Great Gable News No. 161 - June 2009
Dear Members
Welcome to our 161st issue of Great Gable News. Thanks to editorial exposure in Traction magazine sales of our Peak sounds CD are raising funds for our locos. Order your copy by posting a cheque payable to Great Gable Club for £8.99 including postage and enjoy the thrash of hard working Sulzers from the glorious years of British Rail. Work proceeds on Great Gable in time for her 50th birthday running weekend by which time I hope to have finished the Peak Diary book about our locos. Its all go isn’t it.
44004 Great Gable was started up successfully for the first time in almost 3.5 years on Sunday 10th May after a great deal of attention to the batteries. Replacement cells have been fitted and the battery connections modified to improve clearance. Once checked over, the loco proved serviceable allowing bodywork repairs started a year ago to be completed. The loco has now been moved into the main shed at Swanwick in readiness for its bodywork repairs to begin. Four cab roof vents have been removed so that replicas can be fabricated from the rusty remains of those present whilst the cab roof will be repaired to replace corroded panels.
The engine silencer has been removed from the loco roof to allow the repair of a small hole and the engine breather pipe has a fractured pipe connection which will be welded up. Much rust scale has been removed from the heat exchanger which is being cleaned out and a small leak in the end cover repaired. A repaint into green livery in the same condition that the loco was delivered back on 26th September 1959 will take place over the summer. A weekend of Peak running featuring D4 as the star has been scheduled for the weekend of 26th/27th September in celebration of the locos 50th birthday with D4 and all of the other serviceable Peaks at the MRC taking part in the event.
45041 Royal Tank Regiment hauled services on Bank Holiday Monday 13th April at the MRC but was replaced at Swanwick Junction half way through the day because of a leaking drivers brake valve. With the brake valve repaired, 45041 then hauled services at the MRC diesel gala held over the weekend of 25th/26th April. 45041 also hauled the 11:10, 12:20, 13:50, 15:05 and 16:15 departures from Butterley on Bank Holiday Monday 4th May. It is hoped that the loco will get some bodywork repairs and a repaint towards the end of this year for which blue paint has already been bought.
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.
D182 replaced 45041 on Bank Holiday Monday 13th April after 45041 suffered and air leak from the drivers brake valve. D182 was next in action over the MRC diesel gala weekend (25th/26th April) as well as taking part at the 1960’s event over the weekend of 9th/10th May. At the 1960’s weekend D182 hauled both passenger and freight trains alongside D212 and a couple of steam locos. On Sunday 3rd May D182 hauled the 11:10, 12:20, 13:50, 15:05 and 16:15 departures from Butterley.
44008 Penyghent is planned to take part in the Peak Rail diesel gala held over the weekend of 27th/28th June and a 50th anniversary running day on Saturday 25th July.
Progress with the proposed move of 45015 to a site in Essex is slow but the move is hoped to happen in the next few months. The project has been set back recently when it was discovered that some parts have been removed from the loco whilst in storage at Shackerstone as well as some spare parts that were destined for the restoration of the loco being stolen from storage.
45060 Sherwood Forester was started up following its generator repairs on Saturday 11th April. The loco was started up again two days later and ran for 90 minutes. On Saturday 18th April 45060 successfully completed light engine test and on Saturday 2nd May 45060 hauled a couple of class 37’s on loaded test runs so that the repaired generator could be checked properly. No problems were discovered on the test runs and the loco was passed as fit to go to the Swanage Railway diesel gala held between Friday 8th and Sunday 10th May.
The convoy of locos for the Swanage diesel gala were booked to be hauled by 55022 on Wednesday 6th May but on the day paperwork issues with 55022 meant that 55022 did not depart the East Lancs Railway. With the paperwork issues resolved, the move was booked for the following day with 55022 booked to run light engine from Bury to Barrow Hill to collect 20107, 26007 and 45060 before setting off for the Midland Railway Centre to pick up 31108. 55022 departed Bury 85 minutes late as 0Z55 on the 09:30 scheduled start and ran to Barrow Hill where a 47 minute late arrival was recorded. 55022+20107+26007+45060 then departed Barrow Hill on time at 14:00 for the short journey to the Midland Railway Centre where arrival was 6 minutes late at 15:08.
