Renown Repulse Restoration diary

​At the recent RRRG AGM it was decided that membership rates will be increasing. Whilst we naturally regret that this is necessary, our membership rates have been the same for many years whilst the costs to the group are only increasing. The new rates will be £18 one year/£30 two years/£75 five years for full rate memberships, £15 one year/£24 two ...

​RRRG is pleased to welcome Andy Chard as our new membership secretary. Andy will be carrying out the role in an acting capacity before presenting himself for formal election at the RRRG Annual General Meeting on 9th December 2023. As previously advised, this will be held at the Alexandra Hotel, Derby starting at 11:30AM with all members and shareh...

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of RRRG membership secretary Paul Sturm following a short illness. Paul was the first paying member of RRRG after the three founders of the group, which might seem strange for a Dutchman - but Paul was no ordinary Dutchman. Paul first encountered the British railway scene in the 1970s, around the ...

We are pleased to announce that issue 46 of the RRRG newsletter is now available to view, but until issue 47 is released it will be exclusively available to members of RRRG logged into the website with a valid username and password. At the same time, non-members can now view the picture gallery of the power unit lift from September 2020. Issue...

With grateful thanks to technical officers from the Class Fifty Alliance, a highly professional operation by contractors Steve Foster Cranes, the generous patience of our hosts Peak Rail and technical members of RRRG, on 29th September 2020 we successfully lifted the power unit from inside 50030, removed turbochargers from the ex-50008...

It is April 1984 and 50030 is approaching Bristol Temple Meads from the south west, passing beneath the Bath Road overbridge in this shot by an unknown photographer taken from the end of the platform. Unfortunately we can't identify much more such as the exact service that Repulse was hauling, as the sub-par lighting conditions make it difficu...

To help pass the time during the current lockdown, we've been going through the RRRG image archive to pick out some workings from the BR careers of our two locomotives. We'll be posting these occasionally to hopefully stimulate a bit of discussion but also just to show some photos that have probably never been seen before. The date is 25th Jan...

​We haven't posted anything for a while by way of updates. Winter is always a quiet period for RRRG; Peak Rail is often closed in January and we concentrate on off-site work before resuming work parties in March. Except of course this year the global coronavirus pandemic struck and non-essential travel was curbed. So we couldn't resume on site work...

The frames for the air filters at the radiators end of 50030 were corroded, warped and generally unusable after 25 years or more out of traffic. Although we had a number of spares they likewise were not much good having been stored out in the open or in damp environments. We decided to "bite the bullet" and place an order with an engin...

The 2017 Renown Repulse Restoration Group Annual General Meeting will be held at The Alexandra Hotel, 203 Siddals Road, Derby DE1 2QE at 11:15AM on 9th December 2017. The meeting will be held in the lounge with the usual selection of hot and cold drinks plus bar food such as filled cobs, pork pies and crisps available.If travelling by public transp...

We are grateful to a number of railway publications for publishing our press release at the start of 2017 describing the radiator lift from 50030.  We've deliberately held off putting anything on the Group website about this event in order to give the magazines some time to have exclusivity on the story. Now the story is well and ...

RRRG has acquired a good condition, overhauled automatic voltage regulator (AVR) for use in 50029.  This continues our policy of obtaining spare parts whenever they appear on the market.  In this case the AVR was spotted as being for sale by RRRG volunteer Wes Needle, who informed Electrical Officer Andy Rowlands who in turn alerted me.&n...

The 2016 Annual General Meeting of the Renown Repulse Restoration Group will be held at the Whitworth Centre Darley Dale at 10:00 on Sunday 25th September.  All members and shareholders are welcome.  Tea and coffee will be available for all attendees.  Following the conclusion of the AGM we will hold another open afternoon at our res...

​We are pleased to announce that a number of new models are available for you to purchase in order to support our project.​RRRG is able to supply brand new Hornby models at very competitive prices as well as some pre-owned models.  Our stock of pre-owned models tends to change quite rapidly and so we tend not to list them in our shop.  If...

​The first of what will hopefully be a few website updates over the coming days.  The most recent issues of the RRRG newsletter, issues 30 and 31, are now available to view.  Issue 31 is currently restricted to viewing by RRRG members until the next issue is released.Issue 29:Issue 30:Issue 31:

Apologies for the radio silence folks.  RRRG hasn't shut down and ceased to exist.  It's more that we've been busy both on group matters and with our own personal lives.  A number of updates should follow later today.

Don't forget, this coming Sunday (June 21st) is your chance to come along and inspect the RRRG project at close quarters!  See how we are getting on, chat to the team, find out how the money is being spent, discuss what we still need to do and how we plan to go about doing it!  Have a guided tour of the locomotives and the RRRG infrastructure.  Maybe find out how you could get involved?  Get your RRRG branded merchandise from our sales stand!  All this from 2 PM onwards at our Rowsley South, Peak Rail base, just off the A6 north of Darley Dale.  As it happens there is a vintage bus rally at Peak Rail that same day so you can just follow the crowds to find us!

Renown Repulse Restoration Group is holding an Open Day on Sunday 21st June 2015 from 2 PM onwards at our Rowsley South, Peak Rail base.  We hope to attract new volunteers and investment into our project.  All are welcome, whether experienced preservationists or complete beginners!  RRRG members will be on site to show you around 50029 and 50030, as well as discuss our facilities, restoration plans and how you can help as a future volunteer for RRRG.  We look forward to seeing you then and there.  Peak Rail are also hosting a classic bus event on the same day, providing an additional attraction for visitors to the railway.

During the work party of 19th April Andy Rowlands connected up the reverser air piston coils and tidied up the cables in the electrical cubicle in 50030, then started investigating the severed cables under the main cubicle walkway. They appear to be from the DSD relay box but further investigation will be required to trace them exactly.

Peter Carter and Ian Kemp together with Dave Rolfe continued fitting oil and water pipes to the ex-50008 power unit (see previous report, Power unit progress) in continued preparation for its use inside the overhauled 50030.

 

RRRG was at the Nene Valley Railway diesel gala at Wansford over the weekend of 11-12 April with our sales stand.  We always enjoy trading at Wansford and it was evident the NVR had gone to great lengths to put on a good show with a large number of visiting locomotives.  Pleasingly the gala was very well attended and we enjoyed a good sales performance.  Many thanks to all the people who dropped by to say hello and to those who bought something from us; we hope you enjoy your purchases and thanks for supporting us!  Thanks also to the NVR for the invitation to attend.

If you missed us at the gala, we are pleased to advise that our web shop has recently been restocked.  We have a fresh selection of brand new Hornby models as well as branded t-shirts, polo shirts, fleeces and mugs.  Restoring 50029 and 50030 is neither easy nor cheap.  If the enthusiast community wants them to run again, we shall need to draw further on your support to achieve that goal!

 

Article image: 50008 Thunderer double heading with 50015 Valiant at Peterborough Nene Valley station, during the Nene Valley diesel gala on 11th April 2015, courtesy Andy Rowlands.