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Restoration diary

Reports of restoration work on 50029 and 50030.

Work party reports 28th January and 5th February 2024

Work party reports 28th January and 5th February 2024
Instrument lighting in the no 1 end cab of 50030 illuminated for the first time in nearly 32 years.
​Richard and I managed to attend for two weekends in a row and together we achieved quite a bit. The new headcode box lamp frame was fitted in No.1 cab, all the internal bulkhead lights had new lamps fitted and the instrument lights in No.1 cab. We were happy with the tests of the lighting circuits at 24v to put the full 110v into them through...
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Work party report 10th December 2023

Work party report 10th December 2023
Mark Burrows, Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Mark was only there a couple hours, to show a visitor around the project. Dave was continuing to overhaul valves for the braking system. Jay fitted rubber strips behind the last air filter frame, then assisted me wiring the four brake valves on the brake frame. Richard...
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Work party report 26th November 2023

Work party report 26th November 2023
Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows, Richard Dale, Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. Mark was unable to stay beyond noon, so he barred round the power unit two revolutions, and oiled the turbos. Jay carried on guing rubber strips behind where the air filter frames sit opposite the electrical cubicle. Dave was fitting the last of the airpipes he had recovere...
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RRRG welcomes new membership secretary

RRRG welcomes new membership secretary
​RRRG is pleased to welcome Andy Chard as our new membership secretary. Andy will be carrying out the role in an acting capacity before presenting himself for formal election at the RRRG Annual General Meeting on 9th December 2023. As previously advised, this will be held at the Alexandra Hotel, Derby starting at 11:30AM with all members and shareh...
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Work party report 12th November 2023

Work party report 12th November 2023
Air tanks refitted to 50030 by Dave Rolfe on 12th November 2023.
Mark Burrows gluing air filter rubber strips in 50030 on 12th November 2023.
​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows, Richard Dale and I were on site today. Jay and Mark were gluing rubber strips behind where the air filters will sit around 50030 to prevent them rattling. Dave continued cleaning and test-fitting various sections of air pipes on and around the brake frame. He has also refitted the four brake valves to the brake...
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Work party report 29th October 2023

Work party report 29th October 2023
Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Dave had finished topcoating the area where the one exhauster and motor blower will sit, and the air filter frame opposite the electrical cubicle. As the filter frame had dried, he fitted the new filter casings we'd had made. Jay did some undercoating of the last sections of welding...
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Work party report 8th October 2023

Work party report 8th October 2023
An extra day today with just Richard and myself on site. Richard brought some angle-iron and flat plates he had made, so we could create a bar for new lampholders to go behind the headcode box lenses, as both headcode boxes are missing the original lampholders and whatever framework they were attached to. We checked his original measurements, then ...
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Work party report 1st October 2023

Work party report 1st October 2023
​Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Carl and Sofy Looker, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Mark was sorting out the shims for when the ETH generator is fitted into Repulse, then removed the elbows from the broken airpipes in both cabs, to allow more room for the repairs. Dave carried on sorting out the stuck radiator louvres, and assi...
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Work party report 24th September 2023

Work party report 24th September 2023
The completed change end switch ready for reinstallation into the no 1 end cab of 50030. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. Dave was dismantling part of the radiator louvre system, as one side was not operating when we tested it with an air supply last week, as reported before, to try and discover why the shutter blades didn't move. Dave subsequently discovered that the seals on the two air engines for this set of louvres&n...
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Work party report 17 September 2023

Work party report 17 September 2023
Dave Rolfe, Richard Wade, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows and I were on site today. Richard carried on checking the battery isolation switch and shore supply and battery charge wiring. Jay and I attempted to fit the upper internal panel that goes above the change end switch in No.1 cab, but most of the mounting holes didn't line up, so we looked ...
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Work party report 3rd September 2023

​Dave Rolfe, Carl and Sofy Looker, Richard Dale and I were on site today. Dave was removing pipework from the spare cab (formerly of 50037 Illustrious and purchased for this very reason), Carl and Sofy rubbed down and undercoated all four cabsides on 50030, then removed some cab handrails to de-rust and prime the difficult-...
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Work party report 13th August 2023

Mark Burrows, Dave Rolfe and I were on site today. Mark brought back the 16 overhauled fuel pumps, and they were placed in store for now. Dave started pressure-testing the two air engines that operate the rad fan shutters on either side of the radiator compartment now replacement covers have been fabricated for the EP valves, as the originals ...
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Work party report 6th August 2023

