Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) was at work yesterday hauling a crew training special comprising six newly-painted Mark 1 coaches between Bishops Lydeard and Williton. The all-DEPG crew comprised driver Richard Jones and secondman Terry Deacon, both under the watchful eye of Traction Inspector John Leach. Also riding on the train was Colin Girle who would later be driving on the return leg of the journey. These crew training specials are part of the preparations for the re-opening of the WSR for public services on 22nd May 2021.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) has been busy, running crew training specials and also moving Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) so that the newly-painted coaches are positioned at Bishops Lydeard in readiness for the restart of public services on Saturday 22nd May 2021. Here’s a great view of Castle Hill, just south of Williton, resplendent in Spring colours, showing D6566 (33 048) at work:
This loco is in action again this weekend, working on Saturday and Sunday afternoon between Bishops Lydeard and Williton on crew refresher training specials. To keep up to date with our diesel loco workings, sign up to our DIESELGEN email bulletin service.
LOCO NEWS:
There has been more progress at Williton, mostly directed at 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ and Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518. We again managed to have volunteers on site for four days out of the last seven, minimising risk and making better use of facilities.
47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – After running some tests, it soon became clear that the batteries were beyond redemption, so a decision was taken to place an order for new batteries at a cost of almost £5,000 for the set (48 in total). This expenditure will allow reliable starting for the next 10 years.
The batteries are housed in four separate compartments, each holding 12 separate cells that are wired together. Each cell is larger than a heavy duty car battery! Each compartment will now need to be cleaned out in readiness for the new batteries to be installed. The battery box doors were removed, cleaned and painted last Sunday and the rest of the task will be tackled this weekend.
Other attention focused on correcting an issue that had existed since the loco had her vacuum braking system re-instated by Brush at Loughborough in 2007. The strainer that is used to protect the vacuum exhausters from dirt and debris had been installed at an unusual angle and was difficult to clean. After many hours of wrestling with pipework in the very cramped and crowded equipment room, our Chairman Martin Howard succeeded in removing and correcting the pipework and refitting the strainer so it now takes up its correct position and is easy to maintain.
At the other end of the locomotive, attention was given to a cleanup and repaint of the number 2 cab, the photos below show the work in progress. There’s a lot of detailing still to do, but the ‘office’ is looking very much better already.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – The ‘Tuesday’ crew continued work on the wheelsets, filling and sanding the surfaces to provide a good smooth surface for painting. The photo below shows the wheelsets have now reached the primer stage, getting closer to the gloss black finish that will signify completion of the task.
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – this loco is undergoing an assessment of the work that needs to be done before she can be returned to service. The work has to be evaluated and costed because this loco will be the subject of a fund raising campaign to raise money to cover the cost of the work. The revenue generated by our new booklet “D1010 WESTERN CAMPAIGNER – FROM MEREHEAD TO MINEHEAD” will go into this fund, along with revenue from sales of pre-owned books, so please help the fund grow by buying from our online store. Thanks !
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco is waiting for an opportunity to run to Bishops Lydeard so that she can go over the pit at Westridge shed and have an underframe examination. After that, she will be ready for service !
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who are hard at work maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !
BOOK REVIEW – This week, a magazine article has been brought to our attention by Neale Long because it celebrates the 60th anniversary of the unveiling of the first of the brand-new Type 3 diesel-hydraulic locomotives that were built by BEYER-PEACOCK (HYMEK) LTD to satisfy an order for 101 machines for the Western Region of British Railways. These locos subsequently became known as the ‘Hymeks’.
RAIL EXPRESS magazine May 2021 edition 300 features a 6-page article entitled ‘HANDSOME HYMEKS’ and presents a well-balanced account of the class throughout its short life in BR service. All four preserved ‘Hymeks’ are pictured, with D7017 shown working the ‘QUANTOCK FLYER’ on the West Somerset Railway on 19th March 1977 being the first to haul a service train in preservation.
To whet your appetite, the final two pages of the article are pictured above in a purposely low-resolution shot to respect copyright. The article is well worth reading, so try and get hold of a copy if you can.
