The photo below was taken today by George Jones and shows Davy at the head of works train on the Corwen extension which had delivered materials and a crane to the rapidly advancing railhead. The location is near the A5 at Llidiart y Parc, just west of Bridge 25. This is the first diesel locomotive West of this bridge of line since the demolition trains in the 60′s, but not the first locomotive as 7822 “Foxcote Manor” christened it the previous weekend by delivering a brake van. Ether way, what a great sight!
Happy new year to all our supporters. The turn of the year has seen a marked increase in Diesel Group activities around the Railway.
Details of our Spring Diesel Day, to be held on 31st March can now be found here or using the menu above.
We are also delighted to announce a PLEG shunter charter using 08195 and Davy on Sunday 1st April. Details can be found on PLEG‘s website, here or using the menu above.
Last weekend saw maintenance work undertaken on D5310′s brakes, which have been adjusted to address a handbrake security issue. Grease was applied to brake rigging and underbody grease points.
Pete Edwards’s photos below show Peter Coole at work on the brakes, another fine example of the lovely working conditions typical to keeping the fleet going. Note the obligatory tin of WD40!
After a short charge the 26 started successfully. The adjusted brakes were tested by shunter pull and under her own power. The straight air is now noticeably more responsive and easier to moderate at low speeds.
5580 was also given a charge for a few hours. A1A plan to dewinterise the 31 in March ready for the Spring Diesel Day, with the LDG similarly dealing with 6940 and D1566 when the weather looks to be staying reliably warmer.
D5310 was used for a crew training special on Tuesday with the aim of getting more steam drivers trained up to increase the loco’s usefulness.
The Group would like to wish all our supporters a very merry Christmas and thank you for all your help in 2011. Here’s to another great year of heritage traction action in the Dee Valley in 2012!
The photo below shows D5310 at Pentrefelin Goods Dock whilst engaged in a spot of festive shunting on a grey December 14th. Many thanks to Colin Cooper for the photo.
A huge thank you to everyone that turned out to support our Autumn Diesel day yesterday, we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!
Everything seemed to go smoothly, with all 5 locos performing as we’d hoped, trains largely running to perfect time and some cracking performances from all machines.
We started the day with the Bryn Jones obligatory seminar (which Colin appears to want 2 copies of). Note visiting Class 31 5580 in the background.
D1566 worked well all day, although a niggle with the compressor governor meant Iain didn’t spend too long sat in the secondmans seat like he is here as the loco passes Goods Junction:
Rare haulage was again available from poor old Davy. The EE 350hp shunter has only recently returned to traffic and is in need of further TLC over Winter:
Ivor Bufton, 37 stalwart and Gripper extraordinairre, captured this rather fat and juicy slice of BR blue at Carrog featuring 5580, 6940 and Mk1 CK E16071. A glimpse of what trains will look like crossing at Carrog is shown nicely by the Type 3 running round after working from Llangollen in multiple with the Type 2.
And finally there was a very noisy Beerex to finish the day off. Note the genuine BR halogen headlight courtesy of Colin “ebay Bloodhound” Cooper:
And check out Tom Shilliam’s video of 6940 at work here:
A licensed on-train buffet service will be available on one train, including the evening Beerex hauled by 6940. We are also pleased to confirm that a £10 evening-only fare is available for the 3 Beerex workings, payable in cash only on the train (please note the ticket office is closed). Day rover ticket holders can of course travel on these workings as well.
Preparations continue for our Diesel Day next Saturday, 24th September. This will be our last scheduled diesel running of 2011, so we plan to make it a biggy! The timetable is in the final stages of checking and tweaking and should be issued imminently.
A summary of the proposed roster is as follows:
Class 26 D5310 should work 3 trips, including one double-headed with Class 47 D1566 (Green Sulzerfest!)
Class 31 5580 should work 3 trips, including one double-headed with Class 37 6940 (EExpress)
Class 37 6940 should work 6 trips, 3 in the day (one double-headed as above) and then 3 in the evening shuttling to Glyn and back on a Beerex. We have requested the licensed buffet to be open.
