ISSUE 51 - MAY 2000

INTRODUCTION

Coming soon will be a second issue of the suppliers list, after many requests. If you have any firms that you have used and recommend that have not appeared in these pages before, please drop us a line.

Noted for sale is the ex-101 observation car, 6300 (ex-DTC 54356). "All asbestos has been removed professionally by M.C. Metals. There are no seats inside the vehicle and many of the windows are broken. The vehicle is sheeted over for protection from the elements. The coach is stored out of use in Gloucestershire." Price - £5,500. Interested? The ad is at www.peakrail.co.uk/carspare.htm. Thanks to Mark Armstrong for this.

Saturday 17th June is the deadline for Issue 52 of The Railcar.

THE RAILCAR ASSOCIATION

Given the continued uncertainty about withdrawal and disposal dates, contact is being maintained with Angel. When any news breaks it will immediately be broadcast on the web-site, and also communicated directly to those groups and individuals who have registered interest in acquiring vehicles with Tony Fox.

NEWS

The Strathclyde PTA have been told by Scotrail that the 101s will be out of traffic by the end of July. Also, the Whifflet diagrams are expected to be 156s from the timetable change (except a few peak runs).

Central are soon to hire in a Silverlink bubble for several weeks for route learning on freight-only lines around Birmingham for Central's drivers at New Street and other depots. This is in preparation for passenger train diversions from August onwards when Proof House Junction is rebuilt as part of the West Coast upgrade.

HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND

Class 109

Work is now in full swing on the Wickham unit - a project which is likely to take two years to complete. Chris Lings and Lee Sharpe are now working full-time on the project at the Midland Railway Centre.

The first job tackled was to strip the old floor from the power car and wire brush and sand it so it could be painted. The inner skin and roof were also sanded and painted.

All the mechanical units (e.g. engines, gearboxes, exhausters) have been removed and have now been despatched to specialist contractors for refurbishing. The engines appeared to have last been looked at some 30 years ago and a report into their condition is awaited.

The no. 2 engine just before stripping at the contractors. John Joyce

The bogies have now been disconnected but the body will not be lifted until they are ready to look at the wiring work some time in the summer.

Within a short time the inside of the power car was painted. The cab area was stripped and priming and painting carried out. The original insulation and flooring has now been replaced by new materials and work is continuing to install the replacement floor so that the coach is easier to work in.

At the rear of the vehicle the corridor connection has been returned to its rightful place after an absence of some four years. The steelwork has been refurbished but it still needs its canvas covering.

Also missing at the moment are the exhausts. However, inspection has revealed that the whole exhaust system requires replacement as the 20 years of storage have rendered it useless.

Individual components are now being shipped to various places as volunteers tackle them as "homework" projects. Amongst these are brake parts, controls and electrical installations. It will be 18 months before they are all reunited again.

Class 126

The two power cars at Lancastrian Carriage & Wagon are making very slow progress. Lots of residual asbestos has been found on the undersides of the 'z'-section framework. This is a result of the poor job done by the removal company that did the work at Bo'ness in 1994. The firm had sprayed the remainder with an encapsulant, but as the lower bodysides are being replaced, this would disturb it. The intermediate power car (DMS 51017) is currently tented up, the asbestos firm are removing the all lower body panels, rotten framework as required, and removing the asbestos from the (few!) good areas of frame.

Meanwhile LC&W have refurbished an end of each vehicle, removing the gangways, buffers, buckeyes and all other end items, replating the ends as required, and a gangway has been fitted to the previously plated-over cab end of the intermediate power car.

At Bo'ness work continues on the TC 59404. The "conservation" stage is almost complete, with all the inside of the shell scraped and primed where required, and all coated in bitumen. Rotten areas of floor have been replaced with new corrugated sections. Work will soon commence on the fitting out of the vehicle.

An important discovery was made recently, concerning the original decor of the vehicle. We were deciding whether to sand down the sides of the compartments and re-varnish, or recover them with new veneer. By chance it was noticed that there was another layer of veneer beneath the current one. The outer layer was carefully removed (held on only by panel pins) to reveal the original lighter veneer beneath. More importantly, the compartment sides were found to be decorated with areas of inlaid Formica panels, totally unknown to us! The rest of the compartment sides were treated in a similar manner, and all are considered to be in good enough condition just to sand and re-varnish.

