Llangollen Diesel Group
News Archive
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News 21/11/06
A start has been made on the long awaited body overhaul of 46010. This is likely to turn into a major task, as the bodywork has not received any attention since the days of BR ownership. We also plan to effect some ' top end ' repairs to the power unit and replace the heat exchanger whilst the loco is out of traffic.
A photo gallery that will hopefully depict the loco at various stages of its bodywork restoration can be viewed by clicking here.
News 15/11/06
A list of running dates for 2007 are now online, loco allocations will be added when confirmed.
News 10/10/06
A massive thanks to all who attended our Autumn diesel gala. Unfortunately 37901 didnt make the Sunday due to an electrical fault but will be back in top form for the Thomas event, along with 37240, from October 21st -29th. Diagrams will be on the running dates page shortly.
A new video has been added to the sounds & video page. Enjoy!
News 18/09/06
A gallery featuring D8142's recent travels can be found here.
News 15/09/06
D8142 has now returned from its short holiday at the seaside. A quick visit to the GWR at Toddington was also scheduled in, to coincide with their diesel gala. The loco was ran in multiple with sister D8137 and performed well. Photos from D8142's recent adventures will be online very soon so watch this space.
The Diesel Gala timetable is now online here. Unfortunately 25313 will not be running this time due to a few minor wiring faults that need to be rectified. D8142 will take its place on the brakevan trip on the Saturday evening.
News 17/07/06
Our resident class 20 D8142 has been invited to attend the Vale Of Glamorgan Railway's diesel event over the weekend of 26th - 28th August. The loco will also see use the following weekend before returning home. A minor brake fault on the loco has now been rectified. This was caused by a sticking air chamber release valve, the loco being run up yesterday and tested ok. It is envisaged that the loco will receive a 'wash and brush up' before leaving for Barry. This will be the loco's first outing to another preserved railway since a visit to the Gloucestershire and Warickshire Railway many years back.
News 05/06/06
D8142 had a rare day out to itself last weekend working 3 return passenger trips of the line, performing faultlessly as ever. Its bigger sister 37240 has recently received some attention to its generator group. During a routine check the main generator was found to have several sticking brushes, so the opportunity was taken to give the machine a good going over involving cleaning up the brushboxes, insulators and to finish the job off nicely the commutator was given a quick polish also. The photos below show the loco at Pentrefelin Dock during a short test run.
News 01/05/06
37901 has undergone an engine oil and filter change this weekend. A sample of the old oil will be sent away for analysis just to ensure all is well. Several battery cells have been replaced also which have been responsible for recent loco starting problems.
News 03/04/06
Some new video footage added to the sounds & video page, turn up your speakers and enjoy !
News 15/03/06
A massive thanks to all who attended our Spring ( ??? ) diesel event. All went fine until the Sunday, when unfortunately the Llangollen area was more or less cut off by heavy snowfall. However, due to some hard work behind the scenes, we did actually manage to run trains that day, although to a reduced timetable utilising two sets of coaching stock, both top and tailed by our locomotives. Some photos of the event can be found by clicking here.
News 06/03/06
After
several months of hard work, the bodywork overhaul of 37901 has now been
completed.
The locomotive was re-united with its Mirrlees Pioneer nameplates at a ceremony held at Llangollen Station on Sunday 5th March. The re-dedication was carried out by Eddie Fish, who was the Chief Design Engineer for Mirrlees Blackstone Diesels Ltd, at the time of the class 37/9 conversion programme.
The
event was well attended and was effectively a 'Works Reunion' of former Mirrlees
employees, many of which had obviously not seen fellow workmates for a long
time. It was interesting to note that many had never seen their product actually
installed into a locomotive, as assembling and testing on static rigs on the
factory floor was more the norm for them. Obviously, the most heard comment was
on the lines of, 'There's not much room in here is there. !'
A
return trip of the line followed, with D1566 on the rear of the train for
heating purposes. Click the thumbnails for a larger photo.
News 27/02/06
New gallery of class 37/9s in service added here. A couple of pics of 37901 in its new guise are here.
News 09/02/06
The March Diesel Gala weekend timetable is now online here.
