The class 104 in unfamiliar surroundings - at the Llangollen locomotive shed awaiting departure by road to a new life at the Great Central Railway after thirty three years as part of our fleet, during which time it covered many thousands of miles in the Dee Valley. One vehicle was taken to the Great Central Railway on Tuesday 5 May and the other followed on Thursday 7 May.
"Rearranging the train set" ... all four sets needed to move for one reason or another, so quite a bit of Sunday morning on 17th May got used up with shunting operations.
Another view of the yard reshuffle; everything had to move to get the 127/108 out of the shed, fuelled and ready to run in a few days' time.
As the class 104 went out, another vehicle came in. A temporary addition to the fleet, class 115 car 51899 in for spares recovery before the remains get recycled. Very few of this type are left in running condition now, but nobody came forward to purchase it for further use when it was available, so it will yield spares for both our fleet and others.
When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin Along
An unexpected visitor in the 'mess coach' that greeted us on the morning of Saturday 16 May. Fortunately it found its way out with a little encouragement, and didn't leave too much evidence of its presence behind.
A pause for a Sunday morning wash. Somebody had sanded all the old paint off the cab roof of 56223, and the front end was covered in dust. Graham and Neil giving it a final hose down.
The hybrid class 127/108 pair being fuelled up ready for service. It's thirsty work as it took a little over 700 litres.
Some brief details of the work that has been carried out on individual members of the fleet can be found in the 'Unit-specific work' section below.
Since the previous report the railcar services at Llangollen have been provided by the Class 108 and the Wickham class 109.
The Wickham and the class 108 worked together as a 4-car on Saturday 2nd May and carried a 'Carrog 30' headboard to mark the 30th anniversary of the heritage railway reaching Carrog. Despite that, the above picture shows them at Corwen!
A brand new luggage rack under construction in Cravens trailer 56456, using brackets cast from originals - thanks to Steve Andrews of 3802 fame for organising that. Allen and Neil adjusting them to suit.
All in place, just awaits fastening together properly. Do we leave out a few fasteners to get that authentic rattle?
The Cravens toilet story continues, with some of the original panelling being trial fitted after plumbing repairs. The toilet flush tank is hidden behind these.
Class 108 51933/54504
One item found during the class 108's "A" exam was a loose final drive input flange - despite its securing nut still being split-pinned correctly. The final drive is the white item on the right that contains the gears to enable the train to run in both directions. Fortunately the loose input flange could be sorted by re-tightening the nut this time.
Another minor repair on 'A' exam - a droplight that wouldn't drop. The metalwork on the bottom of the window had broken, and was jamming on the reinforcing bar below. New window metalwork found and fitted by Martin and Graham.
New volunteer Declan found out about brake adjustments and tests, also on the class 108's A exam.
Class 110 51813/59701/51842
Shaun painting the ceiling in the class 110 - a great result for somebody who had never painted anything before!
The centre saloon made it into primer but the gloss will have to wait for next time.
This tangled pile of metal is class 110 seat frames, about to be sent away for shot blasting and powder coating. All of 51813's and the first class from 51842 for now.
Shaun carries on glossing the ceiling in the class 110.
Neil and Andy 2 cleaning up light fitting parts from the class 110, ready to fit to the newly-painted ceiling. Curious that paint sticks far better to things that you want it to fall off, than to things you want it to stick to. The light fittings themselves will be the next instalment.
Class 110 inside the shed ready for some work to tidy up the bodywork. Most likely it will be localised repairs and a coat of varnish for now. In front, the seating about to head off for reupholstery. Hope they hired a decent sized van for that lot!
Hybrid Class 127/108 51618/56223
Fault finding under class 127 car 51618 - one of the driver's indicator lights ("air & axle") would sometimes go out at random. This was traced to a relay needing its contacts adjusting. Of course the fault would never appear when checked back at base, so the diagnostic technique was to use a lump of wood and tap anything that might be relevant, until we found what made the light flicker. No OBD2 diagnostics to plug in on 1950s trains!
Another long-standing fault dealt with on 51618 was an alternator regulator that wasn't letting any charge get from one of the alternators. Later versions had most of this in the end of the alternator.
The fault was just a bad connection inside the rectifier that had become very hot. Aluminium heatsink plus copper wire plus steel bolts is a pretty bad design for something that gets damp outside. Now reassembled with brass bolts and some moisture-proof coating instead.
Reassembled and given a coat of paint before refitting.
An unexpected job was a silencer on class 127 51618, which had 'suffered' a little during all the works over the Winter. Fortunately we had a spare from the class 127 that we raided for parts recently. The other can go on the pile of 'things we will get round to fixing someday'.
During shunting operations on Sunday 17 May, an engine indicator packed up in the hybrid class 127/108 set. The weekend's last job was to find out why - a brief investigation found a broken contact in this jumper cable.
Gloucester class 100 51118/56097 (undergoing restoration at the Midland Railway, Butterley)
Work on the cab of 'Gloucester' trailer 56097 at Butterley. Here the panel over the driver's door has been refitted, along with a new panel for the cab light switch.
Thanks to Allen Chatwood, John Joyce, Andy Lowe, Mike Martin and Graham Parkin for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.