Of a clutch of problems.
1st October 2023
So first thing on Monday Phil arrives with his tractor and we set about getting the low loader around the back and that n.g. loco into the shed. It was an interesting exercise - for starters Phil's newer tractor is longer than his old one and its turning circle isn't much different to Adam's 8 wheeler. Then the alignment into the shed meant that the back of the trailer was right up against the scrap skip and Phil still had to shuffle into the shed to get sufficient space for tractor and neck to get clear. Finally the rails we use to make the ramp were on Adam's 4 axle trailer and we had to make the best we could with what we had, and it ended up taking a considerable amount of time. Part way through the fencing company's lorry arrived and delivered posts, bars and fixings for the palisade fence. They'd said it would be 10.30 to 11 o'clock so I kept looking anxiously - in fact he hadn't set off from the Wirrall by then so it was much later in the day. With all that achieved, the track was temporarily timbered, the level crossing gate opened and the emptied T1 set off for some more revenue-earning work. I had of course, hoped that my new winch rope would have arrived either Friday or Saturday, in which case it could have been fitted on Monday, but it didn't.
Tuesday and it was off to Telford, where a 165DS Ruston awaited a lift to Chasewater. This was an easy load for T1 and Phil was relieved to report that T1 was now behaving itself (after the attention the automatic steering it had received) and the radio control had enabled a minor alignment correction to be made on the fly. As the old winch rope did not permit it to be reeled fully off the drum, my trusty long strop was used to bring the loco to the bottom of the ramp and then the cable alone used to haul it up and on.
Over at Chasewater, Mark Sealey's LMS 5 plank open was awaiting a lift so after unloading the 165, the wagon was drawn on and Phil set off back to Rowsley, arriving about 6pm. The wagon was unloaded and Phil returned to base overnight.
Wednesday, and we were due to collect Waleswood from Chasewater but that it wouldn't be ready first thing as it had to be drained etc after its last steaming.
I got down about half-nine and was able to see everything being attended to, and a while later Phil arrived and we set up to await its transfer. In the end we were back on the road about quarter to twelve with Phil giving me an ETA of about 3pm.
Our destination was the Ribble Steam Railway, and having passed Phil a little way up the M6 I got there about half-two and had a while to look around before Phil arived about half-three after various traffic delays. Nevertheless the loco was off and we were packing up just over the hour. My trip home was marred by the engine management system on the van declaring 'Engine fault: Repair needed' and making the engine distinctly sluggish.
Thursday: Andy H arrived to make a start on the palisade fencing. You might think that this was a simple matter of start at one end and work along and Andrew and I had anticipated that Day 1 might be no more than start site clearance as the north end of the yard is a bit of a jungle. Andy H thought differently however, and opted to start getting panels up in the clearest area (actually where the b*****ds broke into the shed in July) and work north or south as we cleared ahead of him. There is a certain logic in this, not the least of which is that if we clear large swathes of undergrowth and razor wire, then the site security is entirely compromised until Andy can get the palisade up to restore it. Anyway, I took the van to Matlock in the hope that they could read the EMS at our friendly garage and when they said 'come back at 3pm' I popped back to Darley, changed the oil filter, the error message went away and I went up to Rowsley to meet Phil, as T1 would be living there for a while. The new winch rope had arrived on Tuesday, so with that in the back of the van Phil offered to assist in swapping winch ropes over. We hitched the damaged rope to the back of the tractor and although we couldn't get it to unravel manually, with the winch drum de-clutched the tractor unit pulled it straight out. When you load a winch rope you are supposed to do it with a bit of load on to keep the rope taught as it winds on for the first time. On my own at Adam's yard I couldn't do this, but in the big wide-open space of Rowsley Phil suggested we roll out the new rope, attach the hook end to my van, put the other into the drum and winch the van towards the trailer with the handbrake partially on. And of course it worked a treat, Phil occasionally adjusting the steering to keep the van heading for the trailer while I stood by the winch watching it roll on and encouraging it slightly when required. With that we made the trailer secure and Phil returned to work, leaving me to have a quick lunch and then head back to Matlock for the diagnostics to tell a mere mortal what it had decided needed attention. It had nothing to do with the oil pressure though - something to do with a turbo actuator (waste gate?). We've had a lot of trouble like this in the past on other vehicles, Andrew's first Golf as I recall. It's booked back in for a better look-see later this week.
First thing Friday I had a clinic appointment in Sheffeld and carried on from there to pick up various bits that were awaiting me. Andy H couldn't make Friday which did at least give me time to pick up a load more Postcrete without my feeling as though I was delaying him.
