A supplier of glass fibre insulation slabs has been found and over the next few weeks I will be reinstating the insulation into the panels that are in order ready for refitting of the new internal panelling itself.
The following Friday, January 10th, I bought a pack of the slab insulation and ordered the new beading for the side panel fitting. This beading is cut so that the internal melamine side panels sit on the beading about 0.5" off the flooring. The beading is then screwed onto the metal panels that form the join between floor and metal side panel. This fixing holds the melamine panels in place.
On Saturday, January 11th, began the replacement of the insulation in the small saloon. The initial task was to finish off grinding down and removing any other rust patches on the internal body panels and coating with red oxide. Next the new window drain tubes were threaded through the holes in the cover panels. By mid afternoon the small saloon was completely reinsulated and ready for the final welding and replacement of the internal melamine panels.
The metal strip that the seats are screwed to and that had been removed to allow renewal of the rotten floor boarding was refurbished and refixed to the floor. All the floor seat fixing strips will need to be cleaned down and red oxided then accurately measured. This is required as they will be covered by the flooring when replaced and the fixing points for the seat bolts/screws need to be known for easy refixing.
About 11 o'clock Andy Fowler arrived and assisted by making a good start on removing the flooring from the large saloon. By the mid afternoon 75% of the large saloon was completed. Following on Sunday the flooring in both saloons was removed by Andy. The whole unit was devoid of flooring by lunch time. One curious find was a hole about 4" x 3" in the floor above the No. 1 gearbox. As I could think of no reason for it's existence I plated it with 3/8" plywood.
The unit was cleared out and is now ready for the final grinding out of any rust patches so that the new drain tubing can be inserted and the insulation cut and fitted to the side panels. The final job undertaken was to change the oil in the generator.
It transpires that the hole was cut out to facilitate the fitting of a hot water type heater similar to that found in the cabs. Evidently it was not a success.
The next Saturday, January 18th, the body side panels in the main saloon were ground down and painted with Dinitrol. The only panels that were not touched were the two panels directly behind the No. 1 cab. These panels were fitted with insulation ready for interior panelling. One base frame in one of the windows was found to be extensively corroded so it was removed and ground down ready for Dinitrol and red oxide. The door footplates were lifted and the wooden areas painted with a proprietary wood preservative for rotten and slightly damaged wood. The infusion had to be left for a week to ensure it had dried properly. The solution soaks into the wood and dries as a resin thus ensuring the longevity of the remaining good wood. The penultimate floor/side panel was redoxided and is now drilled and ready for fitting as soon as the welding is complete on the interior framework.
Sunday I spent the day at home working on the interior window frames and fabricating a new base frame for the removed one. Andy worked on the unit during the Sunday and finished off the red oxiding of the remaining interior metal panels ready for the fitting of the insulation during the next weekend.
During the week the first of the interior window frames was finished. All that is still outstanding on this frame is the fitting of corner pieces and putting in place. The woodstain colour chosen was teak. Saturday, January 25th, saw the fitting of new window drain pipes in the remaining windows of the main saloon, the new window base frame, the fitting of the remaining insulation in the main saloon by Andy and the filling with 'plastic wood' in the door wells ready for refitting of the foot plates. The two cabs were also made ready by myself by red oxiding the exposed metal panels above the driver's desk and the subsequent fitting of the insulation in the recesses.
Kevin arrived in the early afternoon to discuss the situation of the running agreement and the 'board's' decision to ask me to remove the unit by the end of February. It appears that not all the board knew what was going on and that the decision had upset a lot of people. The board meeting to discuss the situation is on Wednesday, January 29th. As I have already asked three railways, the NVR, SVR and Shackerstone, for permission to move the situation is quite delicate and at present I am disposed to move. Just in case the unit is to move the springs and other requisite points were oiled and made ready. The interior of both saloons is now more or less ready for reflooring and once the internal welding is complete ready for the new internal panels. The two cabs are now ready for internal panelling to be replaced. A start can now be made on the exterior of the unit with especial attention being given in the short term to the guttering, the roof and the plating between the tumblehome plating and the mainframes. Once these are in order the major task of the main body work can start.
Sunday, January 26th, was spent once again at home fabricating the final floor/side panel out of a piece of thin gauge sheet metal. All that is required is that it is drilled, red oxided and screwed in place. Later the beading that attaches the internal formica side panels to the floor/side panel metal pieces was painted with wood preservative and late on Sunday given its first coat of teak stain. At lunchtime Kevin and I had a trip out to look at 55023 which is now on the scrap line at BY depot. Similarly the last remaining Class 116 driving car was on the depot and in good overall condition but with thrown exhauster/alternator belts.
