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Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was attached to the tail end of an Empty Coaching Stock move as a convenient way to get her back to Williton on Friday 17th March 2023. Class 03 D2133 also managed to get her nose into the picture ! Photo by Tom Courtney © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The railway has reopened and once again, West Somerset has come alive with the sight and sound of railway locomotives, both steam and diesel. Last Saturday saw the first public walk-up services running on the WSR since last October, with two steam locos in use on the Saturday and two plus the Class 115 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) in use on the Sunday. In preparation for the re-opening, Class 33 D6575 (33 057) moved from Williton to Bishops Lydeard on Tuesday 14th to take up the Duty Loco role and to handle the offloading of BR(W) 4-6-0 7822 ‘FOXCOTE MANOR’ from road transport, in the absence of Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019).

On the Friday (17th), sister loco D6566 (33 048) who had been stabled at Minehead in connection with crew refresher and competency checks hitched a ride back to Williton on the back of an Empty Coaching Stock train to take her place in the Swindon Shed paint tunnel, where she will receive a much-needed refresh to her early BR-era paintwork. On the same day, the Class 115 DMU moved from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard to be in position for her booked working on the Sunday.

The WSR’s Class 115 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) moved from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard on Friday 17th March 2023 to be in position for her booked service on the following Sunday. Pictured from the rear as she prepared to depart from Blue Anchor by Josh Brinsford © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

On the Saturday, Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 was in use for crew refresher training at Bishops Lydeard, the result of which was the expansion of the pool of passed drivers to include several WSR staff drivers in addition to DEPG drivers. This will significantly expand the usefulness of this loco, especially while she stands-in for Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019). She looked and sounded great as she headed off to Norton Fitzwarren. A short video was taken by Terry Deacon and can be viewed by clicking this link or clicking on the image below:

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 was back in use on the WSR for crew refresher training runs between Bishops Lydeard and Norton Fitzwarren on Saturday 18th March 2023. Image from a video by Terry Deacon © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The next services on the WSR will be this coming weekend with two locos in steam under the RED ALL-STEAM timetable, then the railway is open most days throughout the first two weeks of April. The lineup for the SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR event which will run from Friday April 28th through to Bank Holiday Monday 1st May has been further boosted with the planned appearance of GWR 4-6-0 4953 ‘PITCHFORD HALL’ plus three ‘MANORS’ and a ‘SAINT’ plus the rest of the home-based fleet, so an absolute feast for GWR fans ! For details, click this link to the WSR website.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) and Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 is booked for Sunday 16th April. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – continuous progress is being made on three and sometimes four days per week as our volunteers both new and old get stuck in with their assigned tasks and make visible progress on multiple fronts. In the background, we have been working on the restoration plan and timeline, details of which are included in the latest DEPG Newsletter that is being distributed this weekend. Here are some photos to show just some of the work that is taking place:

D1010 – the filling valves that control the filling and emptying of the torque converters were cleaned and inspected at Williton on 13th March 2023 and found to be in very good condition. The leftmost valve handles the first stage and the rightmost valve handles the smaller-volume second and third stages. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the gangway plate alongside the cooler group at ‘B’ end was drilled out and lifted by Natalie at Williton on Tuesday 14th March 2023 to allow inspection of the wiring and pipework runs beneath. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the space made available by the removal of the cooler group elements made a convenient temporary storage place for the gangway plate. Pictured at Williton on 18th March 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – as expected, the space underneath the gangway plate was full of dirt and oil in equal measure. The same will be true for all of the other sections of gangway plate that will need to be lifted so that the pipework and cable runs can be inspected. There is plenty of work to do, that’s for sure. Pictured at Williton on 18th March 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco has been in use for crew training at Minehead and has now returned to Williton for a paintwork refresh. The loco is expected to be out of traffic until late April.

Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was stabled at Minehead between Saturday 25th February and Friday 17th March 2023 in support of crew refresher training and competency checks. Photo dated 17th March by Mark Ireland © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) shunted herself into the paint tunnel of the Swindon Shed via Williton North Yard on Friday 17th March 2023. The loco was pictured while still displaying shunting signals (white and red). Photo by Tom Courtney © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco took up the Duty Loco role at Bishops Lydeard on Tuesday 14th March.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco is waiting for the results of the engine oil drain sampling before a decision can be taken on arranging an oil change. The loco is otherwise ready for service, apart from a post-wintering tidy-up.

Class 35 ‘Hymeks’ D7017 and D7018 are stabled outdoors on number 1 road at Williton. They were pictured from the platform of Williton Station on Friday 17th March 2023 by Josh Brinsford © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco is awaiting attention to a short list of issues that were identified during the loaded test run that took place in December 2022. Work is expected to start on this loco in late April and the issues addressed in time for the Diesel Gala on June 8th through 10th.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the preparatory work on the cardan shaft safety bows and transmission tunnel continued in the hands of Colin G and Andy P, while John made more progress with the re-wiring. Terry and Nick prepared the brake hangers for re-bushing on the Tuesday and Tony worked on replacing the skins on the nose end doors. Here’s some photos (we will have more photos in the next roundup):

D9518 – the two cardan shafts are now fully painted and are ready for re-installation. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 14th March 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the new stainless steel armoured flexible hoses for the transmission heat exchanger are shown alongside the old parts at Williton on Saturday 11th March 2023. These hoses carry transmission oil that is both hot and under high pressure, so the integrity of these pipes is vital, justifying their replacement with new parts. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco was in use in the Bishops Lydeard to Norton Fitzwarren section on Saturday 18th March for driver refresher training under the guidance of Colin G. This loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the very near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is rostered for crew training duties during the next few weeks.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – the new oil filters have been delivered by BRITISH FILTERS in Plymouth and will be fitted to the loco ASAP so that the oil change can be completed. More on this in the next roundup.

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – we have started shipping copies of the latest in the DIESEL DAWN series of booklets that are published by Mortons Media Group, VOLUME 7: WESTERN REGION CLASS 14 DIESEL-HYDRAULICS so order your copy now ! This book is on sale via our website for the benefit of the D9518 restoration fund. PLEASE BUY A COPY to support D9518 !

We can also supply any of the previous six volumes, so please let us know if you would like to purchase any of the volumes in this interesting series. Please also take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet. Thank you very much for your support !

Just as a reminder, we can also supply PLATFORM 5 publications either from stock or against a special order, the profits from such sales going towards our general loco maintenance funds.

 

 

ON SHED – last week, we featured a photo by Kelvin Lumb showing 47 229 (formerly D1905) hauling a Ford Motor Co train loaded with brand new Mark II Ford Escorts eastwards through Bridgend station on Saturday 26th February 1977 and we asked for help in identifying the origin and destination of the train.

As it turns out, Brian Ringer (one of our founding members) had the ideal background to be able to provide the detail that we needed, and his response is shared below: 

   “Great shot of 47229 on a train heading east through Bridgend and the mystery of the Cartic loaded with Ford Escorts.

   During my career with BR, I was Ford Motor Co. marketing manager in the Railfreight sector in the early 1980s, so these traffics were part of my “bailiwick”. At the time Ford had a complex set of train movements to move finished cars and parts between its various production plants. The Escort was produced at Halewood (Merseyside) and were moved by rail to a distribution depot at Severn Tunnel Junction (STJ) that was owned by Silcock and Colling – it was on the site of 86E STJ steam depot, just east of the station.