ON SHED: Last week, we featured Ebbw Junction depot (EJ) on the western side of Newport, South Wales, with a decent coating of snow after some unseasonal late-April weather. The presence of a Class 03 shunter at EJ raised significant interest and several readers have sent information that can be shared this week. Here’s the picture again, as a reminder:
“Before it left Bath Road, 03382 was regularly employed as the outstationed Lawrence Hill yard shunter in Bristol, where it also worked the former MR Avonside Wharf and did one mile main line trip workings to Stapleton Road Goods Yard to transfer scrap metal wagons between the two yards. It was usually to be found stabled next to the shunters cabin immediately under the old MR mainline overbridge at Lawrence Hill.
I took quite a few rides on it (and others) when I was a kid / teenager, but even it wasn’t allowed in Avonside Yard down by the river and had to “reach” the wagons over the Avon Road crossing (ungated, multiple tracks). It was said there had always been very old and insufficient track in that yard, which had long since disintegrated. The wagons actually used to run in the grooves left in the dirt!”
Many thanks to Julien for sharing his memories with us.
The Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway was built in the 1870s to serve the coal mines of the valleys to the west of Llanelli. The line was built to a very tight budget with lightweight track and minimalist earthworks. The bridges were very low and the line was also susceptible to flooding in places. Steam gave way to diesel in 1965 and the D2000 series 204hp Class 03 shunter was deemed the most suitable locomotive, with a modification being made to cut down the height of the cabs to clear the low bridges.
Eight locos were modified and were based at Landore (Swansea). Because of the steep gradients on the line, the 204 hp Class 03s were often used in multiple so they were modified to have multiple-unit control systems. In 1981, it was determined that one more modified Class 03 was needed to work the line.
DEPG Class 14 loco manager Simon Purvis shares the following information that was provided by Brian Penney:
“The modification to permit two 204hp Class 03 locomotives in multiple was developed in the mid 1960’s by Eastern region for a freight working between York and Harrogate. We could see that this arrangement would be particularly useful for working the BP+GV line, where three of these locos were used to take a train from Burry Port to Cwm Mawr, and in May 1967 I was sent to inspect the modifications at York and ride with the working to Harrogate.
Landore had an allocation of eight 204hp Class 03s for working this line. These had been modified with cut down cabs to meet the loading gauge restrictions on the branch and it was agreed that Swindon would fit them with the air operated multiple control equipment.
In 1981 it was decided that an additional locomotive, fitted with multiple connections, was required for the working, and Westinghouse were asked for the cost of supplying the valves and fittings. Apparently these items could not be supplied ‘off the shelf’ and would require special manufacture, with a consequent price well into five figures.
It was known that Eastern Region had withdrawn some of their multiple fitted Class 03s and some had been sold to outside parties. After some detective work, we discovered that one of these, D2260, had been sold some eleven years earlier, to Mill Pit, Kenfig Hill, only 20 miles west of Cardiff. A phone call to the pit engineer confirmed the loco was still at the pit and a visit arranged to inspect it.
Surprisingly, the locomotive was found to be still fitted with all the multiple control equipment, although this had not been used since 1970. The pit engineer said that he had no use for it and if we could send staff to remove it, we were welcome to take it away.
The selected additional locomotive was Bristol’s 03382, and it was arranged for Ebbw Junction carry out the work to cut down the cab, and fit the multiple control equipment. Ebbw Junction fitters went to Mill Pit to recover the equipment from D2260 and bring it back to Newport.”
Many thanks to Brian and Simon for sharing this information with us.
So, we now know why 03382 was at EJ for such a long time in 1983. It was all a bit pointless because the line was partly closed in 1984 and the remaining stub was worked by modified Class 08 shunters instead. The Class 03s were dispersed, 03382 being cut up at Swindon in 1986 and sister 03119 spending time on the West Somerset Railway in the care of the DEPG. The loco now resides on the Epping Ongar Railway in Essex.
DEPG NEWS: The synopsis of the last DEPG Board meeting is now available for the benefit of our members. Please email contact@depg.org or use the CONTACTform to request your copy. The next Board meeting will take place on 22nd May 2021.