During the following week more pieces from the internal window frames were cleaned down, stained and varnished. A start was also made on replacing the broken ends of the corner pieces of the frames. The pieces will need filling and rubbing down before staining and varnishing but the new corners should last for some considerable time. I have also had 10 new corners fabricated in Mahogany by Bletchley Timber using one of the old corners as a template. The finish is excellent and the fitting is also very good. I will have 4 or 5 spare corners at the end of the rebuilding. The beading for the internal panels was restained and varnished and is now ready for putting in place once the vinyl floor covering has been relaid.
The following Saturday, February 1st, the batteries were put on charge utilising the new battery charger. The most that appeared to go into the batteries using my generator was 3 or 4 amps on 12 volts and is not satisfactory. I will split the batteries into two banks and retry. The engines were tried at the end of the day with a singular lack of success although the battery condition indicator indicated good batteries but not fully charged ones. The starter motor(s) did not even engage.
The door footplate fittings were refitted into the refurbished foot wells. They have all taken properly and are now fitted securely. The last floor/side panel was red oxided and fitted. The final trimming of the flooring around the sliding door fittings was finished and the saloons were swept out ready for reflooring.
At last two outstanding jobs from the end of last year were tackled. The two belts on the No. 1 engine, No. 900, to the right angled drive were changed and the gearbox final drive end bearing seal, also at No. 1 end, was dismantled ready for replacement. The seal, seal housing and bolts were taken home for cleaning and replacement. The seal has to be driven out of the housing and the new one driven in. After much head scratching I completed the task by using the old seal to drive home the new seal to its full extent. Easy when you know how. The manual was followed explicitly and the seal was packed with the correct grease. When dismantled there was no grease on the seal edges at all. I had also been given a set of rubber 'O' rings by John Price on the SVR for what I did not know but I was to find out.
The gearbox final drive and seal is held in place by a huge castelated nut, washer, 'O' ring and split pin. The 'O' ring on the gearbox output shaft when dismantled was flattened and dry. The washer used with the castelated nut is backed by a rubber seal and with the 'O' ring seals the drive flange end to the gearbox output shaft. In undoing the nut very little effort was expended so I suspect that the main seal was in fact in good order but the 'O' ring was failing and the nut was undertight. I sealed the washer with Loctite and tightened the nut up an extra notch. All the nuts on the connecting bolts to the final drive were replaced with new Nyloc nuts. The gearbox turned with no undue noises or effort and a litre of gearbox oil was put in. Another litre of oil will be required and the gearbox tested.
The week was spent on the continuing refurbishment of the remaining broken window frames
Saturday, February 8th, was spent at work and as Sunday dawned wet and windy Chinnor was given a miss and more work was done at home on the window frames.
The week was spent on refurbishing the remainder of the broken window frames and I will soon be in a position to be able to make up these frames. This leaves just the 'good' frames to be refurbished and the broken frames to be rebuilt.
During the week I took delivery of a new battery charger from Deakin Davensets of Rugby and Saturday February 14th was the first day of trying it out. After arrival at Chinnor I tried to start the engines but apart from a 'click' as the stop solenoid came out no movement was discerned from the starter motor on either side. I wired the charger into the BR charger socket but the use of crocodile clips from the charger leads gave problems so this idea was abandoned.
Wiring the charger across one bank of batteries terminals but charging each bank in parallel i.e. two sets of 12v batteries as opposed to one set of 24v, gave an input current of approximately 3 amps. I was most disappointed as I expected a far higher charging rate. I left the charger going for most of the day but did not try to start the engines again.
Of the three railways that had been contacted regarding a future home for the unit only the Severn Valley railway had responded albeit in the negative. I decided therefore to approach a railway more or less on my doorstep, the Northampton and Lamport Railway. I spoke to Mark Herbert who gave me the telephone numbers of the railway and of the Chairman, Bob Faulkner.
I telephoned the railway and as luck would have it they were talking about future developments on the railway one of which was an extra DMU to supplement the Class 108/117 hybrid unit already on the line. The Class 108 is a driving trailer and the Class 117 is a power car. Therefore if the Class 117 fails the whole unit is a failure. With 55003 the railway will have the possibility of running a 1, 2 or 3 car set. with the bubble covering for a failure in the 117 and vice versa. A meeting was arranged for the following Sunday February 15th. The meeting went well and a verbal agreement was arranged subject to board approval etc.. The board meeting was arranged for Wednesday February 26th and a visit to inspect the unit for Saturday March 8th.
I spent the next two weekends on holiday in Germany photographing eastern German narrow gauge.
Upon return on Sunday March 2nd Bob had called to ensure the visit was on. So on the following Saturday I arrived at Chinnor at 0830 and began recharging the batteries. I split the banks into two and charged each set up separately. On one bank all batteries were at 2.1 v each but on the other bank two batteries were down at 1.9 v. I think this is the problem of the starting. I polished both cab desks and made sure 55003 was in as good a condition as possible. However the inspection went well and formal agreement was reached for 55003 to go to Pitsford.
