Of sump and grind
31st July 2022
...the daily grind, that is.
I rather suspect this might be a brief instalment this week. Not that I am short of time, or inspiration, but it's been one of those weeks when put coldly down on paper it doesn't seem like we've 'done' much and having filthy fingers or just too tired I haven't taken many photos to augment the dry text. But we'll see.
As I left it last week I was waiting on Premier Inn getting back to me within their '3 day window' and while that was not achieved, they have at least reverted and I have had something of a refund. Their first response was to ask for more information, and some comment on the quality of staff employed might be deduced from their first two questions (from the email)..
'-The date you was trying to make the booking.
- The last 4 digits of the card that would of been used for booking'
Grammar alert - the date you were trying... and the card that would have been used... - are the versions in English. But without further fuss they refunded the abortive booking for Tonbridge North - now to get my curtailed breakfast refund and compensation for ten minutes of Lenny Henry.
Andy H had a further holiday on Monday so an impromptu extra day took place, ticking off some other defects on the HaTramm. The speedo, that had an intermittent defect, seems to have been suffering from a bad connection in the fuseholder, but his main efforts were concentrated on the Matlock end lights, where the BMAC units (which had been robbed of some parts in Colas days) were replaced with more modern ones and tested: plans are to install a set at the Rowsley end in due course. Actually for now the new units are temporarily fixed: the originals were secured by nut and bolting through the cab outer skin and then covering over the nuts with insulation/cladding sheets, making them somewhat difficult to undo, let alone re-fixing new light assemblies. Andrew intends utilising Rivnuts to achieve a permanent solution.
As at last week we had a Ferry van sat on the trailer waiting to finish its journey to the Tanat Valley and that took place on Tuesday, Adam, back from his holiday in Jamaica, bringing it over alone as Ian was a touch unwell. I never got around to taking any pictures after we'd unloaded but here's Adam returning to the unit after sizing up where to line up to.
After that, we went up to Nantmawr to check the route and see the space available to get in and unload for a Pacer move. The TVR have a slight problem at the minute, their main line is blocked after the new owners of a small Hunslet 0-4-0 diesel there sent in a lorry with an 8ton capacity Hiab which I was told succeeded in picking it up and moving it a couple of feet sideways before putting it down rather smartly, presumably after some sort of technical problem. I'll take their word for it that it was an 8ton loco: I thought that design was nearer 10 or 12. I did suggest that we could ramp it up and deliver it instead, but apparently that suggestion had been made to the owners but not taken up.
We were due to pick up a Pacer later in the week but because of the strikes we were advised that it was 'extremely unlikely' it would be ready for collection so put the job back a week. That gave us a little more time to get the second winch ready though as usual it is getting down to the wire. With a couple of evening stints in the workshop Andrew cut and carved some surplus profiles (the new lifting links I had had made for the original Andover trailer which never got finished as Andrew decided to sell it once he'd located the King - T1) into fixings so that the winch assembly can be swapped from the second King (T2) to Adam's Doll and vice versa as required.
After one such evening as we walked around the site before locking up, we discussed once again the thorny issue of which loco to tackle first to provide an additional shunter at Darley Dale (with the comfort that if anything happened to Tom it could deputise at Rowsley). There is James that we stopped with suspected cracked cylinder head or liner. One option is to test the power unit in 144V and if OK, put that into James while a thorough cosmetic overhaul is undertaken on 144V. This would require new engine mounts as the old Metalastiks are well and truly shot on both locos, and for James would neccessitate new profiles and fabrications. An alternative to James is 2895, for which the engine mountings are part-fabricated and an engine (subject to sump change) and converter are available. Andrew contemplated putting a traditional twin-pack cooler in lieu of our more sophisticated plans for quickness in getting it going, but that would mean doing the job 'twice' which is a bummer when time seems already restricted. And finally there's the 0-6-0 Fowler, which has an engine in but would require a lot of other bits to get running. All 3 solutions have their merits and demerits and we haven't made our minds up yet.
And by the time it came to Saturday the winch was once again the main target for the day, but as we were forecast rain in the morning, we made a start putting the sump back on the engine in D1387, and as usual this did not turn out to be straightforward. When I started at Hills, we had about 10 full time fitters 'on the road' with vans and toolkits, carrying out all manner of service and repair work on locos up and down the country. (It is sobering to recall that there were still hundreds of industrial locos at work then - 1978). Not only working on our locos, but Hunslet, English Electric, Barclay, Baguley; we didn't mind (though I became aware that Service Department were somewhat reluctant to go after business on 'other people's' locos, arguing that of we didn't poach theirs they wouldn't try to poach ours: I was unconvinced that such ethics still existed).
Anyway, so far as our locos were concerned, there was a feedback from fitter to drawing office which benefitted the fix-ability of our locos. If Drawing Office designed something which made life difficult 'in the field' a burly fitter made the shortcoming known to them. This became a selling point on Vanguard locos - one such claim was that you could always get a sump off an engine in a Vanguard without taking the engine out of the loco. This memory came back forcibly as we struggled to refit the sump pan on Saturday. We had taken it off before fitting the engine into the loco, Andrew arguing that as certain repairs were needed, they could be best done in situ as the Engine Repair bay (aka Cement van) was occupied. With those repairs completed, it was time to put the sump back on but although there is a hole in the underfame beneath the engine, it is bisected by the leading axle, and no amount of pulling and pushing could get the sump up between the cross stretchers and the axle. While Andrew rested underneath, I set up a pair of Hydralites and jacked the front of the loco until the wheelsets left the rail heads, but although the sump got nearer, it still wouldn't pass through.
The sump pan itself isn't that heavy (it's aluminium) but it's heavy enough when lifting it from underneath in a confined space. The next strategy to make space was to detach the horncheck ties so that the clearance between the leading axle and cross-stretcher could be increased further by allowing the axleboxes to drop a bit out the bottom of the hornguide. This took some time but was succesful, in that the sump finally sat on top of the axle, under the engine. You might be wondering why we hadn't just lifted the engine, but you must remember that this job has been 'on the list to do' for several weeks and during that time cables, torque converter, propshaft etc have all been bolted on. As it is, even with the sump nearly in place we couldn't quite get it to go in properly and may have to detach the front end of the engine and lift slightly to give a bit more manouvering room. A Thomas Hill On Site Fitter would have given Drawing Office a right ear-full over something like this.
We broke off as the weather had improved and while Andrew welded his newly fashioned lugs to a 15mmm plate, I drained the oil from the Lister TS3, changed its filters and refilled it with fresh oil, then detached some of the old hoses taking care to catch as much oil as possible for recycling. We need to rig up a throttle control (part done) mount the winch and its control valve and sort out connecting hoses and this must be done in the next couple of days. I have also removed a couple of cables which turned out to be redundant (one to an emergency stop button and one just coiled up) as neither were connected at both ends. In doing so I opened up the control 'box' and found no less than 4 relays and 2 fuses squeezed in. I'm not sure what they all do (if indeed they all do anything) and think a bit of wire tracing and drawing up might be advisable.
Which may make today somewhat strange, but I haven't left the house. Andrew and Steph shot off first thing to collect grandson from his mother's and it being month end, I settled down to completing July invoicing, paying suppliers, plus sorting out the 'books' to go to the auditors. I was supposed to get the current records up-to-date and push the button for a VAT return but that must wait until tomorrow. With a few other miscellaneous tasks, that took up quite enough of the day. And that's it for this week. Hopefully there'll be more to recount next time - see ya then.