   The same train also brought axles from the Ford plant at Swansea (adjacent to Burrows Sidings) to Halewood (and later had a portion from the Bridgend engine plant, when it opened in 1980). The cars and component vans were conveyed on the same train between Halewood and STJ and vice versa, with a feeder trip to/from STJ and Swansea Burrows sidings.

   The most likely scenarios are either:

   a/ there was a problem on the section of line between Maindee Junction and STJ meaning that the whole train went through to Swansea Burrows sidings and the photo shows the working from Swansea back to STJ for the Escorts to be unloaded at Silcock and Colling’s depot.

   b/ the Cartic wagon had a maintenance problem and it went to Marcroft Wagon Repairs at Swansea to be fixed. It was highly unusual for a wagon to go for repairs whilst still loaded with 25 cars worth in excess of £100k.

   The comment about imports via Fishguard sounds improbable as in my time, Ford never used Fishguard for imports or exports and the only other plant that produced Escorts in Europe was Koln (Cologne) in Germany. These cars were imported via Dagenham Dock (Essex).

   All in all a very unusual photo with no obvious explanation, but splendid none the less.”

Many thanks to Brian for providing us with this interesting response. Here’s the photo again as a reminder:

47 229 (D1905) hauled a Ford Motor Co train loaded with Mk II Ford Escorts through Bridgend heading east on Saturday 26th February 1977, on the same day as the ‘WESTERN TRIBUTE’ railtour … which was the working that our photographer was really waiting for, if the truth be told. Photo by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

The below photo by Kelvin Lumb happens to show the old 86E steam shed at Severn Tunnel Junction, just visible beyond the footbridge in this view of an unidentified Class 25 standing on the down goods relief line. MANY THANKS to Kelvin for continuing to provide us with more great photos from his vast collection.

An unidentified Class 25 was pictured standing on the down goods relief line at Severn Tunnel Junction, waiting for access to the South Wales Main Line with a train of empty ballast hoppers. The old steam shed (86E) can be seen beyond the footbridge. Photo dated summer 1976 by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

 

DEPG NEWS – a Board Meeting will be held at Williton on Saturday 25th March, so please let us know if you have a question that you would like to have tabled at this meeting.

 

The SPRING 2023 DEPG Newsletter (issue #63) is being distributed this weekend, so keep an eye out for it and let us know if you haven’t received it by the end of this month.

 

Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter includes detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY 2023 DATES for your diary:

WSR SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR : Friday 28th April through Monday 1st May

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June

WSRA STEAM RALLY : Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th August

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September

      

   

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

Williton station looked splendid after the light dusting of snow that covered the area on Wednesday 8th March 2023. The broad gauge origins of this station can be seen by the spacing between the tracks. Photo by Edward Martin © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The very cold weather returned last week and caused some minor disruptions, but the snow was very short-lived and it seems like it has been raining almost constantly since !

Outdoor activities were not an attractive option last Saturday 11th March but several jobs had to be performed so our gallant volunteers got on with the tasks and kept themselves busy to keep warm. The priority task was to prepare Class 33 D6575 (33 057) for her move to Bishops Lydeard on Tuesday 14th, where she was needed to handle the return of BR(W) 4-6-0 7822 ‘FOXCOTE MANOR’ in the absence of Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019). Although Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 was available for use at Bishops Lydeard, the pool of passed drivers has not yet been expanded so use of this loco was not an option. However, this coming Saturday, this will be remedied by a driver training session that will take place in the Bishops Lydeard to Norton Fitzwarren section, where previous drivers can renew their ‘tickets’ for the forthcoming season.

Meanwhile, Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was in use on Saturday 11th at Minehead in support of crew refresher training and competency testing, and will return to Williton on Friday 17th and will go straight into the Swindon Shed to undergo a full repaint, to be outshopped in the same green and cream livery as previously.

The outdoor maintenance work on shunter D4107 (09 019) was confined to the leaking oil cooler element and this was removed on Saturday 11th and prepared for shipment to APPLIED RADIATORS in Stoke-on-Trent for specialist repair.

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) – the radiator shutters at the nose end of the locomotive were opened up so that the leaking oil cooler element could be removed and sent to APPLIED RADIATORS for specialist repair. The photo shows the five water elements on the left and the two oil elements on the right, with Chris braving the weather to clean up as we went along. Pictured at Williton on Sunday 11th March by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

EVENT AT PLYMPTON

Well-known author and DEPG member BERNARD MILLS is going to be presenting ‘HEYDAY OF THE DIESEL-HYDRAULICS’ in Plympton near Plymouth on the evening of Saturday 13th May 2023, with all proceeds going to the PLYM VALLEY RAILWAY station appeal. This is certain to be a most interesting evening and is bound to be very well patronised. Please click on the below image to make a booking:

We offer several of Bernard’s excellent books on our website, such as BACKTRACKING volume V. Click here for details.

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The WSR have announced the lineup for their SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR event which will run from Friday April 28th through to Bank Holiday Monday 1st May and will include three ‘MANORS’ and a ‘SAINT’ plus the rest of the home-based fleet ! For details, click this link to the WSR website.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by one of our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – more progress was made on various fronts last week as Gordon worked on the repaired headcode boxes and Roy dealt with several of the painting tasks on parts that have yet to be refitted to the loco. Steve, Andy and Natalie progressed with the cab wiring at ‘B’ end while Colin F, Geoff and Tim continued their excellent work on the ‘B’ transmission. Here are some photos:

D1010 – the oilways in the ‘B’ transmission middle casing were inspected and cleaned out by Geoff at Williton on 6th March 2023. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the inside of the ‘B’ transmission middle casing was cleaned and inspected at close quarters by Tim at Williton on 7th March 2023. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the top casting of the ‘B’ transmission housing was oriented vertically to allow easier access for cleaning and inspection. Pictured at Williton on 7th March 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the various pipes and manifolds were cleaned and inspected at Williton on 7th March 2023 to ensure that all welds and brazed connections were in good condition. One brazed joint was found to be cracked and had to be re-made, but all of the others were OK. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – on the very cold day of 8th March, Andy R was at work on the wiring under the driver’s desk in ‘B’ cab, identifying the life-expired wiring that needs to be replaced. Photo by Natalie Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco has been in use for crew training at Minehead and will be returning to Williton on Friday 17th March for a re-paint.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco was treated to a cab clean-up at Williton on Saturday 11th and a face wash on the Sunday, in advance of her return to the Duty Loco role on Tuesday 14th March.

D6575 (33 057) – the driver’s side of the ‘No. 2’ cab cleaned up quite nicely at Williton on Saturday 11th 2023, in advance of the loco returning to front line duty on Tuesday 14th. Photo by Natalie Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D6575 (33 057) – the secondman’s side of the ‘No. 2’ cab shows the duplicated basic driving controls that were specified by BR’s Southern Region to allow the driver to work from either side of the cab – which was a very useful feature at ferry ports. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 11th 2023 by Natalie Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – the engine was pre-heated by Leroy so that the engine oil drain points could be sampled and the oil examined by Neil, to determine if there was any water in the drains. So far so good, but there are few more drain points to be checked next weekend.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – the batteries were put on charge by Leroy to keep them in good condition and keep them ready for an engine test run at some point in the near future.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the cardan shaft safety bows were cleaned and painted by Colin G and the transmission tunnel cleaned up and painted with a coat of primer by Andy P. These preparatory steps will allow the cardan shafts to be re-fitted to the loco during the next few weeks. Meanwhile, John continued his diligent work on the re-wiring of the loco, with each wire clearly identified and properly connected while Terry and Nick continued their progress with the engine overhaul.

