Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) stands at Platform 1 at the delightful and well-presented Williton Station on Saturday 17th September 2022 as she prepared for her light engine move to Minehead, to take up her weekend duties under the BLUE timetable. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – this loco continues to get the lion’s share of the attention, with body repair work progressing in parallel with work on her battery compartments and cab windows and headcode boxes. Theere is plenty of work still to be done on this massive locomotive and we need to continue raising funds to allow us to plan further work on the transmissions and bogies.
Please consider SPONSORING A PATCH because there is plenty of fresh metal that still needs engraving. We have an engraving session planned for this Saturday and the list of sponsors is still open, so click the image below and sponsor your patch now. Thank you in advance for your support !
Although bodywork repairs have progressed well, we still have a lot of rubbing down and painting to do, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !
D1010 – continued effort on the ‘A’ end of the loco has resulted in completion of all bodywork repairs and an overall coat of grey primer has now been applied. The headcode frames have been re-fitted (temporarily) and now include new rubber seals for the glass panels. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 17th September 2022 by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the rusted remains of the sheared screws that held the side windows have to be removed carefully to ensure that the replacement screws will align correctly. This simple and effective tool has been made from a set of worn-out vice grips and engages with the broken screws and aligns the drill with the centre of the hole. Pictured at Williton on 10th September 2022 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
To support the work that is progressing in multiple areas on D1010, we launched our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER by offering ‘SPONSOR A PATCH’ where you can donate in support of the bodywork repairs that are taking place on D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ and HAVE YOUR NAME ENGRAVED ON THE SPONSORED PATCH or PART.
For the sum of £25, this scheme offers you a chance to sponsor the restoration of this much-loved locomotive, with your personal contribution being recorded and documented on a set of drawings that will be made available at our Williton depot on running days and open days. For those who prefer to remain anonymous, a unique reference number or code word of your choice will be engraved instead.
See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details !
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco has had her oil strainer, oil filter housings and crankcase cleaned out and fresh oil pumped in while she waits for the return of her heat exchanger. The latest news is that it will be some time in mid-October before we get the heat exchanger returned to us, so work continues to prepare everything else as far as possible. We hope that this loco will be back in action some time in October, but it depends entirely on the specialist firm that is undertaking the repair work.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is currently stabled at Minehead and being the WSR Duty Loco, is fully serviceable. She covered the diesel duties last weekend as planned and as listed on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and has been the busiest loco of our home fleet so far this year. Well done D6575 !
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – the work on this loco has progressed very well and the loco will be ready for an engine run during our annual ‘work week’ (which happens to be next week). The photo below shows that her roof has been re-fitted in preparation for the start-up, which will take place after the loco has been towed outdoors. Well done to Team D7017 for getting this work done !
A view from the mezzanine floor – Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 was pictured in the loco shed at Williton on Saturday 17th September 2022 with the frames and cooler group of Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 in front of her on the left and Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ filling up the shed on the right. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco will be in use on the 10:00 and 14:30 Minehead to Bishops Lydeard return services on Sat/Sun 24th/25th September. Keep an eye on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page for updates or join the DIESELGEN email bulletin group (which also includes information about non-public services, where the information is available to us sufficiently in advance).
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the Class 14 team continue to work on the re-installation of the compressed air system and the associated valves and pipework while, in parallel, restoration work is taking place on some of the many parts that are going to be needed in the near future – such as those shown in the photographs below:
D9518 – under the layers of NCB blue, the cab door reveals the original Sherwood Green from BR days. Photo by Colin Girle © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – the cab door has now been restored and painted in green primer. The pipe assembly, freshly painted in Salmon Pink (the designated colour for lubricating oil), is for the engine oil drain. Photo by Colin Girle © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – the electrical switch panel from the control cubicle is also undergoing careful restoration and repainting. Photo by Colin Girle © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – one of the doors from the electrical control cubicle revealed handwritten operating instructions that had been added in NCB days. Photo by Colin Girle © CC BY-NC 3.0
D9518 – “USE SUPREME 50 OIL” says the handwritten operating instruction that had been added in NCB days. Photo by Colin Girle © 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 full operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco continues to be in regular use on the Kent & East Sussex Railway working alongside the steam locos and the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU), sharing the work of hauling the public services. Here’s a link to a YouTube video by Andrew Howard from a few days ago that shows D9526 working a train that includes a very old 4-wheeled coach. Click here or on the image below to open the YouTube video:
D9526 at work on the KESR – a YouTube video by Andrew Howard © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco continues to be in regular use at the NYMR, which is great news, both for the loco and for the DEPG. Our correspondent in the area, Martin Fisher, is keeping us well-fed with photographs of our ‘celebrity’ loco at work on the NYMR – thank you very much, Martin !
47077 (D1661 47613 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ waits with her train while another train approaches to pass at Goathland Station on Wednesday 14th September 2022. Photo by Martin Fisher © CC BY-NC 3.0
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this little loco was the subject of the attention of well-known WSR and DEPG volunteer Jon Tooke on Saturday, when he went to great lengths to establish the correct width and angle of the black diagonal stripes that needed to be added to the yellow buffer beam to achieve authenticity with the original paint scheme. The photos below show the work in progress and also show the finished result. A fine piece of work indeed – thank you Jon !
Barclay 578 (ROF 1) received her stripes at Williton on Saturday 17th September 2022 courtesy of volunteer Jon Tooke, who carefully and accurately masked up the buffer beam before adding the black paint. Photo by Tom Courtney © CC BY-NC 3.0
Barclay 578 (ROF 1) displays the new stripes on her buffer beam while Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 basks in the sunshine in Williton South Yard on Saturday 17th September 2022. Photo by Jon Tooke © CC BY-NC 3.0
If you can help by donating your time, 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 !