With both the 104 and the 108 having been out quite a lot recently one of the big jobs at the weekend at Pentrefelin depot was a wash and brush up for both sets. These were of course much the worse for wear having appeared at the Peppa Pig event on Saturday.
Meanwhile nearly all the remaining exam jobs on Class 108 Driving Trailer 56223 were completed, including the electrical works, heater fuel filter and heater clean. Class 127 Power car 51618 also progressed, the air system non-return valves were cleaned and a couple of repairs to the fusebox were completed. Another session on the Wickham with the chassis black saw the rear bufferbeam and much of the driver's side smartened up considerably.
The rear sheeting has now been welded on to the Class 100 Power Car, with the result that this job has jumped forwards considerably. The lower corners and roof corners have now also been completed and the corridor connection is now being formed at the top.
Filling and painting work at the front of the same vehicle is revealing what the final product is likely to look like.
We've also been measuring up for the glass and also fitting the wooden supports on which the windows will sit. The glass has now been ordered and will be fitted in a week or two.
A working meeting at Pentrefelin saw Class 108 Driving Trailer 56223 positioned over the jacks for a scheduled lift as part of its M Exam. The bogies were rolled out and checked over with lubrication being applied to areas difficult to access when the bogies are fitted to the vehicle. Following the check the coach was reunited with its wheels and was placed back in its set.
Meanwhile the other two Class 108 vehicles 51907/54490 received a running FP Exam and a few more jobs were knocked off the M Exam of the 127/108 set.
At Butterley the rear of Gloucester Power Car 51118 is coming together nicely. New stronger framework has been built up and an extra vertical member put in to support the planned larger exhaust.
The first glass has begun to go into the coach with the small windows at the front of the saloon being the first to be dealt with while on the secondman's side the inward-opening guard's door has been fitted and realigned. The door itself has already been repaired and painted on the bench.
The 108 worked service trains at Llangollen from Monday to Thursday while the 141 was out and about at the Midland on Saturday and Sunday.
Work to upgrade and service the Wickham unit after 11 years of hard service is coming to a conclusion at Pentrefelin depot.
This week Power Car 50416 has had its final coat of green gloss paint and now shines better than perhaps it has ever done.
At Butterley the rear end of Gloucester Power Car 51118 is looking a bit sorry for itself now that all the rotten material has been removed. However the first four new box cross members are in place and the new corners are fitted. The rear end was very weak on the original design and is being 'beefed up' as part of the rebuild and additional strengthening is being fitted so that larger silencers can be fitted.
Inside the same coach most of the windows now have their new timber frames fitted and are almost ready for the new glass. The frames serve as support for the glass and also eventually will have trim pieces screwed to them.
Our Class 108 successfully worked trains at Llangollen Monday to Thursday without any problems, although passenger numbers were light. The same unit will be out again this week.
The biggest job tackled this week at Pentrefelin depot, Llangollen, has been the lifting of Wickham trailer car 56171 as part of its scheduled heavy exam. The coach was taken off its bogies, everything was checked over and a few lose bolts were tightened up before the coach was dropped back down again and everything reconnected.
Some painting and touching up work has been ongoing on Wickham power car 50416 where all the removable covers were removed, degreased and repainted while the 'solebar' and bogie frames were similarly treated.
Other work tackled at the depot included changing the solenoids on two of the heaters on the 104 set, as both had been reluctant to fire at times. The handbrake also was lubricated as it had become stiff.
The 108's toilet tank was filled but it was found that the electric handwash valve had broken and so this was swapped out for a new one. Another leak on the side of the hot water tank was also located but efforts to cure this have failed so far.
Over at Butterley work to repair the rear end of Gloucester power car 51118 is progressing. The body has been stripped at the rear secondman's side and the body frame has been rebuilt, this had corroded so badly that it was no longer attached to the rest of the vehicle at the bottom.
The new panels for the rear end have been delivered and, as with those at the front, these have had the windows laser-cut and the appropriate bends and folds put in at the fabricators. Also delivered was a lot of box section which will be used at the rear end, in many cases to strengthen up what was originally a very weak part of the bodywork.