Next Saturday, May 31st, we are going to remove my spare engines and gearboxes from Chinnor. Gordon Titmuss has arranged the HGV. All I need to do is pay for the diesel. Sunday will see a start on the guttering.
Saturday May 31st arrived and I was at Chinnor by 0900 hrs. ready to get the engines and gearboxes prepared for transportation. By 1130 hrs. the wagon duly arrived. It was a bit of a slog getting the machinery onto the wagon as it had side curtains and the crane jib would not fit under the top. By 1330 however by good old brute force and ignorance we had the wagon loaded and were away from the depot by 1400 hrs.
Arrival at Chinnor was by about 1530 hrs. and as soon as Dave was available the three engines and two gearboxes were craned off. Once again we had trouble with the crane jib fitting under the side sheets. By 1600 hrs. they were stored and covered on the ground ready for eventual storage in one of the flat wagons. The tarpaulin donated by Harry Balchin covered all three engines and two gearboxes with plenty to spare.
Sunday was the day I had designated to start removal of the guttering. I decided which pieces were to be removed and duly set up the scaffolding to be able to reach the roof. 5 pieces were to be removed which would allow access to the body panels that needed attention.
The coach bolts were removed by grinding off the nuts and knocking through. A couple were unbolted to ensure I could get replacement bolts. The guttering was screw fitted over the doors but 90% of the screws either sheared off or refused to move and had to be ground off.
By the evening all 5 pieces were off the on No. 1 side. I made a start on removing the rusted panel next to the guard's van door. As it was well welded in place I left the final removal until the next weekend.
I managed to get replacement coach bolts easily from Bletchley Timber which surprised me. 136 in all!!. During the week I cleaned up the guttering at home ready for replacement the next weekend. I also took delivery of the Mason's green paint needed for the repainting on Friday June 6th..
The roof panels and the side panels are not joined together instead there is a 1/2" gap. This is because the roof is galvanised and the side panels sheet steel. The roof panels are welded onto curved roof formers and these are in turn welded onto the side frame formers. The side sheets are in turn welded onto the side formers. It is the guttering pieces that form the seal between roof and side panel and therefore needs to be properly sealed.
The removal of the rusted piece proved to be time consuming job not being completed until late Friday afternoon. Most of the interior metalwork had rusted through and the grey internal window frame had to be removed. This will need to be rebuilt. The wooden to metal window frame fitting had rotted and was removed for renewal as per the main saloons. The cutting of the replacement piece was relatively straightforward even if I did cut it a bit short! This was held in place by screw fittings and ready for welding by Dick for Saturday June 7th.
Dick tried my MIG welder but it is evidently not up to the job. We refitted the piece reusing the screws so that the guttering could be refitted and left the welding until Dick could bring his gas welder. The other smaller pieces I managed to weld into place quite successfully and with a touch of filler finished the job.
The roof panels and top of the side panels were patched and/or cleaned down and primed and painted. The gap was filled with best silicon lead and plastic pipe sealant. The guttering itself was coated with a liberal coating of sealant and refitted. The bolts were reasonably easy to refit and by the end of the weekend three of the five were back in place. The screw fittings above the door however were not so easy to refit and I had to redrill the guttering to take new screws. The old holes will be filled and rubbed down to size.
The final two pieces will be refitted over the weekend of June 14th & 15th. Once completed the No. 1 side is ready for preparation for repainting.
Kevin has given me some plywood sheets that may be suitable for the inner door inserts. I shall make one up to the measurements of the old sheet steel inserts and see how they look in teak stain and varnish.
On Thursday June 12th I was passed out for shunter/guard by the Guard's Inspector from the Great Central but I'm not going on the roster until the unit is ready. The inner door panel was tried and found to be approximately 1/4" too wide. I shall trim it down ready for the weekend.
