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pheaton

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  1. pheaton
    Dave the welder has run out of big bits to weld.....
     
    We are now at the stage of where we now have lots and lots and lots of fiddly small parts that need to be sorted out, and if you watch something like car SOS this is where the time gets eaten up.....
     

     
    The drivers side window getting much attention after more rot was found in the corner, the lower window frame and shelf have been replaced with metal.
     
     
     
    Another view of the shelf, some quite complex fabrication was required to recreate this.
     

     
    towards the side the shelf has to curve in correctly
     

     
    Awaiting final cutting the whole area of new metal is etched primed to protect it from corrosion.
     

     
    There have also been significant issues found with the door frames and at no1 end the corrosion was so bad it would have prevented proper fitment of the doors, so it has been cut away and replaced with fresh steel. The steel here is 6mm thick so it can be tapped to hold the hinge bolts for the cab doors.
     

     
    Similarly on the other side the door frame was completely rotten its and the cab grab rail recess have been replaced with new steel.
     

     
    below that the door threshold has been replaced and this will form part of the outer skin of the locomotive. this is prior to having the side skirt fitted.
     

     
    on the other side the side skirt has been bent to shape and fitted giving an idea of how things are being achieved, towards the front original side skirt deemed suitable for re-use has been re-attached, it awaits final welding to close up the join, you cant weld too much too quickly as during welding the metal expands and distorts. the cab grabrail recess base awaits cutting and replacing.
     
    the drivers side getting the same treatment, as you can see, if you don't protect the steel with primer...it very very quickly starts to rust.
     

     
     
    At no2 end the cab desk refurbishment is underway we see the absolute rats nest of pipe work below the desk, the cab desk has been removed as the Formica is life expired, and needs replacing.
     
     

     
    the Formica has been removed (it didn't take much effort) and this leaves behind the contact adhesive we can see the aluminium desk is pretty badly butchered with years of modifications evident. a solvent has been applied to "clean" the old glue off.
     

     
    the desk has been re-covered with tufnol, which is similar to formica but a lot cheaper and less brittle, the only problem is, that its more susceptible to scratches, and isn't as hard wearing as Formica, the desk is being trial fitted, to determine its correct position.
     

     
    the desk in its final position with the fittings attached, the instrument panel will be thoroughly cleaned, and the gauges given a good clean as well after years of dirt ingress, the gauges themselves were comprehensively overhauled, by a group member many years ago and as a result need no attention and are in perfect working order. The brass plunger behind the locomotive air brake is the brake overcharge valve, as 26s had a yellow band FV4 (valve on the left) they didn't overcharge the brake valve in the release position.
     

     
    Back to the exterior....the part we have been really dreading is the front skirts...they are an extremely complicated part of the bodywork and many discussions have been had with other 26 owners on ways to fabricate these correctly.... the one problem we do have is none of us have legible original drawings....so we are going to have to compromise.
     
    the skirt itself is a is a curve on 3 planes....and this is something a skilled panel beater could probably achieve with an incredible amount of time....on an English wheel, but the labour costs quoted would be in the region of 5 to 6k per end.
     
    Another way of creating it would be with press, but we would need to create the tooling....which for such a limited amount of panels required wouldn't be viable.
     
    the way you see above is actually the way BRCW created them individual sections profiled to create the curve along the base and the front to the middle.....but since we don't have the drawings...and neither do the NRM...we will have to use our gut.....and go with what we think looks right from photos....but every other 26 has the same issue....none of them are the original front skirt....they were all repaired and bodged over the years.
     
    above we have the plates tack welded into place...to do some trial and error....fitting
     

     
    after we were happy with the result....they were finally welded....
     
     
     

     
    the welds ground and primed...
     

     
    the process completed for the other side.....
     

     
    and finally the front.....is complete.... the windows have been cut to roughly the correct shape, no doubt some work will be required when the screens go back in, there is also some remedial work needed to the "eyebrows" as well. only 15% of the steel in the whole front end of the locomotive is original steel!
     

     
    the original front end.....nice paint....but its hiding a lot of issues....
     
     
     
     
    the July gala approaches......time is of the essence.. and an old friend is coming back....and there's only one thing better than one 26..........
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  2. pheaton
    We start where we left off...
     

     
    Work has started to re-instate the metal strip which attaches the dome to the cab, the dome itself has been filled smoothed and flatted and given an initial coat of grey primer, the rough join will be hidden by aluminium trim....eventually.
     

     
    The strip now extends above the drivers windscreen.
     

     
    Over the past few years we have grown quite attached to rust and we were worried we were running out.....as a result we thought we would have a poke around the drivers cab-side window top to see if we could find some more and we were not disappointed! we see the corrosion has cracked the top steel right through, something is going on here and like everything we need to figure out what it is...
     

     
    After removal of the corner external pillar we get a better idea!!! water has been collecting in the corner and running down the inside of the pillar to the base...where things are pretty damn ugly....in fact the base is not actually attached the body lower so the entire corner was only held on by a small piece of steel at the base....this is evidence of a botched repair the water trail can be seen from the top left of the pillar to the bottom right. a patch has been welded internally to try and strengthen this.... but rather haphazardly....it would appear the windscreen and side window was an inadvertent structural item, before cutting can commence this area will need to be braced to ensure it doesn't collapse. The random screws are what hold in the conduit for the drivers heated windscreen.
     

     
    A closer view of the extent of the corrosion in the base
     

     
    A closer view of the pillar, the path of the water can be clearly seen, oddly although it doesn't look it...this pillar is painted, and the majority of the steel can be salvaged and made good again with a good clean...but the bottom 3rd will be removed.#
     

     
    In the last blog we mentioned we wanted to cut away part of the dome on  this side to check a roof support hadn't failed, and as can be seen whilst it was still securely attached...its a less than satisfactory job! this too will need to be addressed!
     

     
    The bottom of the pillar has been removed and a patch welded in, unfortunately a lot of the steel at the front is quite thin so its common to blow a few holes in it during welding, even when you try to be careful, the pillar has been cleaned and reveals quite serviceable metal still and this is suitable for retention.
     

     
    A new section of pillar welded in and securely attached to the cabside.
     

     
    The missing corner from the previous blog has now been added and the pillar primed a new base for welding the upper pillar has now been added.
     

     
    the pillar now ready to accept its outer steel after one more coat of primer. a replacement bit of steel for the upper has been trial fitted.
     

     
    The dodgy repair you saw earlier has been removed and the strut directly welded to the frame, the dome awaits the missing piece to be re-attached.
     

     
    The replacement outer pillar has been bent and cut to shape and trial fitted, it will be riveted in place prior to welding and then the rivets removed, this is to ensure it keeps its shape and doesn't move while its being welded.
     

     
    The dome has been repaired and the repair we saw earlier covered up, the side steel too now awaits fitting, the holes are for plug welding to the inner frame and then it will be riveted to the dome and sealed to prevent water ingress. The side is now completely flat compared to a bulge which can be seen in earlier blogs.
     

     

     
    on the secondmans side the steel work for the dome has been prepared for the dome to be re-fitted, this starts with giving the dome something to sit on, in this case some aluminium, the dome will be glued and riveted to this with counter sunk rivets. Those rivets you see will be drilled and replaced with countersunk ones too which means they will be invisible when the locomotive is finished.
     

     
    The dome being trialled...
     

     
    the dome is now fitted and the corner added in, as can be seen its still a little rough and its thought the pillar below is too flat. The cuts are sealed with fibreglass paste which will be sanded smooth, and holes are drilled for countersunk rivets.
     

     
    a close up of the filling....
     

     
    That's why god invented filler :) the dome awaits pushing down so it can be riveted firmly into place.
     
    Thanks for reading.
     
     
  3. pheaton
    Work continues above the windscreens and the scabby metal has now been cut away and the metal below cleaned up to see what can remain and what needs to be removed, right to the base of the small section of angled steel above the centre windscreen, the screen itself covered to protect it from metal fragments during the cutting. The dome is pretty beaten up from years of pigeon and bird strikes but also previous repairs, you are looking at the original surface of the dome as evidenced by the br green paint towards the centre, the textured surface is from the glass cloth scot rail applied which has now been removed, the dome will need considerable sanding and and fibreglass filler before the metal work can be tended to. The angled clean steel is part of the base of the dome steel supports which is in fair condition.
     

     
    the cut continues above the drivers windscreen, you can just about see the weld lines for the original (pre HGO) windscreen the two large holes are for the wiper control arms, these will be filled with fibreglass cloth and re-drilled, the drivers windscreen will be removed to inspect the condition of the seal edges, and any wasted metal replaced, as water that can get into the seal will damage the windscreen and cause delamination.
     

     
    On the drivers corner pillar after the paint and relatively thin layer of filler has been removed, we see as expected significant corrosion and we will need to establish the cause...if we just put fresh metal in the corrosion will re-occur, also note the bulge above the side window...this too, is abnormal and indicates issues behind the steel in this area....It would appear this is an old repair from impact damage.
     

     
    with that corner removed considerable corrosion is present behind it.....its more than likely this has been caused by a leak in the horn box area likely due to a poorly sealing lid and the water is finding its way down the front corners of the dome....and then running down the crash pillars previous repair attempts to the dome can be seen with the metal removed you can now also see the extent of the bulge. part of the dome will be cut away down the side to determine the condition of the roof supports which also hold 3 very heavy air tanks inside the cab, its possible that they have corroded weakened and started to sag, so if that is the case they will be jacked up and repaired. The dome requires considerable attention also.
     

     
    A rough paper template has been made to start cutting the new steel.

     
     
    No1 end second-mans door has had its hinge recess strip ( a posh name for a 6mm thick bit of steel....well it was 6mm) removed, there was considerable signs that all wasn't well in this area.....and after removing the door....(which will go back to Scotland to live on another loco) and the strip as evidenced by the paint outline....you can see considerable issues...after a good attack from the needle gun....
     
     

     
    The corrosion goes all the way to the base...
     

     
    And up to the top...….this is why you make sure not only does the door fit properly.....but its also sealed....if you don't, this happens this isn't structural steel its just a skin, directly behind this is the grab handle recess, this will be replaced with 6mm plate to give the doors something to bolt into
     

     
    Work continues in No2 cab refit Drivers side heater conduit painted the regulation orange and the heater permanently wired up.
     

     
    The second-mans side is a slightly more complicated affair with the heater light switch and DSD holdover switch (allows the second-man to operate the DSD if the driver leaves his seat) The switch box hasn't been fitted, the wiring (about 7 wires in all) has been mostly threaded there are some crimps that need renewing, the heater has been wired up, the light switch box has been fitted it just needs some modification to the lower conduit to accommodate the DSD holdover switch box the white panel at the side of the desk is brand new and the wooden window surround is being renewed where required and refitted.
     

     
    On the drivers side the Fv4 valve has been removed to renew the crimps to the wires going to the valve (more on that later) and to put more screws in to the drivers side panel to stop it rattling, at this point the opportunity was taken to renew the O rings that seal the valve body to the base plate, the thick pipe is actually the locomotives vacuum brake pipe...
     

     
    This is the Fv4 valve itself (otherwise known as the train brake valve) its the largest valve in the cab of an D+M (davies and metcalfe) equipped locomotive for which 20s 25s 26s 45s and 47s were so equipped (56s have a similar valve but its looks it only shares with this valve) this, although it looks a little beaten up is a recently professionally overhauled valve. There are types of valve (non banded...yellow banded and green banded) as you can see this is a yellow banded one.....whats the difference?
     
    Non banded Overcharges and speeds up the vacuum exhauster the brake pipe when when release is selected
    Yellow banded speeds up the exhauster but does NOT overcharge the brake pipe when release is selected
    Green banded (quite rare) has no exhauster speedup facility
     
    The reason 26s have a yellow banded Fv4 is because they have a brake overcharge plunger in the form of a big brass plunger on the drivers desk. The brake overcharge facility is used when you have a long air braked formation and it ensures that the brakes at the rear are released. Overcharge does not affect vacuum operation.
     
    The two terminals are shorted when then release position is selected, and this is used to place a resistor in series with the vacuum exhauster motor field, this as a result weakens the field speeding up the motor and creating vacuum faster, which...saves your embarrassment when you have bled off too much vacuum during braking and you don't want to stop....or...it allows a quicker brake release pulling away from a station...
     
    a side affect on a non banded Fv4 is you will also overcharge the brake pipe but more on this later....
     

     
    Another view of the vacuum brake pipe, this bolts to the Fv4 and is operated by that little nipple....
     

     
    the Fv4 valve now installed and bolted down without the vacuum brake pipe attached, the handle is in the full service position note the notches on the ring and score mark, these give driver a tactile feel in dark conditions about the position of the handle at the right of the white handle there is a small pointed plunger which drops into these notches and allows the driver to feel where the handle is in the dark. The notches correspond to the the following...
     
    Running (basically brakes released)
    initial - brakes rubbing...with a little pressure used to control your speed descending an incline rather than actual braking)
    from here the brake is stepless to full service
    full service (maximum brake pressure but applied in a controlled manner)
    Emergency considerable force is required to put the valve into this position (you cant do it accidently) you don't get any more braking than full service you just get it a lot quicker.
    shutdown used to seal the vacuum pipe in order to change cabs.
     
    NO DIESEL and that includes VAC ONLY diesels (apart from the twins 10000 and 10001) has a vacuum brake...what I hear you all cry...yes you heard me...a diesel does not have a vacuum brake, the only physical influence the driver has is on the emergency portion of the vacuum brake, a conventional diesel locomotive does not have a vacuum cylinder. In simple terms The Fv4 valve simply reduces the ATP (automatic train pipe) which the locomotives air vac relay valve senses and operates a diaphragm to allow air into the vacuum brake pipe, this causes the air to be emitted to the rear of the vacuum brake cylinders on the coaches or wagons on operates them which through linkage operates the brakes on the vehicle....on the locomotive the triple valve compares the value of the vac chamber (a small tank that always has 21" of vacuum as a reference) to the value of the vacuum pipe and applies the locomotive air brakes in proportion.  A locomotive with an empty chamber will not apply its locomotive brakes in proportion. 
     
    This also means that the train (with a higher brake force) will do most of the braking effort...but also means that the carriages (because they are braking more and therefore the locomotive always releases its brakes first will not slam into the back of the loco allowing for smoother braking.
     

     
    When emergency selected the valve mechanically forces this little arm out....which operates the nipple.
     

     
    And here is the vacuum pipe attached with its trapdoor valve in the closed position which seals the vacuum pipe and relies on several valves on the brake frame to ensure that the vacuum pipe operation is within the correct pressures according to demand from the driver, this why the train brake is also sometimes known as the automatic brake, and its governed entirely by the automatic train pipe, which is air, and governs the operation of the train brake.
     

     
    here we have the brake valve in emergency the trapdoor valve has been opened by the arm actuating the little nipple on the trapdoor valve which opens it and instantly vents the vacuum pipe....which drops the vacuum to zero causing the brakes to fully apply on the train.....the locomotive compares the zero vacuum pipe to the chamber and as a result now knows to apply its locomotive brakes fully...ensuring maximum braking effort is available to the locomotive and the train.
     
