DEPG treasurer and driver Paul Tucker was pictured pressing the ENGINE START button in the ‘A’ cab of Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 during a transmission testing session at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025. Extract from a video by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 burst into life at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025 and emitted the wonderful sound of ‘Maybach Music’ as the engine started up for the first time since August 2023. Extract from a video by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Click here or on the image below to watch a video clip of the startup (1m 25s):
The yard at Williton was treated to some wonderful ‘Maybach Music’ on Saturday 8th March 2025 when Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 was started up for the first time since her transmission malfunction back in August 2023. The engine had been carefully prepared in advance by Neil and Bob and pre-heated, so one press on the START button was enough to get her started and she ran cleanly and smoothly. The correct pressures were recorded on the torque converter gauges, so the engine was allowed to continue running so that the programme of testing of the repaired transmission could begin.
The loco had been coupled between Class 33 D6566 (33048) and Class 14 D9526, both with their brakes fully applied using air pressure supplied by the ’33’. This ensured that no uncommanded movement could take place and allowed the testing to proceed safely. The programme of work had been mapped out in stages, each of which needed to be ‘all clear’ before moving on to the next stage, basically as follows:
- Prepare the engine, check the function of the STOP switches.
- Start the engine, check for the correct transmission pressure sequencing.
- Stop the engine, compare notes and prepare for the next stage.
- Start the engine, check the correction function of the reverser.
- Stop the engine, compare notes and prepare for the next stage.
- Start the engine and perform power checks.
- Stop the engine, compare notes and prepare for the next stage.
- Start the engine and check for correct gear selection function.
- Stop the engine, compare notes and conclude or extend the static testing.
We did not get to the power checks (stage 6) because the reverser, although changing over between forward and reverse at the transmission itself, was not showing the correct indications in the cab. The device known as the Directional Interlock Contactor is the most likely source of the trouble and these notoriously tricky electro-mechanical gizmos need some very careful adjustment to make them operate reliably. No doubt the issue will be resolved in the coming week or so, and we can try again.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 was displaying two red lights when set for the forward direction at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025. This fault condition prevented further testing, but should be a fairly quick fix. Extract from the BR manual and extract from a video clip by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
We won’t count our chickens just yet, but we do have the confidence to carry on with the testing programme and resolve any issues as they are revealed by the testing. A step-by-step approach will pay dividends in the end. MANY THANKS to the Transmission Team and to Neil and Bob for their hard work and contribution in getting us to this level of testing !
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 was sandwiched between Class 33 D6566 (33048) and Class 14 D9526 at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025 with driver Tucker at the controls at the ‘A’ end of the loco. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 viewed from ‘B’ end through the tunnel formed by the cooler group at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025, with the dynastarter in the foreground. Extract from a video clip by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D7017 UPDATE
The work being done on both of the ‘Hymek’ sisters is taking a high priority because of the need to have these locos back in use during their 50th anniversary in preservation. The WSR have very kindly allocated the weekend of Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August for showcasing ‘Hymek’ haulage, and we are working on the event format and hope to make an announcement in conjunction with the WSR very soon. Meanwhile, SAVE THE DATES !
We are delighted to announce that the revised target for donations to the D7017 bodywork overhaul fund HAS BEEN REACHED, so a BIG THANK YOU goes out to the 75 people who have donated to this project so far, keeping it moving forward to ensure that the loco will be back in service in time for the WSR’s Summer Diesel Festival (5-7th June).
THANK YOU FOR YOUR FANTASTIC SUPPORT !
The repair work is expected to cost around £15,000 so the amount raised will cover most of the work being done on the loco, the remaining £3,000 being provided from the DEPG’s general fund. The sub-contract route was taken to make sure that the loco gets repaired during the winter and is able to take pole position in the celebration of 50 years of ‘Hymek’ preservation that will take place on 30th and 31st of August this year.
The fund now stands at £12,236 and will remain open until the work is completed to make sure that we have sufficient funding to cover any unexpected costs, so don’t despair if you haven’t yet donated, because we can still accept your donation !
All funds donated via this appeal will be allocated to returning D7017 to service in time for the forthcoming season.
Can you help ? Click here to donate £17 to D7017 !
If you want to help with this short-term appeal, please make a donation via our website (click on the icons above or below) or by bank app or by sending a cheque to the DEPG at Williton. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !
