45108 news
Updated 2/4/11
45108 is having much attention to its alternator and generator where cleaning using white spirit and a toothbrush is removing deposits of carbon, dust and debris. Part of the external string banding on the generator has been found to be loose and will be bonded in place with resin. One of the circuit boards in the locos electronic Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) was faulty so a spare AVR has been fitted rather than just swap boards between AVR units. The defective AVR has gone to a local specialist for testing and repairs.
Both of the locos cabs have been re-insulated and the hardboard has been removed from the backs of the cab doors. At number 2 end the insulation has been tidied up and repainted as have areas around the driver’s desk, the heaters and the cooker cupboard. The flooring underneath the secondmans seat was found to have perished and has been renewed. At number 1 end painting is not as far advanced as at number 2 end, with most items currently in primer. The loco is currently drained of coolant with anti-freeze in the locos heat exchanger and the locos batteries are regularly put on charge. It is hoped that 45108 will return to traffic later this year and a special event to celebrate the locos return to traffic is being considered.
Updated 3/3/11
45108 was fitted with the serviceable batteries from 45041 on 10th October and the was started up on 7th November; the start can be seen here www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ye-lAiP1VI The loco has had all of the insulation in the number 2 cab removed and the windows and roof have been primed and gloss painted. New insulation tape is to be fitted after the remainder of the cab has been painted. The cooker and cupboard containing the screen wash water bottles has been painted in primer. The electrical cubicle has been thoroughly cleaned and the auxiliary alternator has been given a good clean to remove dust and debris.
Testing as continued over the winter period where assistance from Peter Dennis in the Class 45/1 Preservation Society identified problems to resolve with the automatic voltage regulator (AVR) which is an electronic device on Class 45/1. Digging in to our archive found drawings to assist fault finding and along with several other spare parts, a replacement Class 45/1 AVR has been purchased for installation in 45108. The loco is currently drained of coolant with anti-freeze in the locos heat exchanger and the locos batteries are regularly put on charge. It is hoped that 45108 will return to traffic during 2011 and a special event to celebrate the locos return to traffic is being considered.
Updated 7/10/10
45108 is still sheeted over in the yard at Swanwick Junction whilst working parties attend to work on the groups other locos. It is hoped that 45108 will return to traffic during 2011 and a special event to celebrate the locos return to traffic will be staged. 45108 is to receive the serviceable batteries from 45041 which will have a reconditioned set installed during October. Electrical work and testing is required to make the loco serviceable but we are optimistic this can now proceed quickly now the commitment to restore 45041 has been met by our team.
Updated 8/8/10
45108 is still sheeted over in the yard at Swanwick Junction whilst working parties attend to work on the groups other locos. It is hoped that 45108 will return to traffic later this year, but this is dependant upon work being completed on D4, 45041 and D182.
Updated 3/6/10
45108 is still sheeted over in the yard at Swanwick Junction whilst working parties attend to work on the groups other locos. Further testing will begin once 45041 runs again since this is needed to jump start 45108 whose batteries are not yet healthy enough to start the loco alone. It is hoped that 45108 will return to traffic later this year, but this is dependant upon work being completed on D4, 45041 and D182. The air leak on one bogie pipe will prove very challenging to repair.
Updated 7/4/10
45108’s air system was filled with air by D182 recently and several air leaks discovered but the loco filled with air very quickly which is a good sign. Underneath 45108, 6 brake blocks have been replaced and the brake block hangers realigned mostly due to the keys that hold the brake shoes wearing. Exchanging the keys with the those opposite evens out the effects of wear and was a common trick used by maintenance depots during loco examinations to cure the effects of wear in the brake equipment. A hole was found in the air reservoir pipe on bogie 1 which is the supply pipe routed along the inside of bogie frame and behind the wheels on the number 1 end secondman's side between 1 and 2 wheel set. To replace the corroded section of pipe would need the loco to be lifted, traction motor removed and wheelset out to allow access to the pipe so a more cost effective and imaginative repair is being considered.