Saturday June 14th was a day that started fine but dull and got worse. However I managed to get the final bits of welding completed, the roof/side panels cleaned down and the remaining two pieces of guttering back in place and sealed up. When it started to rain there were only two small leaks immediately noticeable and neither were behind the guttering but through two of the holes left after redrilling. These can be tackled during the next dry spell. The door insert fits well and with a small adjustment the remainder can be made to the same size and pattern.
I tidied up the saloon and left at about 1600 hrs.
Sunday dawned grey and rainy so I decided to have a day off. In fact I managed to reconstruct the guard's van window and finish off the first of the door inserts for trying later in the week.
During the following week I managed to get a half day in on site on Tuesday June 17th. The last major piece was cut out of the body panel and a new piece fabricated and welded in place. The guttering was inspected and the two leaks tracked down. All bolts were tightened up using a spanner. Upon testing the guttering appeared to function correctly. The insides of both saloons were then swept out and tidied up.
This leaves the guard's van welding to be completed then the No. 1 side is ready for cleaning down and filling where required ready for painting.
I have asked for the unit to be separated from the Mk. 1 coach and the Class 45 so that I can work on removing the brake vacuum cylinders. Similarly it will facilitate the use of the scaffolding when working on the repainting of the front of the cabs.
The following weekend was one of rain and winds so any work on the outside was abandoned apart from getting the scaffolding in place for Dick.
I ran up the engines for an hour first thing in the morning. Both engines started with no problems. Saturday was spent in removing the No. 2 side internal door panels and renovating the window mechanisms. All windows and mechanisms in the main saloons are now in full working order. Even the 'unglued' ones on the No. 1 side work reasonably well.
The rest of the day was spent in cleaning down the glass starting with the eight small glasses and ending with one of the large panes.
On Sunday June 22nd the unit was shunted. After discussions with Nick and Dick I am now ready to begin the removal of the two vacuum cylinders. Dick finished off the welding on the guard's van and now the No. 1 side is complete except for the rewelding of the bottom corner(s) of the side panels. These can be done from the ground when the scaffolding is across the rails on the front of the unit. The top half of the No. 1 side can now be rubbed down etc. ready for filling and painting. The guttering is holding up fine to the weather. I may spend a few days and top coat the roof as it is but we will see how the vacuum cylinders come out first.
The removal of the vacuum cylinders will require removal of one set of brake gear from one end of each bogie. On the No. 1 bogie the main brake actuating arm will need to be removed but not on the No. 2 bogie. The No. 2 bogie has enough room to ease the cylinder forward and down but the No. 1 bogie does not. The main problem will be the tightness, and size 11/16 Whitworth (30mm), of the bolts and the lack of room underneath the bogie. I believe that if the cylinder is dropped between the sleepers then by pinch barring the unit from over the cylinder we can manually lift it out and then crane it into Dick's wagon.
The following week was the wettest week in June for many a year and by Friday the unit was stood in a sea of muddy water. Friday morning was spent in digging out the remains of the brick arch very conveniently left in the four foot in front of the unit. The sleepers it was left on were then moved into a position outside the rail on the number two side to provide better footing on that side. Drainage channels were dug along the No. 2 side to alleviate the flooding of the sleepers and by 1100 hrs. the waters were receding enough to start work.
two metal sheets approximately 4 ft. square were placed under each bogie and a pallet dry enough to sit on was placed under the buffer beam at each end. The No. 1 end was tackled first as it had the most to dismantle. The main arm from the cylinder rod to the brake gear has a bracket to stop excessive movement in case of any pin failure. This is held on by four bolts and was the first piece to be removed. This allowed the arm to rotate clear of the cylinder and brake gear.
The brake adjusting bars were next to be released by knocking out the pin at the rear of the wheel and unscrewing the adjuster at the front. One side came off easily the other needed a bit of persuasion.
The brake hangers and bar were next to come down. The hangers and bar are held in position by two pins situated above the bogie. The hangers then pass through a channel which allows fore and aft movement as the brakes are applied and released. The hangers have oil lubricated rubbing plates to minimise wear in this fore and aft movement. The bar that holds the two hangers in place have two fixings on each hanger. The upper holds the brake block assembly and the lower the bottom end of the hanger.