The next edition of the quarterly DEPG newsletter is in preparation. What would you like to see in this edition ? Let us know what you would find interesting. Do you have a story to tell ? Write your own article or alternatively, provide us with the information and we will write it for you.
For the last two weeks, we have asked this question …. which railway magazines do you buy on a regular basis ?
The results have been collated and the two leaders are RAILWAY MAGAZINE and RAILWAYS ILLUSTRATED although HERITAGE RAILWAY, RAIL and TRACTION also figure quite prominently. Apart from these mainstreamers, there are several other titles, too numerous to mention, so it is a hotly-contested media sector!
Many thanks to all of you who took the time to let us know your preferences.
Membership – is your membership up to date ? If not, please renew by going to our Join Us page and selecting the appropriate membership ‘product’. This is a quick and easy way to keep your membership current. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember your membership number – we will sort that out for you.
DEPG WEBSITE: Our ONLINE SHOP IS NOW LIVE so go ahead and visit our store!
Our new booklet, ‘D1010 – FROM MEREHEAD TO MINEHEAD’ is in stock so get your copy now! This booklet covers our Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ and its life in preservation, from Foster Yeoman’s quarry at Merehead to the West Somerset Railway to Minehead plus some interesting stories from the days when the loco was still working on the mainline. All proceeds go to the D1010 restoration fund.
WSR NEWS: The WSR have revised their timetable for the services that will run in the second week of re-opening, with services being extended through to Watchet where there will be a one-hour stopover to allow travellers a chance to stretch their legs in this lovely harbour town. See the BROWNtimetable and the new YELLOWtimetable for details. It is really important to support the WSR to ensure that these services are a commercial success. Please buy a ticket if you can.
Preparations for re-opening continue with traincrew training activities involving steam and diesel haulage this weekend. The weedkilling train ran along the whole length of the line last week, so this should keep the line looking neat and tidy throughout the season.
We are all looking forward to the return of public services on the WSR starting 22nd May 2021, so please try and support these recovery efforts by buying a ticket and having a great day out !
On Saturday 8th May 2021 and Sunday 9th May 2021, crew training specials will again be running between Bishops Lydeard (BL) and Williton (WN).
The first two return trips of the day will be steam-hauled, but Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6566 (33 048) will take over in the afternoon and will provide training and refresher opportunities for DEPG and WSR diesel crew members.
The booked movements are:
1015 BL arriving WN 1050 (steam hauled)
1125 WN arriving BL 1200 (steam hauled)
1315 BL arriving WN 1350 (steam hauled)
1420 WN arriving BL 1455 (steam hauled)
1515 BL arriving WN 1548 (diesel hauled)
1610 WN arriving BL 1645 (diesel hauled)
Trains may depart early. Other workings may take place. The railway is to be considered as LIVE at all times.
Please note that the stations remain closed to the public and trespassing is not allowed.
The webcams provide a very good way of watching the action from afar. Here are the links:
Another week of action and progress at Williton, the focus of activity being 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ and Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518. Restrictions on depot attendance remain in place but we again managed to operate on four days out of the last seven, minimising risk and making better use of facilities.
47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – Efforts were made to get her massive Sulzer 12-cylinder diesel engine ready to start after a long period out of use. The various tasks that were in progress around the loco had to be stopped and put in a safe condition to allow power-up and start-up. The ‘triple pump’ was run to prime the oil, fuel and water systems and everything was looking good. Several volunteers stood by with their cameras, ready to take a video of the event.
Unfortunately, when the moment came to press the ‘START’ button, there was a click – but the engine did not turn over. The batteries had decided that they were not going to co-operate and that was the end of it. Although the batteries had been kept in a fully charged condition over the last year or so, the combination of the age of the batteries and the lack of use has meant that charging had become ineffective, leaving the batteries too weak to be able to do their job. A locomotive without batteries is useless, so we now have to replace the 48 individual batteries that make up the full set.
