ISSUE 46 - DECEMBER 1999

INTRODUCTION

This month's supplement (by mail only I'm afraid) is a set of schematic wiring diagrams for Class 117s, but will be applicable to most Blue Square vehicles.

There is also an up-to-date spares list from Thames Trains (also by mail only). As discussed at the WSR meeting, Matthew Smith approached them offering a fixed sum for all remaining parts. They said no, and also that the price on individual items was non-negotiable. However they did agree that if a large enough order was received they would deliver the items free to Matthew. The items with crosses next to them; Matthew intends to purchase for himself, the notices he will sell on to whoever requires them. He has not ordered anything yet as Thames Trains would prefer to deal with one person only. So if you are interested in any of these items please call Matthew. He will view all items before purchasing as some of the descriptions are rather unclear.

Following John Joyce's query last month about what to overhaul next, we have received two photocopies from different manuals: items on overhauling exhausters and also about tackling compressors and starters. Thanks to Frank Nicholas and John Payne for these. These will be copied and sent out as soon as we can. Some additional notes on these are in the comments section at the end if anyone can't wait to tackle one!

A few amendments to the last issue. In the supplement about the diesel grades etc., in table 1, from Bjørn Hall, we forgot to put the minus sign in front of all the temperatures. But you knew that anyway... And that old chestnut appeared again — 50291 once being a Class 111. Vehicles 50290-2 and 50745-7 never had Rolls-Royce engines fitted. We also got the two NRM vehicles mixed up, the 1000th Derby-built DMU vehicle was not their DMBS but their DMC 51562. Thanks to those contacted us.

A reminder that the both the web site and e-mail addresses have now changed (as detailed below).

Usual seasons greetings to you all...

Saturday 15th January is the deadline for Issue 47 of The Railcar.

THE RAILCAR ASSOCIATION

Magazine Contributions

Following last month's item on submitting material to Railway World, two other magazines have contacted us appealing for contributions.

Modern traction (and carriage and wagon) preservation news for Heritage Railways mag should be channelled through Hugh Madgin, who says "we would be delighted to hear from any of your members: we cannot have too much news!"
His e-mail address is: hugh.buckpal@btinternet.com and 'phone number is 01438 748743.

Peter Nicholson handles the Classic Traction news for Railway Magazine. His address is 87 Whitstone Road, Shepton Mallet, SOMERSET BA4 5PP, e-mail peternicholson@barclays.net and fax 01749 345722,. He would welcome hearing directly from DMU groups with news of progress, special appeals etc., and could get his spot in the magazine increased if enough information was received. All photos reproduced are paid for and subsequently returned. He would also welcome receiving any society newsletter and says every one is read from cover to cover.

Last Withdrawals

Now the ScotRail 117s are gone, what about the rest? At the moment, Silverlink will keep the three Class 121s and 117702 at Bletchley until March 31st 2000 and have been using them on Bedford – Bletchley recently. Manchester Class 101s are likely to go on until well into 2000, and the Glasgow sets probably at least as far as Easter although, as we know, this can change rapidly.

Angel T.C. has not yet sorted out a new disposal firm although this is expected to be resolved soon, with the Class 117s at Shoeburyness to be among the first to be dealt with.

NEWS

ScR 117s WITHDRAWN No doubt you will all be aware that ScotRail's 117s were rather suddenly withdrawn and put into store at Perth until their lease is up in March. A week after the official withdrawal date of 27th Nov. (with the last booked turn done by a 158 to the dismay of those that turned up for it) sets were still sitting at Haymarket with engines running.

101s IN FIRE: 17TH NOV. For those that don't yet know: the units involved were 101695 (leading) and 101688. The fire started under the leading coach of 101688. Little remains of set 688 bar a skeleton, with one car collapsed in the centre. One end of unit 695 apparently had some fire damage but is now back in traffic, after a cab end repaint (with hand painted set numbers). Unit 688 will be scrapped once the insurers are finished with it. There should be some more pictures of the vehicles on the web site by the time this reaches you. Also of note was that set 688 was the last to still be in it's original formation (more information on possible set formations with the remaining vehicles has been held over due to the lack of space).

Evan Green-Hughes had the following to say about the incident:
"The recent destruction of a class 101 in Scotland by fire should help the preservation movement identify whether there is in fact any risk from asbestos in these vehicles. If the local emergency services went barmy with decontamination procedures then presumably residual asbestos was found — or suspected. If not, then there is no excuse for these vehicles not passing into preservation unmolested.

A wise investment for all preserved multiple units would be a 9-litre foam extinguisher filled with either AFFF or FFFp, both of which would put out an engine fire and prevent it re-igniting which is always a problem with the BCF gas units fitted to most DMUs."

