|
47105 (and 47376) photo charter - posted 01/02/12 47105 took part in a photographic charter for the East Midlands Railway Photographic Society on the evening of Saturday 28th January. The evening was shared between 1693 on a rake of ballast wagons, a 3-car DMU and Bubble car with '376 sneaking in to the action. The money raised by the charter will be donated to the Emergency Appeal Fund - Pics HERE, HERE and HERE Diesel Shed Work is progressing well on the new diesel shed. During November and December the old Dowty shed was dismantled with the assistance of members of the Diesel department and others from the GWR. To reduce costs some of the ground work was also carried out by the volunteers. The frame of the new shed is in place with completion expected in approximately 3 weeks. The drainage will need to be completed before the ground is leveled for the track to be laid. The next step will be the concrete flooring so with all being well we expect to have 47105 and 47376 under cover around April! Some pictures of the old shed and the progress
Chicken Curve Land Slip An agreement has been signed for the work to commence on the repairs for Chicken Curve. Work is expected to start on the 6th February with a possible reconnection of the line in the Autumn. Fund raising is still ongoing as the £1million mark has not quite been reached so any help will be much appreciated, read more here 47105 Bogie swap 47105 received the long awaited bogie swap in late October. The bogie was replaced due to excessive wear on one of the wheel sets. Using a set of hydraulic jacks the body was lifted above both bogies and the errant bogie under number 1 end removed being dragged into the yard by 47376. '376 then delivered the replacement. 47746 sold to West Coast & 47295 scrapped - posted 20/7/11 The Brush Type 4 Fund has sold 47746 to the West Coast Railway Company, based at Carnforth and it is expected to resume service with the charter train operator. This was not a decision taken lightly but we feel that the sale will benefit all parties as it enables the BT4F to secure the future of both 47105 and 47376 at Toddington on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway by contributing funds from the sale to the construction of a dedicated diesel maintenance shed and will also see the return of 47746 to the mainline rather than being stored. Over the last 4 years the Brush Type 4 Fund approached several preserved railways, including the GWR, with a view to giving 47746 a permanent home but this was not possible. Despite this the loco has to a degree fulfilled a role at Long Marston having last been used as an ETH and air supply for overhauled Cargo-D MKII rolling stock in October 2008. As a preservation group we felt it right that if we did sell it was to be to an individual or company who would use it again, be it in preservation or on the mainline. WCRC have stated that they intend to fit the loco with OTMR, vacuum brakes and a full repaint prior to use as a member of the charter train fleet of MBDL locomotives based at Carnforth. With 47295 recently going for scrap, we therefore end our 4 year association with Long Marston, which started in 2007 when we revived 47701 for use by Cargo-D. This relationship enabled us to provide 47746 with an immediate home so we would like to extend our grateful thanks to both Cargo-D, in particular the late Mark Honey and Steve and Ruth Dunmore at Motorail Logistics for all their help and support since then. HRNC owned 47295 was sent for scrap on Friday 8th July for its storage at Long Marston. The loco had been stripped of all reusable parts by HRNC with the components from the engine ex 47376 being retrieved by the BT4F. These parts including the turbo, heat exchanger, generator set, intercoolers and exhausters were moved to Toddington on the same day. Fund Loco Update - Posted 12/12/10 Work on a replacement bogie for 47105 is progressing with several hours of needle gun action already under our belts, many more beckon! All the traction motors have been cleaned and insulation values checked. There is also work to do on traction motor gear cases and brake gear and slack adjusters. The bogie will be put under 47105 in the Summer of 2011 and is needed because the current bogie under number No.1 end has a thin flange on No.2 wheel. In 2012 47105 will be taken out of service for several years, the loco needs a fair bit of TLC and providing there are no major failures in the next 18 months it will have given 18 years of sterling service at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway by 2012. Initial jobs are to remove the roof from the equipment room which needs attention to the radiator element housings, these having suffered from rainwater sitting underneath them over the years. Other jobs in this area include overhauling exhausters, compressors and triple pump and examination and testing of air tanks. While the loco is out of service it is planned the Sulzer 12LDA engine will receive a top end overhaul as well as attention to the heat exchanger and oil filter plinth. Work is also planned on the main roof section and the joint between the roof and bodyshell, another water/rust trap. 47105 has not received this level of attention since 1984 so it is long overdue. With all being well the new diesel shed (see below) at Toddington should be in place well before 2012 so the dedicated team will have the luxury of being able to work inside all year round on the former 1693. When all of the work is complete the loco will receive a full repaint to re-emerge as 1693. The ongoing cab repaint has seen a downturn in progress since the Summer months with the upturn in diesel crew requirements as the team invested in the maintenance of the Brush Type 4 Fund locos are all part of the Diesel department traincrew, with a reduction in the need for diesel crews in 2011 normal service will return and the team will return to looking after the locos. The question on some lips will of course turn to 47746, the idea has been bandied around that perhaps the former 47605 could take the place of 47105 for the duration of its overhaul, the answer is “who knows”. There is a long time between now and 2012 but it is certainly something to consider. Until then 47746 will remain at Long Marston where it is secure waiting for its turn in the spotlight. Members of several loco groups based at Toddington have agreed to build a shed specifically for the diesels. The shed will be have two roads and space for 6 mainline locos, this will provide much needed covered storage as Winters' get harsher and a dedicated space for maintenance of locos rather than all works being carried out in the yard. Currently the David Page shed at Toddington houses a mixture of steam and diesel but space is sometimes hard to come by. The Brush Type 4 Fund have reserved two spaces in the proposed shed which at this stage in the final stages of planning. The new shed will replace the dilapidated Dowty shed which is to the right of the main shed if you are looking from the car park. BT4F Members Day 2010 - Added 28th July 2010 The members day for BT4F will be on Saturday October 16th 2010. This is a red timetable day which means two train running between Toddington and Gotherington with a loco top and tail. The GWSR have agreed to have 47105 and 47376 at either end of train 2 for the day which means rostered departures at 1130, 1415 and 1635, we plan to run at least one additional trip over the line after scheduled services cease if the GWSR are agreeable. All are welcome as these are scheduled services, we hope to reserve the front two coaches for BT4F members only. On Sunday 17th October one of the Fund locos will work the diesel diagram of the purple timetable. 47105 Ballot and plans for 2010/2011 - Added 14th March 2010 The Brush Type 4 Fund recently undertook a membership vote to determine the livery for 47105 when the loco is next repainted. There was a 57% response from the members and the top 4 results are shown below. Therefore the loco will receive a fresh coat of BR Blue and run as 1693 (it's current livery) which the loco operated in between November 1969 and January 1974.
There is no firm date for the repaint as there is a work needed to the bodywork of '105 which is better to be done in the summer months. At present the cabs are undergoing a refurbish and will be painted in a colour scheme in keeping with the vote winning livery. '105 will be working at the March diesel gala after which it might see use at the GWR175 celebrations at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in May, the loco will then be taken out of service until November to enable completion of the cab refurb and a start made on the bodywork repairs. |