Here are some photos of the progress being made on D7017 at Minehead and at Williton:
D7017 – the section of roof that goes over the engine has now been repaired and painted in primer – and soon will be painted in undercoat and several layers of top coat before being set aside for re-fitting to the loco. Pictured at Minehead on Saturday 8th March 2025 by Neil McCannon © CC BY-NC 3.0
D7017 – the painstaking and laborious task of cleaning up the aluminium window frames from the loco bodysides seems to have fallen to Graham, but he seemed OK with it when pictured at Williton with Class 14 D9518 (NCB No. 7) providing the backdrop on Saturday 8th March 2025. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Many thanks to the WSR engineering team at Minehead and to our volunteers at Minehead and Williton for doing such a great job on D7017 !
WSR NEWS
The WSR is preparing for the return of public services on the weekend of 22/23 March and the coming week includes an intensive programme of infrastructure activities including Tidy Trains and Ballast Trains involving our Class 33 ‘Cromptons’ with both in use on Saturday 15th March.
The WSR have published their running calendar for 2025 on their website and social media channels, and we have updated our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page including provisional loco allocations, some of which are subject to change to align with the availability of the locos and the crews. As the information becomes more refined, we will update our page and send out a DIESELGEN bulletin with the clarification. Click here or on the banner below to view the provisional allocations:
Click here or on the image below to visit the WSR’s timetable page:
The WSR’s SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL has been confirmed as being Thursday 5th through Saturday 7th with a Mixed Traction Day on Sunday 8th of June 2025.
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 the need to move Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 to Number 1 road so that she could be sandwiched between Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) and Class 14 D9526, the ‘A’ bogie from D1010 had to be moved to number 3 road, so the opportunity was taken to make use of the available space and the fork lift truck to lift the three cardan shafts out of the bogie. The bolts had already been slackened on a previous weekend so the work could be completed without too much bad language, but the heavy and awkward parts probably deserved the disrespect that they did receive ! Elsewhere, Roy continued his quest to get the ‘A’ cooler group paintwork completed, while others contemplated the work needed on the engines (nothing major, but time consuming and in need of a large and clean working area). The pace of progress on this loco will pick up once the ‘Hymeks’ have been readied for service in this, their 50th, year in preservation.
D1010 – the otherwise complete ‘A’ bogie was moved from No. 1 road to No. 3 road at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025 and the opportunity taken to remove the cardan shafts with the help of the fork lift truck. Photo by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – clearly having too much fun, DEPG volunteer Roy continued his quest to paint every square inch of the ‘A’ cooler group at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the two Bristol Siddeley Maybach MD655 engines are the equivalent of the elephant in the room and dominate the corner of the shed at Williton. These engines are waiting their turn for minor but necessary attention. Pictured on Saturday 8th March 2025 by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Our appeals for MORE VOLUNTEERS are working but WE STILL NEED MORE HELP to get this huge loco back on the rails, so please get in touch by using our CONTACT FORM if you are able to join the team.
As mentioned before, apologies to those D1010 sponsors who have yet to receive the photos and certificates for the patches that they have sponsored. The weather is improving, so it won’t be long before we will be able to re-start the engraving work.
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 the remaining cardan shafts and 32 springs from the suspension system.
MANY THANKS to all who have sponsored and supported the RESTORATION of D1010 !
Class 09 D4107 (09019) – the two sprung buffers that have been loaned by the WSR and were last in use as platform buffers at BATH GREEN PARK STATION have now been cleaned up, repainted and fitted to the loco, which is now getting very close to being returned to service, in fact the departure date has been set for Monday 17th March when this loco should leave Williton and return to her usual home at Bishops Lydeard. A lot of work has been done and another busy weekend will see the remainder of the work completed, so MANY THANKS to our team of volunteers for their combined efforts to get this loco back to work on time !
D4107 – the pair of sprung buffers that have been loaned by the WSR were last in use at Bath Green Park Station back in 1966 and were in need of some TLC, duly administered by Tony at Williton on Tuesday 4th March 2025. Photo by Tim Zilkha © CC BY-NC 3.0
D4107 – the application of undercoat and top coat was carried out at Williton by Graham over the weekend of 7th/8th/9th March 2025 and was pictured on the 8th by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
D4107 – recent recruits Jason and Ethan Roberts received instruction from volunteer loco manager Ian R at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025. The work on this loco has been a real team effort, led by Ian and supported by most of our volunteers at one time or another. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – in addition to shunting the yard and assisting with the risk mitigations for D7018, this loco has been fitted with an overhauled brake slack adjuster and has been readied for action, with a booked working on Saturday 15th March between Williton and Dunster in connection with the Infrastructure Department’s ballast train.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is the Duty Loco based at Bishops Lydeard and has been in use between Bishops Lydeard and Norton Fitzwarren on several occasions for crew training purposes. The loco now needs an ‘A’ exam (every 50 hours) which will be carried out at Bishops Lydeard by Ian R on Saturday 15th March, after which she will be used to prepare the ‘Tidy Train’ for a run along the line on the following day. This loco is also booked to work the ballast trains to the track relaying site at Tribble Bridge on several days during next week.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – covered previously.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – covered previously.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the electrical rewiring work continues to make steady progress, with work also taking place on restoring the various body panels from their ‘as-stored’ condition to the ‘restored’ condition, which often involves quite a bit of effort due to the effects of corrosion on these relatively thin steel fabrications. Work on the engine rebuilt took a pause last week due to other priorities, but progress will resume again soon.