PARTS & SUPPLIERS

NUTS Kevin Dowd needs to get "barrel nuts" manufactured. These are used to hold in window frames, and are used by many other vehicles other than the 104s. Again, this may be a one-off opportunity to ever get these, so if you may need these in the future, please contact Kevin.

PRESERVATION

DMU GROUP (WM) Trevor Daw reports: All five of the vehicles on the Severn Valley Railway have had a heavy clean. All old floor polish was stripped to reveal the original BR blue. Two coats of a modern hard-wearing sealer followed this. The aluminium heating ducts at floor level have been cleaned as far as hands can reach, without taking out the seat frames. The cushions will get a deep clean just prior to start of service on May 27th. Val Mills worked jolly hard on the floors. Alan, of Bewdley station staff, has worked on bended-knee scrubbing the aluminium surfaces.

Slam doors and locks have been examined. The programme of door lock refurbishment has been put back owing to lack of staff to undertake this project. The planned engine change on No. 1 end of 51941 took place during April. This was hampered by the exceedingly wet weather. Mark Steadman and Rob Cresswell took holiday time and two weekends to do the job. Underfloor engines are not the best to work on. Particularly when they have to kneel in some of the biggest puddles Bewdley has seen in years.

The planned gearbox change next to the above engine will be done later in the year. On close examination of the final drive of this car it was found that the torque arm bushes and bolts were badly worn. The torque arm is pinned to a large shock absorber on the bogie frame. The excessive wear at this point is probably the reason for the alarming clanks and bangs heard in lower gears. Ian Parker and the Chairman have spent some happy hours driving out the old bushes and pins. They have been replaced with new items from stock. We checked the rest of the power cars and found those torque arms in a similar state. A chat with some of the Tyseley DMU fitters gave some good advice about this job. We had six to change and each one was found to beyond the standard for replacement. Two of the bushes were oval and the pins were up to an eight of an inch under size. We were able to do this job using items from stock. If there is sufficient interest I will write up a description of the task. We look forward to quieter gear changing from now on!

Another project to make life easier has been the fitting of a pumped fuel delivery system to our on- board generator. For years we have struggled to refill the tank from containers. Now we just push a switch and get a clean delivery. Steve Such designed the system using an aircraft fuel pump. He has also stripped and resealed the floor behind the bar counter in 59250.

The kitchen in 51935 has been improved with the fitting of a new hot cupboard. This will ensure that all meals are served in the best possible condition and speed up the waiting at table.

All air receivers have been stripped for visual inspection by the Cornhill surveyor. After re-assembly of the awkward pipework, he witnessed a safety valve pressure test. We are fit to run for another two years.

The DMU Group welcomes new working members. If you would like to join a happy train crew on Saturday evenings, contact Peter Edkins, the VLO at Bewdley, or speak to any of our staff who will point you in the right direction. There is plenty of opportunity for new workers to get involved with general running maintenance. You will get a bit dirty, but that is the satisfaction of doing a new job.

Finally, my thanks to all members who have worked through much foul weather to get so much work done to prepare the units for the summer season. Please remember that we run from Bewdley at 19:10 from 27th May until 16th September, then 30th September for the Diesel Gala.

KWVR The operational W&M railbus is currently undergoing an engine change and should be back in service by the end of the year.

LLANGOLLEN 108 An engine was swapped on the 108 in a day, showing that it is quite possible, and indeed not too hard if you plan it out properly. It took about 12 hours from start to finish, including an hour's shunting and two hours sorting out where somebody had got the fuel feed and return lines swapped over and crossthreaded. A good day's work by four or five people with suitable tools should be enough. It should be a little easier on a 116, etc. as the engine is lower slung and there is more room above to disconnect things.

