Great Gable News No. 165 - February 2010
Dear Club Members
Welcome to our 165th issue. Despite the severe weather we have much to be optimistic about. Old friend 45110 appears as our cover picture cresting the Lickey incline on April 14th 1984. Our memories feature looks back to spring time and the promise of better weather and good times……and 45110 of course.
44004 Great Gable is on display in the Museum building at Swanwick. Following the electrical damage suffered whilst celebrating her 50th birthday, rewiring and other electrical repairs have been made and the earth fault relay is all that remains to be fitted. D4 is expected to feature in the MRC diesel gala which is being held over the weekend of 22nd/23rd May to be confirmed nearer to the event.
There is a very reasonably priced DVD of the 2009 Great Gable 50th weekend available from; S & G Video, 57 Orchards Way, Walton, Chesterfield S40 3DA for £8.50 including postage. Please make cheques payable to S & G Video.
45041 Royal Tank Regiment has had all areas of bodywork corrosion identified, measured and cut out ready for new panels to be welded in. The loco is to receive two replacement cab sides in addition to the bodywork repairs and a complete repaint. The locos air tanks are to be re-certified to allow it to be moved over the national rail network as its 10 year insurance examination certificate has just expired. We are hopeful that new techniques will allow the reservoirs to be examined in position on the loco avoiding the pain and heartache of removing them for hydraulic testing prior to attending the North Yorkshire Moors railway event this September.
The Stones steam heat boiler has been thoroughly cleaned and awaits a hydraulic testing when the boiler inspector returns to Swanwick in February. Hopefully this will be found in good order and move the loco another step nearer being able to provide steam heating, something it has not done for some 30 years.
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.
D182 had anti-freeze added to the locos coolant December 9th in readiness for the loco to take up its Santa Special duties in the run up to Christmas. The loco completed a successful test run on Friday 4th December hauling and steam heating a set of coaches to prove the boiler worked satisfactorily. On Saturday 5th December D182 hauled the 13:00 Super Santa departure from Butterley and the following day hauled a Christmas lunch train for two trips of the railway.
The following weekend saw D182 haul the 13:00 Super Santa departure on Saturday 12th and the two trip dining train the following day as well as an additional trip at 16:00. On Saturday 19th D182 hauled the 13:00 and 16:00 Santa Specials and the following day the loco was booked to haul 3 services. Unfortunately severe freezing weather caused signalling and pointwork problems on the morning of Sunday 20th December so the first trip D182 was to have hauled was cancelled. The loco did complete its booked trips at 13:00 and 14:35 departures from Butterley.
From 21st December D182 was to act as a standby loco for the remainder of the Santa Specials and was called into use On Tuesday 22nd December. The 3F steam loco was unable to be prepared on Monday 21st December due to frozen water pipes on site at Swanwick so D182 was booked to haul the days 4 trips of the line. D182 was started and filled with water for the boiler and ran to the departure road on the morning of 22nd December but problems with frozen points meant that the loco waited at the departure road signal for some 30 minutes. The locos boiler was heating up the water in readiness for providing steam heating to the day’s services, but it appears that the boiler water pump gearbox seized. As a consequence of this, the boiler water pump motor burnt out. The fire was quickly put out with the hand-held fire extinguishers but the result was a no-heat loco on one of the coldest days of the year.
Fortunately portable heaters were available to be placed at strategic places on the train to keep the passengers warm and whilst D182 worked the services a successful attempt to prepare the 3F for service was made. As a consequence D182 hauled 3 of the days 4 services and was replaced by the 3F steam loco for the final trip. The brakes on D182 had been playing up for a few days, taking a considerable time, and sometimes several attempts to completely release. Tuesday 22nd December was no different and in fact was probably the worst the loco had behaved for the whole of the Santa Specials.
The distributor fitted to D182 was from 47224, an air braked loco that Freightliner re-instated the vacuum brakes on just before the locos withdrawal. The OV2 distributor from D182 was swapped on January 17th with an OV6 type last fitted to 47478 kindly donated by the team restoring 45149.
Subsequent testing on January 31st found that the brakes worked far better in both air and in vacuum modes, although some adjustment is still required.
Replacement wiper blades have been fitted to the loco at number 1 end and menthylated spirit has been added to each compressor to attempt to stop the winter weather affecting the locos air system. The menthylated spirit is added through a special filling point specifically for this role in the locos air compressors. The boiler water pump complete has been removed from the loco, the motor and gearbox changed and fitted back into the loco on 31/1/10. The defective gearbox has been taken away for repairs.
A night photography event raised a useful £200 donation for our locos where d182 was positioned next to the Swanwick Junction signal box for the night shots. D182 has been invited to operate at the Nene Valley Railway on March 6 – 7th and the Mid Norfolk Railway on March 19 – 21st for which the loco is currently being prepared.
44008 Penyghent was booked to work Peak Rail Santa Special services top and tailed with a steam loco on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th December. The loco should see some work over the Peak Rail diesel gala weekend 8th and 9th May.
