Restoration diary

As we've mentioned in previous posts here, one of our key tasks recently has been to fully repair the bodyshell of 50030 to make it fully watertight and ready to have its overhauled electrical machines installed. We have been hiring well-known locootive welder Ian Williams for this. Recent work has been to the roof and body sides of 50030. Many yea...

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...

I went up again today as welder Ian needed access inside Repulse. Ian Kemp and Peter Carter were also there barring the ex-50008 power unit round and pumping oil through it. We do this as a mattter of course at each work party just to ensure this power unit remains in good internal condition ready for insertion into 50030 later this ye...

This weekend we had Ian Williams the welder on site, starting the bodywork repairs on Repulse. Joining me today was Mark Burrows, Carl and Sofy Looker.Ian cut out rotten steel around No.1 cab end and along the 'non-visible' side, where we had identified the worst corrosion. He did most of the cutting out yesterday, today was clearing the rusty debr...

Ian Kemp decided to go to site today as it was a bank holiday and he wasn't working. Wes Needle was available too so I went as well.Quite a productive day, Wes was in No.1 cab again, fitted the windscreen washer control and washer button he'd overhauled, and made a repair to a conduit under the floor. He took away a section of cab panelling to rep...

A good day on Sunday, despite the Arctic wind in the morning. Wes Needle had a very productive day. He started the day by cleaning the debris from under No.1 cab floor on the second man's side. Then, with Dave's help, they checked the operation of the handbrake mechanism under the floor. They found that the pivot nut required tightening and a new s...

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...

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...

​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...

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...

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...

​Carl Looker and his daughter Sofia put a third coat of black on the radiator room floor, than cleaned four of the rear mounting plates for the rad fan resistors which go above the walkways alongside the rads. There are three each side. The plates were only very lightly corroded as they get covered in dust and debris drawn in through the rad grille...

​Dave Rolfe and I were at Rowsley on Sunday 8th October: it was not the most successful of days but we got a bit done.We tried to take the radiator breather pipes off 50029, but she absolutely refused to help her sister and wouldn't relinquish said breather pipes. The bolts were just too rusted and tight, and the access to the bolts very restr...

​19/6/2017 Deborah Stokes and I completed the rail grey topcoating in the radiator compartment, Dave Rolfe refitted another part of the radiator shutter actuating mechanism, while Wes Needle carried on in no 1 cab, refitting panelling to the driver's desk, though not without some effort as the panels were warped from storage and previous rushed fit...

On 22nd August Dave Rolfe and I were on site. Dave was having a good sort out of our storage as it had got a bit untidy, which was preventing us from finding items we need for the actual restoration project, and disposing of offcuts of some wood that we don't need. I carried on undercoating in the Thin Man's and a bit round the front of the cu...

On 15th November, Ian, Pete and Dave continued filling the power unit with the new oil, checking for leaks along the way, and blanking off pipes that cannot be fitted before the PU is lifted back into Repulse. Dom and I continued belling out the electrical cubicle wiring, and completed all the cables from the compressor, rad fan, ...

The work party was attended by Dave Rolfe and myself plus Mark Burrows in the morning. Mark dropped off a set of cab desk panels for me to take a look at, then spent the rest of the morning searching through our stores of other cab parts. The panels appear to be in good condition but are missing the speedometer.  We have this item in stock els...

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...