Restoration diary

Ian Kemp, Peter Carter and Dave Rolfe removed pipework in Renown to get at, and remove, the fuel lift pump/alternator, which we need for Repulse, but not before it's been sent away for overhaul. (We often get asked why we don't strip Renown to help restore Repulse; the simple answer is that there isn't much on 50029 that we need for 50...

At the last work party I attended I took home with me a number of items to repair/overhaul or look into replacements.The first items were a pair of air horn valves, two of which are our three spares.  Despite looking rather battered the first one (photo 1) was in generally good condition.  I stripped it down, gave it a good clean, sourced...

A slightly frustrating day was had.  Ian, Dave and the mechanical team struggled all day to try and fit the last remaining piece of oil pipe to the power unit so they can pump oil round it, but despite cutting more and more off one of those big hardened steel plates holding the supporting sleepers together, they still co...

On 26th July Pete and Ian rifled through our extensive spares collection to find pipework needed to refit to the ex-50008 power unit as its rebuild continues. I carried on refurbishing and painting the electrical cubicle doors and framework. I also rediscovered a large quantity of Class 56 electronic units that we had speculatively bought from scra...

On July 12th, Mark Burrows went through our stores area sorting out the doors for the electrical cubicles of both locomotives, to see if any were missing, and if so, which ones. We seem to be missing just one small door for Renown. Ian Kemp, Pete Carter and Dave Rolfe refitted the heat exchanger onto the ex-50008 power unit, including the replacement end piece recovered from the power unit in Repulse. Dom Jackson assisted Andy Rowlands belling out cables inside the electrical cubicle of 50030, as part of the completion of the electrical system and in continued preparation for the first fire-up of the locomotive.  At the end of the day, Dave, Ian and Pete covered the PU with a new large tarpaulin as the old ones had started to deteriorate.

 

The work party on 19th July was attended by myself, Dave Rolfe, Peter Carter, Ian Kemp and Mark Burrows.  Mark spent most of the day making a start on clearing one of our sotrage areas, as its current location is required by Peak Rail to extend their engine shed.

At the last work party the heat exchanger was repaired, cleaned, painted and refitted to the ex-50008 power unit.  This allowed Dave, Pete, Ian and myself to refit the pipe work around it.  The main aim of the pipe fitting is to complete the oil lubrication system so we can hand prime the oil around the engine which will lower the risk of damage to the bearings when the engine is barred over. By the end of the day all of the main oil pipes had been fitted, except one which cannot be fitted as the sleepers that the power unit is sat on are in the way. We now need to order new oil filters before the filter housings can be fitted.  The main image for this entry shows the refitted heat exchanger together with the pipework we managed to reinstall during the work party.

I spent the afternoon assessing the cabs on Repulse with a view of restarting the repair work on them, then I made a start on checking what cab parts we have in store and what reusable parts are in the e- 50037 cab.