Class 47 D1566 should work 4 trips, including one double-headed with Class 26 D5310
The Class 108 DMU should work 4 trips.
Shunter shuttles should run in Llan station on demand between service train movements between 11:30 and 4.
Gala price rover tickets: Adult £16, Child £8, Senior £13 and Family £35. Licensed
Victoria’s Tea Room open at Llangollen, tea room open at Carrog. Licensed on-train buffet expected to be available including on evening working.
The fault with D1566 was traced to a stripped nylon gear on the fuel stage of the triple pump. A replacement gear was obtained last week, fitted to the locomotive today and all now appears to be well, with the power unit firing up immediately after the pump was reassembled. The Group are therefore delighted to have the operational fleet back to a healthy four locomotives.
D1566 on Saturday 30th July before failure of the triple pump – all sorted now!
The other members of the fleet have been in action on Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday weekend as part of the Transport Weekend and Bus Rally. D5310, 5580 and 6940 all performed well, although D5310 mysteriously shut down approaching Deeside loop on Saturday, suggesting another intermittent electrical fault may have cropped up – time to check the engine run circuit breaker legs again then! D5310 and 6940 ended up working different diagrams than advertised on Saturday following a minor derailment of the pony truck on 7822 “Foxcote Manor” on shed, although the 4-6-0 was back in action later that day.
All efforts are now on preparation for our Autumn Diesel Day on Saturday 24th September. All 4 mainline locos are now confirmed as available, the only question mark being whether there will be a 350hp shunter available with 08195 (traction motor overhaul) and Davy (hot box) still out of traffic. Watch this space!
We are pleased to assist the organiser’s of this weekend’s Bus Rally and Classic Transport weekend (28th and 29th August) by providing two diesel locomotives each day for an interesting mixed timetable, copies of which can be downloaded here:
Saturday: Class 26 D5310 & Class 37 6940 & Class 109 Wickham & 104 DMUs
Sunday: Class 31 5580 & Class 37 6940 & Class 109 Wickham & 108 DMUs
Steam for both days: GWR Manor 4-6-0 No 7802 “Foxcote Manor” and GWR 2-8-0 No 3802
Note that the 10:00am train each morning will see both diesel locos double headed!
The event has been organised in conjunction with North West Museum of Road Transport and this first event will celebrate 100 years of Crosville bus services, with a massive display of buses at Glyndyfrdwy station on both days of the event – right in the heart of Crosville land! The organisers are hoping for as many Crosville vehicles to be at the event as possible along with plenty of other preserved vehicles. A FREE to train ticket holders vintage bus service will be running between Glyndyfrdwy and Corwen regularly along with a busy timetable of trains! For every bus entered there will be 4 free tickets issued to travel free on the railway. For a last minute vehicle entry form or more information please contact Matt Davies matt@nwmort.co.uk.
………from Iain and I to everyone that was part of our very busy 1960′s weekend; volunteers, train crew, station and cafe staff, vehicle exhibitors and those who came along and bought tickets, beer or food – it was all a massive gas Man!
With the exception of D1566 failing on its third trip on Saturday, everything went exactly as planned. The Type 4 was stopped at Berwyn with fuel problems and was rescued by 6940, which was fortunately close by at Deeside, piloting D5310 – so was able to be detached and rescue the train.
The undoubted star of the show was 7822 running in weathered condition – a top job by Iain – and done for a few quid with some children’s poster paint! I make no apologies for posting my photo of the loco on the diesel group site – a most atmospheric sight.
With 5580 running on the Sunday, D5310 was spare so was able to fill in for D1566. The fault with the 47 is not thought to be serious and the loco should be running again soon.
Another personal highlight was 5580′s Sunday workings, first double-heading with 6940:
And then working a “dead” 7822 on the “Von Woodham’s Express” with a BR 20T brake van:
Although Saturday was a little quieter than we were hoping for, the initial financial results are promising. Watch this space for a date of the 2012 event.
