Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33057) was back in action again on Saturday 19th October 2024, this time working an engineering train that consisted of the rail-mounted crane, a flat wagon and a brake van. Pictured on the level crossing at Blue Anchor by Robin Wichard © CC BY-NC 3.0
Versatile and hard working Class 33 ‘Crompton D6575 (33057) had another busy weekend, with engineering trains on the Saturday and the 12:30 Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and return on the Sunday. This public service marked the last timetabled diesel working for the season because the lack of train heating is becoming an issue, although the weather has been milder than it could have been for the time of year.
This coming weekend sees the BLUE timetable return with all-steam workings on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and on the following weekend, in anticipation of busy trains during the half-term week, with the PUMPKIN EXPLORER TRAIL being established in recognition of Halloween. The railway will then close until the start of the Christmas special services from 30th November onward.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33057) was pictured at Minehead on Saturday 19th October 2024 while shunting stock to assemble her engineering train before departing for Bishops Lydeard. Photo by Jacob Nickolls © CC BY-NC 3.0
DIESEL RUNNING DATES
Last weekend saw the last of the booked diesel running dates for 2024 so our next period of scheduled running will be in the Spring of 2025. We don’t yet have that detail available but we understand that the running pattern will be very similar to that of 2024, so the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page can be used as a guide.
Click here to go to our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page
Click here to go to our ONLINE SHOP
Thank you very much for your support !
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – with so many parts now removed from the ‘B’ bogie and awaiting cleaning and inspection, it became necessary to stop further dismantling and spend a bit of time organising the parts and storing them in the second-hand stillages that had recently been acquired. Effort was also expended on cleaning up the cardan shafts so that they could be strapped to pallets and sent out for specialist overhaul. There are seven shafts per engine/transmission/bogie set, so 14 in total and a significant expense is looming, considering that most of these shafts are the originals from BR days. Below are some photos giving the scale of the task, with the parts from one bogie filling six stillages !
Work continued on the ‘B’ cooler group which is close to being completed and will next undergo testing with blanking plates bolted in place of the cooling elements. This will allow a pressure test to be carried out and allow us to find any leaks that were missed the first time around. If OK, the cooler group will then be finished and can go outside again.
Many thanks to our volunteers for progressing the work on this massive loco !
D1010 – one of the second-hand stackable stillages acquired by the DEPG, filled with some of the brake rigging components that had been removed from the ‘B’ bogie. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – by the end of the day, seven stillages and two palletloads of parts had been safely stored in the new (but rather muddy) container. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Martin Howard © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – DEPG Chairman Martin checks the cargo before transporting it to the container for storage. Gordon seems to have transferred some of the dirt from the cardan shafts to himself! Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the ‘B’ cooler group is getting closer to completion, having been turned over to allow a weld repair on the previously hidden side. The next step will be the pressure test. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Apologies to those D1010 sponsors who have yet to receive the photos and certificates for the patches that they have sponsored. After ‘almost’ catching up in the Spring, the lifting of the loco and subsequent need to get the bogie overhaul project underway has depleted the resource for the patch engraving and a backlog has built up again.
Rest assured that every sponsor will receive their certificate and the details of where to find their sponsored patch. We will be making a further push for funds soon, because we have some big ticket items for refurbishment, including 14 cardan shafts and 32 springs.
MANY THANKS to all who have sponsored and supported the RESTORATION of D1010 !
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – this loco is normally based at Bishops Lydeard but will move to Williton on Saturday 2nd November to undergo body repairs and a list of other maintenance tasks that will hopefully still leave time for a repaint. This loco is an essential tool for the WSR so we have a duty to keep her reliable and dependable. She will be returned to Bishops Lydeard in time for the start of the 2025 operating season.