    The Fv4 is probably the most complex valve on the locomotive, its extremely intolerant of wear and as result internally contains a lot of hardened corrosion resistant material, they are also one of the most expensive valves to overhaul (which has to be done by a specialist contractor) and cost close to £1k to overhaul, and that's just one of about 40 different valves on a dual braked locomotive. They also have lot of rubber seats and diaphragms which degrade over time.
     
    The operation of the brakes is tested and carefully compared to the BR specification every year, but in addition the driver has to complete and sign a brake test every time the locomotive is used, which consists of a test to ensure that the brakes react as expected before the locomotive enter service every time.
     
     

     
    finally with the drivers screen removed considerable repairs have been made to the dome ready for welding.
     
     
     
     
  4. pheaton

    Keeping 26043 alive.....British Steel

    By pheaton,


    Preservation
    We, start where finished last....
     

     
    The top second-mans side window has now been fabricated and welded into place as well as the internal steelwork in this area, the cabling has also been encased in copex to protect it, these are the cables for the second mans switch panel and the brake indicator panel. More steel has been removed further up due to distortion that was being hidden by filler. Also as can be seen a steel plate has been welded on the second mans side.
     

     
    Another view of the steel plate welded to the secondmans side.
     

     
    The dome portion that was removed has been fully repaired and strengthened as well as the corner splayed outwards, although it will be some time before its re-fitted, it has been filled and flatted and finished in blue undercoat.
     

     
    Back inside the cab the secondmans desk is in an extremely poor state and will be removed as its beyond salvaging, you can see that the entire front of the desk has lost almost an inch of metal from corrosion, likely caused by leaking windscreen seal. the holes are for the wiper control and windscreen washer button, the second mans panel has long been removed for repainting and repairs. The pipe unions on the left supply the horns from the secondmans desk.
     

     
    A new desk has been fabricated from fresh steel and this will be fitted in due course.
     

     
    Back to the front the buffer beam has been rubbed down and given a coat of primer and the first bit of new steel is attached, at this point tack welded.
     

     
    going back to the side of the loco the second-mans panel has been primed and new steel welded in place for the lower portion of the second-mans window, the secondmans door awaits removal for attention to the frame, as this was a poorly fitting door the water ingress and corrosion is substantial in this area, around the door pillars, this will need to be corrected before the new doors are fitted.
     

     
    to keep welds to a minimum and try to avoid distortion of the metal the next sheet was ordered specifically to size and is seen here in the process of being fitted and awaiting welding.
     

     
    the sheet is now welded into position and welded also to the new internal braces.
     

     
    The original panel has had the tail light removed and awaits the circular recess to be cut out, as this would be very complicated to reproduce correctly, one it has been cut off it will go for shotblasting and be welded in to the sheet we have just attached above, in the marked area. Once removed this steel like all the steel cut from 043 will go for recycling.
     

     
    The final sections of steel are welded into place now virtually completing the lower front of the locomotive, attention (after the corners are welded will turn to above the drivers side panel which has suffered quite severely with rust jacking, this will be cut to the line with the 22 on the underlying issues with water ingress resolved and replaced with fresh steel. The drivers windscreen will then be removed in order to resolve the issues alone the bottom of the seal.
     

     
    A view of the completed front from the other side.
     

     
    the second-mans side corner is now welded in place 
     

     
    And finally the whole area is given a coat of primer, steam loco 3850 (sporting its freshly overhauled and recently delivered boiler can be seen in the background)
     
    At this point we ran out of welding wire so that has curtailed welding until after Christmas.
     

     
    elsewhere work continues in No2 cab refitting the panels and painting the pipe and refitting in this case the heaters, along with brand new conduit as most of the original conduit was life expired and new conduit has to be made here we have a simple piece waiting to be sprayed in the correct orange.
     
    Thats it for this side of christmas, work will carry on, on the 27th.

    Merry christmas all.
     
     
     
     
     
     

  5. pheaton
    First a bit of nostalgia :)
     

     
    26043 2 weeks off the production line from BCRW and at the time was on commissioning trials, as 26043 is a series 1 class 26 it never had cab droplights fitted, we see the tablet catcher recess, and its front connecting doors, we also see that like all 26s its boiler fitted. Note it does not yet have the opening window instead it has a boiler filler hatch.
     
    26/1s incorporated a number of weight saving measures, such as the cantrail grills being made out of aluminium instead of steel, a thinner gauge bodyside skin, and the internal radiator ducting being made from fibreglass instead of aluminium, OLEO Buffers and all coil spring suspension. By this time is was already decided that the class 26s were destined for a life in Scotland, so in order to appease the Scottish civil engineer, they needed to shed a few pounds to bring the axle weight down. Note this is probably the only time 26043 has carried the correct pattern series 1 bogies, these have the correct series 1 footsteps fitted and also are missing the link arms required to lift the bogies attached to the locomotive as the series 1 underframe was missing the bracketry required for this.
     
    Another fact is the drivers side windows are not the same as what is fitted now, they are mounted on the inside whereas at the last HGR they were changed to an outside mounted frame to try and reduce water ingress into the cab.
     
    The location of the photo is unknown its thought to be somewhere up north but not scotland.
     

     
    The cab as built. a lot of people when they look in a class 26 cab see exposed pipework, and think there are panels missing......as you can see...there never was any panelling the cabs were very spartan, and all that protects you from the Scottish wilderness and freezing temperatures is 3mm of steel......not known for its insulating properties! This photo shows a 26/0 as built its vacuum only and has a drop light next to the drivers seat, identifying this as a 26/0. You can clearly see the bellows for the connecting corridor.
     

     
    In a previous blog we saw the drivers side cut away awaiting new steel framework, this has now been applied with a coat of protective primer the lower portion of the grab handle recess has been found to be badly twisted which will affect the fitting of the new doors...this has been cur away to be replaced by a brand new fabricated section.
     

     
    The secondmans windscreen has now been removed to assess the extant of the corrosion above the cab windscreens. We already knew this was a problem area having exposed it a few years ago but ran out of time to be able to affect a repair before the locomotive was due back in service. A good indication of what you can hide with filler.....once again note the complete absence of any paint on the steel work.
     

     
    Looking towards the drivers side the filler has been chipped away to expose the base of the roof dome. The cause of the corrosion is quite simple at some point Scotrail completely fiberglassed over the join between the cab steel and the roof dome (assuming to stave off water ingress). This works as long as the fibreglass stays attached but as the body flexes....it pulls away, this means water can leak from the base of the gutter behind the fibreglass and sit there....which causes the corrosion.
     

     
    Moving down the right hand side of the windscreen towards the connecting doors we see significant corrosion, and also wastage around the extremities of the screen, refurbished class 26s used a clayton-rite windscreen seal, which meant the internal window frame could be removed, a clayton right seal is commonly found on classic cars and is recognised by the filler strip in the centre of the seal to clamp it to the window glass and the frame work, however...its not unusual for water to penetrate and site in the channels and rot the supporting steel ( as a lot of classic car owners will know) the reason for the change is unknown.. but its assumed it was connected with the switching of class 27 type windscreens around the time 26s had a HGR. which would have required the changing of the internal frame, so the cheap option was to the do away with it in its entirety, which left only the steel to support the window which required a different type of seal. the reason for the change of windscreens was an attempt to cut costs by standardising parts accross the fleet. The chipping of the filler and its thickness indicates "further bodgery" is present! this was found to be a 2 inch overlap with the steel above.
     

     
    As a result we decided to cut the entire panel off!!! You can clearly see where the water tended to sit (at the bottom right hand side of the screen).
     

     
    Here we see the front with the panel removed the corrosion around the centre doors extends to the shelf in the cab, it can also be seen that the supporting framework is also missing for the front panel!
     

     
    At the rear of the removed panel we see...what survives of the framework! You can also see that while this is a BR panel its not the original.... And you can see the original light has been gas axed from the original front and welded to the new panel! you can also see the red-oxide primer likely applied during preservation...which means the lower portion of the frame has been absent for a very long time!
     

     
    Work starting to re-instate the frame work first a piece of horizontal steel is inserted and welded below the shelf to the correct front profile.
     
     

     
    Then a front pieced welded on to strengthen the framework and give a surface to weld new panels to at the top.
     

     
    The curve is quite complex and the next stage is to fabricate the sill, there is no room for error here if the sill is slightly misshapen then windscreen will not fit! You can see the internal window shelf, this is quite badly corroded and will be removed.
     

     
    if we look again at the rear of the removed panel you can see the complex curve at the top and its sill which can be made out (just) by the shadow!
     

     
    The replacement repair panel being "fettled" before being welded in.
     

     
    The panel being fitted!
     

     
    Also being repaired if that unsightly corrosion at the side of the connecting corridor, the welds will be cleaned up shortly.
     

     
    At this stage the curves for the windscreens can be fitted, as can be seen here...
     

     
    And finally the welds cleaned up! A lot more steel will have to be removed to get the correct hole for the screen.
     
     
     
     
     
     
  6. pheaton
    Nostalgia alert, as with all these blogs things are fairly depressing....
     
     
     
    The glory days.....pre covid...pre inflation...pre quite a lot really...
     

     
    Last week..... fireman Sam has been busy with his white paint brush and now all of the air pipework is picked out in white, the conduit (which was just floating has been removed and the wiring now enclosed in modern copex, temporarily draped downwards away from welding operations....
     

     
    As we saw in the previous blog, significant corrosion was found above the corner of the second-mans pillar, and there had to be a reason for this, digging about removing filler starts to show the extent of this, which indicates something is clearly very amiss in this area, eagle eyed readers will notice the crudely drawn on arrows....more on this later... we also see two exposed holes, but no indication of rust streaks on the yellow paint, indeed there isn't actually any rust on the outside of the uncovered metal....which indicates water is getting in from the other side!
     

     
    Cutting away the outer layers of steel shows the face of the corrosion, between the inner panels and the outer steel, but the cause is quite evident in this picture......
     

     
    More evidence of something not quite right....can you see it? if you look down the side of the dome....you see our paint (blue...ish) and the br paint beneath it....SO you might say....whats the issue???
     
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/67444577@N02/6566097877
     
    Take a look at that photograph, 26043 was one of the few 26s painted civil engineers livery and as a result had a dark grey roof.....where is the grey paint on that photo above? the answer.....this is not 043s original roof dome....at some point its been changed....
     

     
    Going back to this photo here...we see the roof dome...is actually about 1/4" too far back...and doesn't fit flush with the external steel work as can be seen at the top copious amounts of filler have been employed to hide this heinous crime..
     
    The problem is...the roof is fibreglass which can flex....filler cannot...and if the filler cracks it can leak...or let water in...or air....which in turn causes condensation to form....its condensation that has caused this corrosion.
    you can see the yellow outer skin has gone which just leaves the inner framework present where the corrosion is...
     

     
    Before cutting and just after removal of the secondmans windscreen wiper...we see some precision drilling by scotrail...to install the wiper....well to atleast have a go...must have been a friday afternoon job!!!
     

     
     

     
    two views of the section of steel thats been removed you can see the blue and yellow of the window frame, but also the extent of the corrosion on the inside plus the unique wiper plate...
     

     
    In order to asess the dome problem properly we need to remove the guttter which is riveted to roof dome, this has now been removed and is awaiting the gasket to be cleaned off.... the problem is in the very corner of the dome and will be difficult to fix, but we need to see if there are problems further along the front and to do this we need to remove the fiberglass strip across the top.
     

     
    the fibreglass comes off fairly easily exposing the join between the dome and and steelwork for the cab front, the dome drops down below it and as we can see there's no water ingress.....the circular corrosion you see is cause by bi-metallic corrosion between the aluminium rivets and the steelwork, the rivets have long turned to dust, but the good news is everything seems to be in order.  But it can also be seen something very odd on the far left...

     
    Zooming in.....we see a join......so only the left portion of the roof dome has been changed also note how the holes are at different heights....So....what do we do....
     

     
    thats what you do....just cut the problem out, and have a think...because.....you cant increase the size of the corner.....you cant position the part further forward...you cant position it further left. its likely a number of cuts are going to need to be made to reposition the corner outwards without causing too much distortion...Moral of the story....class 33 domes don't quite fit class 26s!!!
     

     
     

     
    with the dome removed you can see the supporting framework for the upper dome, and then the inner dome  underneath, the  framework was not held in place as the welds had rotted, but the framework itself is in good overall condition, this will all be cleaned and painted.
     

     
    The inner framework which we saw earlier badly corroded has been replaced by a new piece of metal work
     

     
    The holes in the pilar now welded up...
     

     
    and now a brand new top left corner has been fabricated but awaits fitting the corners for the glass roughly cut and these will be sorted when the time comes to fit the windscreen, for which we are a long way off...this is actually quite a complex fabrication as modellers will know its these curves that define the shape of the locomotive.
     

     
     
    As its winter exposed metal has to be protected so a coat of green etch primer is applied to the exposed surfaces...
     
     
     
     
  7. pheaton
    A bit of a change, i wanted to make sure that people were not getting tired by me just showing photos of metal being bashed, those blogs will continue as there seems to be a lot of interest in it.  However in the last blog i invited some questions that people might have had about how things work in a Diesel Electric locomotive like the class 26, however all of the first generation diesel electrics work on pretty much the same principles so its very relevant across the fleet.
     
    @37114 asked about electrical machine maintenance and field diversion and in this blog we will talk field diversion, how it works and what it does. There will be a bit of theory first, and then some pretty pictures.
     
    There has been a lot of talk about field diversion in the sound forums, mainly surrounding 37s as its very very pronounced. but all first generation diesel electric locomotives have field diversion of some sort.
     
    What is field diversion, field diversion is the act of (as the name suggests) diverting the field of a motor (in our case the traction motors through a different set of resistances. It is also known as field weakening, and this is because you weaken the field of the motor.
     
    The aim of field diversion in simple terms....is to make your motor spin faster based on its current load.
     
    If we take the model in a OO gauge model, its a fixed field motor (permanent magnets) if you give it 12 volts it will spin at a set speed and draw a set amount of current. And for a model thats fine, we dont pull much weight with it and we rarely make it climb steep gradients. If you were to put so much weight behind the locomotive in the form of rolling stock to the point it actually stalls the motor, you will find if you push it to a certain speed it will be able to take the weight of that train on its own, but it wont be able to start it, and this is a very very crude way of explaining how field diversion helps with a locomotive starting a train.
     
    When a train starts you want (in your best jeremy clarkson voice) MAXIMUM POWER, in that you want grunt, torque, tractive effort, what you dont want is speed, all you will do is simply spin your wheels. 
     
    GRUNT is Current
    Speed is Voltage
     
    We want to trade current for voltage, by weakening the field of the motor we make it a lower strength in terms of torque, but that means we are less affected by BACK-EMF which is what puts a motor into magnetic saturation, which means the motor can spin faster before the back-emf cancels out the incoming voltage provided by the main generator.
     
    In an all parallel configuration traction motors have 4 connections (compared to your 2 connections on the motor of your model train) and this is because the fields (magnets) are actually coils or better yet electro magnets and if you alter the voltage being supplied to them you can change there strength.....hence field weakening/diversion.
     
    as we said before you want all of the capabilities of your motors at starting, so as a result all motors and generators start out at full field, (full strength)  the motors need full strength to have the grunt to move off, the generator needs full strength to supply those amps!
     