Undeterred, our volunteers went back to their tasks and carried on, such disappointments being part of railway preservation life. Further attempts to start-up may be made this weekend using batteries borrowed from other locos and connected in parallel to boost capacity. Once started up, we will be able to complete our assessment of the work remaining to be done to get this loco ready for service.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – The ‘Tuesday’ crew comprising Terry, Colin F, Chris and Mark continued on renovating the sandboxes and getting them ready to refit to the locomotive frames. On the weekend, Colin G continued his work on the wheelsets, filling and sanding the surfaces to provide a good smooth surface for painting. The rate of progress is very encouraging!
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 is in action this weekend on crew training specials between Bishops Lydeard (BL) and Williton (WN). This news was broadcast yesterday via our DIESELGEN email bulletin service. This loco will change places with sister loco D6566 (33 048) during Saturday afternoon and D6566 will then work back to BL and will also work the crew training turns on Sunday. An additional working that is scheduled for Thursday 6th May is an Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) move from BL to Minehead, where D6566 will attach to some newly-repainted coaches and haul them to BL in conjunction with BR(W) 4-6-0 number 7828 ‘ODNEY MANOR’. These moves are part of the preparation for the re-opening of the WSR on 22nd May 2021.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco remains in the yard at Williton, having had her tarpaulins removed and having had a wash, courtesy of Ian. The plan for this loco is to be ‘lifted’ in late June or July so that her bogies can be rolled out so that the springs can be changed. No doubt there will be other work that will need to be done while the loco is lifted, but we hope to complete the work during the autumn so that D7017 is available for service in 2022.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – this loco is inside the shed on number 2 road and is undergoing an investigation on the control block of her Mekydro hydraulic transmission. After several attempts to get the automatic gear change function working as it should, it has been decided to switch the control block for a known good control block that was in use at some time in the past. This will hopefully resolve the problem and allow more time for the delinquent control block to be further investigated to find the blockage (or stuck valve) that is preventing proper operation. In the worst case, the transmission will be locked in second gear and she will operate on the WSR in the same way as she did in 2019.
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – this loco is waiting patiently outside the shed on number 3 road for her opportunity to displace 47077 and enter the next phase of her own restoration. With the remedial work on her failed transmission still held up by lockdowns, volunteer effort will be focused on the cooler group renovations and long list of bodywork repairs. This loco will be the subject of a fund raising campaign to cover the cost of specialist sub-contract services that will be needed to return this loco to service. The funds generated by our new booklet “D1010 WESTERN CAMPAIGNER – FROM MEREHEAD TO MINEHEAD” will go into this fund, along with revenue from sales of pre-owned books, so please help the fund grow by buying from our online store. Thanks !
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – information that was posted on rmweb earlier this week reminded us that our loco was the LAST of the class to perform work on BR back in April 1969 and one of the last ten to be withdrawn from service. Here’s an extract of some posts made by rmweb member “br2975” :
On this day in history; Saturday, 19th. April, 1969
Cardiff Canton allocated D9518 worked the following Radyr trips from Monday 14/04/1969 – Saturday 19/04/1969:
06:15 Roath Branch
09:35 Roath Branch
14:20 Maindy
When D9518 returned to Radyr on the Saturday, it had completed what was the last recorded revenue working of a Class 14 loco on British Rail. Commencing Monday, 21st April 1969 this would become a Class 08 duty.
On this date in history; Saturday, 26th. April, 1969
The following reported withdrawn from Cardiff, Canton on this date:- 9500, 9502, 9514, 9518, 9527,
The following reported withdrawn from Swansea, Landore on this date:- 9521, 9524, 9536, 9538, 9555
These withdrawals rendered the class ‘extinct’ on B.R.
Many thanks to Neil Evans and to rmweb member “br2975” for bringing this information to our attention. After serving BR for a mere four years, our loco went on to do seventeen years of hard labour at NCB Ashington Colliery before retiring and eventually coming into our hands.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco remains hidden by tarpaulins on number 1 road, just outside the Old Goods Shed after being ‘evicted’ from its shelter because of the structural issues that are currently affecting that Grade II listed building. This loco has undergone a 250-hour inspection and is waiting for a test run to Bishops Lydeard so that she can go over the pit at Westridge shed and have an underframe examination. After that, she will be ready for service !
