GWR NEWS: The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is still gratefully accepting donations, essential for keeping the railway running during the Coronavirus restrictions. If you are able to make a financial donation to help, please go to the link HERE to find out how. Thank you. The railway re-opened on Tuesday 13th April 2021.
45149 is scheduled to operate a Diesel Enthusiasts Day on Sunday 23rd May 2021. For booking details click HERE
45149 is scheduled to operate a Diesel Enthusiasts Day on Sunday 23rd May 2021. For booking details click HERE
Regular updates on our locomotives will be posted here. For the latest Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway locomotive roster, click here
The latest information on D5343
Update on repairs to D5343 (April 2021).
Whilst work continues on with the engine overhaul, work has started on bodywork repairs in preparation for a repaint. A significant amount of metal has been cut from the bodyside, mostly around the boiler room, which was a known corrosion site. The cable conduits in this area will require significant repairs. This has also revealed historic accident damage as well which will need some minor repair work. Other areas of attention required are around the cant rail grilles where the body has started to split away from the frame, primarily due to a poor repair prior to the locomotive entering traffic. On completion of its engine repairs a request has been made for the loco to go to the Carriage & Wagon Dept. at Winchcombe so that the current livery can be reapplied. Enquiries have also been made regarding the casting of replica builders plates for the cab sides. The scale of the work needed has put the expected date for a return to traffic back to autumn 2021.
Whilst work continues on with the engine overhaul, work has started on bodywork repairs in preparation for a repaint. A significant amount of metal has been cut from the bodyside, mostly around the boiler room, which was a known corrosion site. The cable conduits in this area will require significant repairs. This has also revealed historic accident damage as well which will need some minor repair work. Other areas of attention required are around the cant rail grilles where the body has started to split away from the frame, primarily due to a poor repair prior to the locomotive entering traffic. On completion of its engine repairs a request has been made for the loco to go to the Carriage & Wagon Dept. at Winchcombe so that the current livery can be reapplied. Enquiries have also been made regarding the casting of replica builders plates for the cab sides. The scale of the work needed has put the expected date for a return to traffic back to autumn 2021.
Update on repairs to D5343 (December 2020).
Work continues on with the engine overhaul, the heads have now been fully overhauled after being stripped right down. All the valve guides (bar 2) were found to be worn beyond the acceptable maximum and have been replaced with brand new parts, the valves have all been re-lapped back into their original heads. Head Number 6 (the youngest head) was found to have an exhaust valve that was damaged beyond repair, this has been replaced with an off the shelf spare valve. Significant quantities of carbon was found in the inlet of the heads which would have reduced considerably the amount of air that could be ingested into the locomotive for burning fuel, this would have contributed a lot to the loco's dirty exhaust.
The pistons have all been cleaned and de-ringed, all top rings have been replaced, the ring gaps have all been checked on the remaining rings and have been found to be within specification, so will be retained. One piston has a very badly worn top ring groove and as a result the ring will be ground slightly to fit the groove correctly. Two of the pistons will need to have the Eye bolt holders re-threaded.
The fuel pumps and injectors have all been fully overhauled and re-calibrated, and these have now been re-installed into the fuel gallery on the engine, which has been cleaned and re-painted.
Four liners have been rejected from the locomotive and these will be placed into storage pending on a decision on their future, it is likely they will be scrapped. Four new liners have been ordered to the standard size specification, which will be manufactured in Spain and then finally machined in the UK. The two liners that are to be retained have significant corrosion around the seal lands, and work is ongoing to rectify this issue.
The block has been cleaned top to bottom and work is ongoing to address the corrosion issues on the seal lands in the block.
The locomotive will shortly go into the shed to address issues with the fibreglass engine cover and to address issues with some bodyside corrosion, endemic with years of outdoors storage. It is hoped to have the locomotive fully operational for the middle of 2021.
