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Restoration diary

Reports of restoration work on 50029 and 50030.

Work party report 10th November 2024

Work party report 10th November 2024
Richard Dale, Mark Burrows and I were on site yesterday. Richard started inspecting the wiring to the cab warning lights I had installed some years ago, in preparation for testing of those circuits. I fitted the CU5 radiator fan unit and tidied the cables leading to the two new terminal bars we put in. This doesn't sound a lot of work, but anyone w...
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Work party report 13 October 2024

Work party report 13 October 2024
​Jay Hirst, Dave Rolfe, Richard Dale and I were on site today. Dave spent the day loosening the levers that actuate the brake cylinders on the bogies of Repulse, as they are all bone dry and stuck having not operated for over 30 years. Jay assisted Richard making and wiring a new terminal bar for the DSD Speed Switch in the cupboard under the ...
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Work party report 29th September 2024

Work party report 29th September 2024
Dave Rolfe, Mark Burrows, Jay Hirst, Richard Dale and I were on site today. Mark finished fitting rubber strips inside the last of the air filter frame housings, barred round the power unit and oiled the turbos. Dave carried out various jobs around the locomotive. Jay helped Richard doing an endurance test on the internal and extern...
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Work party report 1st September 2024

Work party report 1st September 2024
Richard, Dave, and I were on site yesterday. Dave is continuing testing pipework and various valves in the air system of Repulse. He has also mounted the extractor fan above where the ETH generator sits. I fitted and wired the AWS sunflower & reset button in No.2 cab, while Richard finished connecting the two-core cable from the sunflower ...
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Work party reports 4th and 18th August 2024

Work party reports 4th and 18th August 2024
Exhauster fitted into place in 50030. Photo by Andy Rowlands.
Dave Rolfe has been putting air into the air system of 50030 at various points, looking for leaks, and inevitably, is finding a lot. He plans to work through the locomotive. This will reveal any more fractured, missing or broken airpipes. I added a new link wire between two terminal bars in No.1 cab as part of completing the unfinished DSD sys...
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Work party report 9th June 2024

Work party report 9th June 2024
I was away at a non-railway event this weekend but my electrical restoration partner Richard Dale kindly provided this report of work undertaken in the no 2 cab of 50030:"The brass panel light lamp holder was repaired, the missing porcelain instrument lamp holder was replaced with a like for like porcelain holder, the flex from the headlight invert...
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Work party report 12th May 2024

Work party report 12th May 2024
Andy Rowlands wiring the exhauster speed governor in 50030. Photo by Jay Hirst.
​Dave Rolfe, Jay Hirst, Mark Burrows, Richard Dale, Carl Looker and his daughter Sofy and I were on site today. Mark and Dave were working on the power unit, Carl was de-rusting in the filter compartment of 50030, Sofy was hoovering more debris from under No.1 cab floor. Richard and Jay continued investigating the DSD wirin...
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Work party reports 18th February and 31st March 2024

Work party reports 18th February and 31st March 2024
Mark and Richard were on site on 18th February. Richard reports he did a couple of checks to the cab wiring problems, it appears that we did not have the second live from Cab2 at the Cab1 switch panel, this would explain only having half of the route indicator and no driver's cab light. It seems some of the cab wiring issues is eithe...
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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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