During the week I had 8 spare gauge glasses cut for the fuel tanks. The first job on Saturday November 2nd was to replace the two broken glasses on the tanks.
The main saloon was started by covering in all the wiring with strips of hardboard cut from the remaining off-cuts of the small saloon. Next the remaining bags of glass fibre insulation were opened. By means of trial and error the pieces of insulation were fitted into the roof panel voids. Once completed the hardboard ceiling panels were cut and fixed in place. The weekend saw all fibre glass in place and 12 out of the 16 panels in position. Only one disaster occurred when I pushed too hard on the 'T' piece and it punctured one of the hardboard panels. This will be pulled out and treated as required.
Once the main panelling was underway Kevin cleared out the small saloon and began looking at the flooring. The decision had already been made to replace the linoleum flooring and with this in mind work could begin on looking at the dry/wet rot in the floor sheeting. Once the flooring had been taken back it could be seen that the floor panels were cut from 3/4" 'multiply' marine plywood sheets of varying width and most of the rot was confined to two sheets on the No. 2 side of the small saloon.
The main door pillar in the small saloon that was in a severe state of rusting was inspected by Dave Potter. A method of building up the steel was agreed. This method was to weld 2mm. thick steel strips lengthways along the sides of the pillar after grinding back to good metal and suitable treatment. This method will be used on all other pillars that require welding. Because the steel strips are flexible the curve on the tumblehome will be easily followed and hence the shape preserved.
Sunday night left 4 panels to be fitted in the main saloon. These were finished later the following week. The original idea was to paint the ceiling panels in white once they were in place. This was abandoned after the panels were cleaned down with degreaser and polished. The final surface being good enough to leave as it was.
During this week I received from Derby various electrical diagrams, drawings and the original specification for the new build of Lot 30419 as specified by Derby Works in 1957. This last mentioned item contained all sorts of useful information. The most pertinent to the unit at this time was a complete list of all required internal panels. It transpired that the roof was covered with 9' 'Laconite' panels not the 54" ones I had put up. Nine feet of course being 2 x 54". The side panels were formed from 'Formica' on Lloydboard the pattern being 'Bleached Mahogany'. As most of theses panels had seen better days I decided to replace them all with a more modern variety.
These panels were duly measured up the following weekend and although nearly the same as the original size were different enough to warrant a new set of measurements being made up. On Saturday November 16th the light fittings were put back in place and all went well until the last two small lights were being fitted at the No. 1 end. The holes cut by myself in the sheeting were 1" out of place and in order to fit the lamp fitting properly a recut was necessary. I pushed the wires into the hole and drilled. Success, the hole was in the right place, but failure I had nicked one of the wires and the whole lighting set up went haywire! All the lights worked but at much reduced voltage and with a variety of intensities as you went along the circuit! I was not convinced it was purely the lights at fault as the batteries were by now requiring a good charge not having been run for a month. Even so both engines started on the first turn and were left running.
'Young' Arthur Leeder was on site and after looking at various fittings and bulbs we reluctantly, it was raining heavily, repaired to the fuse box to inspect the lighting circuit fuses.
The lighting has two separate circuits, L1 and L2 in order that half lighting can be used via the guard's switch. I had blown the -ve fuse on the earth side of circuit L2. Arthur found a spare No. 5 fuse and this was duly changed. One half of the lights, circuit L2, came on bright and clear. The other circuit, L1, was dead. On the grounds that electrics and I do not mix, and Arthur was working on the BSK, I decided to leave the problem until the following morning. The time was approaching 1600 hrs. so after testing the final drives I called it a day, shut the engines down, cleaned up and went for a pint with Kevin.
On Sunday I fired up the engines as soon as I arrived and left them ticking over for the day to charge the batteries. I decided to check the fuses for a blown power fuse, i.e. one on the +ve side. This I found on the L1 side and it was duly replaced but as soon as I switched on the lights it blew again. I replaced it again but before switching on the circuit I took down the light fittings to check for loose wires. I found none so I called for assistance from Andy Diston who traced the problem to my wiring in a lamp socket. The red insulation of the power lead and the black wire from were in contact and were causing a short. This was fixed and the lights worked perfectly, at least on circuit L1. The circuit L2 was as dead as a Dodo. As we didn't have a voltmeter available to test the circuits the lights were left until the following weekend. Once again the final drives were tested and engaged successfully in both directions.
