Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) repositioned from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead on Monday 3rd April 2023 in preparation for the start of the BLUE timetable on Friday 7th. The working was also used to move Mk 3 sleeping coach 10542 to Minehead for maintenance and to perform gauging checks for platform and lineside equipment clearances along the route. Pictured from Bishops Lydeard signal box by Robin Havill © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) kicked off the 2023 diesel-haulage programme by working the 10:00 Minehead 80-mile diagram under the BLUE timetable on Friday 7th April, a duty that she then repeated on Sunday 9th and again on Monday 10th. This loco is next in action on Sunday 16th April and the timings will be as follows:
Depart Minehead at 10:00 arrive Bishops Lydeard at 11:30
Depart Bishops Lydeard at 12:30 arrive Minehead at 13:50
Depart Minehead at 14:30 arrive Bishops Lydeard at 15:55
Depart Bishops Lydeard at 16:35 arrive Minehead at 18:00
2023 TIMETABLE NEWS:
The railway is now open five days per week (closed on Mondays and Fridays except for bank holidays and special events) and dates scheduled for diesel locomotive haulage are listed on our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page.
Keep an eye on the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page and mark the days that interest you on your calendar, so that you can make a plan to come along and ride behind your favourite type of locomotive. Click on the banner below to go to the page on our website:
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – the last week saw progress being made internally rather than externally, with Steve working his way through the wiring and switchgear under the driver’s desk at ‘B’ end while Gordon disconnected the cooler group at ‘A’ end as the first step towards having the cooler group lifted out for a thorough refurbishment. Andy R and Natalie removed several corroded air pipes from benetah the gangway on the ‘B’ side, cleaning up the area as they went along (this will be a lengthy task!). In parallel, the ‘transmission team’ under the leadership of Colin F made significant steps with the re-assembly of the largest and the smallest shafts, complete with new bearings and seals. Here are some photos:
D1010 – the very large and heavy output gear from ‘B’ transmission was re-fitted to the output shaft with the help of the hydraulic press at the WSR Restorations ‘Swindon Shed’ on Monday 3rd April 2023. The thin black pipe is for the oil injection equipment that has to be used at the same time as the press to achieve the required fit against the tapered shaft. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the small size of the bevel gear for the filling pump makes the perfect contrast to the massive proportions of the output shaft. This pump keeps the hydraulic fluid moving throughout the transmission and the external heat exchanger circuit. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 4th April 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the timeline for this restoration project has been published in the DEPG Spring 2023 Newsletter that has been sent to all registered DEPG members. The narrative that goes with this timeline will be published on our website ASAP and covered in a future roundup. DEPG © CC BY-NC 3.0
To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !
See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is now inside the paint tunnel in the Swindon Shed at Williton for a paintwork refresh in the hands of WSR Restorations. This loco is expected to be out of traffic until late April.
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is outstationed at Minehead and is available for her BLUE timetable duties, the next run being Sunday 16th April.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco is now stabled on number 2 road at Williton in preparation for an oil change. The sump drains were sampled on Saturday 8th April by Tom and Ian R and the engine run for 30 minutes by John so that the drains can be checked again next weekend before an oil change is performed. This is to ensure that there is no significant leakage of coolant taking place within the engine. A coolant leak would quickly result in a very expensive oil change becoming spoiled, so it is important to take samples and check carefully before moving forward. This loco is rostered for service under the BLUE timetable on the weekend of 13/14th May. Click here or on the image below for a short video clip of the engine start-up.
D7017 was started up while on number 2 road at Williton on Saturday 8th April 2023 so that the sump drains can be checked next weekend before an oil change is performed. The clean start (the first this year) shows the benefit of an engine pre-heater. The above image is an extract from a short video clip by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco is awaiting attention to a short list of issues that were identified during the loaded test run that took place in December 2022. Work is expected to start on this loco in late April, after completion of sister loco D7017. The issues will be addressed in time for the WSR’s Summer Diesel Festival that takes place between Thursday 8th June and Saturday 10th June 2023.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the team progressed the work on the brake rigging last week, and ran into some snags with some of the brake hangers which were found to be bent, no doubt the result of a derailment when the loco was in use during National Coal Board days at Ashington Colliery in Northumberland. The bent hangers have been sent out to subcontract for straightening, but if this proves unsuccesful, new hangers will have to be made. Meanwhile, Colin and John continued their work re-fitting the battery boxes and preparing for re-wiring. Apologies for the lack of photos this week, but we will compensate for this in the next roundup.
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 fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – as stated in a previous roundup, the haulage turns that were allocated to this loco have had to be cancelled due to the need to haul 6 or 7 coaches on those days. This is the result of the commercial success of the WSR’s ‘Fish and Chip’ and ‘Cream Tea’ specials which require the full length rake of coaches. We are in discussion with the WSR about suitable alternative dates where the Class 14 could be loaded with no more than 5 coaches and we will send out a DIESELGEN bulletin as soon as we have that information.
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco underwent repairs to her brake cylinders at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway last week, but we have been advised that she returned to service on Sunday 9th hauling the scheduled diesel diagram. Although the issue only affected one of the brake cylinders, the whole set has been overhauled to ensure that the issue does not crop up later in the season. We look forward to hearing more about this loco soon.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this loco is waiting for an engine test run so that the overspeed setting can be adjusted and verified. This will be followed by a Vehicle Inspection & Brake Test (VIBT), after which the recent work done on this loco will be considered as complete and the loco will be ready to move outdoors.
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 !