115s MOVED The two Class 115 DMBS (owned by Suburban Preservation) left the Colne Valley Railway on 3rd and 4th November, for their new home on the Spa Valley Railway at Tunbridge Wells. At the Colne Valley, the AC Cars Railbus 79978 is being repainted ready for next season, in BR loco green with a yellow and black waist band and yellow whiskers.

PARTS & SUPPLIERS

LEYLAND ENGINE LOCAL STARTING HAND CONTROL CABLES The DMU Group (West Midlands) has sourced a manufacturer who has shown an interest in producing these items. The price quoted for single items is £50-£60 + VAT, although for larger numbers the price comes down accordingly. Trevor Daw has already collected orders from three groups to get twelve made, and if anyone else is interested please contact him. He points out that they don't wear out that quickly, so once a supply is purchased it is unlikely any more would be required. The important thing to remember is that owners must retain the slotted link that is pinned to the drop arm of the throttle motor, as the supplier cannot do these, but they can thread the end of the cable to suit (5/32 dia. with a fine pitch).

Trevor points out that it is wise to check that existing cables are properly routed over the engine to the throttle motor. In their case, a securing clip failed and the cable dropped into the path of the Bremmer belts driving the right angle drive. This resulted in heavy wear of the cable outer sheath and finally disintegration. He thanks Brett Rogers for allowing the Group to borrow one from his 117.

FUEL FILTERS On sorting out their heaters, the Dean Forest DMU Group found that one of their filter bowls had no filter in it. All the crap had settled in the pipes, so no fuel was getting through. They had trouble getting hold of one, but Chris Lings (MRC) found one on their 127. The details are CAV Fuel Filter Type F2B9, No. 7111/44, design no. 583, and the FRAM equivalent is C11838PL which fits in the bowl OK.

BRAKE FEED VALVE The Dean Forest now have their overhaul kits available, and cost £15 per set which includes two diaphragms and one seal. P&P is approx. £1. They have only 70, 20 are already accounted for, and when they are gone...

VACUUM/AIR GAUGES Ian McDonald has just had the vacuum/air gauges of 55003 returned after repair/replacement from Pressure Gauges in Birmingham (0121 544 4408). He says they did "a bloody good job and I recommend them to all parties. The guard's van gauge in brass is superb."

• If you can help any of the following groups with their needs or information, please e-mail us at editor@railcar.co.uk

WANTED

Seat cushions - black and grey squares for the first-class seats on 119 vehicles. Railcar Enterprises.

Tungsten lighting - with opaque shades and silver circles. Railcar Enterprises.

Two-aspect headcode box - urgently required for a Class 108 vehicle. NRM DMU group.

Bogies - Roger Gingell, Running Foreman on the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway, has contacted TRA to register an interest in acquiring bogies for Class 117 centre cars. P & DR use these vehicles in their loco-hauled sets and require a pair of spare bogies for maintenance swap purposes.  Roger would also like to speak to anyone who may also be looking for such bogies, with a view to a joint approach to Angel or others for bulk purchase should the opportunity arise in the future. He can be contacted on 01803 553760 during office hours.

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

Various - We have some DMU items for sale on our web site at www.sikes.demon.co.uk which may interest you. David Sikes
(I checked this out for those of you that do not have web access - they had sets of driver's controls, a new repair book and a 52J (South Gosforth) shed plate - Ed)

Rolls-Royce engine - I have recently acquired an alleged fully reconditioned 6-cylinder R-R 180hp horizontal DMU engine. It was apparently removed from a Doncaster works engine shop about eight years ago, and has never been fitted. It is complete — as far as I know — and still turns over. It has unfortunately been lying outside, but still has the protective film of engine paint over it. The inlet exhaust ports were still covered up. I would sell for approx. £650, although no reasonable offer would be refused. Chris Hatton

Oleo Buffers - four for DMUs. They are the large diameter type (22"). In working condition. The backplate is 15" x 8", and the gap between the bolts is 11½ " x 5½". Dean Forest DMU Group.

DMU - Class 115 as a restoration project. Epping & Ongar Railway.

QUESTIONS

The Swanage Railway have been given first refusal on a whole list of spares from RFS Doncaster. They are trying to decipher the Catalogue numbers to establish which particular parts they are interested in and can afford. Any parts which are not required would be hawked around to any other parties they think would be interested. There are some parts which appear to come from Class 60s in addition to some parts which they know are suitable for 108s. If anybody out there can help decipher the list they should contact Pete Catt. The list runs to some nine pages so is not small by any means.