Work continues on with the engine overhaul, the heads have now been fully overhauled after being stripped right down. All the valve guides (bar 2) were found to be worn beyond the acceptable maximum and have been replaced with brand new parts, the valves have all been re-lapped back into their original heads. Head Number 6 (the youngest head) was found to have an exhaust valve that was damaged beyond repair, this has been replaced with an off the shelf spare valve. Significant quantities of carbon was found in the inlet of the heads which would have reduced considerably the amount of air that could be ingested into the locomotive for burning fuel, this would have contributed a lot to the loco's dirty exhaust.
The pistons have all been cleaned and de-ringed, all top rings have been replaced, the ring gaps have all been checked on the remaining rings and have been found to be within specification, so will be retained. One piston has a very badly worn top ring groove and as a result the ring will be ground slightly to fit the groove correctly. Two of the pistons will need to have the Eye bolt holders re-threaded.
The fuel pumps and injectors have all been fully overhauled and re-calibrated, and these have now been re-installed into the fuel gallery on the engine, which has been cleaned and re-painted.
Four liners have been rejected from the locomotive and these will be placed into storage pending on a decision on their future, it is likely they will be scrapped. Four new liners have been ordered to the standard size specification, which will be manufactured in Spain and then finally machined in the UK. The two liners that are to be retained have significant corrosion around the seal lands, and work is ongoing to rectify this issue.
The block has been cleaned top to bottom and work is ongoing to address the corrosion issues on the seal lands in the block.
The locomotive will shortly go into the shed to address issues with the fibreglass engine cover and to address issues with some bodyside corrosion, endemic with years of outdoors storage. It is hoped to have the locomotive fully operational for the middle of 2021.
Update on repairs to D5343 (October 2020)
1,) The heads show significant corrosion in the exhaust ports and then significant water damage in the form of pitting around 2 of the exhaust seats....what has happened is the heads (and turbo) have filled with water, which has sat in the heads (where the valves were closed) and gone to work on them (severe pitting).
2,) The heads that had valves open allowed water into the bores, this has pooled around the piston rings and then rusted the iron rings to the iron liner, in the case of liners 6 and 5 this caused severe staining inside the liners and a few noticeable marks where the rings sat, in the case of liners 3 and 2 this caused severe pitting.
What we don't know is whether the pitting occurred as a result of the water....or as a result of running the engine with the defects present, if it is the latter then we know that in 4 to 5 years the pitting will be a lot bigger, which will manifest as running problems with engine and eventually catastrophic failure.
As we know the engine was running ok and the loco was capable of tackling some of the most demanding preserved lines, but we also know the engine was hiding some severe defects.
We could put the liners back in and get another good few year running out of the loco, however we would be putting components back in that ordinarily would be rejected.
The options are as follows.
1,) If liners are not available - reuse the damaged liners
2,) If liners are available but £1000+ each - reuse the damaged liners
3,) if liners are available at a cheaper price, strongly consider replacement
The older liners have an existing issue of damage in the form of corrosion to the seal lands, this would mean ordinarily an instant rejection from BR, we can repair but we are very reliant on chemical metal to do this, coupled with the fact that they have an existing defect (internal corrosion) meaning that each liner has an internal and an external fault.
The overall recommendation is to purchase 4 new liners at a cost of around £750 each plus VAT to replace the defective ones.
Elsewhere the engine overhaul is progressing. The heads are having the valve seats lapped, as described earlier some were in very poor condition. One exhaust valve was found to be damaged beyond repair, and will be discarded, and replaced with a spare. The fuel pumps and injectors have been fully overhauled and it has been found that the loco has been running with an incorrect fuel pump...which would explain the unique engine note the loco has when it gets hot. this has now been replaced with a pump of the correct type. When cold however it would have contributed greatly to the dilution of the oil with fuel.
Pistons have all been cleaned and inspected, groove wise they are all in specification, however 2 of the pistons have 7.5mm grooves with one of them worn beyond 7.5mm. The maximum groove size is 7.5mm with a maximum vertical play of .5mm on the ring. This means that when the groove wears beyond 8mm the piston is scrap, the larger the vertical play beyond the .5mm increment, the faster the groove wears. This means that this will likely be the last overhaul some of the pistons can withstand. It sounds dramatic but it's a position that a lot of locomotives a lot younger than D5343 are in. It is also likely that other major components (tyres, main generator) will fail long before the engine comes up for major attention before we have to look at the engine again.
