Spring 06

The above picture shows a lesson in finishing a job properly rather than go for gloss glory. We made the fatal mistake of reassembling no.1 end cab without paying proper attention to what was below the floor panels. When we lifted the checker plate in the foot well of the second man's side of the cab we found two control air pipes with holes in. After much needle gunning in the area you see we found all sorts of treasures that we didn't know we had. With the area fully descaled and the pipes thoroughly inspected we decided to spray the area with red oxide primer which will be followed by a coat of gloss, this exercise has caused a lot of dust (brake dust) to settle in the cab. Now this is all finished the outstanding task of fitting the seats and remaining heaters will be carried out. We did start the refurbishment of the drivers side cab door, when we stripped the insulation off unfortunately we found several cracks in the door and will possibly use a door from 45128's cab.

This picture shows where the main event has been since Christmas, the followers of the preserved diesels web site will no doubt have seen the pictures of the heat exchanger being fitted recently. In this picture you see all the reassembled pipe work on a dry run, we found a few alignment problems(some pipes are ex class 47) and some of the pipe work will need adjustment. We recently brought Mr Mike Phipps a specialist pipe fitter out of retirement to help us with a pipe that ran from the bottom of the oil filter into the back of the crank case. The original one was missing so we acquired one from a class 47,however, then we found that the flange into the crack case from the pipe was 180 degrees out and that section of pipe was too short, so with Mike on hand and some machining of the flange to accommodate the new bolts which were of a larger diameter than the original and a bit of chopping and changing a new pipe was ready which you can see on the pallet in the picture with a large brass valve on.

Our aims for the next quarter, after a visit from Mr Dave Owen, a very knowledgeable ex-BR engineer from Canton depot in Cardiff, he has advised us that we need to inspect our main engine bearings but has ok'd our shell bearings for re-use. Before we do that we need to remove the liners and pistons from B Bank and if the main bearings are sound re-assembly will start straight away.

Mike Pember April 2006

This view shows 2 arm assemblies from the power controller, one refurbished with new bearings and the plunger mechanism which was ceased has been freed up. We have decided, where applicable, any bare metal components from the power controller, which are bare steel to paint them as the protective plating has long ago expired.

Recent activity since our last up-date has been in three areas, these pictures will reflect each area. The first view shows the refurbished power controller handle donated by Pogo 3 years ago for No.2 end, the power controller has been stripped down and all bearings replaced with new ones. The switch gear was overhauled some 4 years ago and when space allows in our workshop van it will be reassembled.