Of contractual reasons
5th May 2024
Sorry, maybe not as interesting as last week, but still...
This week has not gone anything like the way I expected. For one thing, a little before midnight (Sunday), just after I'd finished writing this blog, I'd fired off a text to someone, not expecting an answer there and then but hopefully first thing Monday morning. That morning though, when I checked my phone. the text was still 'pending' and my phone was declaring 'Emergency calls only'. You may recall that a few weeks ago I had the same thing over at Llanfair Caereinion and had no connection until, late in the afternoon, when I set off and got to Welshpool. This morning wore on and to my dismay it wasn't rapidly corrected. Some time ago we installed an alarm system at the shed which is linked to a 'rival' network who welcomed me as a new customer with a free SIM card to pass to a friend in return for a small reward. I had held on to this (some may say because I haven't any friends..) and almost used it earlier - I cannot, for contractual reasons, port my number (which I have retained for over 25 years) to this alternate network but as my phone will accept 2 SIM cards I put it in and within minutes had a 'reserve' number (which I am adding to email sign-offs) and will retain as a back-up. And since the new network has sent me another free SIM for signing up with them I am back where I started. Oh, and the service on the first network was restored at about 1pm, so had been 'off' for over 13 hours: no apology...
Meanwhile I had an email in from a customer to whom I was supposed to deliver a loco on Wednesday. I was going to have to ring them up and postpone it anyway because we hadn't been able to get the routes approved in time but their email told me that they were going to have to postpone for 'contractual reasons' and when I spoke with them, they referred me to another customer (for whom I had originally quoted the job) to be told it was all because the loco wasn't where it was supposed to be. (There's rather more to it than that, which is where it got contractual!) That left me with two wagon moves planned for Thursday and Friday, but issues over availability of drivers and p/way maintenance got that deferred too. I can't say that I was especially unhappy about this. I had month end, a VAT quarter to report to HMRC, manuals to write, drawings to produce, further work to quote for - plenty to keep me occupied at or around home.
The Hatramm had a trip up to Rowsley and collected the newly redundant rails, winches and power packs from T1 and brought them back to Darley Dale, and Andrew announced that if I was free Wednesday afternoon could I oversee the arrival of another piece of kit? For he had been watching out on a Ramco tender and noticed a solitary piece of rail equipment. He wasn't alone in spotting this, a senior executive of the Rail Trolley Trust had noticed it and after discussion, Andrew offered a 50% donation against the purchase price in return for the vehicle coming on loan to Darley Dale.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the regular driver from our nearby haulage company arrived in their 73 reg HIAB fitted 8 wheeler from Skegness bearing the said trolley and lowered it gently onto the driveway. It was apparent it was a functional weedkilling contraption installed on to a Baguley-built trailer as supplied to go with the railcars that Baguley Drewry had built: not unlike the one sitting inside the shed.
Under the blue sheet at the end away from the spray boom was a Honda engine and pump, in front of two top quality comfort seats with a handbrake lever in between. Being through Ramco and obviously of MoD origin, it was most likely ex-MoD and later in the week I got the story. It had been converted at Bicester but having been used once or perhaps twice, 'Elf & Safety had vetoed its use on the grounds that there was 'no protection' for the operators against spray landing on them. This is somewhat bemusing, since the spray boom is at the opposite end of the vehicle, so 3m away from the operators, the spray nozzles face down, the weedkiling solution is heavier than air (yes fine droplets will fly a bit but the direction is down) and as you would tow the vehicle with the spray at the rear (so you're moving away from the fresh spray, not into it) - it does seem a little 'jobs-worth'. OK, if you are moving along spraying at 5mph and the wind is blowing your way at 10mph it might be a problem, but even the First World War combatants worked out that if you launch a gas attack you don't do it on a day when the wind will blow it all back at you. Besides, it doesn't seem beyond the wit of man to add some spray shields to mitigate the issue.
But the MoD's loss is seemingly our gain though it will require a couple of minor alterations - notably that the tank and all the acroutrements are mounted to 4 pillars which in turn are welded to floor plates - but the floor plates selected are barely 2mm thick and require discrete strengthening.
Thursday morning I had to be up early and down to meet a scrap skip lorry which proceeded to uplift a full skip, leave us an empty one and was away within 15 minutes, but later that morning, as I took the van down to the garage to replace what I thought was yet another defective front nearside wheelbearing, the transport department of the scrap metal company rang me up to complain that their lorry was outside and there was no-one there. Had they sent another one by mistake? I pointed out he had been and gone by 07.20 and that was over an hour ago. It eventually became apparent the lorry was sat outside Barrow Hill and the firm who had seemingly yet to open up was a certain well-known loco hirer.
Oh, and that bearing? To my surprise it wasn't 'yet another' front nearside bearing that had failed but the offside that had given up. Good in some respects, but not in others as it was then no longer a warranty issue!
Saturday and Andrew arrived with Will and the dog. The crane was fired up to reposition the fresh scrap skip and insert into it another lump of about 2 tons to stop if blowing away. The weedkilling trailer was for now put on top of T2 (such are the space constraints within the DD yard, especially when the trailer does not have normal buffers and drawgear) where it can be seen as an 'item of interest' for passing trains. Much time was spent educating Will in the art of dismantling one of the two Lister TS2s and watching over/playing with the dog. Andrew plans to install a TS2 on to T2 for its winch, etc and dispose of one or two of the older, smaller Listers in stock.
After the last train had gone by, the blockman kindly came down and operated the lever frame for us - Pluto was put on to the main line so that the other locos on 3A, propelled by the Hatramm, could move past after which Pluto re-entered the yard. After a bit of time shifting the Terrypicker, Pluto came inside, probably its first time under cover for over 5 years, with a view to getting its brake gear sorted and applying some paint to the expanses of rust.
Sunday and I was joined by Tony S who spent most of the day under his Baguley railcar fitting brake blocks and removing fuel pipework that may have been damaged when the railcar derailed back at Longtown, which bent an axle and was sufficient for it to be withdrawn and disposed of. Might this be the cause of the inability of the Perkins engine to deliver fuel to its injectors? Time will tell, but not today. For myself, I set up my little computer and went through the software for the Alstom loco, finding several anomalies one of which might be the reason why it was refusing to allow me to engage the clutch, but when I reloaded the PLC and started it up the loco proceeded to create another fault which it hadn't done last time and prevented me getting as far. I shall return to that shortly.
But for now, having got month end and VAT Return out the way I must get back to those manuals and quotes and maybe, just maybe, get some of those mods on T1 sorted while things are quiet. But it could all change. Contractual issues might suddenly go away and so might I. Return next week to find out. See ya then.