ISSUE 44 - OCTOBER 1999
INTRODUCTION
Kevin Dowd will be putting in the order to Tearnes for the new transfers very soon. If you are interested in getting some numbering made by the original manufacturer please contact him now!
Kevin has come up with the idea of getting TRA headboards made for use by groups on running days and during galas. Anyone interested?
Next month we will have a supplement dealing with the overhaul of throttle motors, courtesy of John Joyce. This article, with colour pictures, should be on the web site in the next few days.
Also now on the web site, to complement this month's Model Rail magazine article, is the history of the Blue Pullmans.
After we printed the Chasewater Railway's plea for help with their AWS system, we received the following reply:
"Thank you for putting us in touch with Frank Nicholas (Telford 104). On Saturday last he came armed with diagrams, manuals, and a load of info for us to use. We are very grateful to Frank for coming to assist us in our plight. We are going to return the favour and assist Frank with his final drive on the 104 in the next few weeks."
Glad to see that another two groups have benefitted from the Monthly Bulletin.
Saturday 13th November is the deadline for Issue 45 of The Railcar.
THE RAILCAR ASSOCIATION
National DMU Convention - October 1st, 2nd & 3rd 1999
The review from the web site was printed.
A letter send to the organiser or Rail 2000 was included.
NEWS
LOTTERY SUCCESS 1 The Llangollen DMU Group are pleased to announce that they have been awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant of £129,000 for the complete restoration of the two-car Class 109 Wickham unit. It is anticipated that much of the restoration work will be done under contract at the Midland Railway Centre and will take about two years to complete. The unit will then be used to enhance services on the Llangollen Railway, particularly community services. The grant represents 75% of the estimated cost, which when added to the money already spent will mean that the two-car set will have cost a total of £198,000 to "bring back from the grave".
LOTTERY SUCCESS 2 The Scottish Railway Preservation Society has secured a Heritage Lottery Grant of £180,000 for the complete restoration of the four Class 126 Swindon Inter-City vehicles. It is planned to have two cars rebuilt under contract with the others completed by volunteer labour at Bo'ness. This will take about four years to complete. The unit will be used on the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway, especially on low season services. The grant represents 55% of the estimated £325,000 cost of the project.
NEWS FROM ANGEL Sets 701, 720, 721 and 51358 of 705 recently made their way to Shoeburyness for storage pending disposal. This now leaves sets 702 and 707 and bubbles 127, 129 and 131 at Bletchley to cover for the Class 150 C6 programme until March.
108 CAR MOVED DTC 56495 was scheduled to leave the Northampton & Lamport Railway on 11th October and travel, by road, to Toton depot for tyre turning. It was then to move on to the Dean Forest at Norchard on the 12th. The vehicle is in operational condition and it was to be used in service as part of a four-car set during the DFR Rally Day on 17th October.
PRESERVATION
NORTHAMPTON 122 55003 Ian McDonald reports:
"The unit is now complete in Brunswick Green with ivory lining, orange cant rail and small yellow front panels on the ends. The cab roofs are ivory. Why? because I didn't have any suitable white paint when I painted them!! The internal doors are Beige. It is now NRN radio fitted.
All opening door locks, cardan shafts and wheel sets etc. are certified to Railtrack Group standards.
The unit was completed on October 3rd ready for official photographs to be taken and for unveiling on October 9th. That was the reason I didn't make the group meeting that weekend. Thursday & Friday October 7th & 8th were spent cleaning the unit interior from top to bottom until it shone. Even I was impressed. The unit was unveiled by my mother who pulled the strings on a plaque dedicated to my Grandfather, Cecil James Hughes, who was a driver out of Agecroft, Manchester. The Phoenix Railway Photographic Circle, friends and family gathered for the first passenger carrying run at 12:15 on that Saturday. The unit behaved faultlessly all day.
The only job left outstanding now is to repaint the guard's van now I have cleared it of being my workshop.
My team will then be getting together to formulate the next step in obtaining a RESCO certification. We have all the necessary documentation in place and a unit in full working order it's just a matter of the MOT. At least that's what I tell myself!!"
LAKESIDE 110 In service on late trains & charters. It may be used on Sundays in November, but this is to be confirmed by the railway. A recent minor problem with the feed valve was fixed successfully. That apart the unit is running OK, but will need repainting quite soon.
- If you can help any of the following groups with their needs or information, please e-mail us at editor@railcar.co.uk
WANTED
Thermostats - we are looking for two fire system resetting thermostats (the ones that sit over the fluid flywheel). Shackerstone DMU Group.
Class 119 Parts - appeal for help in locating any Class 119 parts which had been removed at Gwent Demolition. Railcar Enterprises.
FOR SALE
BUT Service Manual - "British Railways Diesel Train 'A' & 'L' type units (50,000 series) Overhaul Manual". The Bible! We know someone that is selling Tinsley Depot's copy for £22 + £4.50 p&p. Contact the editors.
Headcode box - we have a four-aspect EMU headcode box surplus to our requirements. Dean Forest DMU Group.
DMU - Class 115 as a restoration project. Epping & Ongar Railway 01277 366616.
Headcode rollers - we have a few rollers and small-diameter end caps suitable for two-aspect (not four!) headcode blind/boxes. They were rescued from Southern EMUs but will do for two-aspect DMUs. They are free to any good DMU homes. Dean Forest DMU Group.
Window rubber - Beclatite internal window rubber (50p per metre). Railcar Enterprises.
Mileometer - axle journal fitting suitable for a Class 122. Class 122 No. 55009 Mid-Norfolk Railway.
QUESTIONS
Diesel Fuel Grades - our units run on 'red' diesel from a local supplier. It seems to be OK until it gets really cold (below -5C or so), when things get rather reluctant to start. Below -10C and the diesel goes waxy, and you might as well go home. Proprietary additives are available but they are quite expensive for the sort of quantity in DMU tanks, particularly when you have eight tanks to treat. People I have talked to have recommended adding a fraction of paraffin or even petrol - a guy in my lab's diesel Renault Laguna can take up to 1/4 petrol in very cold weather. I also saw on the recent rail crash reports that the trains were using 'winter diesel'. Has anybody got any experience of winter diesel / proprietary additives / petrol or paraffin in 680s? Or does nobody else run units in January?
On a related point. A couple of years ago another labmate bought a rather smoky Transit van, and Sainsbury's had just started doing 'Low Sulphur Diesel', so I sent him to fill his van up with that before its MOT was due. Hey presto, no smoke. This made me wonder: can we get the same stuff to run DMUs on to cut smoke production? Our local supplier only does it in the tax-paid version which we declined at around 70p/litre instead of around 70p/gallon! John Joyce, Llangollen DMU Group
Alternator - does anyone know how to dismantle an AC203 alternator? Dean Forest DMU Group.