They offer some comments:

• Dropping the old engine is easy(ish) with a competent stacker truck driver. It helps to drain the oil and water somewhere other than where you are going to do the engine swap. You also have to take off the oil filler tube or it gets crushed during the drop / lift. A shallow pit between the tracks would be handy during the swap for standing in to disconnect things.
• Fitting the new engine is easier if the concrete beside the track is properly horizontal — small manipulations with the stacker are required and are difficult if the concrete isn't properly level.
• Long forks are very useful — fork extensions are an item which can be acquired or made.
• Blocking the engine up level on the pallet to start would make life easier. They had to do a lot of messing about to get the thing lined up properly and ended up using a couple of jacks under the pallet for the last bit.
• It would not be a good idea to use a JCB to do an engine swap! The controls are not as delicate as the stacker.
• A number of components needed swapping over, primarily engine mounts.
• Running the new engine on the ground first, meant that the start-up was pretty painless, apart from the fuel pipe problem. It would be rather silly to fit an engine without trying it first.
• The engine swap was done to look at an oil seal problem — it could be done in situ but would be a major exercise. It was thought easier to drop the engine and fit it back again — otherwise you have to dismantle the sump, injection pump, fan drive, throttle motor, starter... basically the whole engine apart from the crank, pistons and heads.

The old engine comes out from under the 108. Derek Parker

TELFORD 104 A report by Frank Nicolas: I decided to repair a final drive myself, and what can go wrong has gone wrong.

The nose end bearing on the input shaft had collapsed, causing part of the problem. A replacement was needed, so I removed both forward and reverse pinion housings from the final drive. Back to the (company's) workshop, where the inner race remains were removed, and taken to a supplier for a replacement. No problem, they said, and three days later, some £50 lighter, a new bearing appeared. It looked like the diagram in the VMI, and was duly fitted to the input shaft. Five hours later, the outer race parted company with the back housing. The new outer race was shrunk in, and the whole lump taken back to Telford for fitting. On trying to slide the dog over the new bearing, I discovered that the dog stuck on the new bearing. Calls to the bearing supplier were not very helpful, and I did not fancy another marathon session stripping the thing apart again, so the dog was persuaded to fit with the aid of a wooden mallet. This meant that it now became impossible to fit the input shaft according to the book. Removal of the final drive air pistons and switch unit allowed a bit more movement on the selector fork, so the input shaft went in at a slight angle and was then pushed home. The back end went in quite easily for a change. A few studs hold it at the moment, as I have to get some new studs for the housings, along with Nylock nuts — the originals were drilled and split- pinned. I just have to carry out a few test runs now to ensure the final drive operates correctly, then it will be time to fit the prop shaft, gear box air pipes and then try to get the engine going.

Should be operating on a regular basis now, usually the second Sunday of the month until September. If the kettle fails its boiler exam, the unit will be running on the last Sunday of the month as well, subject of course to availability.

HEATER OVERHAULS

John Hatton of the Dean Forest DMU Group has spent some time and effort this year sorting out the electronic control units for the Smiths Heaters, while Chris Bull and team have sorted out the actual heaters.

John has compiled a technical document which includes a "controller test unit" on the procedure for investigating faults on the electronic controllers. He is willing to make it available to all DMU groups. The content is a bit technical and comprises five pages of relatively technical text and several diagrams. If you are interested in a copy of this please contact Ian Hatton by e-mail on Ian.Hatton1@btinternet.com or telephone John on 01452 529189.

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

WANTED

Vacuum Pipes - Anyone know of any reasonable suppliers? Railcar Enterprises.

Batteries - has anyone a good set of batteries that they could sell? Railcar Enterprises

Luggage Racks - suitable for a Class 117, several of each different size required, to complete the restoration of DMS W51402. Northampton & Lamport Railway DMU Group.

Manuals - we have recently acquired a John Fowler 0-4-0 diesel-hydraulic loco which is fitted with a Leyland Albion Series 900 engine which drives through a torque converter a single-speed modified Fowler gearbox/final drive unit. Has anyone got any service, maintenance and spares manuals for this type of engine for sale or to loan to assist in the restoration of the loco to full working order? Northampton & Lamport Railway DMU Group.

URGENT - Free-wheel bearings - Free-wheel bearings - K&WVR DMU Group.

