ISSUE 64 - JUNE 2001

Ian McDonald wishes to thank Matthew Smith for sorting him out with a three-seater single frame seat (with handholds) for W51400.

Saturday 14th July is the deadline for Issue 65 of The Railcar.

TRA

Suggested DMU Convention (Friday 14th - Sunday 16th September) accommodation:

• King's Head Hotel, Norwich Street. 01362 693283. Saturday afternoon meeting held there. Five minutes from MNR.
• The George Hotel, Swaffham Road. 01362 696801. 10 min. from MNR.
• Lynn Hill Guest House, Yaxham Road. 01362 696142. 5 min. from MNR.
• Phoenix Hotel, Church Street. 01362 692276. 5 min. from MNR.
• Dereham Tourist Association, Church Street, Dereham, NORFOLK NR19 1DN. 01362 698992. For people who wish to browse for others in area.
• A camping coach with 22 bunks is due at Dereham, and subject to confirmation, may be available for September.

SALE OF ANGEL TRAINS' FIRST GENERATION DMUs Bruce Knights of DERA is handling the sale of Angel Train Contracts vehicles stored at Shoeburyness. He will be one of the guest speakers at the Annual DMU Convention at the Mid-Norfolk Railway in September, and has given us an update on the sale process for the vehicles.

The response for Class 117s has been overwhelming, including interest from the commercial rail industry for using the units in a variety of roles on the Railtrack system. These users will have priority to purchase the units. With regard to the purchase of 117s by heritage groups, it has been decided that, in order to allow all parties an equal chance, they will be sold by a sealed bid process. DERA intends to select a unit, check it for completeness, and ideally bring it back into full working order. Then they will invite groups who have expressed an interest to view the unit at Shoeburyness before the bidding deadline. This process will start very shortly.

Planning continues for 101 disposals. Angel and DERA confirm they would rather sell them than scrap them but can only do so if the asbestos issue is resolved to the HSE's satisfaction. Work is being undertaken to get a clearer picture of the scale of the asbestos problem and they will keep us informed of progress. They ask that as negotiations are at a delicate stage we all allow them to work on the problem without outside intervention, however well-intentioned.

They are developing a process to identify spares for sale or re-use. This will take a little time but so far they have a growing stock of engines and gearboxes at Shoeburyness. They hope to be able to demonstrate engines working on a test rig prior to sale.

Bruce can be contacted at 01702 299716, mobile 07771 811627, or by e-mail at bik@bknights.freeserve.co.uk.

NEWS

CLASS 101 MOVEMENTS Five of the Railtrack-owned Sandite vehicles (apparently 977895/6/9 plus two others) are reported to have moved to Etches Park. Previously stored at Shoeburyness, 51210, 53228, 53746, 51179 were seen being hauled northward through Stafford on the evening of 7th June, destination unknown.

PRESERVATION

CHURNET VALLEY 104s Work continues in 50455 during its residence in Cheddleton shed. By 6th May: 28 bodyside patches welded in, ground and primed; 'Z'- shaped window sections fabricated and fitted; gutters resealed over doorways; the majority of roof vents restored back to original 'Airvac' spec; dummy 2-character headcode indicator fabricated; all steel window surrounds fitted with stainless pins.

	Refitting of seven saloon and three guard's windows was about to commence. It successfully passed a 'B' exam. The picture of the co-owners at work on this vehicle gives us the opportunity for our first caption contest. Entries before the deadline for the next issue please. A year's subscription for the best one.

EMBSAY & BOLTON ABBEY 107s Class 107 DMBS 52005 arrived at Bolton Abbey on Wednesday 30th May and has since been nicknamed "the multicoloured swap shop" by the railway's staff. Hopefully they will not be able to use this name much longer as, weather permitting, it will be repainted into green over the summer. A missing exhauster has been refitted. Whilst doing this they discovered that the air inlet hose to the other exhauster was partially blocked due to the wrong hose being used and then forced onto the pipes at each end. The inner layer of the hose had crumpled to leave only a small hole at the centre.

The guard's cage kindly donated by the Dean Forest chaps has been stored pending installation in this vehicle. The 108 cage is slightly different and when they manage to fit it they'll be writing a learned paper on how it is done!

Prior to arrival of 52005 they have been engaged in the restoration of two 12T Vanwide boxvans, one of which forms the large and heavy items department of their stores system.