News 30/01/06
More photos of 37901's repaint are now online here.
News 15/01/06
Progress
on the 37901 bodywork overhaul can be seen by clicking the thumbnails left and
right. More photos of recent work carried out can be found by clicking here.
The damaged shaft from the number two end drivers controller has now been
removed and the spare unit refitted in its place. A replacement floor panel has
also been fitted in number one end cab and the buffers at number two end have
been swapped for a pair of the same oval type that are fitted at number one end.
The badly corroded drivers cab side and secondman's cab side panels have now
been cut out and will be replaced with new steel sections shortly.
News 12/12/05
37901
is now inside Pentrefelin C&W shed in order to complete the loco's body
overhaul. A spare controller has been acquired for the loco as the number two
end unit has a badly worn cam section on one of the shafts. The spare unit has
been examined and a good shaft complete with cam sections has been removed from
the unit, this will now be fitted in place of the faulty example in the loco.
Although fitted with a set of new battery cells not long ago, D8142 has recently suffered from all the symptoms of flat batteries. Investigations revealed that this was down to a faulty cell, causing lack of electrical continuity throughout the 48 cells to which the locomotive's battery consists. A phone call to David Hurst of Deta Batteries was made, and no less than 48 hours later a replacement cell was delivered to our door to replace the faulty example under warranty. All in all an excellent service from David and all at Deta Batteries, many thanks for your assistance.
News 22/11/05
D8142 has received attention to its voltage regulator (AVR). The loco was fired up recently only to find that the auxiliary machines were not running and the batteries were not being charged. The fault was traced to the voltage regulator itself, which is responsible for maintaining a steady output from the auxiliary generator. The device is actually a Brush type unit, usually fitted to certain class 47 variants. The decision to modify our class 20 with one of these units was taken a couple of years ago, due to persistent problems with the original HSD (Hawker Siddeley Dynamics) type, causing loco reliability problems. On inspection of the Brush unit, a dubious looking bit of circuitry was found on the 'pulse width card' within the unit itself. Several components on the card appeared to have failed, so a spare card was fitted in its place. The loco has since been fired up and everything now works fine. Click the thumbnails for more info. Also, D1566 has had a vacuum gauge swapped at number 2 end due to the old one sticking.
News 08/11/05
37901 is still progressing well, although will now need attention to the drivers controller at number 2 end, due to a badly worn cam section within the unit itself. A full report of this will feature soon.
I have recently received a few photos of 37901 and now scrapped sister 37902 at Exeter Riverside, just after being freshly outshopped from Crewe Works in 1986. Many thanks to Chris Meads for sending them and allowing me to put them online here.
News 31/10/05
37240 has completed 9 days running at the October 'Thomas' event and has put in a faultless performance. The loco has been fitted with a new set of batteries, thus making the loco a useful standby machine. Thanks to all of you who came for 240 over the past week, you know who you are.!
Meanwhile, work is progressing well on 37901. Several small faults have now been rectified. A fault with the regulating air from the controllers has now been attended to, this was traced to a sticking valve which was not allowing the air to exhaust correctly. The regulating air supply will now require setting up as one of the speeder valves has been replaced, this will be sorted shortly. The drivers auto air brake valve at number 2 end has been replaced, as have the speedometers which also now require setting up. An engine oil and filter change will take place soon and the loco has been given the green light to enter the shed at Pentrefelin for completion of its body overhaul within the next couple of weeks. This will be carried out over the Winter with completion hopefully sometime early in January. Further 37901 video clips added here.
'Davy'
has now been outshopped in its new livery. Once again, a massive thanks to 'H'
and his team for their efforts. The overall condition of the loco is now a far
cry from when it first arrived and is a credit to all concerned. I'm sure the
loco will continue to serve the C&W department well.
News 12/10/05
Further video clips of 37901 added here, more will follow soon.
News 10/10/05
37901 finally made its preservation debut on Sunday 9th October 2005. The loco worked light engine to Deeside Loop on an early morning test run before double heading with 37240 on the 11.00 ex Llangollen. There are still a few faults on the loco to sort out, hopefully we can get the loco fettled over the Winter, along with the completion of the body overhaul. Many thanks to the Mirrlees chaps who have given us much assistance with the project, your help has been very much appreciated.
