45149 Restoration: 2005
 

Left: Power Unit ex 47287

The group have been soul searching recently as to what to do regarding our cylinder head situation, just to remind people that the 3 that we used in an exchange loan deal were unusable which left us with a task of acquiring replacements. These items are also very handy to have as spares, so we dipped into the funds and visited a scrap yard in Yorkshire one Friday in January and successfully removed 6 cylinder heads from the power unit in the photograph. On return to Toddington, after stripping them down, it was found that only 1 was no good and will hopefully be exchanged for a usable one in the near future. The other components that were causing us concern were the piston liners themselves, some of them were damaged and needed machining to remove the damage. After obtaining quotes for machining we took the option that if we could we would get some from a scrap power unit and one day out of the blue our technical officer, Mr Steve Madge, and Mr Steve Benniston (benefactor to the group) successfully sourced 10 replacements. We are confident that out of the 12 that we have already 2 will be reusable.

Power Unit 45149 (right)

This view shows our power unit with the B bank push rod assemblies about to be removed. These have now all been removed and are currently being overhauled. In some cases new bearings have been fitted, again acquired during our recent spare part forays. At this end of the power unit you find the heat exchanger and the oil filter pack of which I am sure many followers of Suzler locomotives will be aware that the one item, namely the heat exchanger, is rather expensive. When the power unit was delivered to Toddington in 1997 the pipe work around these two items was damaged as was the oil filter casting, so we now have replacements ready. All the lubricating pipe work for the power unit has now been painted (joining the cooling pipes painted last year). Rocker covers have also been repainted, but more importantly the rockers themselves have been overhauled.

AWS is not essential for preserved locomotives however, with no.1 cab restoration coming towards an end some componenets from no.2 end have been removed for overhaul. Some of the items so far overhauled include the AWS horn, fire bell and associated switch, drivers light switch panel. As is always the case with withdrawn and stored loco's people break in and break the glass of all gauges and instruments. We were fortunate that, although the 2 from 45128 and 149 had broken glass the internal fittings were in usable order.

In preparation for when the loco is painted, new external identification plates have been made by one of our members. The originals were made of plastic and prone to bulging and splitting, so our member took the decision to make replicas out of aluminium plate and, after they have been engraved, they are aluchromed prior to spraying (aluchrome is an anti corrosive form of plating). Then the letters are filled with an epoxy based paint. The target for the year, now that we have a full set of components for the power unit, is to concentrate on the power unit, finish no.1 end cab (on display hopefully at the Railway's September Diesel Gala) and start on the body work.

The main activity for the group throughout the summer has concentrated around the final components for re-assembly of A bank. 6 liners have been de-scaled on the exterior, thoroughly cleaned, had the liner seals removed, the location groove at the top of the liner for the spigot on the head has been thoroughly cleaned. The group at the moment are struggling to remove some spigot rings from these new liners (ex class 47). Measurements have been made and they are .008 larger than their predecessors (11.030). Replacement liner seals and soft iron rings have been ordered, piston rings have been removed from one piston and the top piston ring will probably have to be replaced on all pistons. As soon as the liner seals are delivered they will be attached to the liners. The water jacket on A bank was de-scaled by one of the groups members over the hottest weekend this year. He borrowed a nil fisk twin engine hoover with a 4 inch diameter hose to remove the grime and scale so that the water jacket was fit to receive the liners. The cab at no.1 end is more or less complete, the only outstanding task is the replacement of a split pipe (control air) and the last floor panel can be refitted and being as this is where the second man's seat is attached, the heater under the chair will also be reinstated and the panel in the foot well, that then just leaves a leaking window problem and ident plates to fit to drivers side.

The flexi hone tool was acquired as part of a swap deal involving one of our members engraving some ident plates for the Peak Locomotive Company for their brake frames. This tool removes any rough edges or scratches (providing they are not too deep) from the internal diameter. The tool is air driven and is vigorously pumped up and down in the view the grooves on the liner are for the liner seals, which is why the liners were removed in the first place to see if they were perished. Replacement liner seals have been acquired also soft iron rings which are used between the head and the top of the piston liner, also underneath the lip of the piston liner.

During the diesel gala and for the first time, the restored No.1 end cab was open for inspection to the public and received favourable comment. During this weekend the power unit was removed from the yard and placed in the loco shed at Toddington for storage to allow it to dry out prior to refitting 'A bank' piston liners and heads. We will also take the opportunity to inspect the generator.

The back head wall showed some recently made fittings such as the frame for the fire bell instructions, which originally were in a polythene bag with a bit of cardboard to keep it rigid, needless to say not one of BR's better inventions so we duplicated the type of frame used when the loco's were built. The CPR instructions were salvaged from a scrap yard up North (ex class 47).

Following on from our earlier comments earlier in the year, the planned re-build of A bank didn't take place due to hold ups in acquiring top piston rings. With thanks to Andre Kent of the Stratford Class 47 Group we were put on to a supplier who could supply our requirements at a reasonable price, having been quoted almost three hundred pounds per ring by rail part, so the decision was taken that, whilst we procured replacement shell bearings and piston rings we would occupy our time with the re-build of the free end of the power unit. All pipes that were still remaining on the free end fuel and water were removed, steam cleaned and painted. The actual main casting, which is aluminium on the free end was steam cleaned and painted and a replacement stud, which was broken, was also removed and repaired. The main part of this exercise was the fuel filter pack and the above view shows the main carcus being painted.

Having dismantled the filter pack 4 filters were removed and the actual filters were dismantled, steam cleaned and the filters themselves were replaced with new ones, as were the O rings with thanks to our colleagues in the Brush Type 4 Fund for helping us on this front. The filter itself is from 47114 and was acquired last year on a visit to Booths Scrap Yard. Also stamped on some of the castings was the number D1730.

The best way to reassemble the filter pack was upright, this view (left) shows the finished article waiting to be removed to the gantry for refitting to the power unit.

Other work carried out on the power unit has been at the generator end with the covers removed, ballast dust has been removed from the coils and windings, a very delicate job where you just cant chisel it off or you will damage the varnish on the coil windings. Other areas of progress, the two hand rails found on the power unit that run across the top of the crank case doors and double as an oil leak off pipe were removed and found to be blocked up, so again these were pressure washed and repainted. these will be essential when we are climbing up and down on the power unit this coming summer when we replace the pistons and liners. On that front we would like to thank Mike Kerry for supplying us with two liners and shell bearings, we can reassure share holders that the re-build of A bank component wise is ready to go and and the same time B bank will be stripped and, providing we don't find any horror stories, will be rebuilt straight away after acquiring some more piston top rings.