FOR SALE

LMS 57-foot full brake - built 1944. Very useful storage vehicle. Good sound floor, needs some exterior cladding replaced. Runs OK. Space needed to house DMU. Reasonable price to good home. South Devon Diesel Traction.

Seats - We have a quantity of DMU seats for sale for a nominal price from a vehicle in the 595xx series (thought to be 59518). Enough for one white van! South Devon Diesel Traction.

"DMU Disposal" Book - by Ashley Butlin. The book is A4, 72 pages, and has a soft cover. It costs £7.95 including P&P from the publishers: Coorlea Publishing, Beech House, London Road, Washington, Pulborough, WEST SUSSEX RH20 4BA.

Final drives - Wabco (ex-RFS Engineering Ltd) at Doncaster have three overhauled RF28 final drives left in their stores. Please contact Paul Grayson on 01302 790050. They are anxious to dispose of them soon to make space. (Thanks to Class 107 Ltd for this).

BR flashing red LED tail lamps - we have a number of these and if there is sufficient interest we will fit new batteries and supply complete for £30 each. This is considerably cheaper than paraffin lamps and the batteries will last a very long time indeed. Contact us to arrange collection or delivery. Class 107 Ltd.

Seats - free to a good home, otherwise they will be skipped. 2+3 seating, blue moquette, thought to be from a 101. Eric Maxfield, Tanfield Railway, 0191 274 2002

Brake Feed Valves - we have overhaul kits available, costing £15 per set, which includes two diaphragms and one seal. P&P is approx. £1. We had only 70, 30 are now sold, and when they are gone... Dean Forest DMU Group.

QUESTIONS

From John Joyce (Llangollen Railcar Group):

A couple of technical questions. It's just possible somebody will be able to shed some light on a couple of things which have been bugging me for ages:

(1) Train wire no. 38 (Blue Square system of course!) is labelled on the modern diagrams I have as 'spare', and on one early one as 'Passcom'. Now when I was investigating an earth fault on our 127/105 unit I discovered that train wire 38 is actually earthed at the driving end terminal box in both vehicles. Any ideas what the purpose of this is?

(2) The earth fault mentioned above turned out to be in the bogie-to-body cables which had got fried many years ago for some reason. What on earth is the plug that goes onto the direction microswitch called — I can't find a new one unless I know what the type of the old one is (somebody in the lab recognised heater plugs as 'Jones' plugs, amazingly enough, but not these ones). They're also used on the power supply connection to the heater control panels used on vehicles with through train heater control.

For the moment I have made up a replacement using 0.25" recepticles which seem to be perfectly adequate (I did the same on 51907 when it arrived about six years ago) but it would be nice to obtain the correct item.

From Mark Cornell (DUPA):

Do you know of any suppliers of overhaul kits for the 680 waterpump or suppliers of exchange pumps? We have two waterpumps at Chappel that have the water seals gone in them.

COMMENTS

From Trevor Daw (DMU Group (WM)):

I am renovating three throttle motors for Leyland 680 engines. The paper written by John Joyce has been most helpful.

They are very simple machines and the work is straightforward. The seals for the air cylinders are standard hydraulic 1" cup seals, part number C100. I found the woodruff keys to be missing. These items are easily obtained from an engineer's supplier. The motors have worked for years without them. So as the pinch bolts are properly tightened when setting up the shaft in the housing, we could get away without keys. I decided to replace them for the satisfaction of doing the job properly.

John referred to the specified lubricant as 'Oildag'. I have used quality hydraulic oil instead. There is no airflow through the cylinder so in theory the lubricant should remain in contact with the pistons. Time will tell. If you find the 1/4" dia. nuts missing from the cover and side plates these studs are threaded BSF. If anyone finds difficulty in obtaining these I have a good supplier of imperial sizes in Birmingham. He is a good steam enthusiast, I support him when he needs nuts and bolts.

The return springs that are attached to the motors are very worn at both hook ends and on the anchor bolts. They pull the injection pump operating rod back to idling position. The bolts are simple to replace, but we will need new springs. I am looking for a jobbing spring maker in the West Midlands who will make up small quantities to original specification. I have not yet been able to confirm a price but it will be reasonable. I have orders for twelve so far. If any other groups need new springs please let me know your requirements to make up a worthwhile order.