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is stabled at Williton and is ready for use if required. The replacement seals for the exhauster are on order and will be fitted during the winter shutdown period. The new seals will resolve the oil leak that caused the sticking brushgear issue of a few weeks ago.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco has now moved to Minehead and will be positioned over the pit on Saturday 26th October 2024 for an underframe inspection and lubrication maintenance. The loco will return to Williton at some point in the near future, for repairs to the corroded rainwater gutter in the engine room and possibly some other bodywork repairs. The loco shed is going to be in demand over the winter !
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – after having an excellent season and achieving 100% availability, this loco is currently stabled at Minehead and has now been assessed for body repairs and repainting, the cost of which is going to reach five figures. In addition to bodywork, the loco will need to have her auxiliary cardan shafts removed for overhaul due to excessive wear in the joints and splines. Several other maintenance tasks are also on the list for this winter.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – the ‘transmission team’ continued their VERY careful work on the re-building of the Mekydro K184u transmission, with multiple assembly and disassembly cycles ensuring that clearances and tolerances are checked and double-checked. This is vital to ensure that the transmission is set up correctly to give it the best possible chance for smooth and reliable operation. The spare parts situation is getting very tight, so we need to keep the risks to a minimum. Luckily, each member of our team has plenty of patience and a very good eye for detail, so we are in safe hands.
D7018 – transmission team member Tim checks the fit of one of the gear selector arms against the actuator rod (not visible) that is driven by the piston P3 that is built into the control block (see below). Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 15th October 2024 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D7018 – this extract from the Maybach Mekydro K184 Assembly and Parts Manual shows what lurks below the surface of the seemingly innocent steel plate in the previous photograph. DEPG archive © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the focus continues to be the work on the engine and on the cab refurbishment, with the Tuesday team tending to handle the engine work. The cab assembly has now reached the point where it can be lifted back on to the loco frame, so Colin G shifted his attention to preparing the underframe to which the cab will be fastened. This work is expected to take a few more weekends, then we will be arranging for a crane to come to site to do the lifting.
D9518 – the underframe that supports the cab is now being prepared by Colin G in readiness for the cab to be re-mounted, indicating that we are not far away from being able to arrange a crane to do the lifting. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – the removable cab roof section has now received its final coat of paint and is close to being ready for re-fitting to the cab. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 19th October 2024 by Andy Royal © 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 engine and 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 specialist contractor HERITAGE RAIL and the loco has passed the various tests that signal that she is ready to resume her duties. All we need now is some running opportunities, which are not too easy to come by in late October. Hopefully some work will come along during the Christmas period.
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.
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: 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: this week, we feature another photo from Mark Bladwell’s collection, with the infamous D1007 ‘WESTERN TALISMAN’ pictured at the head of a Paddington express … but where and when ? The loco was painted blue in October 1970 and last worked in December 1973, so that gives a fairly narrow time window. The two 10 mph speed restrictions and the Class 08 shunter on the sidings outside the station are additional clues and memory-joggers. No doubt Mark will be able to provide more information, and would have if I had remembered to ask him, but until next week we invite readers to send in their opinions about where and when this photo could have been taken. Many thanks to Mark for sharing his photo with us all.
Class 52 D1007 ‘WESTERN TALISMAN’ was pictured while at the head of a Paddington service – but where and when ? Photo by Mark Bladwell © CC BY-NC 3.0
DEPG NEWS: a Board Meeting took place at Williton on Saturday 19th October, with a wide range of topics being discussed and a new member co-opted to the Board to assist with the ever-growing workload. The vacancy on the Board has existed for some time but has now been filled by DAVID OSWALD who joined the DEPG as a volunteer in June of this year. David’s background is in the construction industry and he maintains his diverse collection of working heritage construction machinery himself, in addition to his various other activities of running a smallholding in Cambridgeshire (he is planning to relocate to West Somerset!). We welcome David and look forward to him lending a hand on some of the projects that are on the stocks at Williton, both when he is on site at Williton and when working remotely.
D1010 – Volunteers David and Sid took a break from dismantling the brake rigging on the ‘B’ bogie to do some therapeutic dirt scraping on the ‘A’ bogie outdoors at Williton on Wednesday 21st August 2024. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
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 !