Thanks to everyone who attended the Diesel Event, apologies to those who came on Saturday and missed 901 on the Sunday, there were a few last minute problems that took a little longer to sort out than anticipated. Lets hope the next event will have an ex works 901 for all to enjoy.
A few photos from the Diesel Event can be seen here.
37901s initial start up videos can seen here, and additional photos can be seen here.
News 06/10/05
The power unit from sister loco 37903 has now been installed into 37901. A start attempt was made last night but a suspected wiring problem concerning the starter motors has now come to light. This will hopefully be attended to in the next day or so. We still have many hurdles to cross but we are going all out in an attempt to try and have it running at some point over the weekend. A few photos have been added to the 37901 gallery and can be found by clicking here.
News 27/09/05
The diesel gala timetable is now online here. Loco diagrams for the weekend 8th & 9th October will be added shortly.
News 20/09/05
'Davy'
is currently in the process of being transformed from its shabby ex ICI livery,
into something a little different. Keep watching this space for more details on
the loco's progress. A massive thanks to 'H' and his carriage and wagon team for
their efforts. The machine is now based at Pentrefelin C&W yard until
further notice, and is proving to be a reliable performer for the carriage and
wagon department.
As
can be seen from the photographs, the loco will be finished to a good standard.
Work inside the cab can now be seen to be at an advanced stage (excuse the
filler dust!), and the final choice of livery will be.......wait and see!.
The Sounds page has now had a facelift to include video footage also. More clips will be added soon.
Further information for the Diesel Event including loco diagrams will be online as soon as I receive it.
News 30/08/05
Outline details of the October Diesel Week can be found on the running dates page.
46010 has received modifications to each of its start contactors. The drive linkage that operates the contactor interlocks has been replaced with a more robust design that will hopefully be much more reliable than the original plastic 'ball and socket' arrangement. This has recently caused problems with the loco and has also caused D1566 to suffer the same fault in the past. D1566 will receive the same modification shortly also. Click the thumbnails below for more details and photos.
News 10/08/05
Apologies for the short notice but 37240 will stand in for 46010 on Friday 12th August at the 'Thomas' event. See the running dates page for more details.
News 27/07/05
The diagrams for 46010 (D199) at the forthcoming 'Thomas' event are now on the Running Dates page.
News 11/07/05
D8142 has received a set of new batteries and a general 'wash and brush up'. The loco is to be used as a standby which will provide cover in the event of a steam loco failure. Our ex ICI shunter 'Davy' is now back in running order following its main generator flashover. The generator has received a fair amount of work to get it back into an operable condition, the main job being a commutator skim and general clean up. New brushes have been fitted and the loco has since taken power successfully and has been tested on light duties. A massive thanks to commutator maintenance equipment suppliers, H.D.Vince of Formby, for their prompt service and assistance. Some photos can be seen by clicking the thumbnails below.
News 13/06/05
A couple of interior photos of 37901 can be seen by clicking the thumbnails below.
News 06/06/05
The flashed-over main generator in 'Davy' has now been inspected and as previously stated we are hopeful that we can repair the machine in-situ. The damaged brushes have now been removed and an insulation test has been carried out, the results of which being good. A couple of photos of the damage can be seen below by clicking the thumbnails.
37901 is still being progressed. The interior of the engine compartment painting and cleaning is now at an advanced stage, in readiness for the power unit installation which will hopefully happen in the not too distant future.
News 09/05/05
37240 has been out and about on driver experience turns last weekend and has performed well. We have taken the opportunity to modify the wiring to the motor blowers, which in effect has made the motors run around half speed, reducing wear and tear on the brushes and bearings. Number two end drivers horn valve has also seen attention, as it has been known to stick on occasionally.
News 24/04/05
D1566 was called upon to work the passenger service after problems with Foxcote Manor today. A few shots of progress on 37901s body can be seen by clicking the thumbnails below or by clicking here.