Updated 6/2/10
45108 rests in the yard at Swanwick with no work planned to be undertaken on the loco until warmer weather arrives when electrical repairs and testing will continue.
Updated 5/12/09
45108 has had the second end cover from its heat exchanger repaired (the other one has already been repaired) which involves shot blasting the covers to remove corrosion scale, weld repairs to fill any holes or thin sections then repainting. The water pipe feeding the water pressure switch has been patched up to repair corrosion damage and fitted. At number two cab, the ammeter has been replaced as it was stuck reading 1500 amps and the speedometer replaced at number one cab since it has a broken needle. A replacement bearing (£6) has been fitted under the power handle at number 2 end and the controller interlocking now works. A thorough electrical inspection and testing of the loco will continue in the coming months before a power test is attempted.
Updated 3/10/09
An attempt to start 45108 was made on Sunday 6th September and although the engine did turn slightly, a battery cell blew which stopped the attempt. With the triple pump running the voltmeter was only reading 165v, so it came as no surprise that the loco would not start. On Wednesday 9th September the defective battery cell was replaced and on Sunday 13th September at 16:00 the loco was successfully started at the second attempt of the day. 45108 was jump started from 45041 and ran for about 10 minutes before it was shutdown because various electrical faults were revealed after ten years of open storage. The water pressure switch was bypassed to allow the loco to run as the pipe feeding the sensor was full of rust and would not allow water to pass. The pipe has since been removed and cleaned out. An end cover of the locos heat exchanger was also leaking and this was removed on Sunday 27th September. The electrical examination will continue over the winter before a power test is attempted.
Updated 4/8/09
45108 was filled up with water over the weekend of 18th/19th July and checked for water leaks. It was discovered that one of the end covers on the locos heat exchanger needed to be repaired and repairs were completed last weekend to cure the old Peak problem of cavitation and corrosion in the water system. With a set of batteries now fitted in the loco, it was possible to run the triple pump to check the water system under pressure. A few jobs were discovered like controller interlocks not working, sticking fuel pumps, bleeding the oil and water systems and various leaks but this is another step forward in the return to traffic of the loco. Further equipment checks are being undertaken prior to a start of the loco later this year. She has appeared on the internet and on our website in glorious blue livery and will be on display at the Great Gable 50th birthday weekend on September 26/27th. Work to repair the corroded internal air pipes continues as does internal cleaning.
Updated 6/6/09
45108 is having a replacement batteries fitted and the main generator is to have a good clean in addition to static tests being undertaken on other equipment. The repaint into blue livery is all but complete now and it is planned to move the loco out of the diesel shed at Swanwick in June. There are several small jobs to complete before the engine is filled with water to check for leaks and the major outstanding job today is the replacement of the corroded pipework in the ETH room.
Updated 4/4/09
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 25th/26th 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 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.
Updated 1/2/09
At the end of November work started to re-instate the full 4 character headcode at number 2 end of 45108, with the removal of the existing two piece headcode glass and route indicator mechanism. Following the removal of the nose crown and a thorough clean and repaint inside the nose end, the mechanism and larger route indicator glass was refitted. The nose end grills removed and repaired/painted from number 1 end have been refitted to the loco and the remaining engine body side grills have been removed for cleaning/painting. These grills should be refitted to the loco during February. On 28th December the power unit was barred over. The nose end crown at number 2 end was refitted on Sunday 25th January and only the nose end grills for number 2 end require cleaning and painting to complete this part of the restoration.
The plans have changed slightly regarding 45108 and it is now intended that the loco will receive a full repaint before it vacates the shed and its place in the shed is taken by 44004. 44004 requires completion of similar bodywork repairs to those of 45108 before it will be repainted. It is hoped that 45108 will be repainted into undercoat towards the end of February and receive its BR Blue top coat during March when warmer weather arrives.
Updated 5/12/08
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.
www.greatgable.co.uk