The Railcar Association News Bulletin

ISSUE 163 January 2021 EDITORIAL — Chris Walker UPDATE 2nd GEN

As 2020 comes to a close, I never TRA Scheme to assist owners of ‘’ vehicles: cease to be amazed at the high stand- A TRA initiative, designed to assist the introduction of ‘Pacer’ trains to UK her- ards and dedication of the people who itage railways is making good progress. restore, maintain and operate these 60 Representatives of all the railways and groups which have ‘Pacers’ have been ish year old vehicles. The pictures that contacted and all have joined the initiative, and the io group that has been have been bandied around on email or formed to support it. Driver’s and Conductor’s model training manuals have social media show the work that has already been written and made available, along with some technical infor- gone and continues to go on. I wonder mation, such as wiring diagrams. how many of us have better survived A ‘Model’ Vehicle Maintenance Scheme is being produced, which is specially the lock downs because of the distrac- tailored to the requirements of heritage railways, and takes account of non- tions of for example lying on the ballast mainline circumstances such as vehicles which have long periods out of use, under a power car trying to remove an and the lower mileages covered by preserved units. This is currently out to exhauster? consultation with several of the more experienced, or qualified, members of As the number of second generation the scheme. units in preservation grows I wonder The scheme, which is called ‘2nd’Gen, follows the TRA’s established ‘1st- how different it will be compared to the Gen’ Model Maintenance Scheme for older-style DMUs and which has been way the pioneers in the 1st Generation successfully used by heritage railways for almost 20 years and which sets out world did it? It works because people to establish best practice amongst owning groups. are prepared to share information and To participate in the scheme join the group [email protected] . advice. People donate time and money, no doubt for a multitude of reasons why — for me it started on a fateful day when I was admiring a pair of 108’s and 144003 at Ruddington a voice said “I’ll give you a paintbrush if Fields on the GCRN on you like” 3/10/20 Phil Stanway

NEWS Llangollen Railway: Since our last update, all remaining dia- Colne Valley Railway: grams for 2020 were cancelled, with the In early November Pressed Steel Herit- Welsh firebreak and then the English age based at the Colne Valley Railway lockdown. purchased class 117 vehicles 51382 2021's running has now been pushed and 51339 that had been based at the back to Easter (so far); the current plan East Lancs Railway. for the 2021 timetable still has a decent The vehicles were purchased to sup- amount of railcar work, though what will port social distancing of train services actually turn out remains to be seen. on the Colne Valley and also to allow Only 46 unit turns were covered, mainly work to be carried out on the bubble car by the 104 and Wickham, compared 55033 over the coming year. The vehi- cles had a wash and a brush up and with 150 the year before. (counting a 6- were put into service on Santa trains on car formation as 3 'unit turns') the weekend of the 12th and 13th of 51382/55033 above, December. We were lucky enough to 55033/51339 below. Martin Smith News: run the two car and bubble car on the The railway made limited use of its Sunday with the railway running a two Class 101 set for the February and Oc- train DMU service that it has not seen tober half term weeks but compared for many years. Unfortunately the area with 2019 levels the pandemic has dec- was placed into Tier 4 restrictions and imated diesel running on the railway in the railway had to cancel further Santa train services on advice from the local general. It has been clear that pre- authority. Whilst it is not planned to do booked steam-hauled compartments any significant work to the 117’s over have been what is needed for the rail- the coming year we will look to ensure way to survive. With a mainly all-steam that all roof leaks are attended to and timetable and many staff also on fur- will reinstate the 4 character headcode lough there has been little maintenance boxes to at least one of the vehicles. or improvements made on the Class Work will hopefully then turn to a re- paint of the bubble car from the spring 101 vehicles. For 2021, nobody has a of 2021. crystal ball, but likely similar to 2020 : DMU Group West Midlands: 2-car set M51914 and M56492 operat- 9/12/20 sees 51914 and 56492 A two-car power twinset; 52064/50933 ed the last services of the delayed main approaching Norchard has been used on staff train services season, on Wednesday 4th November. Chris Walker for the days in December 2020. When In addition, this unit worked the first Santa steam hauled trains have run to ever DMU ‘Santa Special’ service at the Arley via Bewdley and back to Kidder- DFR on Wednesday 9th December. minster. Then the twinset stabled at Kidderminster carriage sidings until re- The group continued to be busy main- quired for collecting staff from Arley and taining our vehicles in addition to pre- Bewdley and return to Kidderminster paring a replacement engine and final later in the day. drive for fitting on M51566. Unfortunate- ly, some of our spare drives have been found to be in a poor condition, but one was eventually identified and inspected

With spares availability important to keep our 60-year-old DMU vehicles running, we purchased Class 108 DMCL vehicles W50632 and W52044 from the Gwent DMU Group.