Internally in the block significant corrosion has been found in the seal surface (where the liner seals go) which wasn't unexpected having seen the corrosion in the liner seal lands, but it's a difficult one to repair. We need to use chemical metal on this, otherwise even the new liners will leak when we put them back in. This damage would see the block written off if this was discovered at overhaul time.
This winter the loco will hopefully go in the shed and the final roof panel will come off, externally the roof is in good condition but we already know that (as with the other panels) the seal is life expired, and water is able to get into the engine room and more concerningly into the electrical cubicle, and for such a cheap repair its invaluable.
Other areas of work are the traction motor bellows which are in pretty poor condition, these have been removed for attention and quotes being obtained for replacements. The last resort is to cut the damaged material away, and re-attach the bellows, but this shortens the bellow and causes more stress, but it gets a few more years out of them.
1,) The heads show significant corrosion in the exhaust ports and then significant water damage in the form of pitting around 2 of the exhaust seats....what has happened is the heads (and turbo) have filled with water, which has sat in the heads (where the valves were closed) and gone to work on them (severe pitting).
2,) The heads that had valves open allowed water into the bores, this has pooled around the piston rings and then rusted the iron rings to the iron liner, in the case of liners 6 and 5 this caused severe staining inside the liners and a few noticeable marks where the rings sat, in the case of liners 3 and 2 this caused severe pitting.
What we don't know is whether the pitting occurred as a result of the water....or as a result of running the engine with the defects present, if it is the latter then we know that in 4 to 5 years the pitting will be a lot bigger, which will manifest as running problems with engine and eventually catastrophic failure.
As we know the engine was running ok and the loco was capable of tackling some of the most demanding preserved lines, but we also know the engine was hiding some severe defects.
We could put the liners back in and get another good few year running out of the loco, however we would be putting components back in that ordinarily would be rejected.
The options are as follows.
1,) If liners are not available - reuse the damaged liners
2,) If liners are available but £1000+ each - reuse the damaged liners
3,) if liners are available at a cheaper price, strongly consider replacement
The older liners have an existing issue of damage in the form of corrosion to the seal lands, this would mean ordinarily an instant rejection from BR, we can repair but we are very reliant on chemical metal to do this, coupled with the fact that they have an existing defect (internal corrosion) meaning that each liner has an internal and an external fault.
The overall recommendation is to purchase 4 new liners at a cost of around £750 each plus VAT to replace the defective ones.
Elsewhere the engine overhaul is progressing. The heads are having the valve seats lapped, as described earlier some were in very poor condition. One exhaust valve was found to be damaged beyond repair, and will be discarded, and replaced with a spare. The fuel pumps and injectors have been fully overhauled and it has been found that the loco has been running with an incorrect fuel pump...which would explain the unique engine note the loco has when it gets hot. this has now been replaced with a pump of the correct type. When cold however it would have contributed greatly to the dilution of the oil with fuel.
Pistons have all been cleaned and inspected, groove wise they are all in specification, however 2 of the pistons have 7.5mm grooves with one of them worn beyond 7.5mm. The maximum groove size is 7.5mm with a maximum vertical play of .5mm on the ring. This means that when the groove wears beyond 8mm the piston is scrap, the larger the vertical play beyond the .5mm increment, the faster the groove wears. This means that this will likely be the last overhaul some of the pistons can withstand. It sounds dramatic but it's a position that a lot of locomotives a lot younger than D5343 are in. It is also likely that other major components (tyres, main generator) will fail long before the engine comes up for major attention before we have to look at the engine again.
Internally in the block significant corrosion has been found in the seal surface (where the liner seals go) which wasn't unexpected having seen the corrosion in the liner seal lands, but it's a difficult one to repair. We need to use chemical metal on this, otherwise even the new liners will leak when we put them back in. This damage would see the block written off if this was discovered at overhaul time.