D9518 – the two cardan shafts were pictured at Williton on Saturday 11th March 2023, the longer one still requiring a coat of paint around the tubular mid-section. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – two of the ‘safety bows’ that fit around the cardan shafts were cleaned and painted by Colin G at Williton on Saturday 11th March 2023. The purpose of these heavy-duty parts is to constrain the flailing shaft in the event of a coupling failure while rotating at speed. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the transmission tunnel fits over the cardan shafts and includes an inspection door that is used when checking the universal joints and applying grease at the prescribed intervals. Pictured along with volunteer Andy P at Williton on Saturday 11th March 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the rewiring of the locomotive took another step forward at Williton on Saturday 11th March 2023 when John C installed several new cable runs and terminated them at the refurbished junction box. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco will be in use in the Bishops Lydeard to Norton Fitzwarren section on Saturday 18th March for driver refresher training under the guidance of Colin G. This loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the very near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is rostered for crew training duties during the next few weeks.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this loco is waiting for delivery of the new oil filter and housing that are being specially made by BRITISH FILTERS in Plymouth to be directly compatible with the original Vokes type. Meanwhile, the oil has arrived so we just need the filters now !

A 205-litre barrel of Fuchs Titan 15W-40 engine oil has been delivered to Williton for use in Barclay 578 and for top-up of the two Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Pictured on 8th March 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – this week, we will receive our stock of the latest in the DIESEL DAWN series of booklets that are published by Mortons Media Group, VOLUME 7: WESTERN REGION CLASS 14 DIESEL-HYDRAULICS and this book is on sale via our website for the benefit of the D9518 restoration fund. PLEASE BUY A COPY to support D9518 !

We can also supply any of the previous six volumes, so please let us know if you would like to purchase any of the volumes in this interesting series. Please also take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet. Thank you very much for your support !

 

ON SHED – staying with the Class 47 theme from last week, and not very far from Landore shed ….. we see 47 229 (formerly D1905) hauling a Ford Motor Co train loaded with brand new Mark II Ford Escorts eastwards through Bridgend station on Saturday 26th February 1977. This loco was delivered new to Cardiff Canton depot on 23rd September 1965 and ended her days working out of Bescot depot until the last day of 2006, a very useful career spanning 41 years. As to why the Escorts were heading east towards Cardiff, we can’t really say, unless they were imported through Fishguard Harbour. Can you help us explain this working ? Use our CONTACT FORM if you can help answer this question.

47 229 (D1905) hauled a Ford Motor Co train loaded with Mk II Ford Escorts through Bridgend heading east on Saturday 26th February 1977, on the same day as the ‘WESTERN TRIBUTE’ railtour … which was the working that our photographer was really waiting for, if the truth be told. Photo by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

 

DEPG NEWS – a Board Meeting was held at Williton on Saturday 25th February and a synopsis is being prepared and will be sent out with the forthcoming Newsletter mailing (or emailing, depending on your stated preference in ‘Membermojo‘). The next Board Meeting will take place on Saturday 25th March so let us know by using our CONTACT FORM if you have a question that you would like to have tabled at this meeting.

 

The next DEPG Newsletter is running late (apologies for this delay) but is almost completed and will be distributed next week. We could really use some help with the preparation of future quarterly Newsletters, so please let us know by using our CONTACT FORM if you have copy editing skills that could be made available for this.

 

Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

 

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) occupied number 2 road at Williton Depot while Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) stood on number 1 road in the late afternoon of Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

As the preparations for the re-opening of the WSR on Saturday 18th March gather pace, Class 33 D6575 (33 057) has been readied for service and will be in use next Tuesday (14th) on an Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) move from Williton to Bishops Lydeard and will remain there on standby duty. Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 is also available for use at Bishops Lydeard and will cover for Class 09 D4107 (09 019) who will be staying at Williton a while longer for additional repairs.

Meanwhile, Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) has been in use at weekends at Minehead in support of crew refresher training and competency testing. This loco will return to Williton next Friday (17th) and will go straight into the Swindon Shed to undergo a full repaint, retaining the same green and cream livery as previously.

The maintenance work on shunter D4107 (09 019) has included electrical and mechanical items that have been repaired on site at Williton, but one item that will have to be sent to an outside contractor for repair is a leaking oil cooler element. This has been isolated to confirm that it is the source of an oil leak, but must now be removed and sent to APPLIED RADIATORS in Stoke-on-Trent for specialist repair.

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) – behind the radiator shutters at the nose end of the locomotive, two oil cooler elements can be seen bolted to the radiator frame. One of these elements is leaking and must be removed and sent to APPLIED RADIATORS for specialist repair. Pictured at Williton on Sunday 5th March by Tom Courtney  © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

   

 

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) – the traction motor blower relay (left) was in need of an overhaul. The refurbished contacts are visible in the photo on the right. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023 by Ian Robins © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

   

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) – the fuel lift pump mountings were failing (left) so they replaced with new mounts (right) at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023. Photos by Ian Robins © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

WSR PRE-SEASON BRIEFING

The WSR held a pre-season briefing for all volunteers last Saturday 4th March, but as this was a working day for DEPG volunteers, Chairman Martin Howard attended on behalf of the DEPG and then brought the messages back to the yard to brief onwards. Martin has provided the following synopsis of this very useful and informative session, as follows:

Synopsis of a Volunteer Staff Brief given in the DEPG Messroom on 4^th March 2023

This was a briefer brief arising from the Pre-Season Brief given to volunteers at Wellington School that same morning. More detailed coverage of the main Wellington brief has been provided to volunteers via the Heritage Operations Processing System (HOPS).

Welcome and introduction from WSR Chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt.

• Matt Green, a new Health & Safety Advisor had been appointed by WSR PLC and he will shortly be taking up his post.
• Nic Wheeler has also been appointed as Environmental Advisor to the PLC.

General Manager Kerry Noble looked back at the last five years. This has shown that the WSR has been through a lot but has also come a long way. One clear point is that there is no longer any certainty on what constitutes a ‘normal’ year.

WSR Director Frank Courtney told the meeting that the PLC held a Management Conference at STEAM in Swindon on 25^th February. At this event the PLC Board were able to meet and talk directly with senior WSR Management for a frank exchange of views. All felt it was a very worthwhile exercise and should be repeated.

WSRA Chairman Geoff Garfield explained how recent differences had been left behind and good progress was being made on several fronts to support the railway. Chief amongst these are a Landslip Appeal (already halfway to target in 4 weeks), Track Materials Appeal, 4561 Appeal and help with financial assistance for repairs to DEPG’s Goods Shed.

WSRHT Chairman Mike Thompson outlined the progress the Trust was making on their projects to refurbish genuine GWR coaches, improve working facilities and upgrade their museum displays. He also gave an overview of proposals to improve the visitor experience for Bishops Lydeard.

