Of things coming apart

29th January 2023

Well my apologies to all those who came on on Monday and only saw my 'delayed' message and didn't have time to try again later. You'll have two instalments to read today: suggest you have a bigger cup of coffee than usual...

In contrast to the last couple of weeks, the van has had it easy this week with less than a hundred. Andrew had me booked for Tuesday morning to go and collect a bandsaw. He had acquired it for not a lot of money through an auction and Tuesday morning there was promise of a forklift being available to load it, so Monday night I emptied out the van and put in a pallet.

First thing Tuesday I set off for the few miles to Chesterfield. The vendor was a company near the station, I think it had once cured leather (I never knew it was ill) but had foundered once, been resurrected under another name, but failed again and this time it was terminal. The building was one of those victorian brick-built affairs where windows and access doors onto the street had been bricked up at various times resulting in a hotch-potch of archways, stone lintels and layers of brick that all had developed a distinct sense of being anything but level. I was conducted through a courtyard into the bowels of this factory, my nostrils aware of pungent odours from unknown chemicals that had been used in the processes, to a half stripped-out workshop with a roof that barely cleared my head and doorways that were so low that someone had fixed thick, coarse felt to cushion the impact when you forgot to duck. A painted wooden beam across the middle that seemed to be all that has really holding up the floor above had been supported with a breeze block column that seemed new and out of character with the decaying brick walls. In the middle (almost) was my prize, a Startrite Bandsaw. Although it was not screwed to the floor (you probably couldn't have gained anything to secure it) it was still connected, via a long length of armoured 3-phase cable p-clipped to that wooden beam and down to a socket adjacent. The clip' screws gave little resistance and it was soon detached, and my escort went off in search of a trolley and more muscle.

The muscle, in the shape of a silent youth, was at least able to enter through the door, but the trolley proved too wide. The band saw too was too tall and anyway, walking it through might have been difficult, so we were forced for expediency to lower it onto its back and drag it through the doorway to the yard outside. Here I was sent to collect my pallet (the van was parked out on the street) and we manhandled it on, positioned it half way and abandoning the trolley, lifted it with a machine akin to both a forklift and a telehandler. I was sent to get the van, and reverse it in through another gateway nearer to where we now were, and it was duly slid into the back.

While I carefully applied straps to secure it, some very well-dressed people had been shown around the premises and were now getting conducted to the Board room for further discussion. I got the feeling they were council officials, perhaps looking to see whether this building complex could be turned into something of value to the community - another Kelham Island museum perhaps or an Industrial hamlet like that at Abbeydale.

It was a day or two before we had time to get the van emptied, and even then, it has yet to be found a more permanent home in the Geoffrey Briddon Building and for now resides on its pallet.

Two years ago we were completing Claire and as the Hudswell door locks/handles were truly worn out we replaced them using a large budget lock manufactured by - well let's call it company A. (a conventional door mechanism might have been better but we had added a draught seal around the door and the dimensions didn't really suit anything else). I had dealt with A in YEC days ao enquired direct and was told to go to their stockists, which included company 'B' which I had also once dealt with but then had been a competitor. But B replied that they don't stock these items and A's minimum order quanitity was 50 - and as that was right hand and left hand that would have meant ordering 50 of each, or about £900's worth at 2021 prices. I returned to A, pointed this out and they agreed to supply me direct after all. So wind the clock forward and I am after 2 more, and email A with a request to quote me for suggest a 'reliable' stockist. Again I get the ' go to our stockists, we recommend B' reply so I again emailed B plus another stockist nearer to us at Huthwaite. The two replies came back next day, saying they don't stock them, that A's MoQ is about 50 and do I want to order that many? I might stretch to 4 (after all Grace awaits attention outside) but went back to A pointing out that the stockist they themselves recommended aren't prepared to supply unless I order 50 of each and another says the same. I am awaiting their response.

Although we had no loco moves this week (giving Adam time to carry out a couple of repairs on my trailer) a large amount of work is coming up and the 4-axle version has been much on our minds. Although we have bought some 113 lb FB from Peak Rail in the short term the 75lb material must suffice together with temporary arrangements to get it into traffic. This requires getting another donkey engine into operation and although we have several Listers in various states of completeness, we haven't the time to rebuild one properly so Andrew bid on some on another auction in the hope that we'd pick up something runable that'll get us by for now.

Thus he won a pallet with two Listers on, each with electric starters and the rear mounting to suit hydraulic pumps. I have to go up this week and collect them.