Saturday, and it was the Peak Rail Mixed Traffic gala. The 25 had returned during the week, and though the 08 was a no-show, HST planned a cavalcade and had been busily sorting locos into a line. I was up a little late for the team briefing (oops) and of course all the shed tracks were occupied with 25, 47 and 3 steamers so the 03 had to wait until some had come off shed before we could get over the pit for the usual checks and inspections. Adam B was my secondman and we pumped 30 litres or so of fuel to cover the weekend planned running. Unlike normal working, the plan was that loco A took a train to Matlock (Riverside), where loco B would be waiting and would be attached to the rear. Then you'd top and tail up the hill to Matlock (Platform 2). After a turn round loco B lead the train back to Riverside, where loco A detached and waited for loco C to arrive with the next passenger train whereupon you'd couple on the back, and so forth.
My duty envisaged my taking the 10.35 out of Rowsley, but as the next train south was a demo freight and would run round and depart back from Riverside, I would have a 90 minute layover before the next passenger train appeared for me to hook on to. After a second visit to Platform 2 behind the '47, that would detach at Riverside and I would take the set back to Rowsley and finish at about 2pm, giving me a few hours in the shed.
It all started off as normal, though I did feel the 03 wasn't pulling as well as I would expect, especially the last slog up to Matlock Platform 2 which I thought to be because of Cathryn on the back. With the steamer now leading, we came back down to Riverside and as quickly as possible detached from the train and waited while it departed for Rowsley. The line was now set for the Riverside headshunt and I started the loco moving.
And then it happened. I heard an unmistakable clunking from under the casings. We had lashed this loco togerher in early April and we knew it had weaknesses. One is the front drive shaft, where the flexible drive coupling is running with 7 bolts where there should be 8 (because there wasn't time to drill out and extract a sheared one) and my mind immediately assumed that this was failing, in which case I would lose drive to the compressor, exhauster, fan and charge pump.
A quick glance at the gauges showed nothing apparent there, but as I pushed the clutch control lever into the 'clutch unload' position the note changed but resumed. A torque converter problem - other than it leaked already, it came out of Cheedale years ago for that reason - had not been expected. As I neared the buffer stop I pulled the clutch control lever back into disengage but the banging continued and when I stopped the loco and then released the brake, she started off again confirming that the clutch was still driving. I shut the engine down, grabbed a carriage key and opened a casing door. On the engine flywheel housing is a tapping for a tacho sender and this opens into the clutch bell housing. Grey smoke was emerging with some speed and quantity, and more from the inspection cover which had a bolt missing. My immediate conclusion was that a clutch friction disc had broken up though with hindsight of course it didn't smell right. Either way the loco was a failure and as Mark was in charge of things at this end I went over and reported the news, causing a major scramble to re-jig which loco did what. Although initial thoughts had the 03 being towed back at the rear of a train, this was a bit impractical, and thoughts turned to leaving it there and bringing the Hatramm down as the service finished.
Adam and I hitched a ride, not so much on the cushions as in the freight train brake van, with Mark's LMS 5 plank just ahead.
Back at Darley Dale, Andrew was doing his best to entertain visitors. He has got a wisdom tooth coming through and it had been causing him discomfort for a while. Thus the dentist had removed the tooth that was in its way, but now the 'wound' in his gum had gained an infection so he was as badly off, or worse, than before. The visitors had come to collect some parts and talk about a loco repower, so my arrival enabled more tea and technical discussions before they departed. After the last train had passed heading north, we drew the token and took the Hatramm down to Riverside, where the road had been left set directly to the 03.
We hooked on, checked that the final drive was disengaged for towing, and then brought it back to Darley Dale. Had it not been raining, we might have investigated there and then, as it was we went home, cleaned up and popped down to the social at the Rowsley station.
Sunday: A late start but I was first down and despite the drizzle, went to look at the 03. Removing the inspection cover showed the clutch 'toggles' intact and nothing obviously wrong, but a closer look revealed significant witness marks where each pair of toggles had been striking something. There is another inpection hatch on the underside, so I ducked down to undo this and found diesel dripping steadily. The grey smoke was most likely vapourised diesel - there must have been a considerable amount of heat which will have finally written off the front shaft seal of the converter. In the bottom of the bell housing were several bits of metal, one of which was twisted into a grotesque shape. I'm not sure what it was but it would appear to have been part of the clutch thrust bearing. No two ways about it, this is a converter out job and the 03 will not be working any more Peak Rail trains this season.
Leaving a drum to catch the dripping diesel, Andrew arrived and spent some time welding extension pieces to the palisade posts. The 'old' posts, which came from Etches Park, are substantially thicker section than the 'new' posts, delivered last Monday, so Andrew is advocating one new, one old, alternately as the fence extends. But the old posts had been cut off at base level and require about 600mm extensions creating to bed them into the Postcrete. So some old posts have been allocated as donors and are being cut into extension sections and welded on with overlap pieces I had laser cut. With the rain temporarily eased we went out and cleared behind the shed, extracting both undergrowth and razor wire, sufficient to keep Andy H occupied for a day or so. But neither of us had much enthusiasm, being either in pain (him) or damp (me) and the day ended rather earlier than usual.
Tomorrow it's back on the road again, with another 3 locos scheduled to be moved, but I'll tell you all about that next time. See ya then.