    Lets look at the first part of this process.
     

     
    the process start with the drivers power handle in the cab, you are looking inside the pedestal with the power handle above, the shrouds have been removed there are two elements in the centre you can see a group of switch contacts which are operated by cam on the left, the job of these is to make sure that various interlocks are in place (like the power control relay) which then allows the reverser to be operated (the locomotive only changes direction when power is applied NOT when the master handle is moved) the switch gear has no role in speeding up the engine or the electrical output of the main generator. On the middle right we can see an air valve (very similar in construction to the drivers straight air brake valve) as the power handle is rotated and more throttle is demanded this is air valve is pushed further and further inwards, which emits air from locomotives control air reservoir into whats called the regulating air circuit.
     

     
    If you ever go into the engine-room of a working sulzer you will often see a panel like that (accept 26s as it was removed for cost saving) i re-instated that from a donor class 33. Anyway....on the bottom left is the regulating air gauge, as the driver moves the power handle at either end, that will increase/decrease as the driver moves the power handle back and forth.
     

     
    That air then runs down a pipe down the side of the engine.....

     
    from there it goes to the front of the engine governor, and provided all is well (all of your interlocks are in place) that magnet valve is energised when the power handle is moved to "ON" and the air is allowed to enter the fuel rack piston in the governor.
     
    ERGO the engine is speed is increased by air being sent from the drivers power handle to the governor (0-53ish PSI) the more air the more the piston moves which in turn moves the rack linkage and opens the fuel pumps further and puts more fuel into the engine and speeds the engine up....
     
    A lot of people think the only relationship of the engine to the electrical side is that it spins the generator....but what would happen if we had no control over the output of the generator. Basically on starting the train the generator would stall the engine.....and this is where something called the load regulator comes into play.
     
    in the picture above we see an arm coming out of the governor in the background.
     

     
    Theres another view this arm is connected to an oil driven servo motor inside the governor.
     

     
    this arm then goes into this little box of tricks which is the back of the load regulator
     

     
    the front of the load regulator, with a scale to indicate its current position (more on this later)
     
    The load regulator is an extremely important device, its job is to ensure that the generator cannot overwhelm the engine, and its principles of operation are extremely simple.
     
    As the driver opens the power handle the engine rotates faster, as the engine rotates faster the oil pump (inside the engine) rotates faster, this means that the oil pressure increases. Its important to note that the servo motor is not pressure specific it simply reacts to an increase or decrease in pressure, this then rotates an arm in the load regulator. By using this method, the generator cannot be allowed to increase its field without a corresponding increase in engine speed...and as a result torque...
     

     
    A view of the load regulator with the cover removed, the arm is rotated by the action of the servo motor on the governor.
     

     
    another view of the arm, you can see the carbon brush which completes the circuit...
     
    the load regulator is connected via a very big wiring loom to a bank of resistors...
     

     
    The wiring loom from the load regulator to the resistor bank in the locomotive roof.
     
    So as the engine speeds up the load regulator rotates and weakens the field in the main generator, which means it generates less amps, but more volts....and the reverse happens as the engine decreases in speed back to idle.
     
    THIS IS NOT FIELD DIVERSION we are simply using a potentiometer to change the field of the generator automatically inline with engine speed.
     

     
    Once the load regulator rotates fully (which is quite quickly) the generator is at maximum output, and we cant supply any more volts to our motors and make the train go faster (no good) its here the field diversion process starts, when its rotated a cam operates the switch gear above, these are called (on a 26) pilot motor advance and pilot motor retard.
     

     
    That switch gear operates the power to this motor in the main electrical cubicle...making it advance or retard, this then as you can see operates a cam...which in turn rotates a cam on a group of switch gear.
     

     
    This then (via the switch gear supplies power to the magnet valves, which emit air to a piston, which brings in the contactors for the diver circuits, you can see here there are 3 diverts on the 26 with one contactor for each motor (so 3 groups of 4) (the number of diverts varies between locomotives high speed passenger locomotives tend to have more, class 45s have 6 diverts.
     

     
    This in turn brings in different power resistors into the field circuit in order to weaken the fields of the traction motors, which then allows them to spin faster. The resistors are in banks behind the cantrail grills of the locomotive for air cooling as they get rather warm.
     
    When power is shut off, the engine slows down and the oil pressure drops, the load regulator runs back which in turn brings in the switch for pilot motor retard, this then removes the diverts from the circuit, until power is required, if the speed has not dropped significantly the locomotive knows to bring in the required diverts.
     
    Although the mechanics vary all of the first generation diesels follow these principles, 56,58s 37/4s and 37/7 and 37/9s have solid state electronic load regulators rather than mechanical ones, but the field diversion process is the same...
     
    HSTs are the odd ball....and have NO DIVERTS this is why they have such a low tractive effort.
     
    Hope that answers your question @37114 Happy to take any more questions other people have.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  8. pheaton
    When you do the amount of bodywork we are doing, you almost go back through a locomotives history, like rings on a tree....and its interesting when the casual observer thinks something is a lot better than it really is.
     

     
    043 on the turntable at minehead, everything you have seen....looks alright doesn't it...doesn't seem to show anything untoward with the bodywork.....everything you have seen....is there....everything your about to see.....is there....waiting to be discovered...
     

     
    We saw in the last blog the crash pillar removed, it was badly corroded and the crib plates were missing, when you take apart a loco in this manner you can easily get an idea of its history, and the reason for the corrosion is actually quite simple....at some point the loco has suffered sideswipe damage on this side, and this is evidenced by the patches on the grill uprights for the radiators and the cut in the handrail recess, the problem then becomes when these repairs are sub standard, because the depot needs to get the loco out as soon as possible....and if it was a "hush hush" job hide the locomotive from the sight of management! Particularly when the accident was due to someone being "under the influence".
     
    The new crib-plate and side plate have been fitted and welded.
     

     
    Here we see the original pillar (can just make out the lamp bracket at the front) we see at the base a old repair going up we see a large chunk removed by gas axe and again several attempts to fix the grab handle we also see plug welds (which are not original) indicating a replacement to the side skin at some point. The front steel has Anti asbestos paint on it indicating this was original steel, the paint was applied to seal residual asbestos fibres when the locomotive was stripped of asbestos during one of its works visits.
     

     
    After the second-mans side is complete the centre has now been cleaned and fully welded to the correct profile of the front, in the previous blog you saw heavy corrosion as a result of fibreglass matting which has a remarkable water retention capability, coupled with the fresh brand of paint that BR used...the rot present was inevitable. The air pipes to and from the drivers brake valve have been cleaned and undercoated and trial fitted to make sure we don't weld up something we shouldn't.
     

     
    Moving to the drivers side we see the removal of the crib plate and the extensive corrosion to the cable ducting this will all need to be tidied up and new conduit installed before the locomotive re-enters traffic, you can clearly see the 1/2" rivets that hold the crib plates waiting to be hammered out the underframe so new bolts can hold the new plates firmly in place. Also evident is significant crash damage, like no1 end this corner of the buffer beam has at some point been cut off and rewelded into place (likely after the chassis has been jacked up to straighten it,  note the wooden spacer behind the buffer being "unique" to suit the dent behind it...this is 3/4" steel plate, a significant impact would be required to deform it in this manner!
     
     

     
    the secondmans desk had to be removed as it was found the brake pedestal in the centre of the picture was only held in by the pipes, the sideswipe collision had ripped it from its mountings these are being straightened and firmly attached to the floorplate.
     

     
    Drivers side crib now welded in place and a repair section made to the drivers side crash pillar.
     

     
    Final side plate removed and surface prep underway for the final plate at the floor level.
     

     
    The final plate in the process of being welded and secured in place.
     

     
    Unfortunately BR spend years customising the loco to fit its rather bodged metal work, and now we are fixing that...things start to well, not fit....as a result the lower section of front skin now protrudes over an inch further forward than the lower framework......you can see further up a depression where the metal work goes in and then out again...
     

     
    to correct this cuts have been made which allow us to reshape the front, this will allow us to have completely level plate work when the new steel is welded to the front.

     
    Further cuts to the side indicate that the framework will need to be complete renewed all the steel inwards of the crash pillar will be cut away and replaced with new angle iron, significant. issues are present in the upright pillar corner.
     

     
    nasty.....again note the complete lack of paint!
     

     
    fully refurbished secondmans desk fitted to No2 end
     
     
     
     

  9. pheaton
    A bit of a while since my last blog, but no let up in the effort on 26043, work obviously fades over the summer months, its peak season for the diesel department so a number of us crew locomotives but we also have summer holidays and kids to look after...
     

     
    The last sheets of steel being welded in, during late march at No2 end
     

     
    No2 end welding is now complete all that remains is to fit a new skirt, the skirt is a very complex fabrication and is curved on 3 planes, these will be attached last before painting commences.
     

     
    2 views of the welds ground down and smoothed waiting for filler to applied
     

     
    Another view of the ground down welds.
     

    Filler being applied to the ground down welds at the side...

     
    And the front, and a protective coat of etch primer is applied to the steel.
     
     
     

     
    The filler is then rubbed down and a coat of grey undercoat is applied which will seal the steel from corrosion until the final coat of paint is applied, at the moment this is a rough finish, and several more rounds of filler and flatting are required before the final top coat of BR blue is applied.

     
    With the main areas of welding at no2 end now complete, the snagging can now start on the smaller details of the bodywork which are demanding attention, the first of these is the drivers side footwells and grab rail recesses which require substantial corrosion repairs to the bases and footstep threshold.
     

     
    Other grabrail base recess, now fully repaired.
     

     
    The completed section around the base of the cab door. You will see the grab rail recesses are different heights, this is because after purchase from British rail 26043 went through an asbestos inspection. Part of this involved cutting away the grab rails to inspect the innards of the bulkheads, on replacement the grab recess was put in lower, this is present on 4 of the 8 grab rails and will be left for "character reasons"
     
     
     

     
    After another round of filling and smoothing and another coat of primer, as you can see also the cut out for the marker light has been made and the marker light welded back in, the lamp bracket has also been attached, those welds will be further smoothed at a later date.
     

     
     
    Views of the door frame on the other side of the loco where considerable corrosion is present and lots of the door frame has had to be rebuild with new sections of metal, the grab recesses as per the other side will also get the same treatment. This is caused by a poorly fitting door which has allowed water to set between the door and frame. Unfortunately these repairs take considerable time to get through.
     

     
    On the second mans side in the cab the desk has been removed to clean and inspect the frame you can see the horn valve in the centre and the feed cut off valves for the drivers desk, 26s were  very sparten in the cab and there was no panelling even as built, so all that separated you from a far north winter was 2mm steel.
     

     
    The desk itself has been stripped and had its formica removed it was life expired, cracked and bubbling as the contact adhesive had given up beneath it, the desk awaits a chemical spray to remove the glue!
     

     
    the glue is now gone exposing a clean aluminium surface ready for new formica, the desk has been pressed and straightened as well.
     

     
    The straightened desk is now trial fitted to check its alignment before covering the shaft in the middle is the hand brake. The main console has been cleaned and re-sprayed broken switches replaced, and the hand brake label (made by a group member) cleaned ready for another 10 years use.
     

     
    The fully retrimmed desk now awaits final fitting in the loco
     

     
    On the drivers side the mass of pipe work has been cleaned and primed...
     

     
    And painted....
     

     
    The power controller and Fv4 surrounds which were heavily scratched have also been shot blast, primed and painted.
     
    Work will continue in the cab while the Dave the welder turns his attention to No1 end!
     
     
     
  10. pheaton
    With the major welding complete to No2 end....its time to tackle what we always knew was there...no 1 end...
     

     
    Dave the welder makes his first cuts into No1 end (he was reminded to put his goggles on after this photo was taken!) We see the rather optimistic hatched area we drew last week of metal we expected to cut.... the side panel itself doesn't look too bad at first glance....but...inspections at the base of the window show significant corrosion....
     

     
    As cab be seen at the base.....again...the scabby steel at the bottom is the original skin... the later skin just plonked over the top...

     
    The panel new removed....with a token gesture of some insulation.....this will be removed...
     
     

     
    The panel and drivers side window now removed showing the extent of the corrosion, again you can see the original skin underneath the newer blue one.
     
    More exploratory cuts were made to find out how bad things really were....pretty much as expected...they were bad...
     

     
    At this point we were having far too much fun to stop cutting....so we didnt stop... (yes i know the top isnt straight....we will sort that out later!
     

     
    Cutting carried on to the opposite corner to find...a lack of crib-plate and an interesting repair....
     
    At which point we cut the other side off as well, this picture shows after the left hand pillar has been removed....
     

     
    So on the drivers side we see a sort of intact crib plate with extensive corrosion to the steel work and the cable ducting....this will all need to be replaced...
     

     
    Ick...the centre gangway doors with fibreglass matting for draft proofing....which holds lots of water and causes lots of rust.....lets get rid of that...
     

     
    on second thoughts....lets put it back!!!
     

     
    As before the step remains but the side supports are long gone!!!
     

     
    moving to the secondmans side whats lefts of the crib plate meets.....well bodge!
     

     
    and then the corner where....well they just couldnt be bothered....
     

     
    and then to the side where....it doesn't get much better... and again you can see the original skin...the side window will also be removed as well!
     

     
    In this view the corrosion is starting to be cut away the centre step has been plasma cut out and will be deleted and replaced with a solid steel plate
     

     
    the area now cleaned up dramatically...
     

     
     
    New steel fabricated for the upright and a new cribplate trial fitted to the left
     

     
    the crib plate primed and ready for top coat black prior to installation
     

     
    the remants of the old platework and corrosion all gone and ground flat and primed ready for new steel.
     

     
    the new side plate (made to the original drawings) ready to be installed down the side of the cab.
     
    More steel waits to be cut above the windscreens but this work will be completed first.
     
     
     
     
     
  11. pheaton
    Carrying on from the last entry....
     

     
    The crib platework is now finished and the locomotive once again has a completely level plate to mount the front platework on for the first time since the 1970s. You can see the various pipework mounts quite easily here on the right you have Main reservoir pipe-work (yellow) which is used for charging main reservoirs on 2 locomotives that might be working in multiple, above that you have one of the control air pipes (which must be connected when working in multiple) (white) then you have the 27 way multiple working plug (out of view to the right) and then the red Main Brake pipe which is used for controlling the brake pipe on other locomotives or air braked stock. The brackets either side of the coupling are for the centre plough a pin would go through these to secure the plough to the locomotive. Just below the red pipe you can see the former steam heat pipe now long gone. To the left of the coupling hook is the vacuum pipe and then you have a second yellow and white pipe. only one of the two is required to be connected.
     

     
    The front right crib plate after extensive modification in order to fit and weld to the very distorted second-mans corner of the chassis COPEX has now been fitted to the completely rotten cable ducting (which has now been removed) you can see evidence of the impact in the distortion of the beam behind the buffer. Its likely this was a "depot" repair as no evidence can be found of an unclassified repair of 26043 (or D5343) in the 1970s. This means it was likely a hushed up repair to avoid any "paperwork" the repair was simply to return the buffers straight on level and various bodges were used internally to fix the other issues that were a result of the crash. as can be seen on the left on the framework holding up the desk.
     