NORTHAMPTON 117 W51400 has now been completely rewired and will shortly be attached to W51402 to use as a spare set whilst W51367 is out for welding work.

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

WANTED

Information - can anyone shed light of whether bogies obtained from a 117 would be suitable for a Class 108? Nottingham (GC) DMU Group.

Help - Would anybody be willing to purchase a 101 driving car for spares, so that I may obtain the cab section for display in my back garden? Obviously subject to the asbestos situation. If so, please contact me. Also any Class 101 observations from the Manchester area would be most welcome. Keith Mitchell.

Leaf springs - for a Class 121. Graham Petts.

Pictures - I own the Class 110 on the East Lancs Railway and I would like copies of pictures of Class 110s in traffic, and of my set in particular, or information on some of its workings. Allan Schofield, scudfield@aol.com.

Pictures - Any Class 101 pics, particularly interiors and in the Skegness area. Sharon Gray.

Exhauster - For the Middleton Railway, I am seeking a standard rotary DMU exhauster. EM2 Locomotive Society.

Mounting Rubbers - Has anyone had any engine mounting rubbers for Leyland 680s made or have any idea where we can get some? Paul Ellis, NRM 108.

FOR SALE

Water pumps and rectifiers - 3 brand new unused water pumps suitable for Leyland Albion 900 series engines £75.00 each, plus 4 RUG IIA rectifiers (need cleaning) hence £25.00 each or will exchange for final drive casing (complete) and/or driver's window(s) suitable for Class 117 or 122. W55003 Group.

Seats - from Class 101s - free, but must be uplifted ASAP or they will be skipped. Williton Traction Group.

CD-ROM - "Trains Galore I", containing over 2,000 high-quality images of British Railways from the Eighties to present day including many photographs of preserved railways. More details may be viewed on our web site at www.deesoft2000.com, or contact DeeSoft, PO BOX 3000, NOTTINGHAM NG7 4EE, tel. 0115 924 9645.

Engine Spares - The Cheshire Locomotive Preservation Group have contacted us as they have a substantial amount of Leyland 680 spares, bought as a job lot with some Sulzer spares, which they want to sell. Their five-page list contains everything from a complete overhauled 680 engine to bearings, gaskets and seals, and everything in between. Contact them for a copy of the list.

Glass - I have some items of glass for sale/swap: i) A small number of glazing panes for a Class 116 (or possibly 115/117/118?); ii) Two internal vestibule glazing panes for a Class 103; iii) Approx. 50 sliding quarterlight glazing panes for Class 108s. Kevin Dowd.

Video - "101 Twilight" video, 60 mins duration, featuring 101s in N. Wales and around Manchester. Cost £10 inc. P&P. Cheques made payable to "Gwent 108 Group".

CD-ROM - 101 Twilight CD containing over 100 high-quality digital photos of 20 units, in N. Wales and around the Manchester area. Cost £6.50 plus £1 P&P. Cheques made payable to "Gwent 108 Group".

AIR CLEANER SERVICING - LEYLAND 680 ENGINE by Trevor Daw (DMU Group (West Midlands))

We removed all air-cleaners which, to put it mildly, were in a very dirty state. These has not been cleaned before Regional Railways withdrew them from service. The job is filthy and probably encrusted in oil, brake block dust, straw, grass, small pieces of ballast and earth! Perhaps only secured by two bolts, when four should be the norm.

Start by removing the flexible hose between engine air intake manifold and the cleaner. in some cases there is a difference in length between the No.1 engine and the No.2. On first glance the first thing you want to do is burn it. It will probably look as though there is no further life in it. Actually they are made of high-quality material and ours have many more years of life in them. I have cleaned and repaired them with a great deal of success. First remove encrusted oily gunge, then sink it in a large vessel and cover with paraffin for two days or longer. Occasionally agitate this to help the soaking process. Remove it and let it drain then wire brush as much of the surfaces inside and out as can be reached. Rinse this off in fresh paraffin and the result will startle you. To finish I washed them again in petrol which moved a lot more crud. After drying for a day I repaired the frayed ends with a heavy staple gun. The conical pre-cleaner is often found to have heavy encrustation of slimy nastiness. Three of ours had hard balls of mud/oil/carbon dust below the louvered disc. These need sinking in a bucket of water to get the hard mud to soften, then poke it out until clean. Then you can start to clean it properly as the hose above.

