Restoration diary

Dave Rolfe continued measuring, cutting and fitting flooring into the no.1 cab of Renown. Chris Bodell painted some more cab fittings & panels, and varnished the completed flooring in no.2 cab, Ian & Pete fitted two big end bearing caps now the suppliers have sent Ian the nuts for the stretch bolts that they were out of stock of. They were in the process of fitting a third cap but one of the four stretch bolts seemed unwilling to fit, so they had to remove the cap to see what the problem was. Nothing was obviously amiss, but by then the light was fading, so they didn't refit the third cap. My two GWR mates (Matt & Roger) who had visited a few weeks ago again came up, this time armed with some 185mm through-crimps and a large hydraulic crimper, so in the morning we did a test joint to see how it looked, and the result was encouraging. After crimping both sides of the crimp, a layer of heat-shrink sleeving was applied and heat-shrunk. A large amount of insulation tape was then wrapped round the crimp over the sleeving, then a second layer of heat-shrink sleeving was applied and shrunk. We used the group's 1000v Megger to check if there was any leakage to earth, and the Megger result was a full-scale needle deflection to the Megger's capacity of 2 Mega Ohms (2 million ohms). Any reading over 1 megaohm is considered good, and as the Megger only registers up to 2 Meg, the actual reading would therefore have been higher, which means this type of crimp, which is rated at 11,000 volts, should be more than adequate for both the severed main traction cabling and the main ETH cabling, as the maximum expected traction voltage is around 1000 volts. If I can find someone with a higher-capacity Megger, I will repeat the insulation test. Joining the cables in this way will remove a significant amount of time, effort and expense from the work needed to complete Repulse. After lunch, we crimped the last couple of 16mm cables, connected them, then Matt connected four cables to resistors on top of the cubicle which I am too much of a shortarse to reach.

Ian & Pete fitted three pistons and two heads during the day, Chris B continued working in the no.2 cab of Repulse refitting internal panelling, and I fitted several 16mm & 35mm cables I had crimped new lugs on, where the originals had been cut off & fortunately they were still long enough to re-fit them without incident.

Very busy weekend on site. 50037 saw another two days effort on body preparations for its repaint. Vast amounts of filler were also removed from under the driver's screen revealing the full extent of the dents from a major impact sometime between 1982 and 1984. 50029 saw the spare cubicle doors removed from no 2 cab for storage in BG2. 50008's engine received further attention with more water jacket elbows refitted and head tightening. BG1 had a major tidy up after racking had to be dismantled to enable a new workbench to be loaded within it. And finally both locomotives were winterised with heavy tarpaulins fitted to keep the weather out of the engine rooms over the winter. Bodies on site Chris Dom Tim Pete Steve Sarah Dave Tom Chris.

As I have missed the last two work parties for various reasons, this report will cover the period from the last update on July 4th. Dave & Chris Thorn, assisted at times by Chris Bodell & Mark Burrows, have continued to sort and load the items stored outside into the second BG. Chris B has also made good progress cleaning & painting in 30s no.2 cab, and refitting various covers & wooden trims. Ian & Pete have continued re-fitting pistons with new rings, big end shells and stretch bolts, and torquing down cylinder heads. All the above continued today, and Tim & Dom made an appearance to catch up with our Flying Dutchman; Paul Sturm, who was visiting from Holland. Paul spoke at length with us to see the progress we have made since his last visit two years ago, then very kindly bought us all a drink at the end of the day at the Church Inn by Darley Dale.

Dave made some more space in BG2, before he and myself forklifted 6 turbos on to pallets ready for loading into the north end. We also palleted up a fan motor and scrapped the frame off a compressor. I painted more turbo and intercooler pipework, using our new spray gun.

Ian, Pete & Dave hoisted up and fitted another three overhauled cylinder heads to the power unit, and torqued them, and another head previously fitted, down to 600ft lbs. Chris B cleaned & painted some sections of intercooler & turbo pipework & I carried on tidying the small control cables with cable ties & attempted to fit the last three remaining sections of 185mm cable to the field divert resistors, but found them all apparently the wrong length and with crimps fitted at angles which at the moment prevents them from being bolted to their connections on the reverser.