COMMENTS

From Ian McDonald:

Re. Throttle Motor Overhaul article: One thing not mentioned was the lubrication of the pistons. The oil, I understand, needs to be of a certain viscosity and the nearest thing to the correct viscosity is a product called 'Oildag'. I believe it was formulated / discovered / recommended originally by Bob Judge of OOC. I do not know any more about who makes or sells the oil so any further information on the lubrication side would be of great value. The replacement grease/oil/lubricant is called 'arctic paragon'. At least I think that's how it is spelt. I understand it's a Shell oil/grease derivative.

I generally set up throttle motors in the following manner :-

1. Set throttle position 1, the low motor, to just over tick-over speed approx. 400 rpm.

2. Set throttle position 4 to full revs 1900 rpm. It is set such that any further alteration does not have an effect on the maximum engine revs.

3. Using a straight edge between the two positions, just lie a rule across the two bolt heads, set the other two throttle motor adjusting bolts to just touch the straight edge.

It ends up with position 1 at 400 rpm (ish), position 2 at 800 rpm (ish), position 3 1800 rpm (ish) and position 4 at max. revs of 1900 rpm(ish) if I remember correctly.

Most motors I have seen have been set up incorrectly with full revs available in all throttle positions. This of course leads to problems, especially if the two (or more) engines do not come down at the same rate and to the same rate.

From Chris Hatton (Brereton Motor Services):

I wonder if I could add some comments about fuel and smoke on diesel-engined vehicles.

As a bus operator of rather old vehicles and 'heritage' vehicles we have already had this burden of low sulphur diesel placed upon us. The main practical problem appears to be its ability to leak from every available joint in the fuel system. Fuel injection pumps appear to be a problem mainly through external seals in connection with the fuel rack - e.g. element screws, delivery valve holder seals, etc.

However, normal replacement of these seals by a skilled fuel pump engineer cures those. The almost searching qualities of the LS fuel can cause internal leaks in the injection pump, down the elements themselves. We changed over to LS fuel six months ago and this has caused me to change two injection pumps because of leakage.

Those were both on buses fitted with CAV BPE pumps which I believe are fitted to AEC railcar engines. Normally, internal leakage of a railcar injection pump can be seen as an unnaturally high level of oil/fuel mix leaking from the 'pigtail' pipe fitted to the side of the pump. On Leyland 680 engines the injection pump is externally filled with oil and its level should be checked regularly. Either lack of lub or contamination with diesel will cause damage to the pump and can cause unsteady governing and also even shutting down of the engine when engaging a gear.

L11 engines have a Friedman and Maier pump - its lubrication is fed from the engine. Any internal diesel leaks, in one of those pumps means that the engine lubrication is affected. We once fitted a L11 DMU engine to a MK1 Leyland National bus. It ran very well with this unit until after six months it suddenly started gaining engine oil! The oil was being diluted by diesel, a check of the injectors and their associated piping in the heads found nothing. It was eventually traced to internal fuel leakage from the injector pump elements.

Fuel in the lubricating oil lowers the viscosity of oil. The oil cannot retain a film over the bearing journals, the temperature of the oil and engine increases. The viscosity is reduced again and oil pressure drops. This leads to damaged bearings and also rapid bore wear. An increase in oil level either to fuel leakage from injector pumps (L11) or injectors / spill connections (L11 & 680) and or overfilling can also lead to blue smoke.

DMUs seem to have always suffered blue/white oil smoke. An inherent problem may be the length of and design of the exhaust system. Firstly, the location of the expansion box on some cars allows the accumulation of 'pass over' oil during long periods of idling (when the engine is not at its most efficient temperature - remember the Deltics?). Also the length of the exhaust system allows the exhaust gases to cool and the unburnt oil particles can be seen more readily in a 'cold' exhaust stream.

The gas oil used by railways seems to be a lower grade of fuel than road fuel, and certainly contains more water and other contaminants. A change of fuel filters or draining of the tank water trap will reveal that. Some preserved units seem to stand for some time and this can lead to sticking injector needles or delivery valves. This leads to a noticeable 'miss' on one or more cylinders and also white/blue smoke. A particularly blocked injector can also produce smoke and knocking.

Other causes of blue smoke are :

i) Bad maintenance of oil bath air filters. Overfilling or heavy dirt deposits in the oil bath allowing the oil level to be raised and consequently into the induction air.

ii) Engine not reaching correct temperature. Too cold, thermostats stuck open, wrong type of thermostat in 680 engine.

iii) Wrong oil grade, too thin, overfilling or severe diesel dilution.

iv) Excessive idling

v) Incorrect injection pump timing. Retarded i.e. pump coupling slipped: blue/white smoke, missing, low on power. Too advanced: black smoke, engine sounds harsh on acceleration.

vi) Defective injection equipment, injectors blocked, stuck open, injection pump delivery valves stuck, leakage etc.

These are some of the things that from practical experience have shown to produce smoke.

