Weekly Roundup – 06-Oct-24
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) relocated from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard on Tuesday 1st October and took a rake of Empty Coaching Stock with her in readiness for the start of the red timetable later that day. Photo by Jo Ward © CC BY-NC 3.0
On Sunday 6th October, the crew of Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) reported that the No. 1 exhauster was arcing excessively, so volunteer loco manager Ian went along to check it out. After carrying out an inspection, Ian concluded that the exhauster motor needed a more detailed investigation so the loco completed the rest of her RED TIMETABLE diagram running on her No. 2 exhauster then ran ‘light engine’ to Williton where sister D6575 (33057) was ready and waiting to swap back into the role of ‘Duty Loco’. No doubt the offending exhauster will be quickly diagnosed and a repair carried out in the next week or two.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) returned to Williton on Sunday 6th October 2024 and took up a position on No. 1 road in front of Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526. A very nicely mirrored photo by Tom Courtney © CC BY-NC 3.0
DIESEL RUNNING DATES
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LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – to reduce the amount of floor space being taken up by component parts now removed from the ‘B’ bogie, a number of second-hand stackable steel stillages were acquired and collected by Paul and Julie Tucker, with delivery to Williton taking place on Wednesday 2nd October. The stillages will stack up to four high but we will only be stacking them two high for storage inside the ‘D1010 container’.
D1010 – a vanload of second-hand steel stillages have been acquired by the DEPG for the purpose of storing the many component parts that have been removed from D1010’s bogies. Pictured on 2nd October 2024 by Paul Tucker © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – Gordon continued his work on the ‘B’ bogie at Williton on Saturday 5th October 2024, with his attention being focused on the lubrication reservoirs for the axle box spring bearings. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the normally inaccessible lubrication reservoirs had become filled with oily dirt over the years, but had still performed their function in the case of 5 of the 6 axle boxes. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 5th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – this loco is based at Bishops Lydeard and is in regular use in support of WSR activities. She will move to Williton in early November to undergo body repairs and a repaint, along with some other maintenance activities that are aimed at keeping her reliable and available for service.
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – This loco has now returned to Williton to undergo repairs to her No. 1 exhauster motor.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is now outstationed at Bishops Lydeard and has taken up the role of Duty Loco. Her next booked duties are under the RED TIMETABLE on Sunday 13th October.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco has had a great season, achieving 100% dispatch reliability and delivering consistent and excellent performances. She will remain at Minehead for a while so that she can be assessed for body repairs and repainting before eventually moving back to Williton for other repairs and winter maintenance.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – a review meeting took place at Williton on Saturday 5th October to debate and develop Colin’s proposals for the static test rig that will be used to put the control block and control mechanisms through their paces in advance of returning the transmission to the loco. Suffice it to say that Colin’s work was up to it’s usual standard, so the work will proceed as planned !
Details of the test rig and test plan will be covered in a future roundup.
The review team were pictured while surrounded by Mekydro hardware at Williton on Saturday 5th October 2024. From left to right, Martin Howard, Colin Foxhall, Clive Burrows and Neil McCannon. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the ‘Tuesday Team’ made further progress with the overhaul of the Paxman ‘Ventura’ 6YJXL engine and a parallel effort from Colin G and Andy P saw further progress on the cab and desk fittings. Some brand new bronze handles for the straight air brake valves were cast at Bridport Foundry to replace missing parts, the new parts being indiscernible from the old after several hours of ‘fettling’ work in the hands of Colin G.
D9518 – the connecting rods of the left and right cylinders are different – the connecting rod of the right-hand piston rotates around that of the left-hand piston, which in turn rotates around the crankshaft. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 5th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – the newly-manufactured brake handle on the left compares very nicely with the original but painted example on the right. The new handle was cast by Bridport Foundry. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 5th October 2024 by Colin Girle © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco was is now stabled outside on Number 1 road at Williton and is likely to remain there until the new year. When space becomes available in the loco shed, she will be going ‘indoors’ for some maintenance work, which will include attention to her bodywork, to make sure that she is in good shape for the 2025 running season.
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is based at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway but has been out of service because of a coolant leak from the liner of cylinder B3. The repair work has now been completed by Heritage Rail Ltd and the loco is ready to begin a short programme of test running to confirm that she is ready to return to work.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this useful little loco is fully serviceable and is waiting for her next opportunity to shunt the yard at Williton.
BOOK REVIEW: the FOURTH volume in ‘THE BEATEN TRACK’ series by Andy Chard is now available and in stock at Williton. The standard set by Andy’s first volume was repeated admirably in the second and third volumes, and the success of the format continues with high levels of advance sales for this much-anticipated volume 4.
GET YOUR COPY FROM THE DEPG and help us maintain your favourite loco fleet while enjoying a very good read !
Click here or on the image below to go the DEPG online store where this book is available from stock for £34.95 per copy.
ON SHED: apologies, but we will need to skip this popular feature this week due to lack of time.
DEPG NEWS: the next Board Meeting will take place at Williton on Saturday 19th October. if you are a member of the DEPG and would like to have a question placed before the Board, then please let us know by replying to this email or by using our CONTACT FORM. If you are not a member, then PLEASE JOIN US !
The DEPG is a charity and is run entirely by volunteers, many of whom give both their time and their money to the continuance of work on the locos in the DEPG fleet. If you have been enjoying the roundup for free, have you considered joining us for just £1 a month ? You can then add your name to all of those helping out on the above projects and play your part in the future of our locos for a lot less than the price of a cup of coffee!
JOIN US using whichever membership class is appropriate for your situation and means. CLICK HERE or on the image below or use the QR code to get the details.
If you would like to go one step further and come along to help with the work on the locos in our fleet, then please use our CONTACT FORM to let us know that you would like to volunteer and we will respond with more details.
We look forward to hearing from you !