Next dismantle the top casting from the oil bath container. This is held in place by three 3/8" BSF brass wing nuts. Remove the baffle assembly, felt washer, filter element and its support. At the bottom of the container will be another thick deposit of dirt. This and the top casting need a lot of time to clean properly. We have tried hot pressure washing but this does not remove all deposits. It needs small scrapers that can get into all the small spaces in the top casting. I left this in a deep paraffin wash for two days to melt out the sticky deposit. The thin metal element support wears thin and often falls apart. They are made of thin gauge mild steel and should be brazed to effect a lasting repair. The element is triple mesh gauze. These are no longer available in the 'trade', so take great care when washing them with paraffin / petrol. If the gauzes are damaged they can be repaired by stitching them together carefully with soft wire obtained from garden centres. Use a thin spike to make holes through the gauze and feed wire through and repeat, pulling it tight as you go.

When refitting to underframe, remember that two mounting bolts are short, and two are longer to pass through the double thickness of the support bracket and chassis. It is a matter of personal choice whether you fill the oil bath and put it up complete, or put it in position after fitting the top casting to the underframe.

101s TO BLACKPOOL by Paul Moxon

Bank Holiday Monday (28th May) saw three 101s coupled together to form the 1T65 10:21 Piccadilly to Blackpool North. Sets used were 101676 (51205+51803), 101693 (51192+53266), 101680 (53204+53163).

We arrived at Blackpool around 25 minutes down and most people dispersed to do whatever they do in Blackpool when it is grey and cold.

The return journey resulted in some spirited running, managing an indicated 72mph near Preston, but all this came to an end when one engine of 53204 overheated at Manchester Oxford Road and caused the application of no less than three fire extinguishers. The train was then cancelled and the ensemble went e.c.s. to Longsight.

APPEAL FOR DMU From Paul Good, 2, Westville Road, Newport, South Wales, NP20 4LU, Email: paulgood2@ntlworld.com 

Dear Reader, in my capacity as Head of Diesel Dept. of the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway (GWR) I have been asked by the Operations Director to contact you with regarding hiring in a second DMU for the line.

Currently we have a 108 two-car unit, which has been running on the line for almost ten years, it was given a reasonable body overhaul soon after its arrival along with some restoration but it was mainly a case of replace missing parts and it was up and running. Obviously ten years on and it is need of some serious 'love and attention'; not only bodywork wise, but mechanically and electrically.

With this in mind it is intended to withdraw the set next year for major overhaul which will leave us short, this shortfall can, in the main, be covered by locomotive and coaches, even in winter months as the class 47 is equipped with an operational boiler and work is underway restoring the steam generator on 37324 based at the GWR. However it is easier and cheaper to run the DMU in the winter months.

This brings me onto the other major advantage of the DMU. The GWR has been the proving ground a new style of illuminated advertising, the prototype of which has been installed in the tunnel near Winchcombe. The company which owns this equipment frequently requires it to be demonstrated during midweek when the railway is not normally manned, because there is no running around the stock by a loco etc. the only train crew required are a driver and guard. It is anticipated this midweek running will be ongoing for the next 2 years; this poses a problem if the 108 is taken out for major overhaul. In addition, as you may have read in the railway press, the line has now been relaid to Cheltenham Racecourse and it is hoped to be fully open by 2002/2003. Hope this gives an insight to why we want another DMU.

All types of DMU are acceptable: single-car, 2- or 3-car units. There are however a few requirements:

• The DMU must be fully restored.
• The DMU must be reliable (I do however except something built 40 years ago will occasionally breakdown, however well restored).
• The Owner(s) will be expected to maintain the vehicle with some assistance from the GWR Diesel Dept.
• The Owner(s) will have to join the GWR and abide by its conditions etc.

In return the owner will:

• Receive payment each time their DMU is used whether this is as part of operating the timetabled service or on the train used to test the tunnel advertising equipment
• Receive a payment towards the cost of transporting in the DMU by road to the GWR
• Have all fuel, lubricating oil and Antifreeze costs paid for by the GWR
• Have a chance to give their unit a 'good thrash' on one of the UK leading Heritage Railways that is constantly expanding.
• Guaranteed running for two years, with the probability of this being extended.
• Use of an inspection pit.

So if you are interested please contact either myself at the above address or write to the following: The Operations Director, C/O Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway, The Railway Station, Toddington, Gloucestershire GL54 5DT

NEXT ISSUE : 18th July 2001

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