D9518 (NCB Ashington No. 7) – the restoration of this bonnet section involves a lot of time and effort, but volunteer Andy P is a patient and diligent worker and will do a fine and thorough job. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025 by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 (NCB Ashington No. 7) – the various casings and housings that attach to the engine have been cleaned up and painted, ready for reassembly in due course. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 1st March 2025 by Terry Deacon © CC BY-NC 3.0
Quality work needs to be funded, so we will continue to appeal for funds to support the work, right up to the point where the loco is completed. Any surplus will then be used to ensure her proper care and upkeep. If you like what we are doing, please make a donation via our website (click on the icon below) or by bank app or by sending a cheque to the DEPG at Williton. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT !
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco will enter the loco shed as soon as D4107 vacates (currently planned for Monday 17th March) and will undergo engine maintenance and receive a paint refresh in time for her appearance at the WSR’s SUMMER DIESEL FESTIVAL 2025.
D9526 was shunted into the ‘down’ platform at Williton on Saturday 8th March 2025 by Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33048) along with Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 to allow D1010‘s ‘A’ bogie to be moved from No 1 road to No 3 road. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is based at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and was in use on Wednesday 12th February 2025 when she worked a rake of Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) from Pickering to Grosmont. We hope to see this loco in regular use this season and we will try to provide advance notice where possible.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – as previously stated, this loco is now back in service after having an issue with her starter motor !
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 sale of books, both new and pre-owned, is a valuable source on income for the DEPG and is a growth area, especially as the search engines regularly return DEPG results on the first page, greatly increasing the chances of making a sale and boosting DEPG coffers.
We are always on the lookout for donations of pre-owned books featuring any class of diesel or electric traction. We often receive mixed donations that include steam-era books as well, but we make sure that the steam titles get passed to our colleagues in other voluntary groups around the WSR, so MANY THANKS to those who have donated and if you have books to pass on, then PLEASE KEEP DONATING !
This week we feature a bargain with a marked-down price because of a damaged jacket. This book is a well known title featuring the mighty DELTICS of British Railways and is available for only £7.50 plus p&p.
There are many other pre-owned book titles on our online store – click here for details.
ON SHED: last week, we featured a photo of ‘Slim Jim Crompton’ 33202 (D6587) on shed at Cardiff Canton displaying a Southern Region headcode of ’19’. The small batch of 12 ‘Slim Jims’ were made to the narrower loading gauge required for passage through the non-standard tunnels on the Hastings Line, the story of which is well told on Wikipedia (click here to go to Wikipedia). These locos were initially kept on a tight leash, but the improvements to the line that came with the 1986 electrification released these non-standard locos into the general pool and they became more scattered. The example pictured at Cardiff Canton had probably worked in on a service from Portsmouth and should have been displaying the code ’89’ (the code ’19’ applying to services between Waterloo and Epsom or Leatherhead, Surrey !).
This week, we have a photo of our very own 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ in her early blue livery without the BR logo. According to our Loco Timeline page, the loco carried this livery between August 1973 and October 1976, which ties in perfectly with the below image that was captured by Trevor Tremethick at Long Rock on 3rd November 1974. MANY THANKS to Trevor for sharing more of his work with us !
Class 47 47077 (D1661, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ was pictured in late autumn sunshine while passing Long Rock depot, Penzance on 3rd November 1974 with the 4A13 14:45 Penzance to Paddington perishables. The loco is in rail blue livery with full yellow ends, but was not carrying a BR logo at this time. Photo by Trevor Tremethick © CC BY-NC 3.0
DEPG NEWS – we are pleased to report that SIX of our new volunteers attended a Personal Track Safety (PTS) training course that was presented at Williton by WSR lead PTS assessor ROB CARTER on Saturday 22nd February 2025 and all six have been passed and now hold their PTS competency certificates. WELL DONE ALL and many thanks to Rob for taking the time to run this course at Williton for 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 !