Thursday 12th and Friday 13th January 2012, C & W Works, Bury

Thursday 12th January 2012
Attendance: 2

Chris & Alan were on site today to progress outstanding jobs further. Alan was busy brake testing and timing, to ensure correct set up with proportionality and also stand up tests were within spec.

Chris got down to fixing the copex which carries the battery box link cable to B end cab bulkhead. Once done he then moved on to connecting up the firepull system with some new cable clamps. Next task was to P clip and secure newly installed pipework, some of which was very awkward in places!

To finish the day off, once the C & W works was empty of people, D9531 was started for a short while to prove a new modification to the start circuit and also a delay timer on the compressor.

The mod to the start circuit allows the loco to be cold started from the cab, removing the need for drivers to go onto the running board and hold the ROPS & SOPS (Running oil pressure & starting oil pressure) switches so the starter will crank the engine until it fires.

With this done Alan had to depart, so Chris carried on P clipping 8mm pipes within the brake frame, but soon ran out of P clips! With this he called it a day.

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Friday 13th January 2012
Attendance: 2

Chris Baily started the day priming some bare metal bits that had been left on the brake frame, quite fiddly working in the confined spaces and hard to gain access to some areas.

Next job was to change the oil in the air compressor to the correct type. Using a car engine drain tray and a make shift scoop, the oil drained out ok although it proved tricky to thread the loaded tray out through the small gaps available without spilling the oil! With the old oil drained, the bung was refitted and the compressor filled with the correct oil type.

After an early lunch, Chris set about cleaning down and hoovering out B end compartment - the recent brazing and drilling work has lead to a build up of left over debris and swarf.

A hoover was employed to suck up the loose stuff then, using a stiff brush, more dirt and debris was released and hoovered up. Finally a blast with some brake cleaner to wash the area down followed by a good wipe round. As with most jobs now, gaining access to all the nooks and crannies is rather tricky with the buildup of pipework and brackets.

Whilst Chris B was cleaning, Chris Tatton arrived to lend a hand and made progress painting all the newly installed pipes with white hammerite smoothrite, quite a time consuming job with access rather restricted in some places.

Cleaning complete, Chris B then went round the loco to ensure that it was fit for movement the following day and removed items from the running boards and roof areas.

The two Chris's spent the remainder of the afternoon painting the air pipework and with the majority finished, they both called it a day just after 5pm and packed away the tools and equipment.