The vehicles were located at Furnace Sidings at Blaenavon and as part of the transport move both vehicles went via the Wheel Lathe at Great Western 52064 at Bewdley on 12/12/20 Trains depot in St Philips, Bristol for Mark Miller tyre turning. On 23 December both ve- hicles were tripped from DFR Lydney Junction to Norchard using 08769. It is planned that 52044 will be stripped for component recovery and then 56492 at Norchard on 9/12/20 scrapped. 50632 will initially be used for Chris Walker storage whilst its’ future is decided. Keith and Dufftown Railway: 144022 new to Neville Hill Leeds in 1987. WYPTE owned and sold to Por- terbrook Leasing in the privatisation era. In June 2019 a request was made to Porterbrook Leasing regarding acquir- ing 144022 for preservation upon re- lease from mainline use. With Covid 19 taking affect and Northern having no W55003, W51339 and W51382 during further use it was stored at the Keighley a “pressed steel” shunt at the Colne and Worth Valley Railway until Septem- Valley Railway on 21/11/20 Neil Bunt ber 2020 when it was moved under its own power to Worksop for onward 144022 Stephen Batty transport to Dufftown. Many other groups announced their acquisitions this year and had some delivered before 144022,but technically this unit was the first to be secured but not delivered first. Congratulations to all the new owners. Overall 144022 was in excellent condition apart from needing It will be a day that after such a long a good scrub and sterilisation by the wait for it to finally take place will ben- Keith and Dufftown Railway staff after efit in the long term. they had a test run over the full line. As 2020 is now coming to the end of Everyone behind the Dufftown line was an awful year, all we can do is hope very impressed and happy on how 2021 will be a much better one for smooth the ride was for them and those who keep these railways run- grateful for something that is a valuable ning, will be vandal free and be an ex- asset as a railway but, the same as perience for us the public to enjoy and many railways, have not been able to for the next generation to eventually greet their visitors due to the pandemic. maintain and look after. RESTORATION NEWS and is now 95% complete with the desk DMU Group West Midlands: populated with the controls and instru- The line’s Class 108 set is currently in Maintenance work planned for early ments. Elsewhere on the interior the the Wolsingham workshops. DMBS 2021 will be tracking down why an en- middle saloon floor was found to be 50980 has had one of its gearboxes reconditioned and has had repairs to gine on 50933 will not stop, when the rotten so has been removed and fully one final drive where the piston sleeve stop button is pressed from the cab replaced. Underneath the vehicle, the had split. A new one has been ma- panel. It stops immediately from the original plan to re-wire the vehicle in chined and fitted. Both this car and local stop. Group member Pete Finch stages starting with the cab was dis- DMCL 52054 have had updated air/axle has repaired an air dirt trap that was carded, the unexpected shed space panels fitted and both have had their leaking at the lid. He obtained a new being used instead to tackle the rewire roofs sanded down to bare metal, with rivets replaced prior to repainting. In- Helicoil set before Christmas, and suc- in one go. It is now completed which side all the seats are being removed cessfully repaired the item and fitted it represents a massive milestone for the and repainted and new floor covering to 51941. The group has obtained an- vehicle. As if this wasn't enough, in be- fitted. other similar trap from our friends at the tween lockdowns some useful socially Class 122 55012 is due in the work- Dean Forest DMU Group. This came distanced volunteer help enabled the shop after Christmas for