As for low sulphur fuel this, as far as I know, only reduces black smoke which is partially burnt fuel particles. Blue/white smoke is unburnt fuel/lubricating oil which could be due to a mechanical fault or temperature defect.

We have run several Leyland 680 engines on LS fuel for about six months and, apart from the pump leakage which is rectifiable and hasn't occurred on every vehicle, the engines seem to run very well. The fuel does lower black smoke levels marginally which also perhaps reduces carbon build-up inside the engine.

I personally think that there should be no worry about the LS fuel if it is ever used as 'red' diesel. The injection pump leakage maybe a pure coincidence but really it is better for an engine to have a serviceable fuel injection system anyway.

My views and opinions have being drawn from being involved with maintaining DMUs, employed as a bus mechanic with a 70-vehicle fleet of mainly Leyland-engined vehicles and finally operating my own fleet of old buses and coaches.

I hope some of those points may be of use to you. It is very good to see the preserved railway movement taking an interest in reducing diesel smoke, both from the public image and the environmental point of view.

From Dean Forest Railway:

We have overhauled a right-angle drive that had seized. New bearings etc. were fitted, and it runs fine. We will ask the chap that did it to write an article.

From John Payne:

Further to issue 45 there are a number of points that I have picked up on. Firstly the comments about diesel fuel and cold weather, the first and obvious priority is to ensure that the absolute minimum of water is allowed to collect in the bottom of the fuel tanks, therefore drain the tank sumps religiously on a regular basis of all water, not just in the winter, but all year round.

The use of petrol as an additive in diesel is permissible. On one occasion when hiring a lorry during a very cold period the hire firm told me to add about a pint of petrol when filling up with diesel, a practice also recommended (much to my surprise) by Volvo in the handbook for my car, one of the diesel 740s fitted with a Volkswagen six-cylinder turbo-charged unit. In very cold weather the book advises the addition of up to a maximum of 10% petrol in a full tank of fuel, a practice that I followed on one or two occasions.

The comments by John Joyce about exhausters and starters set me looking through one of my Rolls-Royce engine manuals. Whilst I haven't attempted an exhauster, I don't think the job is really as difficult as John thinks, however the first person to attempt one should be forced to publish details of the special tools they had to produce!

The Clayton compressor is quite simple, the only special tool required being an extractor for the inlet valve keeper, made from a piece of 1" x 1/8" steel strip about 12" long with two small bolts through it to act as a "tommy" bar/pin spanner. A length of suitable size square steel bar will suffice to remove the delivery valve seat. However, be warned, spares for Clayton compressors are reputed to assuming the status of hen's teeth.

Turning to starter motors, I know from my early experience in the heavy automative/plant world that no special tools are required. Most starters, particularly the CAV types, fail through clutches slipping, worn bushes, ingress of oil, and fuel, or an internal build-up of other muck such as brush dust, or an unholy combination of all three. It is also not uncommon for pinion teeth to become worn, but very rarely is this a cause of terminal illness. If there are any suspicions about the electrical condition of an armature, or field windings, most specialist auto-electrical firms have access to test facilities. However it is at this point that repair costs may begin to escalate with an armature rewind costing over £300. The best and cheapest load test bench for a starter is the parent engine, but don't be afraid to test one off the engine using a heavy duty battery charger as a power supply.

I suspect the Rolls-powered units such as Classes 110/127 will now be the only ones fitted with Simms starters. The Simms motor is a very simple unit that can be rebuilt without any special tools, if you catch them, just make sure you watch where the piston return spring, plus, and pad all head to when you release then from the pinion. The only critical area of reassembly is ensuring the insulation for the brush boxes is correctly assembled, and in good condition. Spares for these motors are virtually non-existent, however some of the older and long-established independent auto-electrical firms may have some old stock. If you are absolutely determined to try repairing a Simms motor contact me directly and I may be able to help with the odd item.

The CAV motor is a more complicated motor, but again follow the instructions, and trust me — you don't need any special tools. Spares are less of a problem for these motors, but again they are reputed to be becoming harder to find, but I suspect there are plenty out there in the scrap yards, just make sure you count the number of teeth on the pinion, a thirteen-tooth pinion instead of a twelve-tooth one will either wear itself or the ring gear out rapidly, or more embarrassingly jam in, and act as a very expensive one-time dynamo before it self-destructs!

If anyone has any queries, get in touch.

From John Joyce:

Re. starter motors. We had to give in and get one redone by Leyland for a whopping £165 (+VAT). For the other one I am still trying to source brushes somewhere other than Leyland (£55 a set!). Otherwise the story is nearly complete, but it will be a little while before I can get it all together with some pictures and written up I'm afraid. I suppose the moral is that an initial inspection of a dud motor may point to sending it away as the most economic course of action.