     

     
     

     
    Two views of the modified side rail to get it over the hump of the front chassis, not a simple feat given the new rail is 6mm thick steel the cuts are seen here just before being welded up.
     

     
    On the drivers side, the side window has been removed to ensure no corrosion is present beneath the upper structure as the seal bead had failed, and the resolve the rather erratic riveting on the lower edge.
     

     
    the window is quite filthy but the aluminium polishes up quite well as seen in this picture
     

     
    The window after cleaning, we are yet to decide how to "fill" the extra rivet holes..
     

     
    The first of the new steel has now been welded on to the cab-side 
     

     
    work continues under the secondmans seat in the cab cleaning the area for paint, this area is completely unpainted which is the main reason for the heavy corrosion.
     

     
    the last area of attention is the power supply for the AWS module which is looking very very scabby, its made of aluminium so its likely heavy corrosion is present under this module here it has been unwired and being made ready for removal.
     

     
    Surprise surprise the unpainted aluminium surface has sweated and caused considerable corrosion.
     

     
    Here we have the pipe runs between the second-mans side ad the drivers side, with the large main vacuum pipe going in to the floor to the front of the locomotive, you can see the AWS power supply which is the light grey box beneath the washer bottle, in the good old days this is where the cooker sat.
     

     
    A lot of cleaning and a coat of primer later..
     

     
    the primer is then followed by a thick layer of black paint the plate is quite thick here...so although quite pitted its still pretty strong.
     

     
    the thoroughly cleaned and repainted base is now re-installed ready for bolting down and rewiring.
     

     
    The secondmans side has now had a coat of primer
     

     
    the pipes now picked out in white.... yes got a bit messy with the white paint...
     

     
    And finally black with a bit more to do when the paint is dried.
     

     
    The air pipes have been reinstalled in the front and primed as well as the metalwork behind then this will be the last time they see the light of day...
     

     
    Drivers seat pedestal has been rubbed down and given a shiny coat of gloss black same has been done with the secondmans pedestal the hole is for the sanding pedal which will be plated over as the sanding system is pretty much redundant in preservation, and is just a source of air leaks so has been completely isolated.
     

     
    A side door (which was removed to delete a broken middle hinge has been cleaned primed undercoated and now given a top coat of "morning mist" the standard BR colour for the engine-room... because it makes perfect sense to paint an engine room......white....! the corrosion around the door frame will be tackled shortly.
     

     
    Replating has started in anger with the centre and drivers side sections tackled first
     

     
    The upright drivers side is now trial fitted.
     

     
    And welded....
     

     
    followed by the final piece which covers the corner pillar. The metal is being allowed to cool before the welds are complete to avoid distortion caused by expansion of the metal during welding, the corner piece is made from 1.5mm steel where as the rest is made from 2mm steel, as built the 26s were 1.6mm steel throughout on the body for weight saving purposes.
     
     

     
    The reason for leaving off the secondmans side for now is that its been found the front projects about 1/2" too far over the cribplates and the reason is seen here after cutting away the corner.....basically the front isnt attached to anything! As can be evidenced by the absence of weld marks on the pillar the pillar looks scabby but is very strong and will be cleaned and painted...but shortly after this photo the pillar was cut to the pen line at the bottom of the yellow panel the scabby steel at the front of the pillar is actually the original front skin! various layers have been added over the top over the years.....which is why the front is so far out...rust has formed between the layers and jacked them outwards.... the pillar will be replaced where it was cut! And then rewelded to the base!
     

     
    Nearly a whole reel of welding wire used so far!
     
     
     
  12. pheaton
    We continue where we left off....
     

     
    Dave the welder is putting replacement angle iron in the cab area, this will be used as something to not only strengthen the door pillar (and give it something to be attached to) but also as a base for a new cab skin to be welded on, most of the accident damaged pillar has now been cut aware ready for a replacement to be fitted.
     

     
    The crib plates (as seen in the previous blog were completely rotten, they have been removed and the area cleaned and primed for those above, a brand new set of crib plates laser cut and drilled to the original BCRW drawings, courtesy of Ken Joy, another class 26 owner, the crib plates are made of 6mm mild steel and are pre-folded ready for use, each corner consists of 3 sections. These plates were made by a supplier in scotland, its good that a bit of scotland is going back into the loco.
     

     
    No2 Drivers side crib plate now welded and bolted into position and lined up with the original bolt holes in the chassis rails, originally these were riveted but this would have been on a bare chassis on a rotating jig, since this is no longer possible bolts have been put in where possible and the rest welded into position.
     

     
    another view of the plates being fitted.
     

     
    The steel work for mounting the skin is now complete and primed, in addition the drivers seat pedestal has been strengthened and a brand new fabricated corner pillar is now fitted, the drivers side crib plate is now fully secured and we can now move to the centre of the locomotive front where considerable corrosion is present.
     

     
     2 views left and right of the centre doorway, this was the communications doors used for crew access on a moving train when the 26s were built, the notch in the middle was used as a locking tab to secure the doors in the closed position, extensive corrosion is present, and although the steps are solid, there construction means its impossible to eradicate the corrosion, they are a sandwich of 3 sheets of thick steel which significant wastage is present, they also form part of the shape of the front. They have corroded badly due to the famous fresh air brand of pain that BR used.
     

     
    2 views of the corrosion present after removal of the step, and this could not be addressed with the step in situ, this shows why the step had to be removed.
     

     
    The cleaned up area after attention from the needle gun the original outline has been retrained so we can get a good idea of the shape, the replacement upright steel work is trial fitted to the right. Note all the air pipework has been removed for repainting and replacement seals. all the corroded steel work has now been removed.
     

     
    right hand side upright steel work now welded into place.
     

     
    The left hand side upright fabricated from 5mm steel using a plasma cutter the cut out is for 2 air pipe runs.
     

     
    with the left hand side now tacked into place and a cardboard template made for the replacement step, the step is welded slightly higher than its original position.
     

     
    the step now welded and formed with the original curvature from the piece left over from the original step as a template.
     
    #
     
    Second mans side next, but owing to the chassis distortion (shown in the previous blog) that will be a challenging fit.
     

     
    Elsewhere the grills have seen a clean and final coat of aluminium primer (class 26/1s had aluminium grills for weight saving) the grills will be covered to keep the paint clean for undercoating in slightly warmer weather.
     

     
    A brand new set of doors has been built to replace 043s ex class 33 droplight doors, which will see a second life after refurbishment on a class 27 in Scotland. A lot of people think the 26 drop lights were plated over during the late 70s. They were actually given a complete new wooden door with a fibreglass skin, you can see here 043s new doors awaiting a new skin which will be made from aluminium sheet.
     

     
    when 043 was delivered it actually had it wooden doors, but these were removed for 26043s pre-tops look and the old doors stored, the doors were in a poor state of repair, but still solid and could be refurbished. They have now "gone home" back to Scotland for a new life on 26040 who's doors are life expired, they will be refurbished and fitted to the locomotive soon, nothing gets thrown away in preservation. The red stripe is a "DO NOT ROB" sticker and the blue and yellow can be seen beneath the hastily applied civil engineers black. 26043 was one of the few 26s not to carry Rail freight Grey.
     

     
    The Author (left) with Ian (right) 26040s new guardian.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  13. pheaton

    Keeping 26043 alive.....Crash Bang Wallop

    By pheaton,


    preservation
    With the engine work complete, work now returns at pace to the remaining bodywork issues.
     

     
    the very last parts of bodyside have now been welded on, and the welds are being ground down before the new steel is given a protected coat of primer.
     
     
     

     
    with the engine work complete work has stated on No2 end to resolve a bulging side panel, the reason for the bulge was already know, for reasons only known to themselves Scotrail had slightly double skinned this area, the piece of scabby blue metal at the bottom right of the cut panel and just below the window are actually the original skin, when Scotrail eliminated the tablet catcher they simply welded a sheet on over the top, instead of cutting it to size. A previous "battle scar" can be seen on the cab pillar, along with at least 2 attempts to re-attach the front grab handle! Severe corrosion is present at this end so the opportunity is being taken to correct it.
     

     
    in this photo we see 26043 has a severely deformed front end we think this is when that damage occurred
     

    After cutting further we see the front "crib plates" which are what gives the front its shape, severely corroded and badly deformed, these were originally 6mm thick.

     
    the drivers side crib plate after removal
     

     
    behind the crib plate not a pretty site, this whats left of the main cable ducting after 40 years of corrosion, the wiring is in excellent condition as 26s were given a re-wire during the mid-80s, all the ducting will need replacing. the white dust is from filler on the front.
     

    Cutting then continued around the base, of the connecting doors, again this is the original front skin
     
     

     
    finally the second-mans side is cut away to reveal the equally as corroded crib plate. you can see the corridor connection still present and the door in to the cab, the two pipes across the base were added when air brakes were fitted, at this stage you can see the entire buffer beam has been needle gunned ready for paint and the pipes have been removed to have there rubber seals replaced.
     
     

     

     

     

     

     
    the amount of cutting in stages from start to finish, the dented and corroded pillar has been removed and this will be replaced with a newly fabricated one.
     

     
    what has also become apparent is the loco has been involved in a serious accident, compare the left with the right, the left hand side is drooping, there are also welds where its apparent the corner of the buffer beam was cut away to jack the frame up to straighten it.
     

     
    A view from the sides showing the distortion
     

     
    showing the correct profile the red lines, the areas the frame has been cut and welded can be clearly seen. This will make the repairs "challenging".
     

     
    A closer view of the pipework under the drivers desk and the drivers train brake valve, the large pipe to the right is the main vacuum pipe.
     
     
     
     


  14. pheaton

    Keeping 26043 alive.....full circle

    By pheaton,


    Preservation
    Evening all,
     
    where did we leave off oh yes....the liners... (my previous blog is working, but due to the unfortunate issues on RMweb a lot of my photos have been lost on my previous blogs before that....hopefully over time i can upload the photos again).
     
    After you install the liners....its best to get some confidence they have sealed...this typically involves filling the block up and leaving it for a period of time....hoping none of it escapes into the sump.....which is of cause the reason we are doing this heavy repairs...
     

     
    Pistons 6 and 5 fully cleaned and ready to be installed into the engine.
     

     
    the components of pistons 5 and 6 being transported to the lifting gantry ready to be installed in the loco, you can see the end caps and the end cap bolts....as well as the bearings. The end caps and bolts are unique to each piston and are together for life. You can also see the lifting eye in the top of the crown which enables the whole piston to be lifted into the air.
     

     
    piston no6 mid-flight waiting to be dragged over to the centre of the loco.
     

     
    Piston no6 sat on blocks having the rings thoroughly oiled by myself you can see just below it the ring compressor which compresses the rings into the bore as the piston is lowered, this is the last piston to go into the loco, absolute cleanliness is essential at this point to avoid debris scoring the bores.
     

     
    After the pistons come the heads...this is no6 head with the air inlet facing you, to give you an idea of the amount of air the loco gulps in, you could easily get your fist into the opening.
     

     
    Head 1 being installed with some "touch up in progress" the red rubbers are the transition seals which transfer water too and from the head from the block
     

     

     
    Two views of heads 1 and 2 you can clearly see the push rods for the rocker gear and a fully populated fuel gallery, in the foreground right you can see the locomotives engine governor.
     

     

     
    repeat....until all 6 heads have been installed in the bottom photo you are now looking at the exhaust outlet for each head, at the base of the heads you can see the transition cups and rubbers, which transfer cooling water to and from the heads.
     

     
    after you put the heads on....they have to be torqued down...to 850NM This is where our resident strong man comes in (fireman sam) using a torque multiplier ( a reduction gearbox ratchet effectively) he can achieve the required torque for each head following a specific order on the nuts to avoid distorting the soft iron ring which seals the head to the liner.
     

     
    After this is complete you can now install rocker gear which is used to operate the exhause and inlet valves, the pipework is to the bottom right and top right is the oil supply to the rocker gear and fuel leak off, to the right of the picture is the high-pressure fuel pipe.
     
    Another view of the rocker gear, waiting for the tappets to be set to the correct clearances.
     

     
    Two views of the completed fuel gallery, the engine is now nearing completion.

     
    Anyone know the correct reason why 26s have opening windows ?? 
     

     
    Bodywork continues with several views of progress so far
     
    The engine is now complete and has had antifreeze in it for now 3 weeks, this is where we come full circle
     

     
    we had to do this repair...after we found leaking cylinder liners after an oil change....we now come full circle and its time to put the oil back in, as before....2 barrells of engine oil. now 15w 40 instead of SAE 30.
     

     
     
    After you put the oil in....you run the triple pump, this is to make sure...oil is getting to everywhere it should be before you start the engine....this is your last chance to find any blocked oilways...as can be seen, a very healthy flow of the (now) black stuff (its picked up dirt and soot from the crankshaft oil ways) The next step is to "motor" the engine...this is where you take the decompression plugs out and isolate all fuel pumps and attempt to "start" the engine...the engine will crank over and you listen for any noises demanding mechanical sympathy....if all is good you go to the next step!
     
    26043 starts for the first time on 3 years after a major engine overhaul - YouTube (fist in the air from me)
     
     
    A view of the rockers in action
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  15. pheaton
    A while since the last entry...but no let up in the work going on...
     
    26043 has seen most attention to the engine block where the damaged bores have been "belzona'd" to make them....well less damaged... Belzona is a very expensive high performance chemical metal, that's over £160 per kilo its extremely tough and will very very quickly blunt anything less than 60grit sand paper.
     
     
     
    No6 Bore (closest the main generator) you can see the cavitation damage caused by 60 years of running an engine on water attacking both seal lands and working on the 3rd, this is prior to belzona being applied, this issue is not unusual in baby sulzers, because they have never been re-bored, class 33s and class 44s 45s 46s and 47s were all rebored, which meant the damage was less severe (but not eliminated) as the re-machined surface stood up better.
     
     

     
    A layer of belzona applied and in the process of being sanded back to bare metal, the vast majority of the pits you see above are now filled, you have to sand back to bare metal because the belzona will not stand the pressure from the liner seals and will be torn away from the liner surface to the left you can see the belzona layer to the right you can see the finished side of it....all achieved with a cordless drill and flap brush, and takes on average 6 hours per bore! the black bag beneath prevents the majority of the dust entering the crankcase where if it was able to enter the oil system of the engine would cause severe damage to the oil pump. You are looking at the interior of the water jacket and despite being a 60 year old casting is in remarkably good condition, the same cant be said of the bore though and all 6 had this issue in varying degrees. Other present was fretting, this is where slight movement of the liner with the stroke of the piston causes movement and wears the bore leaving an inprint of the liner seals in the machine surface....this is exactly why the larger sulzers were re-bored to correct this, the baby sulzers being lower power generally didnt suffer this issue bad enough to warrant this work.
     
    In an ideal world the block would be separated from the crankcase, and this bore would be built up with weld and properly bored back to the original specification......but the ideal world is rarely the world available to you.
     
    So after a lot of time with a dead arm, yours truly has got the bores back to an reasonable condition....
     

     
    time to put the liners back where they belong.
     