This winter the loco will hopefully go in the shed and the final roof panel will come off, externally the roof is in good condition but we already know that (as with the other panels) the seal is life expired, and water is able to get into the engine room and more concerningly into the electrical cubicle, and for such a cheap repair its invaluable.
Other areas of work are the traction motor bellows which are in pretty poor condition, these have been removed for attention and quotes being obtained for replacements. The last resort is to cut the damaged material away, and re-attach the bellows, but this shortens the bellow and causes more stress, but it gets a few more years out of them.
Previous Updates
Since work on the loco restarted in July, the cylinder liners have been inspected thoroughly. Internally they are all in spec, although externally one is a candidate for rejection due to a large score and major external corrosion. A few of them have some corrosion as well but can be brought back into serviceable condition.
The pistons have also been examined and are not quite as they could be, some of the ring grooves have wear and it is likely that some of the rings will need to be replaced.
You will see from the picture that No.4 piston is originally from a Class 45 - marked as D65, later 45111 'Grenadier Guardsman'!
Work is also carrying on in the background to clean all the parts that need cleaning. All the piston rings have been removed so they can be checked for wear. The next stage will be to internally clean the liners, and then check the condition of the cylinder heads. The fuel pumps are being sent away for re-calibration.
Since work on the loco restarted in July, the cylinder liners have been inspected thoroughly. Internally they are all in spec, although externally one is a candidate for rejection due to a large score and major external corrosion. A few of them have some corrosion as well but can be brought back into serviceable condition.
The pistons have also been examined and are not quite as they could be, some of the ring grooves have wear and it is likely that some of the rings will need to be replaced.
You will see from the picture that No.4 piston is originally from a Class 45 - marked as D65, later 45111 'Grenadier Guardsman'!
Work is also carrying on in the background to clean all the parts that need cleaning. All the piston rings have been removed so they can be checked for wear. The next stage will be to internally clean the liners, and then check the condition of the cylinder heads. The fuel pumps are being sent away for re-calibration.
Previous Updates
By the end of March 2020, the engine strip down of D5343 to attend to defective cylinder liners was complete.
The photo (left) shows the loco outside the shed at Toddington on 23/02/20.
Bearing wise the engine is in excellent condition, the bearings on all 6 big ends have minor scoring but very little in terms of actual wear. The engine runs on standard bearings so if this was a repair item it would be in the region of £1500 but thankfully this isn't required.
Pistons are in good condition for their age, with minor slap present and a little damage present on the skirts, but nothing too bad. One piston ring was broken, which looks like it has been broken since BR installed it in the bore. Thankfully it was intact, but there is signs of wear on the bore where the ring has been trapped.
Cylinder liners internally are not brilliant, with some damage mainly due to where the locomotive sat out of use for a number of years and water/condensation has formed around the piston rings, causing them to eat into the liner walls. We had a similar issue on 45149 which caused us to reject the fitted liners, which at the time was a simple process, since the liners were readily available from Booth's scrapyard. That is no longer the case so we will have to live with what we have...
Externally is not very good news, with No.1 liner showing significant corrosion around the bore external to where the cylinder liner seals sit, which is not unusual and is normally the reason why liners get rejected. This is caused where the seal fails and water sits behind the seal this causing corrosion and pitting. Without intervention it is unlikely the liner will seal successfully with water, let alone antifreeze, so we will have to use chemical metal to re-fill the pitting, which is the cheapest option.
Top deck wise, everything is in order, it is likely new transition cups will be needed but we will see how they clean up. The fuel pumps are likely to be sent away for re-calibration/overhaul since on strip down it was noted that there is a continual fuelling issue.
The extensive work to the metal on both front ends of D5343 has been successfully completed and yellow top coat applied. The discs have also been cleaned, repainted and refitted with them being treated to black painted edges, an embellishment that was very Scottish Region.
By the end of March 2020, the engine strip down of D5343 to attend to defective cylinder liners was complete.
The photo (left) shows the loco outside the shed at Toddington on 23/02/20.
Bearing wise the engine is in excellent condition, the bearings on all 6 big ends have minor scoring but very little in terms of actual wear. The engine runs on standard bearings so if this was a repair item it would be in the region of £1500 but thankfully this isn't required.