The bar was packed up and the pins removed. The packing was then removed and the assembly allowed to fall to the ground. The pins were then replaced in the hanger brackets. I think the whole assembly will need to be dismantled and the bushes looked before replacing. If it is a one man job it definitely will need to be in its constituent parts before rebuilding.
The main bar which takes the up and down motion of the cylinder and converts it into fore and aft movement of the brake rigging is held in place by two 'V' shaped brackets. These brackets are held by 4 bolts each and are not easily removed with the bogie still under the unit. However after much heaving and straining it too fell to the ground.
The final task was to remove the vacuum release valve and associated pipework. This was an easy task with all nuts, bolts and jubilee clips coming undone relatively easily after an application of WD40.
On Saturday the No. 2 end was started. The same task had to be performed at this end with the exception of removing the main bar. I began at 0830 hrs and by 1030 hrs was soaked to the skin. I had managed to remove the brake assembly only. I decided that that was enough for the day and was about to go home and get dried. At this point Dave Stokes decided to dig a drainage channel to alleviate the flood in the main part of the yard where Colwyn's frames were stood. This was for two reasons. One, the frames were due to be removed for restoration and two the two SR box vans were due to be moved there on a length of track shortly after.
I decided to help. We dug out a channel across the road and along the No. 1 siding and this seemed to clear the water albeit slowly. Dave then found a length of steel pipe that could be laid across the road and be left permanently in situ. This we did and the waters slowly subsided. By this time the weather had taken a turn for the better so I had lunch and stayed.
Eventually I managed to remove the stop bracket and all the piping etc. except for the cylinder rod cover. This I left until Sunday.
After an afternoon of shunting and signalling I left about 1730 hrs in the middle of a torrential rain storm.
Sunday came and was misty but not raining. I finished off the No. 2 cylinder and prepared for Dick to arrive to assist in removing the cylinders. As I couldn't remove the rods from the cylinders I made a wooden piece to stand on top of the trolley jack to accommodate the bottom of the rod and support the bottom of the cylinder whilst we removed the bolts.
Kevin, Nick and Dick arrived at about 1100 hrs and despite Dick's hangover both the cylinders were out by 1300 hrs.. Two people working together certainly make it a lot easier. Nick and Dick rolled one down the yard ready for craning over and Kevin and I rolled the other one to the same place. The two cylinders on the back of Dick's pick-up by using the yard crane.
They were dropped off at the SVR on the Tuesday afternoon.
The rest of the Sunday afternoon was spent in looking at the Class 117s brake gear and noticing it was exactly the same as 55003's. This weekend has seen another big step completed and hopefully with the cylinders back in late July or early August the unit will be a rolling chassis by the end of August.
Following on the removal of the vacuum cylinders attention was then refocused on the body work. Starting on Saturday July 5th at the secondman's side of No. 2 cab the refurbishment was begun. The rusted spots were ground out and the surface was then 'roughed up' by using a rotary drill and discs. This was a mistake as all the uneven marks on the surface were there for all to see once the red oxide was applied.
As I worked along the side and by the guard's door I found the best way was to use wet and dry paper and just rub down the surface. The ground out sections need filling and rubbing down to the correct contour.
By Sunday evening I had reached the first compartment door and left it there.
The following week I was on holiday. I spent the Monday at home with a cold but continued with the rubbing down on Tuesday morning. I had purchased some coarser wet and dry of 180 grade. This made all the difference. The surface came down nicely and I was going to use it for the rest until I spoke to Dick the following Saturday.
Dick and Gary had used a DA sander on the Peak and this produced a good surface to paint on. So after speaking to Dave Young, who will bring in the sander next weekend, I can continue then.
The brake gear was further dismantled so that one person can now replace the parts once the cylinders are back in situ. Similarly all the component parts were wire brushed and repainted in chassis black. New split pins have been purchased to replace those removed.
