Work has continued at Llangollen on the repairs to the cab front of 56223 and as a result the interior is all now back together and the windscreen wiper motor is refitted. The upper body is now being prepared for painting. This set is required for the Thomas event in October and after that there is more work to do to the lower front end.
The toilet flush valve for Class 108 trailer 54490 has been overhauled with new seals and just waits fitting. At the moment the toilet runs constantly. A defective budget lock has been replaced on power car 51907 while the Wickham set has had its windows cleaned and floors mopped ready for service this week.
The 104 covered the weekend duties. One of our drivers captured an interesting visitor to the depot at Pentrefelin.
Our sales team attended the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway over the weekend with their fund-raising stall and raised a useful amount of cash for our ongoing restoration programme.
At Butterley the framework for the latest section of bodywork on the Gloucester trailer has now been completed and the first part of the external skin has been fixed. All the other parts for this area have been cut and primed and will be fitted shortly. Once this section is complete then we only have the centre section of the coach on the driver’s side to tackle before having a complete body once again.
At Llangollen the work to repair the top of the cab front on class 108 trailer 56223 has been completed and the windows and the gutters have been refitted. Some more repairs are planned to the bottom of the cab and these are having to be done round the requirement to use the coach for the October Thomas event.
Although there has been some delay to this project due to time constraints the supports for the new Rolls Royce engine mounting facility have been constructed at Pentrefelin. When complete these will allow the spare Rolls engines to be stored off the ground and securelysuspended on their original mountings.
In the Butterley workshops the framework for the rear section of the Gloucester trailer on the driver’s side is now almost complete and all the new body uprights are now welded into place as are most of the cross members. The new body components for the centre section have also been made and have been delivered to site.
Work has been completed on installing the window frames for the centre section of the secondman’s side. There was some difficulty in getting the frames to line up properly despite them all being installed in their original positions and some adjustments had to be made. A large number of countersunk holes have had to be drilled and the frame secured by specially-made barrel nuts.
Also at the Midland one of the Class 141’s engines has been fitted with a replacement turbocharger due to the seals failing on the existing one. Excess smoke on the other engine has been diagnosed as injectors and so a replacement set is being sourced.
Whilst the annual Autumn Steam Gala takes place at Llangollen, we have taken the opportunity of a weekend off from running trains to progress some work down at the depot.
The 108 was given an FP exam with no major issues being found other than the usual top up of oils. The 127 received similar treatment, unfortunately the exam couldn’t be completed as the windscreen wiper motor is in the cab, but the windscreen is currently lying on the shed floor!
56223 had some more work done to the cab front to reapir corrosion damage. A small section of the metal work has been removed to allow a new section to be welded into place. This will complete the repairs to the top section of the cab.
The rest of the day was spent giving the interior and exterior looks of the units some attention. Mopping, window cleaning, and paint scraping to keep everything looking nice for the travelling public.
This weekend has seen two of the sets in use at Llangollen. The Class 108 has been working the service trains while the Class 104 was in use on Saturday to cover three driver experiences.
A start has been made at Llangollen on tidying up the front end of Class 108 Driving Trailer 56223. A section of metal above the second man‘s window has been cut out, the frame repaired behind it and new metal welded in. Various other repairs are scheduled to take place on the front end before the 127/108 set is next required for the October ‘Thomas‘ event.
Over at Butterley there‘s been considerable progress again with Gloucester trailer 56097. Five of the new body frame uprights have now been welded into the area between the rear and the final vestibule on the secondman‘s side and a large number of longitudinal members are now in place. The external sheeting is at trial fit stage to the driver‘s side rear. Work has also started on preparing the rear of the body on the secondman‘s side for painting, and also on refitting the restored window frames on the same side of the vehicle. Further interior light boxes have also been fitted.