I oiled all round to make sure the unit was ready for movement and decided to retry the engines at about 1530 hrs.. The batteries were reconnected and as if in anticipation of the move the engines fired up ON THE FIRST TURN and I was happy. I checked the No 1 gearbox seal and the box was dry. I started work on the frames and chipped off the old paint from the No. 1 cab end buffer beam and painted it in red oxide then retired to the pub for a welcome beer.
The move was agreed with Bob and Allelys' for delivery to Northampton on Thursday 27th March. The move is to be a double move as Kevin has been successful in purchasing Class 121 55023 from Bletchley depot. This will be a good acquisition for Chinnor as it is in a more or less complete condition. Although some work will need to be done on making 55023 water tight and replacing interior panelling and it comes with no spares.
The last of the 5 dismantled interior window frames was glued together during the week and a start was made on the 'good' complete frames. I expect to be able to complete one a week during the spring and summer.
The following Saturday was spent at work however I ordered a MIG welder from a firm in Nottingham. This will allow me to get on with welding the unit in my own good time. I managed to get to Pitsford Station during the Sunday. I had gone ostensibly to explain the moving situation to Bob and Dave and after a walk up and down the line assisted Dave and Martin in cleaning down the traction motor blower assembly off 26010.
The week following was spent in cleaning down the six small window frames and gluing new corners on where required. The final weekend at Chinnor was Saturday and Sunday March 22nd and 23rd. On the Saturday I succeeded in removing the top steps from the No. 1 side despite being hemmed in by the recently arrived Class 25 D7529. The engines ran up with no problems and after leaving for a while to warm up were run hard to clear the exhaust passages. This was achieved well within 30 minutes when the exhaust ran clean.
In the No. 1 cab I noticed that below the indicator box the melamine panelling had been forced out of its position and when pressed showered rust. I removed the panelling and found the reason to be water leakage from the glass front down and under the route indicator box. This had caused the wooden base piece of the box to rot and the main cross member to rust. The metal pieces in the indictor box were duly cleaned out, coated with Dinitrol RC800 and when dry red oxided similarly the main cross member. Whilst Kevin was on a 'steam fireman's' course I took time to solder the contact light in the No. 1 cab into place only to find the bulb had gone. Finally in the cab I measured up the side panelling ready for purchasing and fitting.
Whilst running the engines up I noticed that the air pressure had risen to well over 100 lb./sq.in. and had not been 'unloaded' by the unloader valve. I released the air by opening one of the air valves on the No. 2 side until Kevin and I could take a closer look at the unloader valve itself. I oiled round to make sure everything was in order for the shunt and move.
Kevin came down shortly after noon and we ran the unit up. Once sufficient air pressure had built up Kevin blew down the air tank on the unloader or No. 1 side. A fair amount of water came out. Once cleared the system was allowed to blow through to clear the pipes and tanks of any further water. The unloader was tried again but failed to work. After consultation with Dave Potter we slackened off the adjuster on the unloader and tried again. The unloader began to work albeit somewhat slowly and now does not allow the air pressure to exceed 90 lb./sq.in..
Finally the unit was shunted into position ready for removal by Allely's on the following Wednesday evening.
This meant that no further work had to be done on the unit at Chinnor and so Sunday was spent at home finishing the small window frames. The corners were already in place a so with a bit of plastic wood and sandpaper were rubbed down to the correct profile. Three coats of stain were applied and by 1900 hrs. all six frames were ready for varnishing. In between coats I managed to rub down two of the remaining five large window frames ready for fitting with new corner pieces and staining.
I was at work on the following Wednesday, March 26th when Kevin phoned with the news that the rig that was to transport the units had failed with a split oil pipe on the return journey from the Mid Hants. The rig was returning to Warwickshire for repair and the operation was to be put back 24 hours.
I still took the Thursday off and arrived at Bletchley depot at 1130 hrs. to the sight of no one. I waited until 1200 hrs. when Kevin arrived. He telephoned Allely's who informed us that the transporter was well on its way and would arrive within the hour. It arrived at 1230 hrs. 55023 was loaded up by 1530 hrs. and both rig and assembled volunteers set off for Chinnor.
We arrived at Chinnor just as the rain clouds were gathering at about 1700 hrs. The rig arrived at 1930 hrs. having suffered various adventures on the way. 55023 was unloaded by 2100 hrs. and 55003 was loaded by 2200 hrs. The crew then left for home as another crew were booked to move 55003 the following morning. The trailer was then parked up and I left for home arriving at 2330 hrs.
Good Friday dawned fair and I was at Pitsford for 0930 hrs.. Bob had already contacted the crew who were already on the way to Chinnor. Kevin called home and Angie called the railway to say that the unit had left for Northampton at 1010 hrs. Later that morning the local bobby called in for a 'social call' and we mentioned the pending arrival. The Northamptonshire Police Traffic Division had not delegated anyone to meet the transporter so our local bobby did the job himself meeting the rig in the A14.
