Restoration diary

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.