Due to various reasons, we decided to cancel the last work party. This weekend Ian and Pete made a list of parts needed to complete the top end engine overhaul so they can hopefully be ordered this week from the supplier. They then continued refitting the new big end shells we had in stock, temporarily using old nuts on the stretch bolts, as we wait for more new ones. Finally, with the help of Dave and forklift truck, they brought the remaining overhauled heads round from the shed, ready for refitting to the power unit. Tim, Dom, Chris B, Chris T & Dave moved a significant amount of the items in the shed into our newly-acquired second BG for storage. Mark B brought two car loads of spares he has been keeping in his garage to also go into the new coach. I finished laying in the control wiring for the reverser, and started tidying up the loose wiring with lots of cable ties

We cancelled the last work party as it was the diesel gala and we had been told there would be no yard access. Today, Ian & Pete torqued down two more cylinder heads, but as they were working on the side of the power unit next to Renown, they found access difficult for the four-foot long torque multiplier, so just tightening two heads down to 600 ft lbs of torque took virtually all day. I sweltered inside Repulse finishing connecting the cables onto the main neutral terminal bar, then started sorting the control cables for the reverser. I also compared a large 1000mfd electrolytic capacitor (the size of a large baked beans tin) that I have been loaned, with ones we have on the input boards for the KV10's, to see if they will fit, and I found they did. We need four of these capacitors per KV10 input board, but as ours have not been used in at least 10 years, I have been advised they will probably no longer function, and I have been trying to source replacements. We had an unexpected call for help from Peak Rail in the afternoon, as one of the P.Way gang fell of a rail wagon and sustained possible hip, neck or back injuries, and we assisted the ambulance crew carrying the man to the ambulance.

Dave continued cleaning & painting the second turbo, and yesterday examined the two remaining turbos on the power unit & found they both rotate freely, which is good news. Ian & Pete torqued down two cylinder heads to 600fpt, then examined the camshafts in the power units still in the locos to see if they were in better condition than the section that has some water damage in the ex-008 unit, but found both sections examined were in similar condition due to having stood idle for so long, so an off-site repair is looking likely. Chris Bodell continued his dirty work cleaning the clean air compt at No1 end, and has almost finished the one side now. I continued wrestling with the field divert cables, but found one marked for the one position that appears about two feet too short, so this will need further investigation.

Ian, Pete, Chris T & Tom washed down both locos for their appearance at the upcoming PR diesel gala & by the end of the day, both locos looked pretty good. Chris B has taken on the unenviable task of cleaning debris from the No.1 end clean air room, and by close of play it was difficult to see where his overalls stopped and his head started! Dave Rolfe has dismantled and freed off the stuck turbo and is now cleaning and painting it. I fitted the last two missing sections of 185mm cable to the field divert resistors, and spent the rest of the day wrestling with the six 3mtr lengths that drop down to the reverser, as they need to be fitted in a certain order to avoid having them tangled, which requires fitting and removal multiple times until you get it right, not that easy due to the confined space of the thin-man's passage and they are quite stiff due to their size.

On arrival at Peak Rail today, we discovered copper thieves had cut the four cables under No.2 end bogie to one of the traction motors. Two Peak Rail coaches had also been vandalised. This was reported to PR management. After examining Repulse, we discovered no other obvious damage & the other five motors seem to have escaped untouched. Ian, Pete & Dave stripped the seized turbocharger & removed both sets of bearings & although the shaft would move slightly along its axis, it stubbornly refuses to rotate, so this will be investigated further next workparty. I continued sorting & fitting the cables to the field divert contactors & resistors, discovering we are two lengths short, but have several duplicate surplus lengths which have been marked with their positions & could be used as spares or for Renown.

Mark, Pete & Chris attended Booths to recover various EE generator components and also managed to acquire various cab idents from the demic WCRC 47's that had recently arrived.

Dave, Ian and Pete checked all the turbos under the tarpaulin to find a suitable A1 example suitable for repair. The turbo of choice being finally identified as the one right at the back! Extraction took best part of all day before taking it over to the container. Chris T made a start on cleaning the clean air compartment at no.1 end, before Chris B took over this task. The Chris's commenced disconnection of No 1 end blower ready for lifting but progress is currently thwarted by a rather tight impeller nut.

Skipping the temptation of four round trips on Thunderer, Chris T treated corrosion in no2 end clean air compartment and gave the whole floor a coat of primer. Dave completed the repaint of B1 turbo which has been serviced and cleaned. The redundant staging alongside Repulse was also dismantled to improve access around the loco.

Chris B cleaned the exterior and honed the interior of three more brake cylinders, Ian & Pete fitted three more pistons to the power unit, Dave fabricated a second drip tray that goes under the turbos, as the originals are quite badly corroded, Mark B brought some of the latest Booths acquisitions for storage, while I fitted the connecting bars between no.s 1 & 2 field divert contactors & started sorting the large cables that go between the field divert resistors, contactors & the reverser into their correct positions. Once this is done, they will be removed, properly cleaned & fitted permanently.Chris B cleaned the exterior and honed the interior of three more brake cylinders, Ian & Pete fitted three more pistons to the power unit, Dave fabricated a second drip tray that goes under the turbos, as the originals are quite badly corroded, Mark B brought some of the latest Booths acquisitions for storage, while I fitted the connecting bars between no.s 1 & 2 field divert contactors & started sorting the large cables that go between the field divert resistors, contactors & the reverser into their correct positions. Once this is done, they will be removed, properly cleaned & fitted permanently.