Our priority this weekend has been to perform an ‘A’ exam on Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) to ensure that she is kept available for use on the WSR engineering trains. The ‘A’ exam is a regular check-and-inspect process that is performed at 50-hour intervals, measured in engine running time, and covers safety items such as wheels, brakes, lights and windscreen wipers, then moves on to the basic maintenance items such as oil and coolant levels, fuel and batteries.
Our vintage locos were designed in an age when a lot of maintenance was ‘normal’, but modern locomotives still have regular safety checks, even though they can run for a lot longer before needing attention. All of these checks are in addition to those made by the driver whenever the loco is started up. All checks have to be completed satisfactorily before the loco can be moved.
We will explain more about ‘A’ checks, ‘B’ checks and so on, in a later article.
LOCO NEWS: The status of our other locos remains unchanged this week, due to lockdown.