Once 31108 had been added to the convoy, 0Z55 departed the MRC at 16:15, 45 minutes late in the formation 55022+45060+26007+20107+31108 and ran via Toton, Loughborough, Leicester, Kettering, Bedford, Acton Wells Junction, Staines, Woking, Basingstoke, Southampton, Poole and Wareham, arriving at the Network Rail boundary with the Swanage Railway at 01:17! The convoy had only just beaten an engineering blockade near Eastleigh.
45060 put in an impeccable performance over the 3 day diesel gala which was well attended and at which the very sunny weather was perfect for photography on and around the scenic railway. On the Saturday in addition to hauling services through the day, 45060 hauled the evening dining train. Over the three day event 45060 clocked up over 150 fault free miles. It had been a long road over the previous two years for the restoration team since the loco suffered a generator flashover, but the success of the loco at the diesel gala made it worthwhile.
With the visiting locos staying at Swanage for a further week following the diesel gala prior to heading for the Eastleigh Open Day event, a visiting loco was selected to loco haul the booked DMU services on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th May. 45060 was allocated to haul the DMU services on Saturday 16th May, which included evening services – a total of 10 return trips from Swanage to Norden. In the event the loco worked the first 4 booked DMU services before being replaced by the DMU! As many people had travelled a long way the Railway agreed to top and tail the evening dining train with 45060 and steam loco 34028.
On Monday 18th May, 55022 hauled 0Y45 the 09:38 Motala ground frame (the mainline connection from the Swanage Railway with Network Rail) to Eastleigh. 55022 hauled 45060, 31108, 33108 and 33103 in the convoy and the locos were put on display at a very popular Open day event over the following weekend. On Thursday 28th May, following the movement of 20107 and 26007 from the Swanage Railway to Eastleigh, 55022 hauled 31108, 45060, 20107 and 26007 back north as 0M55 which departed Eastleigh 15 minutes late at 09:29. The return journey was via Basingstoke, Woking, Staines, Acton Wells Junction and the Midland Mainline, with a 30 minute early arrival recorded at Barrow Hill at 16:35.
No work has been undertaken on 45105 during the period under review as the team at Barrow Hill have been concentrating their efforts on the restoration of 45060.
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 once again and the loco has clocked up some 2000 miles in the first 5 months of the year. D123 hauled the diesel service over the weekend of 4th/5th April (vice the class 27 as there was no one available to drive it). With the DMU being unavailable on Saturday 4th April, D123 hauled a 3 coach train in its place. Monday 6th April saw D123 at the start of a testing contract for Network Rail with two track carrying wagons, which run together as a pair.
The modular point carrying wagons which feature a tilting bed have been built by a German firm, Kirow, to carry complete track points to reduce the time taken to install points. Usual practice is for the points to be made up in a permanent way yard before they are dismantled and transported to the site where they are assembled. The wagons have been designed to carry built up track points to the site where they can simply be craned off the wagon and into position. The wagons have a hydraulic bed and when being hauled around the network, run with the bed at 45 degrees. When they reach their destination the wagons are lowered to a horizontal position making them out of gauge but then the bed can be moved to centralize the load on the wagon. As the wagons are innovative, they need to be thoroughly tested before they are accepted for use in this country.
The first requirement was to put a few miles running on the wagons and do some limited brake testing, so on Monday 6th April D123 propelled the two unladen wagons from Loughborough to Leicester North. The wagons were then hauled on the return to Loughborough at speeds of no more than 25 m.p.h. for a total of 8 trips of the line. The wagons were then taken to Serco at Derby for a few weeks testing before they were returned to the Great Central for further testing to take place. On Wednesday 8th April D123 ran to Quorn to collect a couple of steam locos that had been brought in for a gala and returned them to Loughborough and the loco was used to haul the diesel diagram on Sunday 19th April. The following weekend saw D123 take part in the railways diesel gala and on 9th May D123 featured in the railways 1960’s event.