WSR Chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt gave details of a recent safety review carried out by WSR Management and gave an overview of improvements that will be rolled out in the coming months, including the adoption of the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR’s) RM3 (Risk Management Maturity Model) safety management system.

General Manager Kerry Noble then gave a short presentation to show some of the commercial initiatives that are being tried this year. Among them are evening photo-shoots where these can be organised economically, additional Diesel Driver Experience Courses (DDECs) and the introduction of a monthly awards scheme to encourage staff performance.

Finally there was the presentation of Long Service Awards. These were backdated to include 2019 due to Covid. The DEPG staff that received awards were:

• Cameron Walker – 10 Years
• Terry Deacon – 20 Years
• Julian Bracchi – 30 Years
• Mike Harris – 30 Years
• Julie Tucker – 30 Years
• Paul Tucker – 30 Years

The Awards were collected on their behalf by Chairman Martin Howard and either already have been, or will be, given to the individuals concerned at a suitable opportunity.

 

The briefings delivered an effective balance of information and motivation and were well worth the effort. Well done to all involved!

Terry Deacon (left) was presented with his 20 years of Service Award at Williton on Saturday 4th March 2023 and Mike Harris was presented with his 30 year Award, dating back to 2019. Congratulations and many thanks to both volunteers for their massive (and continuing) contribution to both the DEPG and the WSR. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The WSR have announced the lineup for their SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR event which will run from Friday April 28th through to Bank Holiday Monday 1st May and will include three ‘MANORS’ and a ‘SAINT’ plus the rest of the home-based fleet ! For details, click this link to the WSR website.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by one of our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – progress continued on multiple fronts last week, with Gordon at work refitting the wood trim around the side windows at ‘A’ end while Ian F continued his diligent work on the ‘B’ bodyside. At the opposite end of the loco, Andy and Natalie worked under the floor at ‘B’ end, removing the life-expired conduits and cabling and preparing for new wiring where necessary, while Leroy was busy assessing the radiator elements. The transmission overhaul team (Colin F and Geoff on Mondays, Colin F and Tim on Tuesdays) made further progress with the fully separated components parts of the ‘B’ transmission. Here’s a few photos covering some of the activities:

D1010 – evidence of the German origin of the ‘B’ transmission’s internal components, the filling pump drive pinion clearly shows the manufacturer as KLINGELNBERG, a company still in business producing bevel gears (amongst other things). Pictured after re-tapping the oil injection port at Williton on 20th February 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – each component from the ‘B’ transmission has now been separated, cleaned and inspected. Geoff was pictured while using the cleaning system at Williton on Monday 27th February 2023. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the many component parts from the input and output shafts of the ‘B’ transmission were laid out awaiting the delivery of new bearings before reassembly at Williton on Monday 27th February 2023. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco has been in use for crew training at Minehead and will be returning to Williton on Friday 17th March for a re-paint.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is at Williton and will move to Bishops Lydeard on Tuesday 14th March to take up the role of duty loco.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – no change this week.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – no change this week.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the cardan shafts are approaching readiness for re-fitting with just the final coat of paint required before they are hoisted into position. The splined joints have been checked and re-greased and the universal joints have passed inspection and been filled with fresh grease, so these heavy and expensive parts are still fit for use after all these years. Good quality stuff !

D9518 – the longer of the two cardan shafts fits between the engine and the transmission. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th March 2023 by Mike Evans © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the shorter of the two cardan shafts fits between the transmission and the final drive gearbox. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th March 2023 by Mike Evans © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – brand new flexible hoses are ready for fitting to the transmission heat exchanger. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is rostered for crew training duties during the next few weeks.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this loco is waiting for delivery of the new oil filter and housing that are being specially made by BRITISH FILTERS in Plymouth to be directly compatible with the original Vokes type.

 

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – our attention has been drawn to the latest in the DIESEL DAWN series of booklets that are published by Mortons Media Group, and we have ordered a batch of VOLUME 7: WESTERN REGION CLASS 14 DIESEL-HYDRAULICS for re-sale via our website for the benefit of the D9518 restoration fund. PLEASE BUY A COPY to support D9518 !

We can also supply any of the previous six volumes, so please let us know via our CONTACT FORM if you would like to purchase any of the volumes in this interesting series. Please also take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet. Thank you very much for your support !

 

ON SHED – last week, we featured a photograph that was discovered at our Williton depot recently and depicts our very own D1661 (47077, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ on shed somewhere, sometime. We asked our readers for their thoughts on where the loco could be, and within seconds we had a response from well-known author and DEPG member Roger Geach who stated that the photo was taken at Landore Depot (87A) in Swansea. We then had a response from DEPG member and former volunteer Paul Mear confirming the same. The date can now be narrowed down to between November 1969 and April 1973, during which time she was allocated to ’87A’. Any additional information would be welcomed. Many thanks to Roger and Paul for responding so quickly.

D1661 (47077, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ on shed at Landore (Swansea), some time between November 1969 and April 1973. Can you help narrow down the date range? Photo from the DEPG archives © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DEPG NEWS – a Board Meeting was held at Williton on Saturday 25th February and a synopsis is being prepared and will be sent out with the forthcoming Newsletter mailing (or emailing, depending on your stated preference in ‘Membermojo‘).

 

The next DEPG Newsletter is running late (apologies for this delay) and will be distributed towards the end of next week. Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

 

Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) stands on number 1 road at Williton Depot (left) while sister loco D6566 (33 048) is on the ‘down’ line at Williton Station (right), performing a shunt before heading off to Minehead in preparation for driver training activities. Pictured in the afternoon of Saturday 25th February 2023 by Martin Howard © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

In preparation for the re-opening of the WSR on 19th March 2023, refresher training and competency reviews taking the form of exams and practical sessions are being arranged for all crew members. In the case of diesel crews, a locomotive needed to be available for the competency renewals, so Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was prepared for service and dispatched from Williton to Minehead on Saturday 25th February to support the practical tests. This has been the first opportunity for this loco to be called into action since the completion of her heat exchanger replacement and loaded test run, last December.

 

Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019) continues to receive attention from Ian, Tom, John and Martin, the focus of attention last weekend being the engine oil cooler elements, which appear to be leaking. The elements are mounted in the nose of the loco, behind the radiator shutters. The design is simple but the work required to reach the cooler elements is significant, so access platforms had to be positioned around the front and side of the loco so that the access covers could be removed safely. The photos below show the work involved:

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) was surrounded by access platforms on number 2 road at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023, so that work could place to rectify an oil leak from the engine oil cooler elements that are mounted on the nose, to the right of the radiator, just behind the yellow shutters. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) was pictured with her radiator access cover removed at Williton on Sunday 26th February 2023. The engine oil cooler elements are mounted behind the shutters. The bolts that hold the shutters in place have to be accessed via this cover. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

 

FLOOD DAMAGE UPDATE:

In a letter to all volunteers and staff, the Chairman of the West Somerset Railway (WSR), Jonathan Jones-Pratt, has confirmed that the embankment at Coombe Florey is safe to use, subject to a temporary speed restriction and regular monitoring. This is excellent news and will allow the railway to re-open on Saturday 18th of March as planned. The west-facing section of the embankment that slipped into the gardens of the houses below during the night of December 19th 2022 will be carefully excavated later this year, so that the retaining wall can be rebuilt and everything made good.