Work continued however with a concerted effort to remove the rotten plywood in the small saloon. This resulted in two pieces being removed. Replacement pieces of 3/4" plywood were obtained and prepared at home for replacement the following weekend.
A certain amount of woodwork will be needed to ensure the replacement pieces are strong enough to withstand the force of people constantly walking across them. To this end both pieces are to be fitted with 3/8" (9mm) dowels to fit into the remaining panels. The end towards the door will be secured by self tapping screws and of course the metal strap that runs the length of the saloon. The smaller piece is under a seat and although will need less secure fixings will be attached by the same means. The asbestos sheet under the floorboards is in a complete and good condition.
The final thing on the Sunday was to look at the rotten door pillar in the small saloon. I had on the unit a large sheet of 2mm. steel so I had the materials to complete the job. The other problem areas in the unit were also inspected and found to be mainly problems with the guttering. As it had rained incessantly since the Saturday lunchtime the gutters were sodden with the remaining dirt and accumulated leaves and detritus. The only cure will be a complete clean out with water and air line and either complete renewal or 'painting' with a waterproof membrane. That is for next year and in a different position in the yard. I decided to leave the rest until next weekend and left the site at 1530 hrs.. I was very disappointed about the lights as I suspect some if not all the light fittings and the ceiling panels will need to be taken down to trace the fault.
My suspicions of the preceding week were to come true as the lighting circuits still refused to work properly. With circuit L1 running circuit L2 blew and vice versa. As mentioned the only option was to drop all the light fittings together with the ceiling panels on the secondman's side, facing No. 1 cab, far enough to be able to get at the wiring conduit. The test then was to try the lights with no bulbs in; success, neither fuse blew. Each light was tested in turn and all lights performed faultlessly. This showed that the wiring loom was in good condition and the problem was in the light fittings. The conduit was sealed during Sunday November 24th and the lighting tested. It worked correctly. The ceiling was then replaced and once again the lights tested. They all worked correctly. Each fitting was then replaced and tested. Once again all lights worked perfectly. The only rewiring done was on the two lights in the small saloon. These lights had the main wires coming to a terminal block before two small wires went to the bulb holder proper. These wires were, most probably, the original as they were covered by white woven material. These were replaced with new BICC wire. Once all the lights were in place the final test showed both circuits were behaving properly on full and half lighting. The final job on the ceiling was to remeasure the gaps between the lamps for the beading.
The flooring was replaced with 3/4" plywood and using dowels was fixed into position. The doorside ends were screwed down using self tapping screws. The weekend was wet and miserable for most of the time. The Sunday was especially bad as it sleeted for most of the day. The final hour was spent in ascertaining why one specific window on the driver's side, facing No. 1 cab let in so much water. Upon close inspection it was found that a 1/2" hole had been drilled between the top of the window frame and the guttering effectively bypassing the guttering itself into the main saloon. Until I can weld the hole up a rubber bung will be inserted ASAP.
The rubber bung was dutifully inserted the following Saturday. But it didn't rain so the efficacy of the insertion could not be tested.
The first job of the day was to start the No. 1 engine to top up the batteries. The engine fired up first time. The next job was to replace the second of the small light fittings at the No. 1 end of the main saloon. Once this was done the lights were tested and all systems functioned correctly.
The beading to finish the ceiling was brought onto site already varnished and cut to size. I could not put the beading up as I found I had not got any screw cups to fit the screws I was to use. A visit to the builder's merchant will sort that out for next week. The rest of the day was spent in using the angle grinder to remove the remains of the internal window metals and cleaning up the side panels.
The internal window wood is made of 1"x 1 5/16" x 43" (horizontal) and 36" upright hard wood inserts. These were bolted/screwed into place on 5/8" steel spacers. On the bad windows the spacers had rusted to almost nothing. The wood and the metal remains were cut out and the areas cleaned up. The new spacers will be made from 5/8" x 1 1/4" hard wood with brass bolts to hold the inserts and spacers in place. This will allow more air circulation and better drainage from condensation.
The water drainage pipes from the windows are made from black plastic tubing clipped into place on the outer skin framework. These were removed from the bad window areas and will be replaced by flexible rubber or composite tubing. The whole of the unit will eventually be done. In total 36 lengths of 3' each will be needed. The tubing will be extended through the plating between the outer panel and mainframe to provide proper drainage and to alleviate the rusting problems in this area.