The Network Rail wagons returned to Loughborough on 16th May and the first task was to run them for 1000 Km (620 miles) whilst bedding in the brakes. On Monday 18th May with D123 on the north end of the wagons and 37314 on the south end started, mileage accumulation began running at 60m.p.h. between Loughborough and Rothley in both directions on the Down line. The evening of Monday 18th saw D123 continuing the mileage accumulation, propelling the wagons southbound and hauling it at 60 m.p.h. on the northbound legs. The following day D123 was used on a drive a loco package completing two trips of the line with coaches before Wednesday 20th May and Thursday 21st May saw further testing with one of the wagons involved in slip brake testing.
On Wednesday 20th the wagon was slip brake tested whilst fully loaded with a point and on Thursday 21st the wagon was empty. The slip brake testing involved propelling the wagon to Swithland and then hauling the wagon towards Loughborough where the wagon is released from the loco via a special coupling along Quorn straight. The speed of the loco needed to be 60 m.p.h. and the loco must under power when the slip takes place. The distance that it takes the wagon to stop is measured as is the loco speed, the wind speed and wind direction. Slip brake testing is undertaken to ensure that the wagon will not stop too quickly (as this could cause wheel flats) or take too long to stop.
Monday 25th May until Wednesday 27th May evenings saw D123 undertake mileage accumulation with both wagons before a further day of slip brake testing occurred on Thursday 28th May with a half-load.
D123 then hauled the diesel turn on Sunday 31st May before completing the required 1000 Km mileage accumulation runs on the afternoon of Monday 1st June. The morning of June 1st saw the loco used hauling a set of coaches into and out of platform 2 at Loughborough whilst a film crew were at the railway preparing for the film ‘Cemetery Junction’ which is to be shot at the Great Central Railway later this year. D123 then hauled some more slip testing trials on Tuesday 2nd June and has dates booked for noise tests to ensure that the wagons are not too noisy when running at 60 m.p.h.
D123 has some more testing work scheduled using a Freightliner Lowliner which is a container wagon with smaller wheels allowing it to carry taller containers and is also booked to haul the diesel turn on Sunday 28th June.
45133 had the fault that was only allowing it to move in one direction on 29th March traced and repaired and went on a successful test run from Swanwick Junction to Riddings and return on Sunday 12th April. 45133 hauled its first passenger services since 29th October 2005 at the MRC diesel gala which was held over the weekend of 25th/26th April.
Progress on the restoration of 45135 3rd Carabinier at the East Lancs Railway has been slow over the period under review. It is not expected that 45135 will return to traffic during 2009.
45149 has had its power unit barred over with the de-compression plugs removed and an oil/diesel mix was sprayed into the cylinders and was found to spin freely. The sump drain cock chain and pipes will be reconnected soon which in turn will allow the sump to be filled with oil. A pipe between sump drain and brass junction ‘T’ joint is all that is needed to allow this task to occur. Unfortunately the original ‘T’ junction was damaged during the removal of the locos power unit back in 1997. A new chain has been purchased for the drain mechanism. Preparations are now under way to set the engine tappets. All of the remaining pipe work is ready for refitting to the cylinder heads and copper washers have just been purchased in readiness for this task. The last two injectors have been returned from overhaul; two of the original ones from 45149 failed when they were tested so two spares were sent away for overhaul.
The group have made up a testing rig using compressed air to allow the testing of brake cylinders. The air filter pack is now serviceable after welding repairs and replacement latches that hold in the filters have been fitted. These were salvaged from scrap class 37s. The silencer has been assessed and was found to require attention to several broken studs. In addition two of the silencers ‘legs’ were found to be broken and need to be remanufactured. The silencer elbow (which was again damaged in the 1997 lift of the power unit) has been sent away for repair which will take up to 8 weeks.