The weekend came around and Andy M was back and as always welcome. My Andrew first thing though headed off to Adam's to make a through examination of the 4 axle trailer (hereinafter refered to as T2 with the 3-axle as T1) and ascertain what was needed, from a couple of new airbags to a wiring fault that puts sidelights on when it shouldn't. Meanwhile I set Andy on firstly to rejoint the bottom rad conection on RS8 while I went back to the Hudswell and attempted to finish the installation of the diesel heater. Another length of exhaust pipe had arrived during the week which permitted me to extend the rather measly original up into the exhaust stack in front of the cab where it can share space with the main engine's.

That then left me with the wiring, and first to place the control panel. This turned out to come with a clip-on backing piece with provision for two screws to secure it which were probably meant to be M2.5 but as we don't get out of bed for anything less than M3 I tapped two holes in the cab front that size and put it there. After plugging everything together and bringing the feed wires up to the desk in a little conduit, I pulled on the Battery Master switch and the battery terminals fizzled, so I banged it off again.

Thus distracted, I disconnected the +ve cable at thestarter and tried again, this time without sound or visual effects at the batteries. With a meter I soon found that the feed to the starter from the contactor was live and in turn that the contactor coil was live, neither of which should have been. But the contactor coil was fed from an adjacent slave relay and I had accidentally wired this to the normally closed contact rather than the normally open! Fortunately as none of the battery terminals were tight the accumulated high res joints had stopped anything too serious occurring.

Meanwhile Andy having finished the joint and refilled RS8 with anti-freeze mix, made a start on the 03 which had been shunted in late Friday for investigation. It required disconnection of the transmission from the engine, draining of oils, etc and dismantling of casing bolts ready for to be  lifted. Andrew got back during the afternoon and cracked on with other tasks plus assisting Andy where required. With the mystery of the starter solved (but not corrected) I returned to the diesel heater and admired the colourful screen with its undecipherable symbols. At this point you should be able to refer to a comprehensive, simply worded manual that will take you step by step through the setting up process but this is a Chinese device, the manual's cover shows a completely different machine (although the illustrations inside are the same as mine) and further on illustrates 4 different control panels none of which are what they've supplied.

And then there's what they believe is English. Whether translated from its native form by human, computer or Joda it fails in one essential attribute - it makes no sense at all. I got the fan to run and that was it.

Sunday: I had left correcting the starter motor slave relay to a fresh start so that was first job, after which it was all boxed up again safely.

Andy was back on the 03 and not far off finished, and TonyS arrived to continue work on his railcar. I showed him the incomprehensible manual. He got out his phone and put out a question on a forum of narrowboat owners he belongs to. Within a couple of hours he had 2 responses, one depressing me by saying that this product had been subject to a recall (had I wasted my money?) and a second to say that the recall had been to do with the appalling manual, but the heater itself was excellent and there was a 3 part tutorial on You-tube that would take me through setting up.

Thus reassured I had to break off anyway as Andrew wanted to shunt everything outside so that we could split the 03 and Tony could have another try with the railcar.

The 03 returned from Midsomer some months ago after it suddenly stopped. Was it the Cummins engine or the transmission? Normally you can find out because the clutch between the engine and the converter enables them to be separated mechanically. I had an instance once about 25 years ago with a Sentinel 0-6-0 where you could start the engine but as soon as you put the clutch in it stopped dead: the converter had seized solid. But the 03 has a Twin Disc transmission where the converter is mounted to the flywheel without any clutch, and a 2-speed powershift behind it disengages for starting or reversing. Thus if the converter seizes for any reason it prevents the engine from turning and you cannot tell which is at fault.

Added to that, when I laid out the engine, transmission and all the sundries I ended up with part of the Twin Disc directly under the fuel tank. (Actually on an 03 even the throttle linkage goes through the fuel tank in a tube.) So that must come out before you can get a straight lift on the Twin Disc. So off came the casing top pieces, then the fuel tank, and finally the Twin Disc lump was slid back from the engine and lifted clear. The engine is free to turn: the converter however is almost immovable.

The fuel tank and casing tops were refitted loosely for now while options are evaluated. Tony meanwhile had been struggling with the Perkins 4.236. He had found videos (you tube?) which showed his engine had a flame start, i.e. a heating coll in the air intake with a diesel connection that heated up sufficiently to ignite the diesel which should then get drawn into the cylinders to aid the start of combustion. But evidence suggested that this took 20-30 seconds to heat up sufficiently to do its thing, yet the railcar wiring only had it activated at cranking, although there was provision in the start switch for a 'heating' position before going on to crank.

He laid in an additional wire so that it could be pre-heated before cranking but once again, although it would fire a time or two on ether, it would not condescend to run on its own. Experts on 4.236s please step forward. As darkness began to draw in, we pushed everything back in and reflected on a day of progress and frustration over tea and Jaffa cakes.

So this week I am back out with T1 for several days so the mileage will rack up once again. What am I moving? - actually I'm not entirely sure, so you'll have to come back next week and hope I've remembered to get a picture of everything. See ya then.