The trackbed still needs attention, so the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) have launched an appeal to raise money get this work done as quickly and efficiently as possible without impacting timetabled services. The WSRA have pledged £25,000 of MATCH FUNDING to effectively double the value of donations made to this appeal, so this is a great opportunity to help make a real difference and get the trackbed sorted out with fresh ballast. Many thanks to the WSRA for this initiative ! Click here or on the image below to visit the web page and get more details, including information about the status of the funds raised so far:

The landslip affected the western side of the embankment at Coombe Florey, just to the north of Tribble Bridge, and provided an escape route for the deluge of mud and water that ran off from the potato field on the other side of the line during the night of 19th December 2022. Pictured on 19th February 2023 by Malcolm Anderson © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

VANDALISM DAMAGE TO THE DMU

On the evening of Sunday 26th February, a local resident called the police after becoming aware of intruders at Minehead Station. The police arrived to find three people vandalising the coaches, wagons and the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) that were stabled in the station yard. The three vandals were taken into custody but the damage had already been done and the staff and volunteers at Minehead are having to clean up and make repairs as necessary. The damage will be rectified in time for the re-opening of the line on 18th March, thanks to the significant efforts of the team at Minehead.

   

The WSR’s Class 115 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) was subjected to unwanted attention from three vandals while stabled in the yard at Minehead Station. Coaches and wagons were also damaged in the attack which led to three people being taken into Police custody. Photos by Rich Hiscox © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DONATIONS OF STORAGE UNITS:

The DEPG recently took delivery of a number of sturdy steel drawer cabinets as a donation from Bristol-based COMMERCIAL TRANSFER Ltd., a firm who specialise in business removals and the collection of used furniture for re-purposing via their ECO OFFICE subsidiary. These cabinets will be used to provide storage for loco parts and other artefacts at our Williton depot. We understand that there are more of these available if they are of use to any ‘WSR family’ organisation – just use our CONTACT FORM to let us know if your group could use some. Many thanks to Dave Hart and Gordon for arranging this very welcome donation for us.

Some of the sturdy steel drawer cabinets donated to the DEPG by Bristol-based COMMERCIAL TRANSFER Ltd. via their ECO OFFICE subsidiary. These cabinets will be used to provide storage for loco parts and other important artefacts and will be very useful. Pictured at Williton on 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The WSR have announced the lineup for their SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR event which will run from Friday April 28th through to Bank Holiday Monday 1st May and will include three ‘MANORS’ and a ‘SAINT’ plus the rest of the home-based fleet ! For details, click this link to the WSR website.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by one of our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – further progress on multiple fronts during the last week as we push ahead with work both inside and outside of the loco. Here are some photos to show the wide range of activities:

D1010 – the ‘B’ cab is receiving attention from new volunteer Steve, who brings his experience in electrical control systems to bear upon the many electrical items in the cab and in the electrical frames under the desk. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – meanwhile, at ‘A’ end, Natalie continued her renovation work in the electrical bay behind the headcode indicators. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the radiator elements have now been removed from the cooler group at ‘B’ end, providing a view straight through the loco from the compressor access grille at ‘B’ end – except for the space that is being occupied by Leroy. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the damage that was incurred on ‘B’ side back in BR days (thought to be 1972 but precise details are still unknown) is being filled and sanded by Ian in preparation for a few more coats of paint. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

   

D1010 – the horns from ‘A’ end were treated to some renovation and TLC by Gordon at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023. Photos by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is the duty loco and has moved to Minehead to support the training activities that are taking place there during the coming weeks. Luckily, this loco escaped the attention of the vandals last Sunday.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is at Williton and is also fully serviceable and ready to take up active duty on the WSR if required.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – on Tuesday 21st, Terry and Nick continued their work on the re-fitting of the sanding gear that had to be removed when the loco had to have her bogie springs changed last March.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco has a list of items requiring attention and will be allocated resources shortly.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the cardan shafts received another coat of paint while Andy P worked on restoring the safety guards that protect the loco and occupants in the event of a cardan shaft failure. In parallel, John installed the wiring for the electro-pneumatic reverser valves. The newly-restored battery boxes (Colin G’s homework!) were brought into the loco shed, ready for re-fitting. The pictures tell the stories:

D9518 – one of the cardan shafts was painted in primer coat along with some of the safety hardware items at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the cardan shaft cover was retrieved from storage and straightened out using some careful blacksmith moves by Andy P at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the electro-pneumatic valves that control the direction of the loco (forward/reverse) were wired up by John at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the fully restored battery boxes are now positioned alongside the loco, ready to be lifted into position. These are further examples of top quality restoration work by Colin G. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is rostered for crew training duties during the next few weeks.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this loco is waiting for delivery of the new oil filter and housing that are being specially made by BRITISH FILTERS in Plymouth to be directly compatible with the original Vokes type, after which she will receive a fill of fresh engine oil and be ready to start up. Once started, a number of maintenance and setup tasks will need to be carried out before the work can be signed off as complete, in particular the setting-up of the newly-overhauled engine governor. We are getting close !

Barclay 578 – the old oil filter is a non-standard size and a replacement has had to be made to order by BRITISH FILTERS in Plymouth. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 14th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Barclay 578 – the recently-overhauled engine governor has to be set up as soon as possible after the engine has been started. The red label serves as a reminder. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – we will skip this feature again this week as we are short of time, but please take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet. Thank you very much !

 

ON SHED – this week, we have a minor mystery to solve. The photograph below was discovered at our Williton depot recently and depicts our very own D1661 (47077, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ on shed somewhere, between April 1968, when she received full yellow ends and was carrying the ‘Rail Alphabet’ numerals but without the ‘D’ prefix, and August 1973, when she was repainted into rail blue with red-backed nameplates (but still remaining as 1661). The shed designation can be seen painted just to the right of the driver’s door and appears to show 87A which would tie up with her allocation from November 1969 when Landore (Swansea) shed changed from 87E to 87A. However, the painted marks could also show 81A which would be Old Oak Common and the shed to which she was allocated from April 1973. So, the questions are, where and when was this photo taken ? Use our CONTACT FORM if you can help provide the answers. Thanks !

D1661 (47077, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ on shed somewhere, some time between November 1969 and August 1973. Can you help identify the location and narrow down the date range? If yes, please use our CONTACT FORM. to let us know. Photo from the DEPG archives © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DEPG NEWS – a Board Meeting was held at Williton last Saturday 25th February and a synopsis is being prepared and will be sent out with the forthcoming Newsletter mailing (or emailing, depending on your stated preference in ‘Membermojo‘).

 

The new oil store is progressing well at Williton and now has sides and a back, as well as a roof. The front will be formed of steel mesh gates and there will be a partition in the centre to segregate new oil from the various types of oil wastes. The oil containers will be mounted on steel bunds that will capture any spillage and prevent pollution. Many thanks to Paul T and Graham for their hard work over several very cold weekends on this unglamorous but essential task.