From Frank Nicolas (Telford):

If your unit is smoking, check the air intake filter. On the 104 it is the usual oil bath type. The inlet to this filter is a pressed steel cone with vanes on it. I found that the alternator belts are directly in line with the cone, and were throwing dirt onto the back side of the cone, effectively reducing the air intake by up to 60%. Removal and cleaning resulted in a vast improvement to the exhaust, and also the response to the throttle. Additionally, the use of radiator blinds has increased the running temperature slightly to help burn off the excess muck in the exhaust system. Probably this problem might be unique to the alternator-fitted 104s, but I would think that most Leyland engines with alternators might suffer the same symptoms.

From Gavin Booth (SDPS):

Further to my notes on Corkerhill 101s in the last issue, here are some more. Firstly, some good vehicles to note for preservation.

DMBS 51226, the "scorched" end of 101 695 (attained when it was coupled to burnt-out 101 688) is a cracker. Amazingly, it is virtually rattle-free, the engines are nice and crisp, and another point in its favour is that it still has an interior almost completely in the "quaint" light green Formica (very 1950s) with only parts of the internal bulkheads orange (does this mean it has not been asbestos stripped — or was it perhaps built without any asbestos?).

This might be a good vehicle to pair with DMS 53170 (101 692), which also has a mainly green interior and does not rattle much. On my travels on 29th April I have given it a score of only 3. There are good whines in 1st and 2nd and furthermore, at 70mph the ride was very good.

DMS 53268 (101 694) is another one I have noted as a good one — very smooth engines on 29th April. Also light blue driver's bulkhead, evidence of its previous existence as an DMC. On this date I have recorded "no rattles" despite giving it a score of 8 on a previous occasion and this again shows how things change as the units are maintained.

Now some thoughts on seating:
If I have got my details correct, sets 695, 835 and 840 are the only ones to retain first-class seating, unless any Railtrack vehicles still retain it. So if you want a first-class saloon, earmark these vehicles either for the vehicle itself, or to cannibalise the seats from. However, from the preserved railway point of view, second-class seats are probably better as it allows up to 19 passengers to see the scenery of your preserved railway forwards, instead of just 4 in first-class! Incidentally, most of the ScotRail 101s appear to have had the seat tops re-chromed at some stage and look very smart.

101693: 51192 add — slipping into 2nd. The "incredible rattliness" noted before now appears to have been fixed — new score 5. Ceiling OK but some flaking paint.

101695: 51226 add — a few aluminium patches on sides. Ceiling OK. 51499 add — a few aluminium patches on sides in first- class. Some first-class armrests missing. Both these vehicles have one additional luggage pen in place of the inward-facing seat on the left-hand side (viewed facing the driver).

101694: 51188 add — one patch on ceiling. 53268 add — ceiling OK. Very smooth engines. Gearbox whine in 1st only.

101692: 53170 — smooth riding at speed. Heater intake grille on side. Nice whines in 1st & 2nd. Formica - green driver's bulkhead; green/ orange internal bulkheads; green sides. Rattliness score 3. 53253 — end windows on guard's van have been panelled over (is this normal?) Rough riding at speed. Ceiling vibrates at idle. Ceiling OK. Rattliness average — score 5. Formica — driver's bulkhead green with top left-hand corner around window light blue. Internal bulkhead green/orange. Sides green with some light blue sections and some aluminium patches.

101686: both cars being cannibalised at Corkerhill depot.

101690: both cars noted on 29th April out of service at Corkerhill depot with a number of broken / removed windows — unsure whether this is temporary or permanent.

And re. Longsight sets: Set 835: when we travelled on it last year, it had good, crisp-sounding engines, with the typical Leyland "drone" at speed, and the gears didn't slip. Just goes to show how the condition changes as they are run and maintained.

Set L840: from memory, I recall at least one of the coaches had seats in BR blue (1970s) moquette. Can anyone confirm, though memory may be playing tricks with me. This must therefore be the only set left with this moquette.

NEXT ISSUE : 21st June 2000

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