Restoration diary

Mark and Richard were on site on 18th February. Richard reports he did a couple of checks to the cab wiring problems, it appears that we did not have the second live from Cab2 at the Cab1 switch panel, this would explain only having half of the route indicator and no driver's cab light. It seems some of the cab wiring issues is eithe...

Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows, Richard Dale, Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. Mark was unable to stay beyond noon, so he barred round the power unit two revolutions, and oiled the turbos. Jay carried on guing rubber strips behind where the air filter frames sit opposite the electrical cubicle. Dave was fitting the last of the airpipes he had recovere...

​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows, Richard Dale and I were on site today. Jay and Mark were gluing rubber strips behind where the air filters will sit around 50030 to prevent them rattling. Dave continued cleaning and test-fitting various sections of air pipes on and around the brake frame. He has also refitted the four brake valves to the brake...

An extra day today with just Richard and myself on site. Richard brought some angle-iron and flat plates he had made, so we could create a bar for new lampholders to go behind the headcode box lenses, as both headcode boxes are missing the original lampholders and whatever framework they were attached to. We checked his original measurements, then ...

Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. Dave was dismantling part of the radiator louvre system, as one side was not operating when we tested it with an air supply last week, as reported before, to try and discover why the shutter blades didn't move. Dave subsequently discovered that the seals on the two air engines for this set of louvres&n...

​Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale, Jay Hirst and I were on site yesterday. Richard finally finished drilling and tapping the fixing holes for the mounting plate for the change-end switch in No.1 cab, a difficult job because most of the holes are either at floor level, or right next to structural supports for the cab desk and the bulkhead the driver's ...

Jay Hirst, Richard Wade and I were on site today.We fitted and reconnected the driver's side tail lamp unit, not the easiest of tasks, as access to put the nuts on the bolts is difficult under the driver's desk. We then belled out and marked all the wires from the change-end switches in both cabs. The mounting plates that hold the change-end switch...

Jay, Richard, Dave, Mark and I were on site today.Dave has been continuing to identify and clean sections of pipework for the brake frame. He has also devised a test-rig for testing various valves to see which ones work. Mark could only stay until midday so he barred the power unit round and oiled the turbos. Mark had brought one of the change-end ...

Carl and Sofy Looker, Jay Hirst, Dave Rolfe and I on were site on Sunday 15th April, while Mark and Robert Burrows had the sales stand on the station at Rowlsey South for the Peak Rail/Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Twin Peaks diesel gala. Jay and I were mostly showing people round Repulse, while Carl & Sofy did cleaning up of debri...

​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Dave has been retrieving more sections of air piping and valves from store, cleaning, overhauling and test-fitting them inside Repulse. Jay and I completed assembly of the upper section of the brake frame conduits, and finished installing the new wiring.

Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst and I on site today, plus returning member Wayne Boyle. With photos I'd got of a complete 50, Dave continued to find, clean and paint parts for the brake frame. Mark investigated the smaller airpipes on the brake frame in Renown, which is more complete than what's in Repulse, to help identify what we ne...

​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows and I were on site today. Mark barred round the power unit and oiled all four turbos again. Dave and I hunted out the big air pipes for the exhauster under the brake frame, finding most of what we need. The rest we either haven't found yet or is missing. Dave then set about cleaning the secti...

Mark and Robert Burrows, Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site last Sunday. Mark and Robert barred the power unit intended for 50030 round again, then did more scraping and cleaning below where the exhauster and motor blower sit at No.2 end. Dave continued working on cleaning and painting various sections of pipework. Jay and...

​Mark and Robert Burrows, Jay Hirst and I were on site yesterday. Mark and Robert barred the power unit round, rotated and oiled the four turbos, then did some more cleaning and scraping off loose paint around the electrical cubicle. Jay and I searched for the brake frame electrical conduits in our storage, finding mos...

​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Dave was refitting fuel and water filler valves he'd perviously removed, cleaned & painted. Jay and I reconnected the cables to the fuel lift pump and alternator. The cables had all been cut off long ago, so each one was extended with a through-crimp and new ring crimp. The through-crimps we...

Mark Burrows and I were on site today. Jay Hirst was "unavoidably detained" when his car unfortunately broke down on the way to site.I disconnected seven wires from the base of the CU4 radiator fan control unit, as Mark had found the conduit containing the cables leading to it was badly corroded. Mark was able to disconnect the conduit without...

Mark Burrows, Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site todayMark & Dave spent much of the day re-arranging things in storage to accommodate some items that will be moved soon as we prepare to refer them to 50030.Now we have identified all the wires that go to the roof-mounted switch panel above the driver's side window in No.1 ca...

Mark Burrows, Dave Rolfe, Carl and Sofy Looker and myself were on site today.Mark finished removing the rust from the engine compartment floor in Repulse where he'd previously cut out the rotten floor treads, generating a Sahara-size dust cloud!. Carl drilled out a rusted floor screw in No.2 cab so I could examine the underfloor heater an...

Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst and I were on site today working on 50030. Mark cut out the last of the rotten floor treads in the engine compartment ready for Ian the welder to fit new treads, while Jay and I belled out and marked the wiring that goes to the switch panels above the driver in both cabs. Photos in this report courtesy Jay Hirst.

​Mark Burrows and his son Robert, Jay Hirst and I were on site on May 16th. Following on from the work done by Ian Williams that we talked about previously, we carried on repairing the bodyshell of 50030 taking the opportunity of better internal access whilst the power unit is out. Mark and Robert continued on the outside of the no 1 cab around the...