We had just brewed up when a call came in that the whole ensemble was only 10 minutes away from Boughton Crossing. We all jumped into the train and set off hot foot, or hot wheeled, for the end of the line. Andy Entwhistle and his gang had already removed the fence, slewed the buffer stops and laid the connecting rail. He set off in the dumper truck with the keys to open the gate at Boughton Crossing. As we arrived at the crossing we saw the first police car arrive and stop on the Northampton side of the crossing whilst our local bobby who had followed the load stopped on the Chapel Brampton side of the crossing.
The rig was positioned so that any residual build up of traffic could clear. It was then allowed to negotiate a three point turn and proceed up the walk way to the railhead. Without many problems 55003 was unloaded and hauled onto NLR metals gathering a fair number of interested persons on the way. The rig was duly reassembled and sent on its way and the unit was towed into Pitsford Station by D5401 & 25035.
55003 was positioned at the south end of the run-around loop and I prepared her for a start up the following day.
Easter Saturday, March 29th, was a glorious day and I began to strip down the No. 1 side frames ready for painting. I ran the unit up and tested the unloader valve to make sure it was functioning properly, it was. It was decided that we would move 55003 and position it as follows, the Class 117 at the south end, the Class 108 trailer in the centre and the Class 122 at the north end. 55003 fired up with no problems and was soon running with a clear exhaust. Dave Stokes then came down and after I had reengaged the final drive the engines were restarted, the brakes released and the unit was moved for the first time on the NLR. It was duly coupled up to the two car set and all three cars were repositioned in the loop. So ended my first day on the NLR.
Easter Sunday was spent continuing with the preparation of the frames when Bob and Dave came to say the first official run was to be that afternoon after the 1400 hrs. steam train departure. Because the whole line is fully signalled there are no problems running more than one train at a time. The units were run up and sat at the inner home signal awaiting the departure of the service train. At precisely 1403 hrs. the Peckett took the service train out of Pitsford southbound. The DMU followed as soon as the road was clear and ran into the Ironstone Sidings with no problems except for a slightly dragging brake on 55003s No. 2 bogie. Later that afternoon the exercise was repeated in reverse with the three cars running non stop through Pitsford for the north. A goodly amount of people saw the first official run in glorious weather.
After another couple of hours work I left for home tired but very happy. Bob was so pleased that he was planning to run the unit(s) in the same way the following day for the gathered crowds. The railway had played host to over 1300 people on the first two days of Easter. Everyone was happy.
I spent Easter Monday in finishing off the small window frames and preparing the final five large frames for staining and varnishing. I also tested my new MIG welder. The railway on the Easter Monday played host to 995 people making a grand total of over 2200 people to have visited the line during the holiday period.
The paint duly arrived from Masons on Thursday April 3rd ready for my weeks work in during the first week in May. I also purchased some 'liquid rubber' compound for the guttering. This will be utilised as the roof is repainted and should eradicate all leaks into the main body of the unit. The final five large window frames were finished on Friday April 4th, at last, and now all complete windows are stored in the garage ready for refitting.
I spent the next weekend April 5th and 6th at Pitsford. On first arrival I noticed something strange about the driving cabs. I could see through the windows! Bob had spent a couple of hours on the Easter Monday cleaning off the cement dust with Brasso and Scotchbrite pads! Compared to earlier in the week the windows were now in pristine condition. They will need finishing off properly but show what a mess the whole of the unit had become whilst at Chinnor. I'm extremely glad I moved. In between calls from work I managed to finish cleaning down the frame on No. 1 side including removal of the piping down this side. The bolts will need to be replaced as all are wasted and some snapped on removal. I would have red oxided the frame but I forgot to bring my angle grinder so this had to wait until the Sunday. The man from GRA flooring did not turn up so the flooring is still to be sorted out.
Because I had forgotten my angle grinder I could not do any welding until Sunday. I began by making up two 'L' section cross pieces to finish off the frame and after seeking assistance from Richard Boardman I welded them into place as I had managed to get the welder to fail. It would not drive the core wire through to the welding tip. Evidently this is a problem with a gasless MIG welder. Still you live and learn. I then fabricated and welded into place the bottom half of the door upright in the small saloon. This allowed me to fix the floor/side member so that the flooring can now be completed in the small saloon as and when we require. I was very pleased with the result as my welding got better the more practice I had.
The rest of the afternoon was spent grinding down and then red oxiding the No. 1 frame ready for painting. This leaves the underside of the tumblehome to be cleaned and red oxided and the bogie frames on No. 1 side. On the No. 2 side the underside of the body panelling need looking at and them a complete clean down ready for re-red oxiding. I can then paint the frames and bogies in the customary gloss black.