    26043 has a 6lda engine....the 6 being the number of cylinders, when we took the liners out during the strip down, 4 liners ended being deemed beyond reasonable further use, if you had to they could have been re-used, but internal and external damage would have significant dampened the impact of the rebuild as such it was deemed appropriate to source 4 new standard size cylinder liners. Liners 5 and 6 were assessed as being in the best condition and were retained, liners 1 2 3 and 4 were rejected.
     

     
    here we see liner 5, liner 5 unique in that it has a nylon fret band, these were added to combat the described fretting (movement in the bore) the idea was that the band was sacrificial (and cheaper to replace than the block) these fret bands are very common on 12LDA engines but less common on 6LDA engines, they a monumental pain in the backside, incorrect insertion of the liner means this band gets displaced and disrupts the liner seals and you end up with a leaking liner, and you have remove and start again. being an older liner you can see the damage to the seal lands, this looks worse than it is.
     
     
     
    on the other side of the liner the corrosion is a bit more severe and has been repaired with belzona and carefully re-profiled.
     

     
    Liner 6 again and original liner....non fret banded...but note the wear on the area covered by the fret band...again belzona repairs to the liner seal lands.
     

     
     

     
    the brand new liners (non fret banded) slight surface rust from winter strorage, nothing a scouring pad wont sort out, the ring in the upper picture is called a soft iron ring, and originally it was the only "gasket" sealing the block and the liner on the upper deck, the idea is the liner crushes the soft iron to form a water tight seal.
     

     
    originally as mentioned the soft iron ring was the only seal......however in the late 80s and early 90s this was proving to not be enough, damage and corrosion to the liner top deck mean that a new fix was needed, and this time railfrieght distribution were instructing depots to fit gortex to the liner sealing surface to give a better seal 26s never had this....but being a sulzer its still applicable. here we see the gortex fitted to the lip of the liner, this will be crushed into a water tight glob...when installed in the block.
     
    Liners 5 and 6 being transported down on a modified trolley with the tackled used to "insert" them into the block. The flanged plate sits at the base of the liner and the two 1 inch diameter rods are passed down the interior of the liner to thread into the flanged block the, the large thick plates are then put on top.
     

     
    No 6 liner with its new seals fitted and an illustration of the lifting tackle.
     

     
    Another view.....underneath.
     

     
    Hopefully the last time this liner see's daylight.
     

     
    the block prior to liner insertion....the soft iron ring in place with hylomar for added "belt and braces"
     
    No 6 liner....entering the block.....
     

     
    The liner goes in so far and then sits on the liner seals.....the clearance between the liner and the bore is about .4mm normally the liners would be screwed down against the head studs by hand....but this risks crabbing the liner and damaging the seals and, beside we are lazy, so in this case a jack was used against the head studs to push the liner into its final position, the head when attached will firmly clamp the liner down.
     

     
    you will have to turn you head to one side....but 12 hours later...all six liners have been installed. The four holes are for water flow to and from the cylinder heads.
     

     
    the first 3 pictures are of various water pipes being re-painted, the picture above is the bogie retaining brackets...
     


  16. pheaton
    Work continues at pace since the last blog, mostly taking advantage of the good weather to carry on with the body work before the winter comes and its difficult to do anything externally in the wind and rain.
     

     
    All of the major welding has now been completed, we can see the cant rail area has had new steel put in place, the entire lower half of no 2 end has now been ground back and filled and a base primer applied (several more coats of primer are due yet.
     

     
    Extensive corrosion was found above the door, and this has also been cut out, this has all since been re-plated, the engine room door will be "modified" to prevent a re-occurrence of this , as water tends to run down the bodyside and pool on the top of the door.
     

     
    B Side radiator frame, corrosion had comepletely pulled the skill away from the frame causing a large ripple, this two has now been completely replated.
     

     
    The window frame steel itself in the door was found to be de-laminating which would have meant it would have been impossible to re-seal the window, this too has now been repaired
     

     

    More views of repaired steelwork below the vents for the boiler room control resistors

     
    And here you can see the aluminium strip applied to seal the bodywork against the weather, the reason for using aluminium is the cant rail grills and surrounding structure is aluminium, and replacing with steel would corrode the aluminium quite quickly, the aluminium is riveted with over 400 rivets, and also sealed with a NON setting sealant, which will keep the whole thing water tight, this is where the water ingress started which caused all of the corrosion seen in one of my previous blogs, a profiled finishing strip will hide the join between the aluminium and the steel, and the rivet heads will be ground flush and filled. Its very easy to fix corrosion, but its better to stop it happening again
     

     
    The bodyside windows have now started to be re-installed, however a shortage of the correct profile seal has stalled this, a lot of people dont realise its the simple things that can trip you up, originally this seal was £3.10 a meter and readily availiable, the distributor decided it was obsolete 5 years ago (despite it being one of the most common rail profiles) and now charges £15.45 a meter with a minimum run of 120m!
     

     
    One of the perils of putting a bit too much pressure on the glass when re-installing it :)
     
    The hole at the front has also had new steel applied.
     

     
    Elsewhere work has returned to the roof, where the grills have al l been cleaned out unblocked, and had new threads to retain the grills installed

     

     
    The fibreglass domes have also been sanded back and any damage to the gel coat repaired, more work is required on top though.
     

     
    A view of the locomotive roof with the engine room cover removed.
     

     
    Work has also been taking place above the radiators, the, holes that retain the fibreglass covers drilled and re-tapped to a metric size, you can see BCRW were not to good when it came to drilling straight holes!
     
     
     
    The fibreglass covers being repaired and re-painted, they will have there holes re-drilled, this is an undercoat they will be rubbed again down and have top coat applied later.
     
    Another major area of work is the fibreglass roof cover itself, which after 60 years is in a pretty poor state it was split, had many botched repairs and was falling apart.
     

     

     

    Re-enforcement of a corner of the section that had snapped completely
     

     
    Some examples of damage to the roof, from big holes to splits and a complete section that was snapped off
     
     

     
    A new aluminium section being trial fitted, also many "friday afternoon" repairs are evident as is splitting and cracking in the frame.
     
     
     

     
    The roof had split 3 of its 4 bearers, as the roof was originally created in a mould you cant replace these very easily and retain any strength, as a result strengthening plates have been fitted and riveted with special fibreglass rivets over the crack.
     

     
    The newly formed aluminium section awaiting and riveting into place
     
    A corner was also missing after a hard life this was also repaired 
     

     
    The roof had cracked entirely across this section (due to the missing section that was repaired with aluminium) now that its back in place a patch and be applied with out the roof re-fracturing.
     

     
    FInally a complete new top skin was applied after the old one has been "peeled" off as can be seen one of the lifting lugs is missing, this one done by a passing tree when 043 has been on lorry on its many travels...
     

     
    A new lug made and awaits sealing.
     

  17. pheaton
    Since the last entry, the liners Pedro has worked his magic and the liners have arrived from sunny spain.
     

     
    4 brand spanking new standard size Sulzer liners manufactured to the original drawings
     

     
    The Liner interior showing the cross hatching and the carbon brake the end of the cross hatching marks the top of the travel for the top piston ring. At the top of the stroke the piston crown is roughly flush with the top of the liner.
     
    The liners themselves are spun cast iron (not machined from tubing) the spun casting means that when the molten iron is poured into the mould the spinning action ensures a perfectly circular bore, and a completely even thickness across the liner walls, an uneven liner wall will crack prematurely. 
     
    The reason for the cross hatching is to give the oil somewhere to go as it comes out from the piston rings, without the cross hatching the oil would gravitate to the to combustion area, but also could lead to something called excessive scraping, where effectively the oil is scraped during the stroke completely from the piston leading to piston ring where and at worse the piston jamming in the liner, which will lead to the rod exiting stage left through the crankcase leading to massive engine failure. too much oil in the combustion area leads to excessive carbon build up, dirty oil, and poor combustion, high oil consumption, and a general inefficient engine. Inevitably when cold some oil does get burnt and this is a where the carbon brake comes in and oil that does get burnt will carbonise and start to rise up to the top of the liner, when it gets to the carbon brake the carbon then falls off and can be ejected during the exhaust phase of the 4 stroke cycle so effectively the engine keeps itself clean. A common issue with preserved engines however is quite often the engine isn't stressed enough to dislodge this carbon, eventually it builds up and floods the carbon brake leading to a dirty exhaust and excessive wear on the fuel injectors.

    The distance between the carbon brake and the top of the cross hatching indicates the area of the piston stroke where the maximum power is generated and is therefore under the highest stress, and highest temperature.
     
    6LDAs like all sulzers are NON interference engine, in that if the timing were to be incorrect (which is pretty impossible) then the valves and the pistons will never meet causing a bent valve and a very badly damaged cylinder heads. This is why on a car the cam belt is vitally important, it keeps the timing correct, it always keeps the valves and pistons away from each other. Car engines are normally interference engines.
     
    However what is vitally important is that the liners are the correct orientation, you can see at the side of the liners a cut out, and this is where the valves go when they open, conversely you can see a cut out on the piston crown which is also where the valves go.
     
    The cylinder liners therefore have a mark which lines up with a mark on the block which ensures the liner is in the correct rotation.
     

     
    The mark on the liner.
     
    There are 3 sizes of liner
     
    Standard - Classes 24,25,26,27
     
    .5mm Oversize Class 33
     
    1mm Oversize Class 45 and Class 47
     
    As built all sulzers Baby, Juvenile and Big used the same liner, over time bore damage was observed on the higher powered engine as a result of excessive wear 45s and 47s it was commensurate with the size of the trains they were hauling, and the time they were spending at full power, 33s reflected the fact that they were running at a higher rpm due to the ETH, this meant that the liner vibrated in the bore and left an impression on the internal bore, this lead to sealing issues and damage to liners (fretting) so as a result the engines were bored to the sizes above to reset the issue.
     
    Elsewhere the bodywork continues as we follow the step by step guide to increasing your class 26s route availability by cutting out all the filler, rot and general detritus they are carrying around.
     

     
    B Side, the area we saw in the last post now completely welded up with new steel and framework in the area we saw in the last post, investigations revealed the source of the water ingress (the cantrail grills and this metal has been cut back to make a modification which will drastically cut down the water ingress into the locomotive in future., a few other areas of localised corrosion further down have been cut out, this is caused by the internal fire bottles sweating, and creating condensation on the bodyside.
     
    There are 2 problems at the cantrail level
     

     
    The first is the bodyskin has been applied too far up and riveted to the grills themselves, steel on aluminium is never ever a good combination causing electrolytic corrosion, this weakens the aluminium, although it has been cleaned you can see evidence of this, the other issue is that you will as a result of this process never ever get a water tight seal, you can see where the body was originally riveted on the girder. instead of riveting though we will seam welding (along the line of the original rivets), ensuring a strong 100% seal, an aluminium strip will then be applied to take the skin up to the bottom of the grills and then sealed to them with a very strong mastic, to cover the join a finishing strip of D profile aluminium will then be put over the join to cover it, this has the further advantage of disturbing the flow of rainwater off the roof and keeping it off the bodyside.
     

     
    Further down by the radiators we can see pooling water behind the skin has pushed it away from the frame which make it just look downright ugly, this is a process known as rust jacking.
     
    On the other side of the locomotive more is present because of the same issues this will be needle gunned before the frame is primed.
     

     
    The next area for cutting this is the opposite side in the boiler compartment to the picture you saw with the new plate welded in. However this rot isn't thought to be as bad this side hence the smaller amount to be removed.
     

     
    Cutting starts with the lower portion to be retained due the unique profile the bodyside is 3mm steel its very very difficult to recreate this with 3mm steel so this steel which is pretty much rust free is being re-used.
     

     

     
    What did surprise us was the sheer amount of detritus in a sealed area under the floor ( I say sealed because this had a cover which has been cut off to reveal this)  it is full the brim with dirt flies, nuts and bolts and general crud believe it or not very little deep corrosion is present, it is though that this area has never been exposed since the locomotive was built.
     

     
    The now cleaned out area, and evidence of the larger lumps on the floor, the smaller dust filled the vacuum cleaner twice, this area will be needle gunned, and primed with a 2 pack zinc primer, the outer guttering (which was too corroded to retain on the other side, will be retained this side. The pipes are from brake frame which controls all of the locomotives air and vacuum systems.
     

     
    A Side prior to cutting, the cant rail will be cut just like the other side as well.
     

     
    26043 is the gift that just keeps giving and we knew an issue was present at No1 end, on a previous blog we had an similar issue at no1 end, we knew at the time No2 was similarly affected but ran out of time to correct it, we patched it up and hoped to look at it next winter....of course after that fateful oil change....we have all the time in the world...., you can see myself with a suitable appendage knocking out the filler to expose random steel plates beneath which are padding out a rather large dent!!!
     

     
    Dent marked out for cutting
     

     
    dent gone!
     
    you are looking at what's left of the communications doors that 26s were built with, when the headlights were removed poor welding (too much heat) caused the metal to bow inwards due to expansion, when it cooled the weld prevented it from contracting back to its normal position, so to fill the dent they flooded with filler (over an inch!!!) and padded it out with steel plates which were held in place with a self tapping bolt. The tank was fitted when the 26s were dual braked.
     
    hopefully the next blog will show no more cutting and an re-assembly of the engine in progress.
  18. pheaton
    Lockdown couldn't come at a worse time....26043s engine was in a stripped down state, and as a result the crankshaft (whilst protected) was exposed to air (due to the absence of the pistons) whilst protected I would have much preferred to have been able to go up to be able to keep the engine fully protected but national rules meant this had to be kept to a minimum, 26043 was also out in the yard at the time, and the engine had to be carefully sheeted over.
     
    During lockdown I took the decision to replace 4 of the liners with brand new ones, this was a difficult decision costing over £3k, I took the decision because based on advice from others the liners were really too far gone to continue using them, and when I learnt another group had commissioned a Spanish company to cast liners according to the original Sulzer drawings I tagged along which had the benefit of increasing the order...and reducing the cost. Those liners arrived in the UK on Monday at which point the engine rebuild will continue at pace...
     
    In the meantime however 26043 us starting to look very tired in the paint department, the paint Is past its best, and several areas of the bodywork wanted attention, so while we were waiting for engine parts, the decision was taken to resolve these issues with a view to a repaint in the current livery, correcting several mistakes such as the incorrect font on the numbers....
     
    This is when skeletons in the closet are found.....
     

     
    Exploratory cuts are made into a problem area (boiler compartment B side) the reason for cutting here was there were 3 scars (well rust blisters) which were the cause for the investigations....the amount filler present indicates all isn't what it seems...
     

     
    At this point it was found that severe water ingress under the floor has started to rot the locomotive out from the inside with the trough below the skin water to around 20% of its original thickness
     

     
    Another view
     

     
    a close up showing the extent of the corrosion, in the void between the trough and the outer skin
     

     
    Cutting away the trough upright reveals galloping rust. What you are seeing there is the cable troughs (which are 1mm mild steel) going full circle in the circle of life and turning back to iron oxide....
     