engine and from salvaged parts when the DFR underside of the floor and main under- guard’s van floor repairs. scrapped a class 115 many years ago. frame sections to be needle gunned, inspected and fully repainted. This pro- North Norfolk Railway cess was completed in between the The restoration of Class 104 56182 at bogies in 2018 but the presence of the the North Norfolk Railway has been a latter prevented the rest of the vehicle refreshing antidote to the story of the being treated. With the bogies removed operational Class 101's lying out of use completion of this, also very large, task for the summer. The continued spare has been achieved. capacity in the works, created by the furloughed restoration teams, has been gainfully employed with 56182 remain- ing in the shed for an additional two 56182 floor (right) Chris Moxon months since the last update. In this time the cab has been reassembled Strathspey Railway, Blue Square We also took the opportunity to put anti- Midland Railway Group: freeze into the radiators. I took her for a Work has started to exchange parts With the easing of Covid restrictions a trundle about the yard a couple of times between recently-arrived 142013 and small bit of work has finally taken place to work the coolant through and she parts donor 142011, with many compo- nents from the interiors swapped be- on the unit. She has not run passenger fired up first time. Fire detection was service since the Strathspey Railway's tween the two sets. fine and she held good air and vacuum, 141113 has had new wooden step ex- February DMU services! Firstly, we she drove remarkably well I must admit. tensions fitted all round, which have were grateful to the railway's C&W De- We have a video of her in the yard on had to be specially machined. partment which offered to plug a our Facebook page ww.facebook.com/ Class 108 DMBS 51907 has had a re- charger into the power cars in the BlueSquareHeritage/ not a "full" run but placement air/axle panel following the spring. We have new batteries in both a bit of footage of a DMU on the move failure of some LEDs. cars so neither took much charge. As in 2020 nonetheless! per the November bulletin, one of our volunteers also paid a visit in Septem- Work has also progressed on staining ber to give her a quick look over and the new interior of Sc59511 (see pho- fire her up, again thanks go to the to). One of our team has been turning Strathspey Railway who let one of their up himself to work away at this. We DMU passed drivers (who lives locally) would have liked to have the centre car take her on a very slow trundle around ready for 2021 but this is now looking the yard. At last, on the weekend of unlikely. We've also been told that the 16th - 18th October we were able to railway's Board has decided not to run assemble a small team of three to un- any February DMU services in 2021, dertake a full A-Exam. This was our which is disappointing but not unex- much-delayed ORR post-lockdown pected but we hope to get a small team maintenance check. All 4 gearboxes over do work on the (it seems never took a bit of oil as well but the engines decreasing) "jobs to do" list, once we're were fine as they were topped up in allowed to reconvene again. September and the right-angle drives were all fine. Sc59511 staining (right) Iain Robertson Dean Forest Railway: M51560 Denbigh: Work has continued on preparing a re- A two character headcode mechanism placement Final Drive wheelset and No 50632 at Norchard on 26/12/20 has been adapted from an ex class 304 1 engine for 51566, now on Jacks. Nigel Benning four character box, and a new door fab- Examination of a long stored bogie un- ricated for the destination blind box. covered a wheelset with what must have been a noisy failure with the end nut over the axle bearing unscrewing and wearing the cover plate away.