The main job on Sunday July 13th was to clean down and apply polish to the flooring in the saloons. Dick's father provide an suitable 5 litre bottle of liquid polish and both saloon floors were treated appropriately.
I arrived late on the railway on Saturday 20th July but Dave was there and had brought the DA sander. As I was so late all I had time to do was clean down and repaint the remainder of the dismantled brake rigging.
Sunday however was spent in sanding down the work I already had done on the body sides. By 1600 hrs. I had managed to sand down from the cab corner to the guard's van door. It was then painted with another coat of red oxide and is now ready for flatting and undercoating. Brian Burgess put the window glass back in and the rubber fits perfectly. Altogether a good day. It's a pity I didn't have the DA sander when I started it would have made all the difference.
Speaking to Dave Stokes the unit is to be moved across onto the No. 1 siding soon. I will need to clamp up the brake rigging for the move. This will give better access to the No. 1 side and cab ends for when the vacuum cylinders are replaced.
During the previous week I had spent some time on the East Lancs. Railway at their Diesel Gala. Earlier Brian Ashby had mentioned that an acquaintance of his, Craig Emerson, had purchased W55001, the Class 122 used since 1968 for route learning duties. I had mentioned the fact that I might be interested in buying it off him. So a visit to Longsight was arranged where the skeletal remains of W55001 were laying. The unit has all glass (except two sheets) intact and two good bogies plus vacuum equipment.
After the visit it transpired that the DMU group on the ELR had had most of the spares. A quick call to Craig and he decided not to continue with the purchase. So giving Railtrack a week I put in my own bid.
It transpired that Railtrack upon notice of non sale had put out a cutting up order on the vehicle. My offer is the last chance to save it for spares. Notice duly came and the cheque was despatched so I now am the proud owner of two (10% of the Class) 122s. W55001 is to be used as a store and for spares.
By the weekend of July 26th and 27th the unit was still in its place in No. 2 siding. However the coach No. 9102 had been moved and the Tkh pushed back. This allowed D5401 into the bay for painting for Tim's daughter's wedding photos the following weekend.
Saturday was a day of mixed weather and between showers I managed to rub down the remaining badly scored panels and re redoxide them.
Sunday was the first day of using the DA sander on a virgin panel. It took most of the morning to rub down the panel and prepare for painting.
We decided that the unit should be painted in green up to the guard's van door so as to blend in with the dark green Class 27 on the opposite road when the photographs were taken the following weekend.
So history was made as the panels were sanded down with the DA sander using 240 grade fine and the first coat of green undercoat applied for over 30 years. It certainly made a difference. A top coat will be put on next week to complete the effect. It will also give me a good idea of any further work required on the panels before I continue down the side.
In fact the top coat was never applied as the undercoat was deemed adequate. The weekend August 2nd and 3rd was spent in the continuing saga of the bodywork. One door and one panel was completed on the Saturday. One half of the No. 1 side had now been rubbed and red oxided. Work has now ceased on this side as I cannot get the scaffolding down the side of the unit due to the overhang of the Polish Tkh 0-6-0 on the next road.
Dick has marked the areas needed for cutting out so we can reweld patches in during the weeks work in next week.
The Sunday was spent on the front of the cab. One of the exhaust stacks was removed to provide full access to the window areas. The second will be removed next weekend. The window frames are aluminium and look good when cleaned down to bare metal. They will be properly prepared with the correct etching paint before repainting.
The weeks work in was arranged for August 11th. - 15th. to coincide with Dick and Nick coming down from Tyseley.
The weekend before was spent on finishing the No. 2 cab end. The other exhaust stack was removed and areas marked out for renewal. All bolts were drifted out and will be replaced with stainless steel bolts and plates. The plates will be used on the interior to protect the melamine surfaces. Both windscreen wiper areas were badly corroded and will need to be replaced as well as both outer tops of the window areas. The whole area is now in red oxide.