Work party report 6th August 2023
​Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale, Jay Hirst and I were on site yesterday. Richard finally finished drilling and tapping the fixing holes for the mounting plate for the change-end switch in No.1 cab, a difficult job because most of the holes are either at floor level, or right next to structural supports for the cab desk and the bulkhead the driver's ...
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Work party report 23rd July 2023

Work party report 23rd July 2023
​Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Richard Wade, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. After barring round the power unit and oiling the turbos, Dave and Mark began investigating the broken air pipes I'd discovered under the floor in No.1 cab, finding virtually all those that dive through the plating under the cab floor had corroded away, on both t...
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Work party report 9th July 2023

Jay Hirst, Richard Wade and I were on site today.We fitted and reconnected the driver's side tail lamp unit, not the easiest of tasks, as access to put the nuts on the bolts is difficult under the driver's desk. We then belled out and marked all the wires from the change-end switches in both cabs. The mounting plates that hold the change-end switch...
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Work party report 25th June 2023

Work party report 25th June 2023
Dave Rolfe's testing rig for brake frame valves. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
One of our driver change-end switches. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
Jay, Richard, Dave, Mark and I were on site today.Dave has been continuing to identify and clean sections of pipework for the brake frame. He has also devised a test-rig for testing various valves to see which ones work. Mark could only stay until midday so he barred the power unit round and oiled the turbos. Mark had brought one of the change-end ...
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Work party report 28th May 2023

A somewhat arty shot by Jay Hirst of Andy Rowlands fitting the secondman's side tail lamp unit.
Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst and I on site today. Mark was only available half the day, so he barred round and oiled the power unit and turbos. Jay and I refitted the secondman's side tail lamp and reconnected it. I got new fixing bolts which were slightly bigger than the originals, so the lamp unit and the recess on the cab front had the fixing holes d...
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Work party report 30th April 2023

Work party report 30th April 2023
The brake frame area of 50030 taking shape. Dave Rolfe had managed to source and install various pieces of imperial conduit and connectors to move the rebuild job on.
Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst, new member Richard Wade and I were on site today. In a welcome development Dom Jackson also joined us for his first work party in quite some time! Richard is an electrician by trade, and helped Jay and I solve the wiring issue with the tail lights in the No.2 cab of 50030. Both tail light units have be...
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Work party report 16th April 2023

Work party report 16th April 2023
Carl and Sofy Looker, Jay Hirst, Dave Rolfe and I on were site on Sunday 15th April, while Mark and Robert Burrows had the sales stand on the station at Rowlsey South for the Peak Rail/Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Twin Peaks diesel gala. Jay and I were mostly showing people round Repulse, while Carl & Sofy did cleaning up of debri...
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Work party report 2nd April 2023

Work party report 2nd April 2023
Just Dave Rolfe and I were on site. Jay Hirst wasn't available and Mark Burrows had a problem with one of his cars and didn't make it. Dave had removed the missing EP governor from Renown, so I cleaned the contacts then we fitted it at the top of the brake frame in 50030. Not an easy task as the two rear mounting bolts are hidden by the govern...
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Work party report 19th March 2023

Brake frame valves newly installed into 50030. Photo by Jay Hirst.
Brake frame junction box and wiring completed. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
Brake frame overview as work on the rebuild continues. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site today. Dave has been retrieving more sections of air piping and valves from store, cleaning, overhauling and test-fitting them inside Repulse. Jay and I completed assembly of the upper section of the brake frame conduits, and finished installing the new wiring.
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Work party report 19th February 2023

Work party report 19th February 2023
Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst and I on site today, plus returning member Wayne Boyle. With photos I'd got of a complete 50, Dave continued to find, clean and paint parts for the brake frame. Mark investigated the smaller airpipes on the brake frame in Renown, which is more complete than what's in Repulse, to help identify what we ne...
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Work party report 5th February 2023

Work party report 5th February 2023
​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows and I were on site today. Mark barred round the power unit and oiled all four turbos again. Dave and I hunted out the big air pipes for the exhauster under the brake frame, finding most of what we need. The rest we either haven't found yet or is missing. Dave then set about cleaning the secti...
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Work party report 22nd January 2023

Work party report 22nd January 2023
Mark and Robert Burrows, Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst and I were on site last Sunday. Mark and Robert barred the power unit intended for 50030 round again, then did more scraping and cleaning below where the exhauster and motor blower sit at No.2 end. Dave continued working on cleaning and painting various sections of pipework. Jay and...
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Work party report 8th January 2023

​Mark and Robert Burrows, Jay Hirst and I were on site yesterday. Mark and Robert barred the power unit round, rotated and oiled the four turbos, then did some more cleaning and scraping off loose paint around the electrical cubicle. Jay and I searched for the brake frame electrical conduits in our storage, finding mos...
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