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Restoration diary

Reports of restoration work on 50029 and 50030.

Work party reports update December 2018

Ian Kemp, Peter Carter and Dave Rolfe have been finishing off fitting pipework onto the ex-50008 power unit, and have started removing the injectors for inspection, before they go off for overhaul. Dave has been overhauling, cleaning and temporarily fitting items onto the brake frame so we know where everything goes. They will need removing to get ...
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New air filter frames

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...
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Work party reports July/August 2018

The radiator compartment in 50030 following reinstallation of the overhauled radiators.
Deborah Stokes testing the voltage on the batteries still inside 50030.
The first two radiator fan resistor backplates were refitted on a test basis.
Deborah Stokes removed the batteries from 50030 to top up distilled water levels and attempt to charge them up.
The heat exchanger for the overhauled power unit intended for 50030 was overhauled last year and has now been fully installed complete with all pipework.
After four hours connected to a car battery charger, the voltage on the batteries doubled, although they won't be good enough to actually fire 50030 up.
I have been offline with PC problems for the last few weeks so work party reports haven't been added! So here's a bumper update rolling up all the work on site during the last month or so since the last report in mid July.The last three workparties saw myself, Dave Rolfe, Deborah Stokes, Wes Needle, Carl and Sofy Looker and Mark a...
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Work party report 15th July 2018

The No 1 end cab of 50030 showing various patches done over the past few weeks. Hot summer weather is generally a good time to attend to jobs like these.
Cabside rot is the bane of all Class 50 owners. Drainage channels from the side windows in the cab become blocked and allow water to build up. We patched ours up a few years ago but the problem is starting to come back.
Cab footsteps are another troublesome area although not nearly as bad. Note the SmartWater sticker: we in RRRG have been using this service for a number of years now and we highly recommend it as a cheap and effective anti-theft deterrent for all locomotive owning groups.
​Mark Burrows, his son Robert and I were on site today. Mark and Robert carried on scraping, bashing, fibreglassing, filling, sanding and priming around the no.1 cab of 50030, while I had a good tidy up on the shelves opposite the electrical cubicle, then Mark helped me fit the three rad resistor backplates along one side of the rads. Apart from th...
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Working party report 24th June 2018

The no 1 end cab of 50030. This was last repainted about ten years ago when we first purchased the two locomotives and agreed with our hosts at Peak Rail that they should be repainted.
Ten years outdoors exposed to the elements hasn't been hugely kind to the paint job and the traditional cabside rot is starting to show. The aim is to do a quick repair job whilst the weather is fine and keep 50030 looking presentable and improve weather proofing.
A full repaint of 50030 isn't on the agenda for now as we concentrate on the mechanical aspects so we decided just to concentrate on removing rusty patches and getting primer onto the bare metal followed by undercoat to at least seal the repaired area away from the weather.
Mark Burrows and his Robert plus myself were on site today. Mark and Robert carried on where my partner Mae had got to on the no.1 end cabsides of 50030, removing rusty paint bubbles, grinding and sanding smooth where possible, then adding filler, sanding again and priming, then painting with grey undercoat. When purchased in 2002, both 50029 and 5...
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Radiator lift additional pictures

When we originally reported on the installation of the overhauled radiators into 50030, we promised some more pictures showing what we did on the day. I took a lot of pictures during the lift day and we hope these will give an idea of everything that was done on the day, and why it was such a long day! ...
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Work party report 3rd June 2018

Interior of the radiator fan compartment, showing the overhauled radiators that we recently reinstalled into 50030.
The two radiator fan resistor backplates fitted for spacing checks.
Two of the radiator drain cocks fully connected
​My fiancee Mae joined me on site today, along with Carl and Sofi Looker. While Mae was hammering, poking and scraping at rust spots around the lower parts of the no.1 cab on Repulse (a recent target area we had decided to tackle), Sofie was top-coating one side of the six radiator fan resistor backplates, while Carl and I lifted and bolted tw...
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Radiator lift April 2018

The very first step was to remove the mesh cover in the roof panel over the radiator fan.
Then the roof panel covering the radiator compartment could be lifted off to gain access to the radiator compartment itself.
The roof panel could then be lifted well clear of the locomotive and stored on the ground out of the way until it was ready to be replaced at the end of the lift.
We have previously reported on the work done in the radiator compartment of 50030 once the radiators were originally lifted out to allow the compartment to be refurbished. We had hoped that we would be able to lift the radiators back into 50030 following their refurbishment somewhat sooner than now but a combination of bad weather and oth...
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Work party report 11th March 2018

Work party report 11th March 2018
Radiator fan roof panel nearing completion of refurbishment.
Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. It was more of a sorting stuff out day than doing much actual work as it was my first day back since December. I did manage to clean off the sixth radiator fan resistor backplate and undercoat the second side of two that weren't done last time, and I grabbed a picture of the completed fan roof underside now it's...
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