45014 The Cheshire Regiment is not a loco normally reported on in these notes but a nameplate and crest from the loco was sold at the Sheffield Railway Auction on 5th December for £7600.
45112 The Royal Army Ordinance Corps was drained of coolant during November and other than frequent charging of the locos batteries no work has been undertaken on the loco. 45112 remains in the yard at Barrow Hill in the company of 45060 Sherwood Forester as well as sheeted over 45105.
45118 The Royal Artilleryman has had some work undertaken on it at RVEL in Derby in recent weeks to repair damage caused by the theft of copper cable it suffered over a year ago. The generator is under repair off site but most of the copper cables that were cut off have been replaced. Several patches of corroded bodywork have been cut out and new patches wait being welded back to the loco. Work to repair the fire damaged traction motor that was the cause of the locos withdrawal on 9th May 1987 is also to be undertaken. When 45118 was preserved it was found that during the locos final bogie swap at Derby someone did not tighten up the bolts on the traction motor cable properly. As a consequence the connections to the traction motor overheated and the cables burnt back into the conduit although the traction motor itself is serviceable. As a consequence, 45118 operated on 5 traction motors during its time hauling services at the Northampton and Lamport Railway.
D123 worked in top and tail mode with a steam loco on some of the railways Santa Special dates during December with D123 hauling the 8 coach services from Loughborough to Leicester North. D123 worked Santa Special services on 12th and 13th December top and tailed with the National Railway Museums 63601 and again on Wednesday and Thursday 23rd and 24th December this time top and tailed with 70013 Oliver Cromwell.
D123 took part in the Steam Heat diesel gala, held over the weekend of 9th/10th January when most of the country was covered in snow. Unfortunately on the Saturday of the event, steam loco 1744 failed so the diesels worked their services on their own rather than top and tailed with a steam loco as planned. D123 hauled the 12:15 and 16:30 Loughborough to Leicester North and return. On the Sunday of the event D123 worked the 12:15 Loughborough to Leicester North and was hauled back by Black 5 45231 before working the 16:30 Loughborough to Leicester North and return.
The following weekend D123 hauled the Great Central’s diesel turn the 12:15 Loughborough – Leicester North and 13:00 return on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Saturday was booked to be hauled by D6535, but the loco had not been prepared so D123 was substituted. On Saturday 23rd January D123 stood in for an unavailable D5185 on the diesel turn and was turned around immediately upon its arrival back at Loughborough to haul the 13:15 dining service due to the failure of Black 5 44767 with brake problems. D123 was to stand in for D5401 the following day on the diesel diagram, but in the event the diesel turn was cancelled on Sunday 24th January because there was no steam engine ‘drive a loco’ course booked which meant that there was a spare steam loco available in steam.
D123 has been booked to work the diesel turn on Sunday 21st February as well as taking part in the 1960’s event which is to be held 26th – 28th March.
Since the generator from 45132 was delivered to Bowers Limited in Heanor the field frame has been cleaned and was found to be in a very good condition. The field frame shows signs that it has been rewound previously as the insulation is fairly modern. The good news is that the compensating coils all look repairable.
A problem in removing the alternator rotor from the main armature shaft has been discovered that will require some special tooling to be made up in order for the alternator rotor to be pulled from the main armature shaft. The alternator rotor needs to be removed in order to give access to the damaged coils in the armature. Investigation by Bowers in consultation with Brush at Loughborough has revealed that the rotor was shrunk on to the armature shaft on three different diameters, two tapered and the inner one parallel but retained with steel keys.
45133 is having its cab roof vents sealed to stop water entering the cabs through the roof vents. The roof vents have been removed, the vent holes have been blanked off and sealed, then the external vent covers refitted. Inside the cabs, the roof lining is being replaced as required. All of the traction motors have been examined and 5 have been stripped of their carbon brushes for new replacements to be fitted. The traction motor brush boxes are also being cleaned as far as possible without removal. In readiness for the locos visit to the Mid Norfolk Railways diesel gala (Friday 19th – Sunday 21st March) a general bogie exam is in progress.
Little work has been undertaken on the engine top end overhaul of 45135 3rd Carabinier recently due to the winter weather.
Current restoration work on 45149 has seen the silencer roof section receive attention and the damage at the generator end that occurred in 1993 has been repaired by group members. The roof arch had lost its shape when some of the bolts were left in when the roof was taken off the loco during restoration at Heysham with its previous owner. To regain its shape, the angle iron roof frame had slots cut into it and then using ratchet straps (as used to secure lorry trailer loads) the arch was gradually pulled down into position. Whilst this made a considerable difference to the shape, it was not quite close enough so a special clamp was made which anchored and pulled down the roof. This finally achieved the desired result and the roof is now back in shape again. The silencer has had two new mounting feet drilled and tapped after the originals broke off and a new leather connecting bellows between the silencer and turbo charger exhaust pipe made by a local saddlers. The fuel tank gauge has also been fitted.