The number 2 end of the loco has had new plate work completed on the nose end and some 30 holes have been drilled in the plate work. Further welding repairs around nose door apertures have also occurred. The number 2 end nose end door frames have been repaired in readiness for refitting. The nose end door grills themselves are in poor condition. The generator/eth cubical cables have been joined but a setback happened with the clamp arrangement on the top of the cubicle as it was found to be distorted. Again, this damage can be traced back to the removal of the locos power unit back in 1997 when the loco was in the ownership of Pete Waterman. As a consequence of this damage, new cross members have been made.
2 Paxolin tubes for the large diameter cables are missing presumed damaged in 1997 so replacements are being sourced. Also on the wanted list are radiator sight glasses (which can be borrowed to replicate).
These are the same as found on class 24s and 25s. In addition a brush spring (‘U’ shaped with the coil) for the nose end compressor is also required. The group would be grateful if anyone can help with any of the mentioned items and they have various Davis and Metcalfe valves that they can trade. If anybody can help with the groups’ requirements then please make contact via e-mail michael.pember@btinternet.com as the Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group website is currently unavailable. The load regulator is now refitted and proved to be a 2 man job when it came to getting the cover back on. The group have also purchased a spare Automatic Voltage Regulator.
The Llangollen Diesel Group has received an eviction notice to remove 46010 from the Llangollen Railway by the end of June. Several new homes are currently being investigated but as yet no decision has been taken. The group has had to make the difficult decision that the overhaul and continued operation of the locomotive is currently beyond its means. As a result the Llangollen Diesel Group are looking to transfer custodianship to a Group who can commit to performing the necessary work required to give her an operational future.
Mikes Memories The Black Country and Midland Railtourers
A visit to Dudley in the Black Country last month reminded me of a week spent travelling the West Midlands by rail to photograph the dwindling Class 45 fleet in an area associated with them throughout their lives. I also lamented the loss of manufacturing industry, particularly engineering for which the region was known and railways including the Peaks which provided services to support this industry. If Germany is known as the workshop of Europe then the Birmingham area is the workshop of England where manufacturing and engineering ruled for 300 years since iron was invented nearby in Coalbrookdale I think. Apparently a shopping centre near Dudley was the site of a steel works, hardly a worthy successor in terms of the skills or importance.
The popular £2.95 seven day runabout season ticket called the Midland Railtourer was the ticket of choice in the summers past if you wanted to ride Peaks and other assorted interesting traction about the Midlands. Even though I got cheap rail travel whilst working for the railways in the 1970s, I often bought a Midland Railtourer ticket as well for Saturday travel and used it in the week to go home on a couple of Class 45/1s via Leicester instead of the usual DMU from Derby to Nottingham. And of course there were summer Saturday additional services provided so many choices we were spoilt for choice. The last time I bought one of these rovers was in 1986 when I used it to travel locally in the Birmingham area to photograph a few Peak hauled trains.
The view of 45037 leaving Bescot yard in 1986 repeats a photo shown in a railway book of 44004 Great Gable leaving the yard with a freight for Toton where they regularly ran between Toton and Bescot yards a couple of times a day. I cant find that view to refer to just now but remembered it being a good location full of railway and industrial infrastructure some would find ugly but I always found attractive enough to make an interesting photo. The date is May 29th 1986 where we see 037 leaving for Toton with 7E49 15.14 Bescot – York air braked service. 1986 was the last reasonable summer for Peak activity with the end of the Class 45 fleets only two years away and there were no other Peaks about at Bescot that fine sunny day. I did catch 45111 at Walsall on a freightliner, 45022 on steel at Tamworth and others at the more usual locations on passenger trains during that week in the Midlands. I just remember waiting in the wind at the top of the steps here beside the noisy M6 motorway all afternoon unable to see through the forest of catenary wires if any were about in the yard waiting to depart.
Next newsletter will be prepared during the last week of July for publication during the first week in August. Contributions in the form of news, information or articles of nostalgia should be submitted to the Editor at the Club address by the end of July.