco depot. The site is now operated by Pullman Design, a rail vehicle overhaul contractor who have altered the internal arrangement of the former diesel depot to make a simple railway workshop. Gone are the raised rails and walkways allowing easy work to be given to diesel loco equipment. The rails have been cut off where they enter the shed and what externally looks like the familiar citadel of diesels is now internally like any other industrial unit.

 

In its hey day with British Rail, Canton cared for a significant fleet of diesels and the substantial facilities here allowed the staff to fix any loco problems from the routine maintenance to much more challenging heavy maintenance tasks. In the style of a small locomotive works, it has the Western Regions high cathedral like building shape to accommodate overhead cranes capable of changing diesel engines. There is an excellent little book written by Steve Morris who used to work there which shows the activities of the maintenance staff there which you can buy on e-bay.

 

I think my first contact with Cardiff Canton was on my school railway society trip about 1973. Regrettably I don’t have my spotting books from that day but seem to remember seeing 1200 Falcon near Newport and 1004 Western Crusader behind some coaches at Cardiff station. The boiler the Western was carrying about that time is believed to be that now carried by our D182 according to Adrian Curtis. After a day watching Class 37s serving the regions industries, I guess we came home on 1E73 17.40 Cardiff – Sheffield which was a regular Peak train over the years. On the day of the cover photo in 1985, 1E73 was 45139 which rested at the west end of the shed building.

 

The 6^th July 1985 visit for me was to man our Great Gable Club sales stand at the depot open day. Before the event opened we had chance to wander around the exhibits taking pictures which allowed me to capture D4 Great Gable resplendent in all over green livery next to Toton stable mate 45040 resting outside the depot building. This spot at the east end of the site is now occupied by a new wheelshop, a dramatic change of use from the diesel loco activities the depot was designed for. During the afternoon of the event, Great Gable ran up and down the site giving cab rides with Class 24 97201 Experiment and this raised a useful amount of money for the project running at that time to renew her worn out wheel tyres.

 

Prior to travelling down to Cardiff, D4 was collected from the Midland Railway Centre a couple of days before and moved to Toton depot, her spiritual home. As was the norm in those days, the depot staff immediately adopted her back into their care. She was put inside the shed and the batteries charged, various maintenance checks and repairs made, a level of work that probably amounted to a ‘B’ exam. 97201 then hauled her down to Cardiff on the Friday before the open day.

 

A visit today finds the site very quiet compared to the bustle of a busy diesel depot full of locos. Even the EWS period of use for the depot saw the place strangely quiet in line with their policy of not leaving locos to idle unnecessarily. The familiar depot buildings remain but their use has changed and the skilled teams of fitters not afraid to tackle any work on big diesels have been disbanded as the railway reorganised itself. I think the only loco now on site is a preserved Class 26 but the days of excitedly travelling to busy South Wales for a good spot of shed bashing are now a long time ago.

 

Next Newsletter out during the first week in June for which contributions in the form of news, editorial items or feature articles should be submitted to the Club address by the end of May. Donations at the time of your subscription renewal are always valued.