Pistons are in good condition for their age, with minor slap present and a little damage present on the skirts, but nothing too bad. One piston ring was broken, which looks like it has been broken since BR installed it in the bore. Thankfully it was intact, but there is signs of wear on the bore where the ring has been trapped.
Cylinder liners internally are not brilliant, with some damage mainly due to where the locomotive sat out of use for a number of years and water/condensation has formed around the piston rings, causing them to eat into the liner walls. We had a similar issue on 45149 which caused us to reject the fitted liners, which at the time was a simple process, since the liners were readily available from Booth's scrapyard. That is no longer the case so we will have to live with what we have...
Externally is not very good news, with No.1 liner showing significant corrosion around the bore external to where the cylinder liner seals sit, which is not unusual and is normally the reason why liners get rejected. This is caused where the seal fails and water sits behind the seal this causing corrosion and pitting. Without intervention it is unlikely the liner will seal successfully with water, let alone antifreeze, so we will have to use chemical metal to re-fill the pitting, which is the cheapest option.
Top deck wise, everything is in order, it is likely new transition cups will be needed but we will see how they clean up. The fuel pumps are likely to be sent away for re-calibration/overhaul since on strip down it was noted that there is a continual fuelling issue.
The extensive work to the metal on both front ends of D5343 has been successfully completed and yellow top coat applied. The discs have also been cleaned, repainted and refitted with them being treated to black painted edges, an embellishment that was very Scottish Region.
The pictures above show the work taking place on D5343 during November 2019, with the yellow end rubbed down to expose the corrosion areas and then new metal welded in. Photos by Simon Townsend.
The pictures below show further work taking place on the roof and around the top of the cabs. The roof was fully shotblasted with no corrosion found, the body structures were in good condition with just some surface rust evident. Apart from a little corrosion around the window frames, the general metalwork on the cabs was in excellent condition.
In 2019, D5343 was joined at Toddington by classmate D5310 (26010) from the Llangollen Railway (pictured up on jacks at Toddington). The plan was for two traction motors to be overhauled, one to go in D5310 and one in D5343. However, on closer inspection it became apparent that all of D5310s motors required overhaul, so the loco had an extended stay at the GWR, finally returning to Llangollen in August 2020.
In 2019, D5343 was joined at Toddington by classmate D5310 (26010) from the Llangollen Railway (pictured up on jacks at Toddington). The plan was for two traction motors to be overhauled, one to go in D5310 and one in D5343. However, on closer inspection it became apparent that all of D5310s motors required overhaul, so the loco had an extended stay at the GWR, finally returning to Llangollen in August 2020.
The picture on the left shows one of D5343s original Crompton Parkinson traction motors, overhauled and in the diesel shed at Toddington, ready for fitting into D5310.
The latest information on 45149
March 2021: 45149 has had some significant work done to it over the last 6 or so months. It has now been fitted with a limiting valve on the main reservoir feed to the brake distributor, after another set of sealing and timing blocks had failed and had to go for overhaul. A number of locos had this modification fitted but Peaks generally were not fitted as they were being withdrawn when the change was being implemented by BR. Other areas of work have been repairs to the cubicle which had suffered some damage when No.4 traction motor failed a few years ago. This incident melted A4 field divert contactor and destroyed the cable connection which subsequently blew the cable off and then burnt a hole through the top the cubicle. At the time the motor was isolated and a temporary repair put in place. Last week the cable was completely renewed and reconnected and run through the cable blocks to the resistors on the back of the cubicle. Investigations into the cause show the traction motor connections themselves were either loose or had failed allowing the connector to come into contact with the junction box whilst the locomotive was doing around 25 mph in service. An insulation test has been made on the traction motor, new connectors crimped on to the cable the loco successfully tested around Toddington yard. A fault with the wheel slip circuits has been repaired.