The generator and auxiliary cables have been reconnected, completing the electrical connections between the power unit and the loco. The power unit has had all of the old coolant hoses removed and replaced with new hoses. Engine mounting bolts are in place and oil poured down the push rod tubes to lubricate the camshaft and rollers. The triple pump (which failed during the water pressure test undertaken towards the end of last year) has been found to have a couple of faults. The crane seal was leaking and the impellor and its housing were found to be damaged with a broken brass bolt on the housing. The impellor was also found to have a broken blade. A new crane seal came the group’s way after an appeal on the preserved-diesels web-site forum which prompted a response from a generous peak owning group and this has now been fitted.
The nose end crown has had the insulation fitted following weld repairs and the crown is now repainted and the insulation sealed with tape. The light and fittings are ready to be put back on and cab work at number 2 cab has seen attention to the ceiling with the wood frame put back up along with 2 overhauled cab lights.
46010 was loaded on to an Allely’s lorry in readiness for its move from Llangollen to Ruddington on Thursday 3rd December and the move managed to make it as far as the roadwork’s at Northwich where it was held for an overnight stay. The following day the move passed Hanley at 09:50 and arrived at East Leake at 13:35. Following preparation for the loco to be winched off the lorry, the pony wheel of the locos number 2 end touched down on to GCR(N) metals at 14:55 and the loco was subsequently hauled to Ruddington by D8007.
An attempt to start the loco on 5th December was made but the batteries were not up to it and have been put on charge occasionally since. Unfortunately the winter weather we have experienced recently has meant that the restoration team has been unable to get to Ruddington. One of the team still had 5 inches of solid ice on their driveway in Wales in the fourth week of January!
The restoration team are planning to check out the heat exchanger to ensure that it has survived the recent cold temperatures, change a leaking radiator element and investigate the leaking transition joints on a couple of the locos cylinder heads. Contact is also to be made with the person who did the bodywork repairs on D7629, 47292 and 56097 to assess the bodywork on 46010. Progress on the 46010 can be found at www.46010.co.uk/index.htm
Mikes Memories
45110 - an old friend
I like the picture of 45110 cresting the Lickey incline in April 1984. That was for me a great year spent photographing Peaks rather than riding behind them and on my way to an Easter holiday in Devon stopped off to get a shot of a Peak at the top of the Lickey. One element of railway operation back in the day were the extra services run in the summer and during public holidays and this service pulled by 45110 is one of these made up of older Mark I coaches without a buffet car. I have it recorded as 07.16 Plymouth – York and this view is used on the Peak Thrash CD we produced last year and still available of course for a modest £9 from the Club including postage.
It would not suit me to live in Australia where the seasons are not as pronounced as in England. The trees behind the loco are still bare but Springtime is a favourite time of year when warmer brighter days raise your hopes of a sunny summer, usually dashed! Later in this holiday I spent time chasing Peaks in Devon with my camera at Dawlish and Teignmouth but the results turned out to be mediocre. The return trip to the Nottingham yielded some excellent pictures of 45056 at Whiteball tunnel and after a locally made Devon pasty for lunch, more pictures of seasonal extra trains at Taunton from the famous footbridge.
45110 is itself one the very common Peaks for me when I did a lot of train riding and after enjoying 1548 miles behind it, this statistical popularity continued when I chased Peaks with my camera. My first picture of 45110 was taken on the locomotive test house when she had just lost the trade mark box indicator head codes during overhaul at Derby Works in March 1977. Various pictures of this venerable Toton passenger engine were obtained on the Midland mainline from Sheffield through many locations all the way down to St.Pancras. In 1982 I caught 45110 awaiting departure from Euston and rode on the service to Leicester via Bletchley when the Midland mainline was closed for electrification engineering work around St.Pancras. In September 1984 I found 45110 at Plymouth and captured her leaving northbound on the 08.53 Penzance – Newcastle which she had just taken over from a less charismatic engine.
Over the years, more pictures were taken including the last Derby Works overhaul for 45110 in January 1986 during which the orange warning line was added to the blue livery to remind staff not to venture above cab door height whilst under electric wires. I heard this followed some poor unfortunate chap at Kings Cross where a tank wagon was sometimes stabled there for some reason and he climbed the ladder to check the contents forgetting the 25KV hazard. When I spent time in the Pennines enjoying Wayne Herrings’ company and Yorkshire beer whilst photographing the Peak hauled Pennine services in 1986, 45110 was again a regular subject. As Class 45 operations declined after 1986, 45110 was seen again regularly operating the local Leicester – Leeds services and the remaining St.Pancras loco hauled services since she was one of the final few in service thanks to that 1986 late overhaul. 1987 was the last year I captured the loco in service on a football fan trip from Nottingham to London and on the 3C12 Derby – St.Pancras afternoon parcels. As the cameras got better, photo opportunities diminished but I managed to find 45110 on 31 occasions with my camera ready.
During a trip with work to Scotland my last sight of this familiar loco came unexpectedly at the back of Glasgow works where I found 45110 wearing faded blue paint after a couple of years open storage in Tinsley yard awaiting disposal at MC Metals scrap yard. We cant save all of the Peaks for preservation but I remember being disappointed along with several other fans that 45110 was not preserved when many more weary examples got saved.
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