The first task undertaken in late January 1996 was to remove the two saloon heaters, both of which were barely hanging onto the heater ducting. The heater ducting was also taken down to be refurbished off site. Various mods will be incorporated to ensure the future stability of the heater and heater mountings. Both heaters have been replaced and the original ones dismantled, cleaned and overhauled as spare.
The next was to protect the body against the ravages of the weather until such time as the full body refurbishment could be undertaken. To this end all the rust patches and paint bubbles were scraped and wire brushed and painted with a proprietary rust preventative solution Dinitrol.
The unit was originally stabled on the line next to the Rugby Cement lorry wash and hence was not only open to the water from the washing plant but the cement dust blowing up from the road. The drains from the washer were also in a poor state of repair and were constantly overflowing. As the main pipes ran under the sidings the overflow caused a mixture of mud and cement to accumulate between the rails. This was not conducive to working under the unit, especially with a steam cleaner!
The first artefacts to be transported from the unit for refurbishment after the heaters and ducting had been removed were the saloon lamp shades and surrounds. The shades are the old hemispherical glass type and very fragile. All came up exceptionally clean and now look resplendent. The surrounds after years of neglect have been thoroughly cleaned and restored to their original silver alloy shade. The only broken shades were the two 'mini' shades from the front of the passenger saloon at number 1 end. One was cracked but has been completely refurbished. The other has a sliver missing but has been reconstructed with super glue. Eventually, over the following years, replacements have been acquired.
The light surrounds in the cabs were a mixture of ceramic and pressed steel with wooden base plates. Over the years succeeding overhauls only painted over these surrounds. The metal surrounds have now been replaced with properly restored ceramic ones. With a good deal of soaking in various solutions, mainly hot water, the paint was successfully removed. The wooden base plates are the original ones found on the unit and although cleaned and repainted are as they were found.
It was decided to start the restoration proper by refurbishing the batteries, dropping both engines and refurbishing both cabs in that order.
The batteries, after a visual inspection had found nothing amiss, were removed and checked for voltage. They ranged from 1 volt to a negative voltage on two batteries. They were recharged professionally to ensure those that had gone -ve polarity would recover correctly. They all recovered correctly and were to function adequately for another two and a half years until the failure of one cell necessitated a replacement.
Chinnor in 1996 was not blessed with any pits or inside facilities whatsoever so all work has been completed in the open or away from the railway.
After consultation with John Price at the Severn Valley Railway it was decided that the removal of the engines would best be achieved by using either a fork lift truck or in our case a pallet truck. The engines weigh approximately 750 kg. The task had to be performed on land where a solid base was available. To this end Rugby Cement allowed access onto their land to the concrete standing where the work was carried out. The engines had been put up only and had no pipework or electrical connections made. After the engine mounting bolts etc. had been loosened to a 'hand tight' fit the job was completed in approximately 1 hour. The engines were then craned onto pallets for later work.
An ongoing task was and still is, the acquisition of spares.
Once again courtesy of John Price (SVR), Don Almey, Barry Wheatley of J.F. Booth's of Rotherham and Jim McWilliam of MC Metals of Glasgow a quantity of spares has been amassed including spare engines and spare gearboxes. Other spares have been acquired especially on the electrical side, e.g. throttle motor relays and control panels, together with alternators and exhausters.
The interior refurbishment of the unit commenced with a decision to complete both cabs first, so that when the unit was re-engined it would at least be driveable. To this end work was started on the No. 2 cab in early February 1996.
All instrumentation and fittings were removed for refurbishment and testing. All gauges were in very good working order and minimal work had to be done on any of them.
The wiring was overhauled and repaired as required and a source of bulbs found to replace those that had failed. It's amazing how many different types of bulbs there are on a 'standard' unit!!
The driver's cab (water) heaters were overhauled and all tinwork cleaned and painted. The roof was degreased, cleaned and repainted in white to give the cab a lighter more airy feel. The wood work was cleaned down and revarnished and all paintwork either cleaned up or repainted. The melamine areas were left until the rest of the refurbishment was complete. The interior window glass was cleaned and the internal window blinds either refurbished or replaced with new ones.
The desk in No 2 cab was in a very poor state especially on the second man's side and was obviously the original 'melamine/bakerlite' material. The desk on the driver's side was not in such a poor state so that was left in situ. The driver's area was scraped down, rubbed down and repainted. The second man's side was removed and replaced with a more modern sheeting. It was also replaced with a view to ease of access to the fittings. For this the sheet was not in one complete piece but tailored to fit around and under the various fittings. It was drilled and screwed down with self tapping screws with proper collars to give a professional finish.
Whilst refurbishing the fittings various 'surprises' have come to light. The red emergency brake handles, painted and repainted over the years, were dismantled and were found to be the original fittings with brass operating handles. That'll keep the cleaners busy when the unit is running! The racking above the door from the cab into the guard's area or saloon was removed and found to be pure Swindon. The only change was the use of wire instead of the original string netting. The wooden bar used to hold the side brackets together was stamped in GWR style 55003 and the side brackets themselves were still in GWR/BR WR chocolate. This marking was also repeated on ALL the wood beading used in the main saloons. One bracket was marked BR/WR 1966.
The flooring, apart from lifting all inspection hatches and taking back the edges to expose the extent of the wood rot, was left until the saloons were refurbished, when a complete reflooring of the whole unit took place.
The No. 2 cab was 'finished' on Monday May 27th 1996 with the ceremonial replacing of the overhauled driver's chair.
Whilst the No. 2 cab refurbishment was ongoing the dismantling of No 1 cab was also proceeding. This cab was in a particularly grubby state but in a better physical state than No. 2. Because of this the replacement of various parts has been minimal. The instrumentation and all fittings have been overhauled, then repainted or re-varnished as required. The No. 1 cab received a full refurbishment (scraping and rubbing down) and repaint of the desk area and roof and was ready for service by mid August 1996 a little behind schedule. It was however in a sufficiently complete state to allow testing to take place in late July 1996 (see later).