The Williton oil storage area is being expanded to provide secure storage and pollution control for new oil and waste oil. Graham was pictured while preparing to attach the crossmembers to the southerly end of the structure on a very cold Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Simon B and Graham were pictured while moving the new steel bund out of their way so that work could progress on attaching the sides to the new oil storage area at Williton on Saturday 25th February 2023. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

 

The next DEPG Newsletter is running a little late and will be distributed towards the end of next week. Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

 

Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) stands alongside Class 09 D4107 (09 019) at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023. The ’09’ is undergoing planned maintenance in the hands of the DEPG while the ’33’ is the designated duty loco and is ready for action. Photo by Natalie Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019) has been receiving attention from Ian, Tom, John and Martin as we work through a list of maintenance tasks and deal with some minor repairs. Once completed, the loco will move to the Swindon Shed to undergo some bodywork repairs and be treated to a repaint, but she is second in line to Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) for the paintshop and will have to wait her turn.

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) is moved closer to the covered-over cab of Class 14 D9518 on number 2 road at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023. The shunting signals are being provided by Tom while DEPG Chairman Martin Howard is operating the locomotive. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Now, some really sad news about the loss of Jon Grimwood, son of Mike Grimwood and one of the team who looked after our Class 14 D9526 so well at the Kent & East Sussex Railway last year, who died suddenly last week at the age of 37. We send our heartfelt condolences to Mike and the whole family. Here’s one of the many photos taken by Jon that provides a reminder of happier times in the recent past:

Class 14 D9526 was pictured shortly after arrival at Tenterden Town station on the Kent & East Sussex Railway on Wednesday 13th July 2022 with a 4-coach train from Bodiam. The DEPG-owned loco worked on the line for 18 months between July 2021 and December 2022 and was looked after by Mike, Jon and William Grimwood. Photo by the late Jon Grimwood © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

FLOOD DAMAGE UPDATE:

The survey that has been carried out on behalf of the WSR has confirmed that the embankment at Coombe Florey is safe to use, subject to a temporary speed restriction and regular monitoring. This is excellent news and will allow the railway to re-open in March as planned. The west-facing section of the embankment that slipped into the gardens of the houses below during the night of December 19th 2022 will be carefully excavated so that the retaining wall can be rebuilt and everything made good.

The trackbed still needs attention, so the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) have launched an appeal to raise money get this work done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The WSRA have pledged £25,000 of MATCH FUNDING to effectively double the value of donations made to this appeal, so this is a great opportunity to help make a real difference and get the trackbed sorted out with fresh ballast. Many thanks to the WSRA for this initiative ! Click here or on the image below to visit the web page and get more details:

The landslip affected the western side of the embankment at Coombe Florey, just to the north of Tribble Bridge, and provided an escape route for the deluge of mud and water that ran off from the potato field on the other side of the line during the night of 19th December 2022. Pictured on 19th February 2023 by Malcolm Anderson © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The WSR have updated their 2023 timetable and are now showing the planned SPECIAL EVENTS in purple colour. The details of each event are not yet shown on their events page, but are being prepared. The first event this year will be the SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR from 28th to 30th April. More details will be available soon.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by one of our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – work on the electrical system is progressing in the careful hands of new volunteer Steve who is diligently working through all of the terminals and contacts in the ‘B’ cab to clean and inspect them, renewing parts where necessary. The cab is already looking much better after receiving this attention. The other end of the loco also received attention, with Gordon working inside the ‘A’ cab and Natalie working between the cab and the front of the loco, in a very small space. Further progress was made on the ‘B’ transmission with the overhaul of the filler pump. Here are some photos:

D1010 – the ‘B’ cab is receiving an electrical systems maintenance checkup which involves cleaning, inspecting and replacing wiring components and contacts as necessary. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – at ‘A’ end, Natalie fitted into the small space behind the headcode indicators to perform a cleanup before applying a coat of paint on the inside of the recently-repaired loco skin. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the strainer of the filling pump from ‘B’ transmission shows the debris that was captured by the mesh which would otherwise have gone back through the turbines. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 14th February 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the centrifugal filling pump from ‘B’ transmission has been completely disassembly and will now be cleaned, inspected and reassembled with new bearings. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 14th February 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is the duty loco and is on standby at Williton. However, she is due to go into the paintshop at the Swindon Shed soon, so her role will transfer to her sister until such time as she is completely refreshed and ready for service again.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is fully serviceable and is also able to take up active duty on the WSR.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – Terry and Nick made a start on the re-fitting of the sanding gear that had to be removed when the loco had to have her bogie springs changed last March.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco has a list of items requiring attention and will be allocated resources shortly.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the cardan shafts have been inspected and re-filled with grease, more than 40 years since they last transmitted any power. The inspection showed that the universal joints and splined connections are in good condition, so the shafts were cleaned and painted and will be re-installed on the loco in the very near future. Other areas of progress were in preparation for the cab restoration, with the specialist materials being placed on order. Here’s some photos:

D9518 – the cardan shafts were cleaned up, inspected then filled with fresh grease and prepared for painting at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – one of the two cardan shafts received a coat of primer at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the voltmeter and ammeter await inspection and re-calibration before being re-fitted into the electrical control cubicle. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 18th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is undergoing winter maintenance to prepare her for what should be a very busy season on the NYMR. We will provide more details about the maintenance program in a future roundup.

47077 (D1661, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ was pictured in the yard at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on Sunday 19th February by Luke Wayman © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – new volunteer Tony has been making excellent progress on the maintenance of this loco and is getting very close to being able to start the engine and deal with those tasks that require the engine to be running. The new oil filter assembly is on order, being specially made by BRITISH FILTERS at Plymouth to be directly compatible with the original Vokes type and is expected in two or three weeks from now, so that is the pacing item. Many thanks to Tony for his excellent work on this loco.

Barclay 578 (ROF No. 1) – Tony gets in between the frames to tackle the remaining maintenance tasks at Williton on 14th February 2023. Photo by Mark Bladwell © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Barclay 578 (ROF No. 1) – Tony is once again between the frames on a very cold morning to conduct a close-up inspection and check the condition of the drive belts and pulleys. Pictured at Williton on 14th February 2023 by Mark Bladwell © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – we will need to skip this feature this week as we are running somewhat late ! Please take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet.

 

ON SHED – following the succesful running of D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ on the ‘WESTERN REQUIEM RELIEF‘ railtour on 13th February 1977, the railtour ran again the following weekend as the ‘WESTERN REQUIEM‘ but D1010 suffered a water leak and subsequent engine shutdown en route and was declared a failure and removed from the train at Cardiff. Her place was taken by Class 37 37179 but the sympathetic BR management had despatched D1023 ‘WESTERN FUSILIER’ from Old Oak Common to take over the tour at Pontypridd, to the absolute delight of the fans on the fully-booked tour. D1023 was selected for the National Collection and has made the news recently by moving to the Didcot Railway Centre on a 5-year loan from the National Railway Museum. Many thanks to Kelvin for sharing another of his excellent photos with us all.

D1023 ‘WESTERN FUSILIER’ waits at Pontypridd to take over the ‘WESTERN REQUIEM’ railtour to haul it up the valley of the river Taff to Merthyr Tydfil and then back to Paddington via Cardiff Queen Street. Pictured on 20th February 1977 by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DEPG NEWS – the synopses of the recent Board Meetings were sent out by email last weekend to all members for whom we held a valid email address. Please let us know by using our CONTACT FORM if you didn’t receive your copy. The next Board Meeting will take place at Williton this Saturday, 25th February, so let us know by using our CONTACT FORM if you have a question that you would like to put to the Board.