     
    Cutting further up...reveals another skeleton...historic accident damage with part of the bodyside framing badly bent by an historic side-swipe the outer trough has now been cut away for replacement and the detritus vacuumed out. The yellow cloth is an oilskin covering for the wiring loom which also carries high voltage traction motor cables.
     

     
    A close up showing the extent of the impact...the frame is of I beam construction of 4mm thick steel, its not trivial....
     

     
    a new I beam fabricated and welded in place to replace the distorted section, the pipe in the foreground is the cause of the corrosion....
     

     
    two views of the cable trough adjacent to the area recieving attention, normally this would be covered by the engine room floor but this has been removed for inspection...and rectification. Note the hole in the top view.....its deliberate....have you ever wondered why 26s and 27s have an opening bodyside window....its because you could put a steam water crane through window to fill the water tanks the squares on the body side steel was where the water pipework bolted too....this is a the reason for the sheer amount of corrosion in this area....the pipework leaked under the floor and the water was trapped.. this wasn't corrected or addressed during the class 26s last HG repair in the mid 80s...and as result the rot just sat there quietly eating the locomotive away from the inside...
     
    HOLY JENOLITE BATMAN....
     
    So why is the corrosion so bad......26s are one of the oldest of the pilot scheme locomotives 26043 is this year 62 years old, however 26s like most type 2s had a design life of 25 years, and as such they were built to a price....
     
    26s like all type 2s have cant-rail grills, the purpose of these grills is to allow filtered air into the engine room....such are is then used in the engine, and traction motor blowers....without this the engine would choke on its own oil mist (before anyone asks no 26043 doesn't have a bent chassis its odd feature of my phone camera  ) anyway....those grills let water in....internally 26043 has a gutter...which takes that water away and out of the locomotive....if your gutter works properly...all is good....water escapes through several drain pipes however what you cant see if the Botton 3 or 4 inches of those pipes....
     

     
    A pipe with extensive corrosion which has been leaking water into the underfloor void...note the contrast between above and blow the floor....
     

     
    this has also started to attack body supports further back
     

     
    tidied steel which is still sound ready for rust proofing and treating
     

     
    Replacement steel awaiting welding.
     
    The structure of the class 26s, like the 33s and 27s have a load bearing under frame....in that you could strip the body away completely with all of the internal components in place and not suffer any issue, so the frame you are seeing being repaired is not load bearing, it simply supports the body skin....contrast with a class 47 which is of stressed skin construction and a slit right down the centre of the body from the cantrail to the floor...would cause the locomotive to collapse in on itself....
     
    the rot is pretty much confined to the outer 2 inches of the floor pan the main chassis of the locomotive is as strong as the day it was built...
     

     
    if we go back to this picture the other cause of the rot is directly below the outside of the cant-rail grills, these grills are of aluminium construction, and as a result cant be welded to the steel body skin, which means they have to revited...with pot rivets, over time these rivets fail causing a crack to appear at the base of the cantrail grills and the internal louvres, this means water can run down inside of the body and collect below the floor...accelerating the rot further and because this hasn't come through the louvers themselves its not caught by the gutter.
     

     
    a repaired and re-enforced body frame upright 
     
    Moving further back along the locomotive reveals more accident damage from he same sideswipe this I beam has been twisted almost 90 degrees!!! broken away from its original position allowing water past it and to pool underneath the floor.
     

     
    another view of the damage note the odd chequer plate welded in to "hide" the damage.
     

     
    the battery isolating switch with the cover removed revealing damage to the paint behind from flash damage when the BIS is pulled out the BIS will have to be removed so the skin can be repaired behind it.
     

     
    new steel welded in and primed
     

     
    A side (which is in substantially better condition) being rubbed down ready for repainting...
     
    so we can see accident damage...and design flaws...have a big impact on how a locomotive fares throughout its life...
     
    12 weeks and counting...until completion....
     

  19. pheaton
    A bit of a boring one really, as it concentrates more on a single part of the engine but ill try and bed it out a bit more with some more slightly interesting bits.....
     

     
    A view of 26043s 6LDA with both side covers removed (reason why will be explained in a bit)
     
    In this view you can see where the block is bolted to the crankcase, and you have a good view of the camshaft, there are 3 cam lobes per cylinder, the outer 2 of the lobes operate the pushrods and the centre lobe operates the fuel pump, also note that the camshaft is gear driven (a common sulzer trait), as opposed to the chain driven English electric engines. This eliminates chain stretch and failure as an issue for timing (which is a common issue on English electric engines) the cam Is driven by a pair of reduction gears from the main camshaft, each individual component is bolted to a central shaft. Above the lobes you can see the cam followers which are effectively 3 individual "pistons" which rise and fall on the lobe to operate the equipment they connect to, a push rod or a fuel pump.
     

     
    Another view, the shelf above is the fuel gallery, which contains the fuel pumps and push rod tubes (all removed for overhaul) just below that you can see the fuel rack, which is a mechanical linkage which connects the engine governor to the fuel pumps so the governor can control (according to the drivers demand) the speed of the engine. over to the left (out of view) is the overspeed trip which is a mechanical device which is connected to the cam shaft, in the event of on overspeed the cam shaft will lift a spring which will snap the fuel rack closed and shut the engine down. The black pipe running along the cam shaft is the oil supply rail to the cam shaft bearings and lobes. At the bottom you can see the engines main oil filter.
     

     
    One of the engine side covers being steam cleaned, 3 layers of paint were steamed off this ready for repainting, you can see the 6 Kyocera valves, which have had there covers removed, The job of the valve is to vent dangerous amounts of crankcase pressure which is not being vented through the crankcase breather (which has a labyrinth) and also to limit damage as the result of a crankcase explosion. these valves are unique to sulzers, and were retrofitted to all sulzer engines at some point in the 1960s, prior to this they had just a solid door. This came about after a peaks crankcase exploded do to a build up of iron filings at one end of the engine (generator end) the subsequent friction cause a spark and ignition of the crankcase gases, the engine was destroyed in this event and it was envisaged it could have been saved if it had valves fitted to vent the gases in a safe way.
     

     
    as seen in the previous blog, there was damage around the liner seal lands....with this damage present on the liners it was suspected that this would be present on the opposite surface of the engine block, and after climbing inside the engine to get a good look, its confirmed that severe damage is present. This damage would see the block written off by BR, and a new engine fitted (if authorised) obviously we dont have that luxury so we need to find a way around it. In the damage above you can just about make out the position of the 3 liner seals, and then the machined surface below it. What has happened is coolant has found a way past seals 1 and 2 and started to go to work on seal 3. This has occurred because BR did not use antifreeze, antifreeze (apart from not freezing) has the advantage of a corrosion inhibitor. However......BR kept corrosion at bay by using a chemical called borax, which was added to the water in the engine to stop corrosion. The other way BR stopped corrosion was by never ever draining there locomotives. The depot rule was, when temperatures were 2 degrees the locomotives were to be started and kept running for 2 hours.....every 4 hours....if the temperature was below zero....the locomotives were kept running! failure to do this meant blocks and turbo chargers would split and cause severe damage to the engine. In preservation though, that's not an option.....cost being the main cause and also idling engine without then putting them under subsequent load causes bore glazing, which then means the locomotive starts throwing oil out the roof. So in the winter locomotives are drained....and when you drain a locomotive, you allow oxygen in......and this is what happens!
     

     
    Another damaged bore.
     

     
    to resolve the issue, we are using Belzona 1511 which is a very expensive very high immersion temperature chemical metal, which has been applied to all the bores affected and will shortly be sanded back to bare metal which means the pits you see in pictures 1 and 2 will be filled and a water tight surface created.
     

     
    Other areas of work are the overhauls of the heads, each head has been completely stripped down to the bare casing, for repainting, relapping of the valves, and replacement of the valve guides, which were all found to be worn beyond the acceptable maximum. Here we see one of the heads on a hydraulic press having the guides removed, each guide requires 2 tons of pressure to free it from he head.
     

     
    A valve port after the guide has been removed.
     

     
    An original valve guide
     

     
    A valve guide port prior to cleaning
     

     
    A guide port after cleaning
     
     

     
    A brand new valve guide being inserted....the new guides are pushed home by a rubber mallet and a smear of loctite to hold them in place. the heads have all been very roughly primed to keep surface rust at bay, once the mechanical work is complete they will get a full repaint.
     

     
    After the guide is installed kerosene is poured around it, to confirm that the guide is fully pushed home and fully sealed.
     

     
    with the new guides installed the valves can be lapped with grinding paste, a corse grind is completed first using a sacrificial valve, and finally a fine grind is completed using the valve that will be installed in the head.
     

     
    as can be seen, it doesn't get all the marks out, its just a case of making it as good as possible.
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
  20. pheaton
    Hello All
     
    The good 
     

     
    26010 after a lengthy stay at the GWR, finally made it home, all 4 of its traction motors repaired, and a suspension bearing re-white metalled, i went up there a few weeks ago to help them sort out a few final bugs before we did a very basic test run
     
     
    Everything went very well indeed, and its fantastic to see the loco running again.
     
    Because the owners had not driven a class 26 in over 2 years and i was (just) in competence on the type my final task of the day was to re-assess the owners inline with there safety management system to be passed fit to drive class 26s again. Of course i couldn't resist having a drive myself

     
    26010 will hopefully have a long career yet in preservation.
     
    The Bad and the Ugly
     
    Back home work continues on 26043s engine repair, this is the first time in nearly 40 years these components have seen the light of day
     

     
    The pistons have now all been cleaned and De-ringed ready for measuring to decide what rings need to be renewed, and what pistons will need to be sent away to have the grooves machined, there are tight tolerances on the piston rings and the new rings must be a good fit, initial measurements show the the compression ring groves (top 4) on many of the pistons have worn to close to and just over 7mm the maximum wear on the compression grooves is 7.5mm, which means these pistons are now really close to be being end of life, they are good enough for this overhaul but its likely they would be too worn for another overhaul afterwards. The groves with the holes are for the oil scraper rings, engine oil under pressure is fed up the up the conrod from the crankshaft and around the piston interior this keeps the piston cool relatively , and also lubricates the bore, the scraper rings then push this back to the sump to prevent too much oil being burned on combustion.  The cylinder liners now cleaned externally and internally can be seen in the foreground.
     
    compare this with the previous photo
     

     
    A locomotive never keeps its original components and pistons are no exception, the crown of the piston has a lot of information stamped into it.
     

     
    For example....this piston when it last went through works had an A ring groove width of 6mm but more interestingly it has the number of its previous owning locomotive in this case 25075 and this was piston No6
     
    https://derbysulzers.com/25075.html
     

     
    This piston has come from D5405 a class 27 and again it was piston number 6
     
    https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p942129668/h2654723F#h2654723f
     

     
    And this piston has come from of all things a class 45 D65 and we can see it was from B bank and it was piston number 6 this is more interesting because obviously peaks had a 12lda and not a 6lda as fitted to the 25s 26s and 27s you can also see that this piston has had groves A opened to 7mm and B and C groves opened to 6.5mm.
     

     
    so we can see a lot of long deceased locos live on in some form  
     
    Next we move on the the liners, i touched in the last blog the liners were not in as good condition as they could be.
     

     
    Here we see external pitting on the outer heat transfer surface of the liner, the pitting is a result of cavitation and corrosion, cavitation causes shockwaves that form when water boils and they literally erode the surface of the liner and form little pits, if the pits are allowed to get too deep they will affect the integrity of the liner and cause water to leak into the bores, all the liners have this issue, and will need to be repaired with a high temperature chemical metal. English electric engines tend to suffer from this far more than sulzers.
     

     
    A close up the liner seal grooves which show advanced pitting around the sealing lands, this is corrosion and is a result of water being able to sit behind the top two seals, again this will need to be fixed and carefully profiled with high temperature chemical metal.
     

     
    An internal view of one of the worst affected cylinder liners the direct cause of this is water ingress into the bores (via the exhaust) the water has sat around the rings which can clearly be seen marked on the surface and then water has run down the ring gaps, the cris-cross marks are as result of honing the liner over 40 years ago....and demonstrates how little wear the liners actually suffer, if it wasn't for the pitting its possible this liner could be re-honed to remove most of the defects you see there, however its likely this liner will have to be renewed. However the engine was running with the liner for over 8 years with no ill effects noticed, and this was evident on the pistons, so it was clearly not affecting the engine that much. The pistons and rings were all carefully checked and showed no evidence of gas blow-by.
     

     
    Two more views of liner damage caused by water ingress, although it looks severe, it looks worse than it is, and if you were to run your finger nail over the surface you would notice and damage in the surface, these marks will need to be carefully polished out with a de-glazing brush.
     
    All of this damage is caused by a locomotive that has sat idle (pre-restoration) for for too long, even without the rain water going into the exhaust, naturally damp air will find its way into the bores via open valves and cause the damage seen.
     
    The next area is the heads.
     

     
    3 of the 6 heads having there valves removed for inspection of the valves, and valve guides, on the left is the head having its valves removed on the right the valves have already been removed from the head and the top of the valve guides can be seen, although the locomotive was not burning oil, all of the valves guides bar one have been found to be worn beyond the acceptable maximum, and all are being replaced. The plate seen on the left compresses the valve springs so the collets can be removed, then the springs and upper assembly and then the head and be turned over and the valve pushed out. All of the heads have been de-coked and paint has been removed ready for repainting.
     

     
    After the valves have been removed, looking directly at the flame face on the left is the inlet valve and on the right the exhaust, the rust was caused by the steam cleaning the week before, you can see the bottom of the valve guides and the valve seats which are in reasonable condition but will require re-lapping with the valves when the head is re-assembled. The valve guides will need to be pressed out on a hydraulic press. The hole in the centre is the fuel injection hole, the hole at the top is the decompression hole. Another round of cleaning is required before then though. Each valve hole is roughly 4" across.
     

     
    an inlet valve.
     

     
    A badly damaged exhaust valve needless to say this will not be going back into the locomotive, its thought incorrect tappet clearance has caused this damage sometime in the past, the valve was still sealing however as evidenced by the lack of blow by on the valve. This valve will be made for sale shortly as a souvenir, with all proceeds going to 26043s engine rebuild. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  21. pheaton
    Its been a while since the last blog....
     
    we start where we left off....me and my fellow 26 workers beavering away all over the depths of winter...changing windscreen seals....cutting out rot....repainting yellow ends....all for the start of the ever promising 2020 season . 
     