How it should have looked Chris W

52044 at Lydney Junction on Both pictures above 23/12/20 Nigel Benning Richard Thornton Mendip T&RS Group, Cranmore. 51909s defective Smiths heater was found to have lost its Overheat stat, a L231—work continues on refurbishing replacement has been fitted and it now 51909s cab interior after its structural works perfectly. While the heater was repairs, wiring modifications and up- off we took the opportunity to rebuild grades have been carried out on both the underframe ducting which had been vehicles with redundant cables largely ‘temporarily’ held together for years – removed and new, simplified ones add- the sections were cleaned and straight- ed – 51909 is now fully functional again ened with old rivets drilled out and new with the desk having had a new lami- ones fitted – needless to say the large nate top and new Traffolyte panels fit- rigid section was much harder to refit ted, all controls have been wired back than the rather flexible parts we re- in and tested successfully. moved!

The two cars were coupled cab to cab A minor earth fault on 51909 was finally for the first time in at least 10 years to traced to a non insulated crimp on the test the multi working before being re- No.2 engine stop solenoid which ap- formed the right way round and tested peared to be tracking – this has now again – all performed as intended which been replaced with a nice insulated one was a relief considering how invasive curing what was presumably a BR the rebuild work has been. bodge many years ago...

New panelling has been cut and fitted Thanks to the collective order for brake Refurbished cab of 56182 at the along with a new back panel mount for blocks we now have a set to install North Norfolk Railway Chris Moxon the air / axle panel, demister ducting once our attention turns to underframe has been renewed where the old hoses work before we (hopefully!) start run- had rotten. ning at Easter... The internal roof dome was stripped to bare fibreglass before being refitted then primed and glossed, fitment of trims and varnishing / painting contin- ues as time and weather allow. Con- trols and instruments have all had a coat of paint. Renaissance Railcars, RAILCAR OF THE YEAR 2020 Loughborough: DTCL 56342 in Rothley shed for a short This time congratulations are due to the Mendip Traction and Rolling Christmas holiday stay to enable steel- Stock Group at the who have won the award for work repairs to the gangway area. their two car L231 set of DMBS M51909 and DTCL M56271

Full details will appear in due course on the Railcar website at: http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/RailcarAward2020.html

Photo courtesy of Mendip Traction and Rolling Stock

Recently arrived 55009 now with #2 engine exhaust fitted. Mechanical and electrical systems have been progres- sively bought back to life. MOVEMENTS NEW VEHICLES INTO FOR SALE/WANTED PRESERVATION Class 117 51352/51376 moved Long Wanted: BR Plastic roof ventilator grills Marston to South Devon in November 144004 to Aln Valley in December as fitted to the ceilings of some classes 144016 to Aln Valley in December of DMU/EMU & loco hauled coaching Class 117 51339/51382 moved to 144018 to Mid Norfolk in December stock - 10 required. Colne Valley in November 3-car sets 144014, 019 & 023 were Please note there are two sizes: small transferred to Vintage Trains at Tyseley and large. The small type are approx. Class 117 51370/51412 moved from in December, but we do not recognise 6" diameter, more common and typical- Whitwell & Reepham to Mid Norfolk in these as being preserved despite Vin- ly found in compartments and guards November tage Trains' obvious strong association vans. The larger versions are from pas- with heritage. This is because the 144's senger saloons and are approx. 12" Class 108 52044/50632 from Pontypool are owned by a Train Operating Com- diameter. It is the LARGE versions that & Blaenavon to Dean Forest in Decem- pany with a declared intention for their are required. ber—does this mean that the Dean For- mainline careers to be extended. Nev- est Railway now has the largest num- ertheless they have been "saved from ber of 108’s on one railway? the scrapman" and remain extent.

VEHICLES SCRAPPED

Class 104 50556 was scrapped at the in December. The stripping had been ongoing for six months but just before Christmas the final sections of frames were cut through and disposed of, marking 50556's official ceasing to be! It is the Willing to pay £10-£20 each as, whilst first Class 104 to be scrapped since the made of plastic and of no value outside last mainline examples were cut in De- of preservation, they appear to be quite cember 1995 - exactly a quarter of a rare now! Contact Chris Moxon at christopher- century ago. [email protected] TIME TRAVELLER SUBMISSIONS Hopefully the contents of this bulletin was both interesting and informative. If you know anyone who could provide similar material found in this issue please make yourself or them known to [email protected]

The following types of submission would be most welcome: · Photographs of vehicles in service · Restoration articles · Reports on special events 101685 at Betws Y Coed in 101677 and one other at Llandudno 1999 Chris Bull Junction in 1999 Chris Bull · Articles on DMU history · Recollections of DMUs on the national network.

Feel free to send submissions at any time to [email protected] but no later than February 28th for Issue 164 (due out in March).

101680 at Blaenau Ffestiniog 101685 at Llandudno Junction in 1999 Chris Bull in 1999 Chris Bull

GALLERY

144003 at Ruddington on the GCRN, 3/10/20 (Phil Stanway)

51213 at Chappel 12/12/20 (Chris Moxon)

51950 and 144013 at Telford 11/12/20 (Ben Hopkinson) 51914/56492 meets new at Parkend, 9/12/20 (Alan Pace) 50632 on the wheel lathe at St Philips Marsh, Bristol Chris Walker