The next DEPG Newsletter is in the works and will be distributed towards the end of this month. Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

 

Class 09 D4107 (09 019) and Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 were pictured together at Westridge, Bishops Lydeard in January 2023. The ’09’ has now moved to Williton to undergo planned maintenance in the hands of the DEPG while the ’14’ stays at Bishops Lydeard, fully serviceable and ready for use if called upon. Photo by Mike Collins © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The Class 09 shunter D4107 (09 019) has now moved from Bishops Lydeard to the DEPG’s South Yard at Williton to undergo planned maintenance and remedial work including some bodywork corrosion repairs. While the ’09’ is out of service, the role of pilot loco at Bishops Lydeard can be covered by our Class 14 D9526 should the need arise. This loco is fully serviceable and ready to run on WSR metals again, after clocking up 768 hours of use at the Kent & East Sussex Railway during the period July 2021 through December 2022.

 

FLOOD DAMAGE UPDATE:

The repairs to the flood damage and landslip at Tribble Bridge are under way and the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) have launched an appeal to help get this work done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The WSRA have pledged £25,000 of MATCH FUNDING to effectively double the value of donations made to this appeal, so this is a great opportunity to help make a real difference and get the line opened again. Top marks to the WSRA for this initiative ! Click here or on the image below to visit the web page and get more details:

The section of track on the north side of Tribble Bridge shows the degree of contamination of the ballast, caused by the run-off from the adjacent fields. Pictured on 8th January 2023 by Malcolm Anderson © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

The WSR have updated their 2023 timetable and are now showing the planned SPECIAL EVENTS in purple colour. The details of each event are not yet shown on their events page, but are being prepared. The first event this year will be the SPRING STEAM SPECTACULAR from 28th to 30th April. More details will be available soon.

The first scheduled diesel-hauled service for 2023 is booked for Friday 7th April and will feature haulage by one of our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’. Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – planning ahead and preparing for the cooler groups to be lifted out for corrosion repairs, Leroy continued his work on the removal of the radiator elements at ‘B’ end, with each segment requiring steam cleaning then pressure testing before being stored safely. Work on the turbine rail of the ‘B’ transmission has progressed well, so the large and heavy assembly has now been put to the side to allow work to take place on the other sub-assemblies within the main housing. To fund the parts and materials that are needed to keep all of this work moving, the outlines of another batch of sponsored patches have been marked onto the bodyside of the loco, in anticipation of new sponsors coming forward. The photos and certificates for all of the existing patch sponsors are being prepared now and will be sent out during the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience !

D1010 – the radiator elements are being removed from the ‘B’ end cooler group to allow welding repairs to take place. Leroy was pictured at work at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – one of the radiator elements from the ‘B’ end cooler group, after being removed from the loco by Leroy at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – the work on the turbine rail from the ‘B’ transmission has now been completed and it will be re-installed in the main housing as soon as the overhauling of the other sub-assemblies has been completed. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 7th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – another section of new steel has been marked with the outline of 18 patches, this time on the ‘B’ side at ‘B’ end of the loco. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is the duty loco and is on standby at Williton.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is fully serviceable and is also able to take up active duty on the WSR.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – Neil continued with his work on the installation of additional fuses in the exhauster circuits, to add protection in the event of an exhauster motor failure. As designed, the circuits did not take account of this possibility, putting other items of equipment at risk, which is not acceptable these days, when authentic spares are almost impossible to obtain.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco has a list of items requiring attention and will be allocated resources shortly.

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – more large items were receiving attention at Williton last weekend, with the pair of Cardan shafts being cleaned up and readied for inspection. One shaft connects the engine to the transmission, the other connects the transmission to the final drive gearbox. Here’s some photos:

D9518 – the cardan shaft that connects the engine to the transmission was brought into the shed at Williton to be cleaned and inspected on Saturday 11th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – a close-up of the universal joint of the cardan shaft that connects the transmission to the final drive shows that some TLC is going to be required to restore this part to its former glory. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 11th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the flexible air hoses that connect to the reverser actuator were found to leak like sieves when pressurised. This was no suprise, considering that they are probably more than 50 years old. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 21st January 2023 by Terry Deacon © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the old flexible air hoses, pictured at Williton on Tuesday 31st January 2023 by Terry Deacon © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the new flexible air hoses, made from the original fittings, pictured at Williton on Tuesday 11th February 2023 by Terry Deacon © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is undergoing winter maintenance to prepare her for what should be a very busy season on the NYMR. We will provide more details about the maintenance program in a future roundup.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – the tasks remaining for the maintenance work on this loco are now limited to those that require to have the engine running. The new oil filter assembly is on order, being specially made by BRITISH FILTERS at Plymouth to be directly compatible with the original Vokes type.

 

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – we will need to skip this feature this week as we are running somewhat late ! Please take a look at our webstore for NEW BOOKS and PRE-OWNED BOOKS, the profits from which will go directly towards the upkeep of our loco fleet.

 

ON SHED – this week, we remind ourselves of the ‘WESTERN REQUIEM RELIEF‘, the very last railtour that was successfully worked by our very own D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ back in 1977, just two weeks before the end of mainline diesel-hydraulic locomotive era. The railtour originated at Paddington and ran to Cardiff via Gloucester, then to Pontypridd, then climbed to the heads of three valleys in turn (Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare) before heading back to Paddington. What a great day out, behind a great loco ! A detailed account of this railtour is included in our booklet ‘D1010 WESTERN CAMPAIGNER – From Merehead to Minehead‘. Many thanks to Kelvin for sharing another of his photos with us all.

D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ runs around its train at Merthyr, 600 feet above sea level, before heading back to Pontypridd then to Aberdare with the ‘WESTERN REQUIEM RELIEF’ railtour on 13th February 1977. Photo by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DEPG NEWS – the synopsis of the recent Board Meeting is being prepared and will be emailed to all members for whom we hold a valid email address (sorry for the delay). 

The next DEPG Newsletter is in the works and will be distributed towards the end of this month. Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post

Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was used for a shunting practical training session under the watchful eye of WSR Diesel Traction Inspector John Leach at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023. Sister loco D6575 (33 057) also gets into the picture. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The south yard at Williton was in use for a shunting training session on Saturday 4th February, during which the five trainee secondmen that are currently undertaking the course were put to work on coupling and uncoupling, learning the proper techniques and most importantly, learning how to ensure that their own safety and that of others is protected.

The training session was part of course that is being run by WSR Diesel Traction Inspector (and DEPG member) John Leach, and the loco driver on the day was our Chairman, Martin Howard. Here’s some more photos that show the trainees receiving instruction from John:

The space between Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) and the ex-GWR ‘Toad’ brakevan provides the forum for John Leach to demonstrate the art of coupling and uncoupling to five trainees, (L-R) Simon, Paddy, Tom and Chris plus Karl in the second row (out of camera) as a practical follow-up to a classroom session that took place earlier in the day. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023 by Martin Howard © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Trainee secondman Paddy gets ‘hands-on’ with the couplings while his fellow trainees look on. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Trainee secondman Paddy gets one-to-one instruction and guidance from John Leach while coupling the brakevan to Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

The secondman training courses start in September each year and include classroom and practical sessions prior to route learning that will take place when the line re-opens in the springtime. Candidates are selected after careful consideration by the WSR Footplate Standards Panel because places are limited and the intense training consumes considerable resources. Luckily, both John and Martin give their time freely to pass on their knowledge and maintain the highest of standards, so MANY THANKS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION !

 

 

2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:

Last week, we reported that the WSR had published their 2023 timetable and we updated our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page to include the class of loco that will haul the services that are booked for DEPG loco haulage between now and June. More details will be added as soon as we have agreed the allocations for the services in June and beyond.

Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:

 

LOCO NEWS:

Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – work on the transmission repair has progressed to the stage where the completed turbine rail has been set aside to allow work on other transmission components to catch up. The reverser assembly and the output shaft assembly are the next two ‘targets’ for Colin F and his team. Meanwhile, Leroy started work on removing the radiator elements from the cooler group so that they can be cleaned and pressure tested. Once prepared, the cooler groups at both ends of the loco will be lifted out for corrosion repair work to be undertaken. The electrical work is being progressed by new volunteer Steve, while Gordon, Ian F and Chris attend to the various bodywork restoration tasks that are needed to get the loco back to her former glory. Here’s some photos: 

D1010 – the bolts that secure the first stage turbine runner to the secondary shaft require tightening to a very high torque setting, making it a two-man job. The effort is provided by Tim (L) and Colin F at Williton on Tuesday 31st January 2023. The somewhat easier task of taking the photo was handled by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – after re-assembly of the turbine rail, the final position of the secondary shaft must be measured carefully and checked against pre-determined dimensions to ensure proper axial clearances between the turbines and the impellers. Tim was pictured taking the measurements at Williton on Tuesday 31st January 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D1010 – this very unusual view looking down on the bogie from inside the locomotive is only possible because the ‘B’ transmission has been removed, creating a giant rectangular hole in the floor. The bogies will soon be receiving their share of the attention as the restoration project progresses. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !

See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !

 

 

Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco was in use for the secondman practical training session on Saturday 4th February 2023, as reported earlier.

 

Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco will soon be returning to active duty on the WSR.

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – the special-purpose lifting brackets that were used when the loco was lifted from her bogies last year are going to be loaned to the Diesel Traction Group for use on fellow survivor D7029, so to avoid our embarassement, our Publicity Officer Mark Bladwell took on the task of making them look decent before they get shipped to Kidderminster.

Our Hymek lifting brackets received a clean-up and re-paint courtesy of Mark B at Williton on Tuesday 31st January 2023. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – there are a number of tasks outstanding on this loco and all will be tackled in good time for the start of the new season. One point of detail is that some of the pressure gauges in the cab are modern equivalents of the original style of gauge, because the original style supplied by LAYCOCK-KNORR are unavailable. When the ‘Hymeks’ were withdrawn from service, many parts were acquired by souvenir hunters, some of which may still exist today. So, in the interests of authenticity, we are asking DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE GAUGES THAT YOU COULD OFFER FOR USE IN D7018 ?

D7018 – the driver’s desk includes two pressure gauges that were supplied by the Original Equipment Manufacturer LAYCOCK-KNORR. The extract shows the two authentic gauges in more detail. The left-hand gauge displays the main reservoir pressure, the right-hand gauge displays the bogie brake pressures and is a ‘duplex’ gauge having two needles, in this case one on top of the other, one painted red for ‘A’ bogie, the other being white for ‘B’ bogie. Photos by Paul Tucker © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the progress continues on multiple fronts as we march onwards with this project. The materials for the refurbishment of the cab are being placed on order so that work can start on this major sub-assembly as soon as sufficient space is available inside the loco shed. Here’s some photos to tell the story:

D9518 – the disassembly of the Paxman 6YJXL V-6 diesel engine that last ran in D9526 is progressing. In this view, Nick is removing the exhaust manifold that occupies the centre of the ‘Vee’. The engine has been rotated in the ‘turnover rig’ to allow easy access. Pictured at Williton on 31st January 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the engine governor is a very important piece of equipment and will be overhauled before further use. Pictured in Terry’s careful hands at Williton on Tuesday 31st January 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

D9518 – the dent that was previously visible in the curving corner of the end frame has been carefully rectified by Colin G and now carries a further coat of paint. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 4th February 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.

 

 

Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco has been rostered to work the 80-mile ‘BLUE’ timetable services on the WSR on the following dates:

• Sunday 16th April
• Sunday 21st May
• Saturday 3rd June
• Sunday 4th June

More dates for later in the year will be added in the near future. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page or sign up to DIESELGEN email bullletin service to get the information as soon as it becomes available.

 

Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is currently stabled at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and will undergo winter maintenance to prepare her for what should be a very busy season on the NYMR. We will provide more details about the maintenance program in a future roundup.

 

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – the maintenance work on this loco continues to progress in the capable hands of new volunteer Tony, the next step being to flush the fuel system with fresh fuel and ensure that the contamination issue has been resolved. The oil filter replacement issue is also progressing and should be resolved in the coming week, which will allow a start-up attempt to be made immediately after completing the oil change.

 

If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !

 

 

BOOK REVIEW – this week, we have a collection of all ten volumes of the ‘Diesel Enthusiast’s Pocket Guide” published by Bradford Barton in 1981, all of which are in very good condition. These booklets have been donated by a supporter and will be sold AS A COMPLETE SET for the benefit of the DEPG loco of your choice, so send us a bid via our CONTACT FORM if you would like to add these to your collection.

The titles in this series are:

1. Eastern Region South
2. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
3. Northern England
4. L M Region South
5. L M Region North West
6. Wales and Borders
7. Thames – Cotswold
8. Wessex and West Country
9. South and South East
10. Scottish Region

If you want to donate to the DEPG loco of your choice and get some interesting books in return, use our CONTACT FORM to send your bid.

 

ON SHED – with the news last week that D1023 ‘WESTERN FUSILIER’ had moved from the National Railway Museum (NRM) at York to the Didcot Railway Centre for a 5-year stay, it seemed fitting that we feature an image of this loco this week. The photo below shows D1023 in the last year of her service life, when she was relegated to secondary services and heavy freight work and before she was ‘spruced up’ for her railtour role. Many thanks to Kelvin for sharing another of his photos with us all.

Requiring all its tractive effort from its two mighty Maybachs, D1023 ‘WESTERN FUSILIER’ hauls its heavily-loaded stone wagons around the tight curve into the reception sidings at Westbury. Pictured in the summer of 1976 by Kelvin Lumb © CC BY-NC 3.0

 

 

DEPG NEWS – the synopsis of the recent Board Meeting is being prepared and will be emailed to all members for whom we hold a valid email address, hopefully later this week.

The next DEPG Newsletter is in the works and will be distributed towards the end of this month. Please make sure that your membership is up to date so that we can continue to send you a copy of this quarterly newsletter (via email or post at your choice). The newsletter will include detailed updates on the plans for our two restoration projects (D1010 and D9518), plus other information that is specific to DEPG members.

If you are not sure about your membership status, please click here or on the image below to access your membership record via MEMBERMOJO.

 

KEY DATES for your diary:

WSR DIESEL GALA : Thursday 8th through Saturday 10th June 2023

DEPG 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS : Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023.

 

 

Go to previous Weekly Roundup post