    Two visits already planned, 1 to Somerset and Dorset, and one to the severn valley....even my fellow diesel dept members thought we wouldn't make it...but we did...we finished all our body work and repairs to internal systems, and were ready....one last job needed to be done and that was an oil change....
     
    the oil sum on a 6lda holds 130gallons of your finest straight 30 engine oil, the frequency of oil changes generally depends on the condition of the engine and turbo charger, 26043 on average has an oil change every 2 to 3 years, and this is commonly due to fuel contamination, which is caused by a lot of cold starts...something which all preserved locos suffer from, which thins the oil. 26043 has the additional issue of a high soot value in the oil but we will touch on this later....so what does an oil change look like
     

     
    It looks like this...2 oil drums on brand new oil....best part of £1k not cheap....this year 26043 has had the addition benefit of a full filter change, £500....but this is the first filter change its had since it had been withdrawn. Inspecting the filter turned up good news...the only thing in there was paint flecks...and lots of it....but NO METAL which corresponded with what I read on the oil sample results. (the insides of Sulzer engines are painted) no it doesn't make sense to me either!
     

     
    the engine side cover off allowing access to the crankshaft main bearings and big end bearings, and allowing for general inspection of the engine to the right is piston 6, this is what's known as "B Side" (non air compressor side)
     
    Now seasoned BR depot staff reading this will say...to change the oil all you do is get the engine hot....connect the hose to the oil drain and open the ratchet and just wait....easy....no I know full well if open that valve after 25-30 years its not going to seal....and just like 26010....it will just drip and drip and make a mess everywhere. So...what I do is pop the engine access door off  (3 man lift) and stick a barrel pump down to the depths of the sump to suck the oil out....its a tried and tested method.....it just takes a while
     
    Its here....things started to go down hill
     

     
    a pear into the depths of 043a engine, the oil sump (currently full of oil) reflecting the flash off my camera, note the surface rust on the crankshaft counter weights...this isn't unusual as condensation over the winter forms internally (as the engine has a large vent) and this ends up with inevitable surface rust. Nothing unusual here
     

     
    Piston number 4, the piston and rod assembly for all sulzers is about 4 feet tall, its held on the crankshaft using an end cap (not unlike a car) with 4 bolts...the toothed wheels prevent one bolt undoing another. the piston has a 28" stroke hence the name 6lda28 again on the left we see standard rust....its the right hand side counterweight which shows something is amis, we see a fresh streak of rust indicating a flow of water has occurred recently....its at this point I asked one of my colleagues to run the triple pump to bring the water system up to pressure, and while the cover was off I could see if any was escaping from the water jacket above and into the crank case, after a short period of running the pump I could see a bead of water form at the bottom of the cylinder liner....after wiping away the water it then returned...its at this point I knew the cylinder liner seals had failed on at least piston 4....and after close inspection I could see they had also failed on cylinder liner 1.
     
    So this then wrote the season off....the engine would require a full strip down and rebuild.....
     
    So what's first...
     
    first there's the rocker gear and fuel pumps....sadly because of the sheer amount of fiddly work we didn't get pictures of this...but its a fairly straightforward process. 
     
    Then...
     
    the heads
     
    a 6 LDA like all sulzers and EE loco's have individual cylinder heads....unlike your car which has one head for the engine (or bank if its a V) 
     

     
    the heads are held in with 6 nuts on studs, its common for these studs to snap and require drilling out of the engine block...thankfully we avoided this....but the nuts are sighted up to 650nm and, you have absolutely no chance with a spanner so a torque multiplier is needed, and a strong man....up steps fireman sam (his real name is fireman Jon but fireman sam is more humourous) with fireman sam pulling funny faces and me providing a little finger of morale support all 6 heads were undone ins about 3 hours....at which point fireman sam departed for a 12 hour night shift at his Bristol fire station!
     
    the heads weigh roughly 1/4 ton and are a minimum four man lift...you first need to remove the handy fibreglass cover so you can lift them out the engine bay with an overhead gantry.
     

     
    3. of the. 6 heads after steam cleaning, they were covered in a 1/4" of grime and will be full stripped down and inspected before re-use each head is a minimum 4 man lift! you can see the twin valves and the studding which holds the rocker gear, the angled port to the right is the exhaust, and the port to the left is the inlet.
     
    next... the pistons...
     

     
    a piston being lifted out the roof with a gantry, each piston has a threaded hole for an eyebolt in the crown
     

     
    All six pistons weighting to be lifted into the racks
     

     
    All 6 pistons (well 5 you can see) awaiting clean up and piston ring inspection piston 3 had a broken piston ring and this will be replaced.
     

     
    The pistons with the bearings and end caps in situ, its vital that these are kept together the end caps are not interchangeable, the bearings are in excellent condition with only minor scoring, but very very little wear.
     
    finally...the liners...and liners are the biggest pain to remove, they have been in place for over 35 years and are reluctant to give that up, they are pressed into position and held in with the liner seals, a base plate and two 1.5" diameter bars are passed down the liner and installed at the bottom, at the top the a top plate sits over two head studs and the two bars pass through it, and then two 1.5" whiteworth nuts are installed, which clamps the liner against the studs....then with two ratchets and two people you wind the liner out using the two nuts, but doing the nuts up the bars pull the liners up...its slow and painful process until the liner jumps up (which is when the seals have been released)
     

     
    the base of the liners showing the 3 liners seals which are nothing more than overgrown. O rings...yes an £18.50 o ring has caused this failure! you can see above where the water circulates  round cooling the liner, the lower portion protrudes into the crankcase.
     

     
    the liner bores...these are in fair condition, a few scores and a little corrosion evident where the locomotive sat for long periods after withdrawal, lack of spare liners means these will have to be re-used. after a light honing.
     

     
    finally a view into the now dry cylinder jacket looking down the bore at the liner sealing surface down to the crankshaft.
     
    at this point lockdown hit and min waiting to go back to carry on.
     
    thanks for reading.
     
     
  22. pheaton
    An overdue blog....
     
    winter is upon us again.....actually winter has been on us for a while, however we once again run the gauntlet of maintenance that ends up being needed for a 60 year old machine....that should have been withdrawn 35 years ago!!!
     
    Observers of 26043 will know that at one end it started to develop a smile...this smile was caused by over-enthusiastic use of filler! that smile was getting bigger and bigger....and it would be long before a rough shunt would have knocked the whole thing out....and also since there was tell tale rust signs it was clear that things were not too good underneath. In addition to this water ingress into the cabs was becoming an increasing problem, so something had to be done....
     
    After the "smile" was knocked off (it didn't take much this is what greeted us beneath….
     
     
     
     

     
    26043 after No2 end had been "attacked"
     

     
    A close up of the smile....after clean up...
     
    Actually its not that bad the metal although pitted is still strong, but what you cant see from this picture is the cause of the issue, to the top left and right of the "smile" you can see 2 circles this was the place of the headlights, when these headlights were welded up the welder put too much heat into the metal (trying to weld too much at once) and the result is the metal expands....and starts to bow inwards....to make up for this large depression (3/4") copious amounts of filler were used.....but wait....there's more...to try and cut down on the filler the area was "padded" out with random bit of steel plate...the problem then is that steel expands and cracks the filler....which exposes the metal underneath to air which causes the corrosion..... we cant have that....
     

     
    What they should have done....is that cut it out and started again, you are looking directly into the locomotive connecting doors.....the bellows of which are still present...the air tank you see was added when the locomotive was dual braked, consideration was given to re-instating the headlights, but the presence of this tank prevents it.
     

     
    New steel welded in

     
    unfortunately that's not the extent of the rot...the centre windscreen has a significant amount of corrosion also...this is caused by the gutter leaking this too will be repaired... the filler above the windscreens isn't filler....its actually a fibreglass strip added sometime between when 26043 had its unique full yellow ends and civil engineers livery, clearly water ingress was an issue on 26s to try and resolve it scot-rail fibre glassed over the join seen below between the cab steel work and cab dome, all this however does is move the problem further up, if the gutter base starts to leak, water can get behind the fiberglass and lift It away, the water can then go where it likes, and in this case pool in the corner of the centre windscreen.
     

     
    close up showing the extent of the required repairs, all the filler and paint has been stripped back and the leaking portion of the gutter removed.
     

     
    the boiler room roof has also been removed to repair the seal beneath it.
     

     
    the area seen earlier now in green primer, the socket in the picture is for the fire alarm system.
     

     
    Work has also been taking place at No2 where similar horrors were found....
     

     

     
    this is where we realised that at some point 26043 has had a "wallop" and doing a bit of research shows 26043 running around in the 70s with a very deformed front end, it was then we realised that No1 end of 26043 is nearly entirely double skinned instead of replacing the damaged metal, they put a new skin over it wrapping round underneath drivers cab side, its possible......the tablet recess still exists underneath, heavy corrosion is present as seen in the bottom right corner this is mostly caused by water pooling, which Scot-rail clearly saw as an issue as they tried to resolve the corrosion by cutting "drain holes" with an oxy torch in the cab base plate which is 3/4" thick.

     
    it didn't work.....
     
    the yellow ends will get a fresh coat of paint and new windscreen seals.
     
    Internally over 50 winter jobs have been completed some minor some major, one major job is the fitting of a new AVR.
     
    The AVR has one job, and that job is to keep the out put supplied to the battery charging circuits and the auxiliary machines, and control circuits to 110v regardless of auxiliary generator load and engine speed, in the event of either of those two changing the AVR will automatically adjust the auxiliary generators field to maintain 110v. 
     
    26043 like all Sulzer type 2s was built and withdrawn with the ABB moving coil AVR.
     

     
    there is the face of it as you would see it with its glass door open in the locomotive, its a big beast about the size of a dustbin, and towards the rear are a load of resistors.

    How does it work.....well im glad you asked....
     
    BLACK MAGIC!!!
     
    Effectively 2 coils magnetically oppose each other until 110v is seen, when that happens the arms seen in the picture place resistances in the auxiliary generator circuit to change its voltage. Other the only thing I know is that the man who invented in ABB wasn't paid enough, the whole thing is as complicated as a swiss watch.
     
    26043s is still in working condition and is for sale for anyone who wants a spare however the issue with these AVRs is as follows
     
    1,) Its a mechanical device so it has consumables in terms of carbon tracks and bearings and springs
    2,) it has no over-volts protection
    3,) If it breaks no one in this country knows how to repair them!
    4,) they are incredibly difficult to adjust sensibly
    5,) they are incredibly sensitive to vibration
    6,) most common failure mode is resistor failure in the back of the unit, and the resistors are quite unique.
     
    The biggest issue with this AVR is if there is a problem it will quite happily carry on cooking the batteries and the auxiliary machines in your locomotive, its also very slow to react.
     

     
    so what do you do....
     
    you contact a very nice man called Noel. Noel used to work for British rail, namely at Tinsley depot for rail freight distribution, noel came up with a new type AVR fitted then to class 47s to greatly improve reliability over the carbon pile AVR they had when they were built, the AVR you see above is a modern version of it. It is custom tweaked to every type of locomotive, and 26043 is the only 26 to date fitted with this AVR, but lots of other locomotive classes use noels expertise.
     
    Noel is in 70s but still offers his services to locomotive owners.
     
    The AVR above is a major investment at over £2000
     
    all this work needs to be complete by mid-February as the locomotive is due to visit the Somerset and Dorset Railway, everything is on track, and this will be the first mainline locomotive they had at the railway.
     
    Thanks for reading...…..
     
     
     

  23. pheaton
    Not a lot to report on 26043...its making a few funny noises but nothing really of interest since the last update, things might get a little more interesting towards the winter when we start taking roof panels off....
     
    In the meantime.....
     
    I took a help for request from the Llangollen diesel boys, owners of 26010.... 26010 was in a sport of bother in that it had damaged a commutator on the traction motor. 
     
    long and short of it deal arranged for 26010 to visit Toddington to have this sorted out and the chance for a bit of nostalgic thrash for a pair of 26s in there 60th year.
     

     
    26010 arriving at todd, sporting a fantastic "economy green" paint job, but she's hiding some very dark secrets...
     

     
    26043 sat in the rain at broadway with the last departure of the day
     
    so 26010 has suffered a partial collapse of the commutator bearing in traction motor number 2, the original job was to get one of 26043s "spare" traction motors overhauled shoe horn it in to 26010, and the rest is history......
     
    so whats the plan then....firstly we need to get the traction motor overhauled.....
     

     
    if we jump back in time to the dark days of a number of years ago we see errant traction motor no2 being extracted from 26043 in the very same car park as the one which 26010 is being unloaded, 3 months prior 26043 decided that it didn't like traction motors no2 and no3 and flashed them both over. in the case of these 2 motors it was an interpole failure, which meant a winding failed in one of the interpole coils and those nasty volts got their wish and got to earth, blowing a 3cm hole in the interpole in the process. Principally this is caused by a break down in the varnish insulation, mostly due to age or possibly moisture contamination.....26043 was withdrawn after a power earth fault while on snowplough duties....so you can assume moisture had a big part to play.
     
    The motor itself is quite easy to extract, in fact in a rainy car park yours truly (pictured with my back nearest facing the camera. and a number of other fellow workers extracted 3 motors in less than 24 hours (we had to send a bogie away for a tyre turn and due to the depot crane limit it couldn't be more than 10 tons, all successful many years of thrash right up to the present day....
     
    those 2 motors went into storage....until 3 months ago they were then sent along with a suitcase full of money to a specialist contractor to be overhauled although you cant really see from the photo inside that motor is black filthy and full of "soot" externally its covered in grime and oil after last being overhauled in 1986!
     
    So as I said a lot of money and a specialist contractor and you get this.....

     
    yes that's the very same motor you saw being extracted earlier, 47105 basks in the background having a very extensive overhaul.
     
    ok looks shiny but its the inside that counts right?
     

     
    Here you see all of the brush gear overhauled the coils removed and re-taped, the armature baked and varnished and the commutator turned on a lathe and undercut, and new brushes fitted.....the brushes alone are £1200
     
    Ok great all good to go get it in 26010 and the Llangollen lads are good to go right.....
     
    sadly not as I said 26010 was hiding some dark secrets....
     

     
    26010 inside the shed at Toddington over an internal pit for inspection with 26043 for company (the first time a pair have been together for quite a few years)
     
    When 26010 was delivered as I was the responsible person for her It was myself that gingerly shunted her into the yard with our trusty 04 shunter, whilst moving her I could hear a deep rumbling sound coming from axle 4.....if I heard it from axle 2 I wouldn't have been bothered as axle 2 was the motor due to replacement.....
     
    A quick chat with the owners who said they heard the same noise and thought it some incorrectly fitted brushes which had been fitted the day before.... as such I decided to put 26010 over a pit the following weekend and have a look to see if this was the issue.....
     

     
    sadly....it wasn't....
     

     
    What you see here is another case of the bearing collapsing on the commutator side of the motor if you look carefully the first picture you see the right hand side of the brush box clear the commutator but as you advance to the left that gap is slowly being taken up and eventually it strikes the commutator on the far left causing serious damage to the commutator and possibly writing it off. Note also how dirty and black everything is compared to the refurbished motor.
     

     

     
    Close ups of the offending brush box which has caused all of the damage, the brush box is still fully serviceable and only needs minor work to No1 brush cavity to be serviceable again.
     
    after inspection I recommended to the owners that all 3 remaining motors would best be overhauled, and in a flash the repair bill for the owners went north of 22k!
     
    So after expecting to only have to replace 1 motor....we are now removing and overhauling all 4!
     
    None of us are being paid for this work, and by working together 26043 is left with an overhauled spare traction motor and 26010 is restored to working order after so far 12 months out of traffic, after repairs and period of running at the GWR, she will return home to wales, and hopefully after all this work run for many more years to come!
     
  24. pheaton

    Keeping 26043 alive

    By pheaton,

    Ever wondered how easy keeping a model running to the real thing?
     
    Some of you may remember the appeal i launched in the preserved forum on rmweb where i neededto raise funds to keep 26043 running in 2017, that appeal was very successful but it never stops on one thing.
     
