Restoration diary

No, we haven't packed up and ceased to exist.  Yes, we have been a bit quiet.  Sorry about that - normal service to be resumed but a number of us have had things other than RRRG to deal with and our day lives have got in the way.

 

Ian Kemp and Dave Rolfe decided today to tackle a job we started some time ago but ended up leaving to another day.  This was to remove the remaining radiator securing nuts, so that we can lift the radiators out of 50030 and have them sent away for overhaul.  Given that the radiators were most likely last removed at refurbishment in the mid-1980s it goes without saying that the fastening nuts were stuck on very firmly indeed.  We had previously managed to remove three of them, leaving five left to do.  A potent combination of elbow grease, tools (and broken tools), purple language and in the case of one particularly stubborn nut, chiseling has now freed all eight nuts and the radiators can now be lifted out.  It's the seemingly little tasks like this that end up taking so much time.  Photos courtesy Ian Kemp.

 

Work on site over the weekend of 13-14 June comprised efforts by Dave Rolfe to finish off the last set of radiator grille louvre frames and slats.  These have now been sanded and painted ready to reinstall into 50030 and will mean the locomotive has a fully overhauled set of radiator slats, together with the mechanisms for actuating and moving the temperature-dependent sets fully overhauled and operational for the first time in many a year!

Also on site were electrical officers Andy Rowlands and Steve Tripp, together with Sarah McCall the membership secretary.  They carried on with the donor electrical cubicle. Following recent progress with removing the control units, attention turned to the wiring loom which we also intend to salvage in order to replace the damaged wiring in 50029.  Initially the complexity of the loom and its many tentacles proved frustrating but Steve and Andy have devised methods for transferring it into Renown. All the cabling in all the side sections of the cubicle, namely that for KV10s, relays and control units, has been pulled out of the frame or into the middle section where it is more accessible.  One more visit should have the whole wiring loom out and hopefully soon into its new home in 50029.  We can then consider our options for the bulky frame of the donor cubicle which is taking up valuable space on site.

Work over the weekend of 29-30 June involved stripping and painting the last of the louvre mechanisms for the radiators in 50030, hopefully to be refitted in 2-3 weeks.  Photos to follow.

If you have been following RRRG for some time, you will remember that about a year ago we purchased and collected a number of spare electrical parts from the owners of 50021 Rodney.  Amongst these was the electrical cubicle originally in 50011 Centurion before that locomotive was scrapped.  Our reason for purchasing the cubicle was to use as a donor for rebuilding 50029's cubicle; as a rule of thumb the items that were removed from 50030 before we bought the locomotive were carefully unscrewed and the wiring in the electrical cubicle was in good condition.  The same cannot be said for 50029 unfortunately, with many of the cubicle wires having been cut.  To save the headache of pairing loose ends we aim to transplant the relatively intact wiring loom from the ex-Centurion cubicle into 50029.  That there were a good number of other components in the donor cubicle that would be useful for 50029 was a bonus.  The actual frame of the ex-50011 cubicle is however not in such good condition as the cubicle frame already in 50029: many of the catches for the doors are either bent or broken and it is obvious the cubicle has led a hard life since the locomotive it resided in was scrapped.  For this reason we cannot just swap the cubicles around between Renown and Centurion and a process of making one good one from two halves is necessary.

These pictures were taken on 9th June 2013 and show progress on the careful stripping of this cubicle and some of the parts we have recovered from it.  Electrical volunteers Steve Tripp and Andy Rowlands are shown at work but credit must also go to Julie Rollason and Sarah McCall for their invaluable assistance with this sub-project.

The complexity of the wiring loom is obvious from these pictures which show volunteers Steve Tripp and Andy Rowlands removing some of the last major components before we make a decision on how to tackle the wiring loom.  A good number of useful items have been recovered from this cubicle for re-use in 50029, as shown below.

Shown below is one of the cubicle doors from the ex-50011 cubicle.  We have already refurbished the equivalent door and installed into 50030 and we have a better example in stock for 50029.  This is actually one of the better condition parts of the cubicle frame and speaks to the state that the ex-50011 electrical cubicle is in.

The next task is to assess the wiring loom in the 50011 cubicle and how best to remove it.  As the pictures show it is a many-tentacled monster and will require considerable thought as to the best way forward before we dispose of the frame of the 50011 cubicle.  With the size of the "thin man's passage" inside a 50 round the side of the electrical cubicle now not befitting our volunteers' physical profiles, we may also look to lifting the cubicle out of 50029 as a way of proceeding.