News 17/04/05
D1566 has had its regulating air system set up in line with the recent work undertaken on its engine governor (see below). The loco has had a couple of short test runs between Llangollen Yard and Pentrefelin today and is back up to full strength again. More filling and sanding on 37901 has been achieved this weekend also. Number two nose end is almost finished now. Unfortunately, 'Davy' appears to have suffered a main generator flashover sometime last week. The loco is currently stopped and hopefully we can effect repairs in-situ. This will require a major clean up of the generator, as well as the replacement of the brushes. More on this once repairs are underway.
News 13/04/05
Sounds page updated for your listening pleasure. Watch those speakers now !!!
News 11/04/05
The engine governor on D1566's power unit was stripped yesterday. As we expected, the rubber diaphragm on the control piston was indeed found to be badly worn and split, causing the loco to be low on power. A replacement has been fitted and the governor re-assembled. We now need to set up the engine speeder valves on the drivers power controllers at each cab end, as time precluded us from doing this on Sunday. A test run will then be arranged and hopefully we will have a 47 back on top form again. A few photos of this work carried out can be seen below. Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture and description of the proceedings.
News 04/04/05
A good start has been made on the internal and external clean up of 37901 over the past couple of weekends. The engine compartment has been steam cleaned and a start has been made on repainting the area. The engine bed plate drains have caused a few problems, some being blocked solid, despite several attempts with the steam cleaner!. We have since managed to flush them clear using various methods and now the drains are flowing very well indeed. On the external side, a start has been made on sanding down the bad bits on the bodywork prior to filling and final preparation. A few photos can be found by clicking here.
D1566 has been reportedly 'low on power' in recent times so it was decided to investigate the cause. The regulating air to the engine governor was found to be very low throughout the power range. This was found to be the case from both controllers at each end of the loco. The control air supply was found to be ok so a check was made actually at the governor itself utilising a bogie brake cylinder gauge as a test gauge (see photo). This proved our suspicions that the fault was actually within the governor itself, the test gauge now showing the correct amount of regulating air. Inside the governor lies a diaphragm on the control piston which is operated by the regulating air pressure from the driver's controller, if this is worn or split the regulating air will blow through it causing the piston to not operate correctly, thus not giving maximum fuel to the racks and the loco being low on power. It is this fault that we now expect to find in D1566s governor. The item will be stripped in the very near future and the diaphragm replaced, following setting up, hopefully the loco should be back on form again. This page will keep you up to date with events.
(Above) Developments with D1566s low power problem. The fault has been traced to the governor (left pic, centre). Middle picture shows the air supply from the loco shed compressor which is being utilised instead of the loco's on board compressors. (This would mean prolonged periods of idling and noise, and as part of our 'good neighbour' policy to local residents, we always try to keep noise to a minimum.) On the right we see number 6 in the '101 uses for a bogie brake cylinder gauge' series, ably demonstrated by our own Mr Perry.
News 06/03/05
D1566 is rostered to work services on Sunday March 20th. Click on the running dates button above for more details.
News 28/02/05
Many thanks to all who attended the diesel gala this weekend. Despite a couple of setbacks the event ran well. 37240 suffered a burst water hose causing it to shutdown at Carrog, the loco having to be brought back to the yard at Llangollen for a replacement hose to be fitted. The tractor made up for its refusal for wanting to 'play' on Sunday, putting in an impeccable performance throughout the day.
Old favourite 25313 was again coaxed into life, and was utilised on a somewhat bizarre trip up the line on Saturday evening hauling 3 brakevans. Apparently this went down well with the participants and may well happen again sometime in the future. A few photos of our locos prior to and during the event can be found here.
A couple of pics of 313 awaiting to head for Llangollen Station with the brakevans.
News 23/02/05
The diesel gala timetable is now online and can be found here. Apologies for the delay folks.
I will be away from my pc from tomorrow morning for the duration of the diesel gala event, so any enquiries in the meantime should be directed to the Llangollen Railway's main office.
News 18/02/05
46010 has been in use at our recent 'Thomas' event and has worked all diagrams as planned.
The Spring diesel gala is now almost upon us and unfortunately 37901 will not be appearing as advertised in the railway press due to its engine lift being delayed somewhat. However, we hope to have the loco operational in the near future. The timetable for the gala will appear on the site within the next few days.