An attempt was made to remove the wooden door frame pillar from the badly rusted steel pillar but was a conspicuous failure as I had no drills that would make an indentation in most of the screws. I don't know what they are made of but it's very hard indeed. As it transpired the wood did not need to be removed as the badly rusted areas can be patched from the other side of the pillar.
The steel areas were then painted with Dinitrol RC800 and when dry repainted with red oxide. Two windows were completed including the very rusty main door pillar in the small saloon as mentioned earlier. The door pillar will be patched where required and a new upright plate will be fashioned in one piece cut out of 2mm steel sheet and welded in place.
The following Sunday was spent at Shackerstone inspecting the line's Class 122 M55005, and the Class 116 twin set both of which are in an as withdrawn condition. The day was most profitable as certain small problems, as far as the reconstruction of 55003 was concerned, were sorted out. For units only two apart in the sequence of building the detail variation is amazing. Similarly the problems I have had with 55003 are now becoming apparent in 55005 especially on the bodywork. A close association of both groups will be of advantage to all.
The next Saturday, December 7th, work commenced on cutting out and cleaning up the last, and worst, of the internal steel panels. This panel will need to be replaced over half its area. This area includes the window. In order to minimise water ingress the outside was layered with special self adhesive 'tin foil'. This allowed the interior to be cleaned down using the angle grinder and then coated with RC800.
Once completed the previous week's work was painted with red oxide. The afternoon was spent in putting up the beading down the centre of the ceiling panels. It sets the work off quite well and closes the gaps where there was no complete centre line wood beam was available to secure the panels to. Finally I went across to Bletchley to pick up the wood for the window interior supports and door inserts from Bletchley Timber.
The timber used in the door inserts and the window supports was made of Cedar and as it is extremely expensive to purchase I opted for a cheaper hard wood called Ramin. The first part I fabricated was a new horizontal window support. This progressed extremely well and was soon finished. The next part was its corresponding upright support. At this point the flaw in my plan was noticed. I had planned to use brass bolts countersunk into the wood and fastened into the upright pillar. It was then I realised you can't get at the bolt if it is the upright.
After a bit of headscratching I had three further ideas. One was to use self tapping screws into mild steel, the next to use Rawlplugs fitted into suitable drill holes and the third to use flat right angled plates to hold both. I am yet undecided about the Rawlplugs but am quite happy to use the right angled plates. This is mainly due to the fact that the uprights will need a considerable amount of welding and therefore not be in a suitable state for drilling at least too much.
The first door insert was fabricated. I was going to use 2" brass screws to hold it together. However the first screw snapped whilst being screwed in. I forgot brass was softer than steel! After this I decided to cease fabrication and take the fabricated parts home to be treated with wood preserver and varnished. The window inserts can be used as templates and the three pairs were manufactured over the following two weeks. The door inserts will need to be individually made as the variation in size is as much as 1/2" in 26".
The final job undertaken on Sunday was to put all the luggage racking back in position. I know they will need to be removed when the panelling is replaced but in order to clear the floor and provide suitable storage space for all the bits and pieces it was carried out. This has left the interior ready for welding, clearing and eventual reflooring.
The last weekend spent working before Christmas was the weekend of December 14th and 15th. On the Saturday further work was done in preparing the new door inserts and finalising the correct measurements of the window frame supports. Work was cut short at 1100 hrs as I was called into work.
One problem noticed after running the engines up was that the unloader valve was frozen up. There was a heavy frost and a ground temperature of -5 degrees C. This resulted in the air pressure building up to well over 100 psi. Fortunately no damage resulted showing the air receivers to be in good condition. The problem was got around by opening up one of the wiper motors run switches on the second man's side. This relieved the air pressure as no wiper is fitted so the excess air pressure bled off.
Although not yet achieved I will have to dismantle the air intake ports and associated tank. The tank is filled with an anti air freeze mixture originally meths but lately a proprietary solution 'Killfrost'. One problem that became noticeable with the use of 'Killfrost' was that the seals especially in the gearboxes and final drives became hard and cracked causing air leakage problems. This was not prevalent during the use of meths so it's back to meths we will go. The tank will need cleaning out as the 'Killfrost' leaves a black mess as residue whereas meths is more or less self cleaning. When the air receivers are dismantled for certification the whole system can be blown clean.
The Sunday was spent at home doing the cutting and preparing of the wood for the door inserts and window frames.