    This blog isnt an appeal its just an insight into the life of a preserved locomotive.
     
    26043 has had a very successful year its visited no less than 5 preserved railways and taken part in 7 diesel galas as well as a driver experience course and scheduled running at its home railway.
     
    This year 26043 visited in order....
     
    Swanage Railway
     
    West Somerset Railway
     
    Ecclesborne Railway
     
    Great Central Railway
     
    Epping to Ongar Railway
     
    Covering over 2,500miles trouble free.....well not totally trouble free a pipe did fracture at ecclesborne
     
    The end of the running season is now here and being non antifreezed locomotive 26043 enters hibernation at the end of the season where as some locomotives run throughout the winter. But more on this later.
     
    26043 was built in 1959 and entered service that year, being a series 2 class 26 it went straight to scotland where it would spend the rest of its mainline working life, this makes 26043 58 years old, older than some steam locomotives and being withdrawn in 1993 has a working life of 34 years something only a few class 47s and other class 26s have surpassed. The class 26s like most type 2s were designed with a maximum service life of 25 years, which means that in 1984 26043 should have been withdrawn as life expired. However a massive investment program by scotrail which included an overhaul with a rewire saw a life extension of the class with the final examples being withdrawn not long after 26043 was withdrawn in 1993. By this time the class 26 were the only 6 cylinder sulzers running on british rail, the 24s and 25s and 27s all being withdrawn before the final demise of the class.
     
    So to give you a bit of an idea about how a preserved loco is financed here is a bit about the running contract 26043 runs under.
     
    on a preserved railway you have a running agreement with your host railway, this is a legally binding contract on what your obligations are as a locomotive owning group and what the railways obligations are to you, but the basics of the agreement as as follows...
     
    you the owning group will provide a maintained and operational locomotive which has passed the required fit to run exams and is deemed fit to haul passenger trains. In recompense in the case of 26043 the host railway provides the following....
     
    £3.02 per mile ran in service
    Fuel
    Oil
    Anti Freeze (if applicable)
    Brake Blocks
    Filters (fuel and air)
     
    so basically if 26043 doesent run it doesent get paid....
     
    now when you get a preserved locomotive running it doesent end there it requires constant maintenance, the complexity and frequency of this maintenance depends on the work its had to return it to service on your preserved railway.....
     
    26043 has not been restored.....its been beaten back into life.
     
    As 26043 had major investment in the twilight of its life the restoration to service was a much simpler task than required by some locomotives which have simply been driven into the ground, 26043 on the other hand had comparitively low engine hours and as mentioned before benefited from a complete rewire.
     
    However we need to touch on the fact that 26s like most type 2s had a 25 year design life, BR had to invest significantly to exceed that by 8 years, its now 2017 and we have exceeded that design life by 32 years. And this manifests itself in a number of ways.
     
    You will see at the start of the blog i mentioned a very successful year with a number of visits after we purchased a fresh set of batters (the result of our appeal) at a cost of £4,800 i as secretary of the CMDG and co-ordinator of 26043 started signing contracts to bring in much needed extra revenue with other railways. my last conversation before the first drama of the new season was with the Engineering manager of the swanage railway "i dont want to sign the contract for the gala just yet if much rather make sure it behaves itself after its winter break". As i have touched on in my threads in preservation 1 thing locomotives really really dont like is sitting there doing nothing, and every winter each preserved loco does just that, early february arrived and the day my phone call with the engineering manager of swanage i proceeded to fill 26043 with coolant prior to waking it up for the 1st time of the season. I connected the hose and walked off to make a tea.....when i walked into the engine room to check the gauges of the two settling tanks to check the progress of the filling, i could hear a whoosing sound.....when i looked down at the base of one the two settlement tanks i could see a large hole with water seeping out of it....the settling tank had failed......
     
    that was repaired and as we already know the locomotive completed a very successful season.....but i will outline what goes on with such a repair as now at the tail end of the season we are now repairing the second settling tank.....and just to be annoying the locomotive on its last day threw a curve ball...which is the title picture of this blog....
     
    What is a settling tank?
     
    the settling tanks sit below the radiators, and there function is 2 fold.
     
    1,) to allow the water to drain from the radiators after the water pump has stopped (which protects them from frost damage, and has the advanatage allowing you to change the radiator elements without draining the locomotive of coolant)
    2,) to provide a large head of water for the triple pump to prevent cavitation because the water doesent drain quickly enough through the radiators to keep up with the flow provided by the pump, cavities can cause the crane seal on the triple pump to fail which means locomotive downtime and is a particularly expensive (for a seal) to replace.
     
    the settling tanks would have been replaced (or inspected and repaired) at 26043s last overhaul in the mid 80s meaning when the 1st tank failed at the start of the year they would have been 35 years old they are of simple galvanised steel construction, seam welded and have a steel thickness (when new) of about 3mm. The cause of the failure was simply corrosion, and its the removal of the tank and whats involved i will outline in this blog post. The first tank was removed found to be generally ok despite severe pitting on the base of the tank and around the leak site, so this was welded after the tank was shot blast, the pits refilled with chemical metal and the tank given 3 coats of phengaurd which is an anti corrosion paint normally used in ships ballast tanks. As the tanks were in sound condition apart from small areas of the base, the descision was made to repair rather than replace.
     
    So fast forward to last weekend the second tank which despite not leaking isnt likely to last much longer without treatment as they are both the same age. The locomotive has two tanks as there are two banks of radiators....
     
    So whats involved.....first of all the radiator frame has to be removed after you have removed the cowling surrounding it internally and all of the radiator elements themselves.
     

     
    you see here the frame being hoisted out of the locomotive, the base of the frame is about halfway up the picture wth the authors foot in the background on the ladder, you can also get an indication of the actual radiator elements themselves which are bolted to the studs either side of the holes, at the bottom of the picture is the top of the settling tank itself. The two fluted pipes at the bottom of the frame is what drains the water from the radiators into the tank during operation and after the pump has stopped.
     

     
    Here you see the frame in all its glory, its just been extracted via the shoulder of the locomotive the frame itself is a 4 man lift and is roughly 6 feet tall by about 4 feet wide. The frame will be shotblasted and repainted before re-installation.
     

     
    And here is the tank itself that as been removed via the engine room door and then via the cab door at the side of this picture, as its too big to come out of the same hole the frame came out of earlier, this is a 3 man lift.
     



     
    And here we have several views of the interior of the tank iself, you see the baffles and the drain pipe and also the corse strainer which stop large particles enter the pipe which then runs to the triple pump, large particles could foul the impeller of the tripple pump damaging it. You can see despite being drained of coolant that about an inch or so of water remains, also note the brown coating on everything.....this is essentially the engine block which is being desolved by the water and deposited throughout the cooling system, its this sludge which builds up and causes the corrosion to speed up dramatically while the locomotive is drained, despite being galvanised the presence of this sludge causes bimetallic corrosion eventually this eats its way through the tank and a hole appears. The "hammer" looking object is actually a float for the water gauge which indicates how much water is in that tank.
     
    we havent yet got a hole so we are cleaning the tank and then treating it so a hole wont appear for atleast 10 years....that means 26043 earns money and this pays the bills because fixing things on full size locomotives costs a lot of money.
     
    I mentioned earlier the locomotive threw a curve ball, the above was planned maintenance well on its last day of service 26043 threw us a curveball.
     

     
    you see above a nice jet of water coming out of the heat exchanger of the engine, the heat exchanger is a vital part of the locomotive and it ensures that the oil temperature is kept at a safe level, this is because of two reasons.
     
    1,) The hotter the oil gets the thinner the oil gets and the thinner the oil the lower the oil pressure, low oil pressure means accelerated wear of vital engine components
    2,) the oil is used to cool the pistons, if the pistons are allowed the get too hot the chances of catastrophic engine failure are increased exponentially.
     
    the big blue pipe is the water inlet of the heat exchanger, this has just come from the radiators via the triple pump and its the lowest temperature before it makes its way to the water jacket and also the turbo charger, so the the water flows in to cool the oil the part you can see leaking is the end cap of the heat exchanger.
     

     
    We see here the heat exchanger in its entire form,the two salmon pink pipes are the oil feed and outlet at the far end the oil feed comes directly from the sump and the oil outlet returns the cooled oil to the sump, the object connecting the pipes together is a pressure limiting valve which ensures the oil pressure never exceeds 65psi, the reason for this is to make sure that the crankshaft oil seals are not damaged which would cause excess oil to leak from the engine.
     

     
    you see here the heat exchanger with the cap removed, note the same brown sludge as the settling tanks, however the core of the heat exchanger is copper and brass so is not affected by corrosion. The heat exchanger works in the opposite to a steam locomotive boiler....which is the easiest way to describe it, water flows through the tubes which the oil surrounds and as a result the oil gives up its heat to the water which is then returned to the radiators, which then cool the water and the cycle repeats.
     
    Note 4 of the the tubes have been blanked off, this is where water has frozen in the tubes and ruptured them causing water to leak into the oil and vice versa these then need to be capped off with bolts to seal them and take them out of service, you are as a rule of thumb allowed to "blank off" 10% of the tubes without compromising the coolant needs of the oil, more than 10% risks premature damage to the engine and would require a very very expensive repair or replacement of the heat exchanger.
     

     
    a close up of the otherside of the leaking end cap you can clearly see a number of pits including a "shiny one" (the big round one on the right isnt a pit its a drain plug) the shiny one is the hole, the mild steel (about 15mm thick) has corroded away to reveal the galvanised outer coating (about 1/3 of a mm thick) which has leaked because its unable to withstand the pressure of the water behind it, you can also see several other "pits" which is how this hole started, the pits are a result of the same bimetallic corrosion that attacks the settling tanks.
     
    so you can see one aspect of keeping a locomotive running.....3 weeks ago 26043 was hauling trains its now the end of the season and time to make good the wear and tear of the years running, a bit like our models but on a much grander scale, please ask any questions and let me know your views and that will decide if i continue these blogs which i will if there is sufficient interest and the MODs dont mind.
     
    Finally
     

     
    The hole left behind while the radiators are out of the locomotive you can see the fan in the roof and the opposite bank of radiators with there fibreglass cowling (all removed last year for treatment of the tank below that one)
  25. pheaton
    As touched on before we answered an SOS from the Llangollen diesel group,  in which 26010 was in a spot of bother with some traction motors....originally it was thought to be one traction motor at fault, but unfortunately the problems turned out to be far more serious than first thought.
     

     
    Here we see 26010 at the end of my duty on 26043 ready in the shed for a lift the next week, all the traction motors and pipework has been disconnected.
     

     
    And finally the next week is here, up in the air ready for the long hard slog to start.
     

     
    A general view of Bogie No1 you can see traction motor No2 and No1 in this picture the holes are the bellows connectors which carry a forced supply of cooling air from the traction motor blowers, most locomotives have 2 separate blowers, but a class 26 like most Sulzer type 2s has what's known as a "duplex blower" in that you have 2 rotors on a shaft with 1 motor, this greatly simplifies and cheapens the costs of this type of arrangement since there is only 1 motor to look after, but it does have distinct disadvantages in that a failure will affect all 4 Traction motors, and also duplex blowers live in the engine room, which means all the oil mist and fluids leaking off the engine get drawn in by the blowers straight to the Traction motors, which really doesn't do them any good. the long pole to the far left is the hand brake linkage. the round dish in the centre the bogie pivot point, like all locomotives it sits on the bogie, it is not attached to it, accept by means of pipe work the handbrake linkage and the bellows.
     
    Notice how oily everything is, this is because at No1 end above the bogie sit the Vacuum exhauster which when they are past their best leak a lot of oil everywhere. Just ;ike no2 bogie both of these traction motors will be removed.
     

     
    A close up of the pivot point, the main mystery is how the leaves got into a completely sealed area.....the pivot point is lined with manganese steel which is very hard wearing and has excellent lubricating properties, the discoloration is where the steel has been stained by the grease, not all around it is the years of road dirt build up.
     

     
    The associated pivot on the locomotive underside, this to is in good condition with no scoring and will be regreased when the locomotive is placed on the bogies.
     

     
    A moment of reflection  had to be paid at this point to "miss tiggywinkles" sadly perished long ago, but on the plus side....I don't think any basher can come close to the mileage she's had!!! On the left hand side you can see the top of the metalastic bush mounting for No1 Traction motor.
     

     
    A top view of one of the reasons 26010 requires its traction motors removed, on the bottom side of the commutator you can see the severe damage caused by the roller bearing failure on the commutator shaft, the whole armature has tilted causing the commutator to strike the bottom brush box, the damage is very severe and this motor is unlikely a candidate for repair and will go into store, its likely a new commutator will be required which requires a rewind of the armature, which will cost in the region of £25k, you can see at the top and the side 2 of the 4 brush boxes, the CP171 traction motors on a class 26 are 4 pole machines, each brush box holds 6 brushes in groups of 2 as can bee seen by the 3 springs, with a total of 24 brushes, the cost to replace the brushes in each motor alone is £1200. The toothed wheel you can see at the bottom of the picture allows you to rotate the brush gear to change the brushes whilst the traction motor is installed in the locomotive.
     

     
    Traction motor No1 showing the early signs of bearing failure as indicated by the score marks on the commutator within the brush sweep.
     
    The traction motors themselves are not the difficult to extract, they are held in at the front by 2 caps, and at the rear by four bolts on the metalastic bush, they can only be removed with the locomotive lifted and the bogie extracted however. which is a total of about 12 large 1/14 bolts, with another 1" bolts holding a dustcover over the axle. The other item you need to remove is the gear case.
     
     
     
    To give you an idea of the scale of the traction motor, you can see myself preparing a stored one to be fitted to 26043, you can see on the rear the metalastic bush, and at the front the right hand end cap which I am removing the large hole is what the axle goes through. At the front of the you can also see the drive pinion.
     

     
    And this is one of the end caps the collar on the right indicates this is a right hand side cap, you can see in situ the plain bearing which sits on the axle journal itself, in the centre you can see cotton waste packing, its this packing which picks up oil from the reservoir in the cap and distributes it to the bearing surface keeping things cool and lubricated. The bearing is phosphor bronze with a whitemetal wearing surface.
     

     
    A close up of the bearing indicates damage has occurred with some of the whitemetal coming away, this will have to be rectified before re-use.
     

     
    Close up of the opposite  bearing which indicates even more damage, this has been cause by poor preparation when the bearing was either manufactured or re-white metalled.
     

     
    After everything Is removed the first of 4 traction motors is lifted out.
     

     
    The bogie after the motor has been removed, you can see the resilient gear wheel mounted on the locomotive wheels on the right, and the axle with the two highly polished suspension journals, its imperative these are protected so no damage or corrosion can occur, in the foreground you can see the locomotives hand brake linkage, note the two bearing shells on the pallet, each motor has 4 bearing shells (two per side) and the rear ones cant be removed unless the motor is removed, the pallet is there so they drop on to wood rather than concrete which would damage them., you see at the centre the mounting points on the bogie for the traction motors metalastic bush.
     

     
    A fully refurbished and repaired traction motor ready for installation when the remaining 3 motors return from repairs
     
    from this......
     

     
    to this
     

     

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