Previous Updates
45149 worked 3 round trips of the railway on Sunday 4th October 2020 on the last of a number of 2020 diesel running days. The loco is now undergoing winter repairs/maintenance. 45149 is operational, however a few electrical faults have manifested in the locomotive, the exhauster speedup is not operational and efforts continue to find the cause. A brake fault also has manifested itself with the air brakes, and a part has had to be removed from 26043 to keep 45149 serviceable, pending a final modification to prevent this issue occurring in future.
A number of gauges have been found to be outside acceptable tolerances, and these will require re-calibrating, along with the air governors on the locomotive.
Work has also started to overhaul the compressor which failed on 45149 during the 2016 gala. The compressor will have a full rebuild and will require a full motor rewind, which is likely to be very expensive.
The blower motor for No1 end will also be replaced at some point during 2021 to replace the one fitted, which has a defective bearing.
The locomotive was also re-anti-freezed during the autumn to protect it over the winter.
45149 worked 3 round trips of the railway on Sunday 4th October 2020 on the last of a number of 2020 diesel running days. The loco is now undergoing winter repairs/maintenance. 45149 is operational, however a few electrical faults have manifested in the locomotive, the exhauster speedup is not operational and efforts continue to find the cause. A brake fault also has manifested itself with the air brakes, and a part has had to be removed from 26043 to keep 45149 serviceable, pending a final modification to prevent this issue occurring in future.
A number of gauges have been found to be outside acceptable tolerances, and these will require re-calibrating, along with the air governors on the locomotive.
Work has also started to overhaul the compressor which failed on 45149 during the 2016 gala. The compressor will have a full rebuild and will require a full motor rewind, which is likely to be very expensive.
The blower motor for No1 end will also be replaced at some point during 2021 to replace the one fitted, which has a defective bearing.
The locomotive was also re-anti-freezed during the autumn to protect it over the winter.
Maintenance work restarted on 45149 in the summer. On 1st August, the cabs were thoroughly cleaned after an infestation of flies.
The floor in the engine room around the triple pump was cleaned, sanded and given a coat of primer, as seen in the pictures below.
For some time up to summer 2019, 45149 was running on one compressor.
149 entered preservation service using 45128s compressor, which was removed (along with a lot of other useful parts) from a cab kindly donated by Richard Benyon. 45149s original compressor had been rejected sometime before. However, shortly after entering service, 45128s compressor failed with a motor flashover.
Enter 45140; this was the cab that was sat in a collectors back garden next to the WCML. A deal was struck with Mel not long before he sold the cab to the South Wales Preservation Group, but various issues meant it was not possible to complete that deal. Thankfully Richard Benyon came to the rescue again and allowed us to remove the compressor. On inspection, despite having sat for the best part of 30 years relatively unprotected, the compressor after some minor repair work and an oil change was still serviceable the motor meggared to a reasonable value. Before installation in 149 it was tested successfully outside the locomotive.
People having had haulage from 149 will remember this compressor well - it was extremely loud, and could be heard from the entrance of Toddington when 149 was idling in the yard. beggars couldn't be choosers however and it ran successfully for about 3 years, when on the 2015 gala it suffered a flash-over of the armature, we think partially caused by a valve failure, causing the motor to unload.
On close inspection after the failure we found the excessive noise from the compressor was caused by BR not setting the backlash correctly between the motors drive pinion and the crankshaft on the compressor.
So attention was turned to 45149s original compressor, this was fully stripped down and the motor sent away to a local contractor in Gloucester for an inspection of the motor (which previously had persistently blown fuses).
Unfortunately the reason for the blown fuses was a rather knackered armature. At that point the repair bill jumped by about £1400.
The armature now needed to be rewound for the motor to be used again. The motor then had new bearings fitted and the brush gear overhauled. After some problems setting the backlash the compressor was ready to fit on 149, the compressor itself was found to be in good condition with very little wear internally, the 3 sinus valves were refurbished and a new set of gaskets were fitted.
The photo above shows the overhauled compressor being installed on 29/06/19.
The total bill for the motor came to £2300inc VAT, with the work done by a small company called ISM southwest in Gloucester. They are currently overhauling two more motors, a compressor motor from D5343 and a blower motor for 45149.