Welcome to this week’s update from the Autumn Diesel Running and Quorn Swapmeet Weekend; joining the event was Iris, a single unit Derby Lightweight DMU that spent many years with the Research Division of BR as RDB975010, so will undoubtedly have rubbed shoulders with our Test Car 2 whilst working out of the Railway Technical Centre in Derby during the 1980s and 90s.
Another busy weekend for Nick, Matt, Ross and myself we have made good progress with work on Hector, two Vans & our new arrival.
Hector‘s steering wheel was smartened up with a replacement for the missing centre boss which I had 3d-printed using Matt’s drawing of the Lancing emblem as a template. A revised tow hitch arrangement was fabricated and fitted slightly lower to allow us to haul the Brute trolleys.
Hector has also received some more attention to tidy-up his wiring and had a cab interior front panel made and fitted. New brake pipes were flared and fitted, although some work is still needed to bleed and get the rear ones working properly. Matt was keen to show off his working flashing roof beacon.
Danny, Hector and the Brush Electric Vehicles have become very useful for transporting tools, equipment and us around the site; however the stone chippings that were spread over the yard at Quorn earlier in the year sometimes pose a challenge causing the single front drive wheel of the BEVs to loose traction and quickly become stuck in the deeper chipping ruts. On this occasion Danny came to the rescue.
The main announcement this week is the arrival of what is our eighth tank wagon; 5209 is a Norbrit Pickering 1964 built TSV 24T capacity Class A tank purchased from the Nottingham Heritage Railway who had used it as a water carrier.
The wagon fairies getting to work quickly to give the tank a clean-up so we could inspect and decide what, if any work was required to allow it to be moved safely.
The initial inspection went quite well however all four buffers were not good, three had loose heads and one was stuck compressed in.
The first task therefore was to remove all four buffers and fit serviceable ones.
Once the vacuum hoses on both ends of the wagon had been replaced, a brake system test was carried out using the vacuum rig and test gauges .
Although we could get the brakes to apply, the operation was not consistent and there were a few leaks. The DA valve was by-passed and branch-pipe hoses tightened to try and eliminate the problem, but it became clear than a full system overhaul will be required at some point.
After inspecting inside the tank we found that it was over half full of clean water, so with the wagon positioned alongside a yard drain, we set about trying to empty this out. Despite the use of a very large bar we were unable to shift either of the drain valves, which is probably why the tank had not been drained prior to transportation.
One of the valves therefore had to be removed, which got the water flowing.
It took some 25 minutes to drain the tank.
Work also continued with the two vans roof recovering. A coat of quick drying sealer/primer was applied followed by a coat of Bitumen paint to both 765272 and 786348.
The completion of the roof work on both 765272 and 786348 means these are now finished and looking a great deal smarter.
Matt has also been giving a couple of BR (M) lamps a spruce-up for a friend.
We then got out the pressure washer and made a start on the Hurst Nelson tank 3711 that has been patiently awaiting our attention for some time.
Although we were making good progress removing many years of grime, Ross found some snow-foam which has helped really clean up the west side of the tank nicely.
So to sum-up the weekend: Smart Vans and Lamps, Clean & Empty Tanks, and a happy Hector.
Join us again next week for (hopefully) some news of an upcoming event.
All the best, Dave
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