The saloons as mentioned have been tidied up ready for reflooring and a plastic bag full of broken window frames was taken home ready to be sorted out. After sorting into individual frames it was discovered that only one corner piece was missing. This will need to be refabricated by Bletchley Timber. The rest is salvageable but will need a considerable amount of work to bring them back to a good condition. The remainder of the window frames are in one piece and in good condition. The work to restore them will begin when the better weather returns as they all require sanding down restaining and revarnishing. This can be done as a background task during the week outside and during the summer months.
The window frame inserts were finished off over the following week and the door inserts are now ready for replacing. The No. 1 side door inserts will be fitted when I can get the unit moved so I can open the respective doors.
The unit was started during Sunday 22nd December with no troubles and the batteries kept topped up with charge. Hopefully a run can be arranged before the year end to keep the unit rolling properly.
After Christmas the next two working days were Saturday and Sunday 28th and 29th December. The engines were run up and engine No. 275 was shut down after oil was seen to be escaping from the exhaust. Work continued on the inside with the door inserts being fitted and measured up for any final alterations. The new interior window frames were fitted and the new tubings for the window drains were also fitted. The beading remaining on the floor was removed to allow complete freedom to remove the old flooring. The sheet metal pieces that are screwed to the floor panels and welded to the side frame uprights in order to take the fixings for the interior side panels were measured up for replacement fittings where required.
Sunday was spent at home in making the replacement metal fittings, cleaning down the foot plates for the door wells and finishing and varnishing the door inserts.
As the end of 1996 approaches I can say it has been a very exceptional year. The unit as bought was in a mess. It is now an operational unit with 5 runs up and down the branch to its credit. The internal refurbishment is proceeding apace and the acquisition of spares is also proceeding quite well.
However with problems regarding the possible loss of the secure sidings at Chinnor due to the closure of the Rugby Cement Works and the transfer of the line's Class 117 to Long Marston I am unsure of the unit's future here. As a result I am in the process of finding a suitable permanent new home for the unit. 1997 will be a year of even more progress maybe not as dramatic as 1996 but will see the unit more or less fully functional once again 5 years after withdrawal.
1997 dawned cold and snowy and on January 1st the unit was topped up with antifreeze and meths but was still slow to start. After the week before when I shut down the No. 2 engine I had spoken to Keith Jackson about the problem. He advised that the unit had been idling too much and the cure was to run the engines hard i.e. about half throttle to burn off the excess oil form the exhaust pipes. This was duly done and for about 45 minutes the exhaust pipes bubbled and smoked and the exhaust itself burned blue. After that the exhaust was totally clear on both engines.
The only problem was a sticking EP valve. After shutting down the engines I attempted to seat the errant valve but only succeeded in disengaging one of the final drives! I discovered this as I started up the engines to see what effect I had had. The engine in question was shut down immediately and hopefully no damage has been done except to my nerves as the last thing I want is a failed final drive. As Kevin would be down the following weekend when the unit had to be prepared to be moved I left the job until then. The Class 117 is to be moved off the railway during the following week so 55003 will need to be towable again.
The new door fittings were screwed into place and apart from having too much draught exclusion foam fit a treat. All cleaned foot plates were refitted to all doors where applicable.
The following Saturday January 6th was still cold with snow on the ground. The first job was to top up the radiators with antifreeze and the air system with meths.. This proved that about 2 litres of coolant either evaporated or leaked away during running from each system and that once the engines were warm the aroma of meths could distinctly be smelt showing it was reaching the parts it wasn't before.
The yellow fibre glass rolls were transferred to the FO for C&PRR use as I was to use slab glass fibre insulation in the side panels. This left the guard's van half empty so the two-seat frames were restacked and the old interior panels and guard's van panelling were stored here out of the main saloons.
The heater vents were lifted and taken away for cleaning and refurbishment. This left the floor completely clear for lifting. The metal side pieces were brushed clean and red oxided for protection. The replacement pieces were drilled and red-oxided ready for screwing into place. One of the final two door inserts was prepared and taken away for finishing and varnishing. The final one will be fitted when I can open the door far enough! So much for all the facilities available at Chinnor.
Once Kevin arrived No. 2 engine was fired up and after sufficient air pressure was built up both final drives were isolated with no further worries. The engine was run above idling speed and the exhaust burnt clear. The leaking EP valve still would not seat properly and will be left as is until the better weather arrives.