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who are hard at work maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !
BOOK REVIEW – This week, we have another pre-owned book to offer via our online store, but this one is rather unusual and appears to be quite rare. “TRIBUTE TO THE FORTY’S – 1958 to 1986” is a paperback booklet, A5 in size (21 x 15 cm) with 100 printed pages and more than 200 photographs, all in black and white except those on the cover page. The booklet was published by the CLASS 40 APPEAL in 1986 and was clearly a success because seven members of the class have made it into preservation, including two mainline-registered examples.
This rare booklet has been very kindly donated to the DEPG for the purpose of fund raising, so we are offering it at £15, the entire proceeds of which will go to theD1010 restoration fund.
If you have railway books that you want to donate to us, please let us know by return email or by using this contact form so that we can work out an economic way of getting them from you. We appreciate your efforts to give us more items to sell to raise funds for the DEPG fleet.
ON SHED: We didn’t have time to include our usual ‘On Shed’ feature last week, but I felt a bit annoyed with myself afterwards because I found that the very next day, Monday 26th April 2021, I had a note to release an ‘ON THIS DAY …’ post to share two photographs that were taken exactly 40 years ago, so after waiting all that time, I missed the boat ! Here they are today instead.
DEPG NEWS: The DEPG held a Board Meeting last Saturday, partly on site and partly by Zoom, and a synopsis will be prepared and included in next weeks’ roundup.
Last week, we asked this question …. which railway magazines do you buy on a regular basis ?
We had several replies so we say thank you to those respondents, but we did not get enough responses to make a clear picture. Please reply to this email with the titles that you read and we will collate the results and share them in a future roundup. Thanks !
Membership – is your membership up to date ? If not, please renew by going to our Join Us page and selecting the appropriate membership ‘product’. This is a quick and easy way to keep your membership current. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember your membership number – we will sort that out for you.
DEPG WEBSITE: Our ONLINE SHOP IS NOW LIVE so go ahead and visit our store!
Our new booklet, ‘D1010 – FROM MEREHEAD TO MINEHEAD’ is in stock so get your copy now! This booklet covers our Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ and its life in preservation, from Foster Yeoman’s quarry at Merehead to the West Somerset Railway to Minehead plus some interesting stories from the days when the loco was still working on the mainline. All proceeds go to the D1010 restoration fund.
WSR NEWS: The WSR ran another of their popular Zoom sessions for volunteers last week and again it was well attended and very useful and interesting. We applaud the WSR for their investment in time and effort to hold these very informative sessions.
Traincrew training activities continue with diesel haulage this weekend, as reported earlier. The weedkilling train will run this week to avoid a repeat of last year where volunteers spent many back-breaking hours performing hand weeding along the whole 22-mile length of the line!
The priority is to ensure that everything is ready for the return of public services on Saturday 22nd May 2021. These ‘excursion style’ services will run between Bishops Lydeard and Williton and must be pre-booked via the WSR website. It is really important to support the WSR to ensure that these services are a commercial success. Please buy a ticket if you can. Thanks !
On Saturday 1st May 2021 and Sunday 2nd May 2021, there will be diesel-hauled crew training specials running between Bishops Lydeard (BL) and Williton (WN).
The first services will be hauled by Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057), but to even out the workload, D6566 (33 048) will take over from the 1420 departure on the Saturday and then run for the rest of the weekend.
The booked movements are:
1015 BL arriving WN 1050
1125 WN arriving BL 1200
1315 BL arriving WN 1350
1420 WN arriving BL 1455
Also booked for Thursday 6th May 2021, to run as lower priority to the weedspraying work that is scheduled to be carried out by a RRV along the full length of the line that day, is the following Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) move (timings are approximate):
0900 BL to Minehead (MD) arriving approx 1030 (D6566 plus 2 coaches)
Other workings may take place. The railway is to be considered as LIVE at all times.
Please note that the stations remain closed to the public and trespassing is not allowed. During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the best way to view these workings is via the webcams.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’