2023 NEWS
SALES TEAM AT THE LONDON FESTIVAL OF RAILWAY MODELLING
Alexandra Palace, Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th March 2023
Despite the difficulties of getting to and from the venue by train on the Saturday for both exhibitors and visitors, we’re pleased to report that our Sales Department still managed to have a successful weekend’s trading.
Our next outing will be to Luton next month.
SALES TEAM AT LONGFIELD MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION
Sales Stand at Longfield, Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th January 2023
The sales team’s first attendance of this year was at the Erith Model Railway Society’s Model Railway Exhibition, which after two years’ absence due to the Covid pandemic, made a welcome return to its usual venue of Longfield Academy where the team enjoyed a most successful weekend.
2022 NEWS
47771 RESTORATION PROGRAMME
Progress continues to be made on 47771 at Eastleigh Works. Working parties have regularly taken place this year, with most of the volunteers’ efforts being focused on components that have been removed from inside the loco.
Most of 771’s electrical machinery with the exception of the Traction Motor Blowers, were removed during its time in the Loco Bay, along with nearly all of the Air Receivers. These are located close to where our storage area and 771’s bogies are located. Work on the bogies is now almost complete and awaits only the exchanging of the defective No.6 Traction Motor with a serviceable replacement.
For most of this year so far, the loco has resided under cover in another part of the Works where with so many internal components removed, it has been possible to take advantage of the relatively uncluttered interior to provide attention to areas inside 771 that are normally inaccessible. The aim is to thoroughly de-grease, clean and paint them before the re-installation of the resident components makes the job difficult again.
Work is also continuing off-site. Small components that can be easily transported are taken home by volunteers for repair / refurbishment, etc.
There are plans for 771 to be brought back into the Loco Bay in the near future, for an intensive program of works. These include repairs to platework above and to the sides of the buffer beams and on the underbody, and new Drag Box Cover Plates. Inside the loco, damaged traction cables will be repaired or renewed as necessary, followed by the reinstatement after testing and re-certification of the Air Receivers and other internal equipment.
SALES TEAM AT ALEXANDRA PALACE
After an absence of two years due to Covid, the C47PP Sales Team returned to the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace in North London. The Team attended on both days, enjoying brisk trading conditions with record takings for this event. All proceeds from sales go towards 47771’s ongoing restoration programme.
2020 – 2021 NEWS
47771 RESTORATION PROGRAMME & SALES NEWS
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Arlington Fleet Services had to suspend all visits to Eastleigh by volunteer working parties on 20th October 2020, until further notice. By coincidence, this was the date on which our last working party on 47771 of that year took place. This was a big disappointment for us, as the loco had been moved back inside the main Works building only days before. However, we were informed by Arlington that the programme of major repairs to be carried out by their staff would be going ahead.
2021 started off very quietly for us. In addition to there being no working parties on 47771 at Eastleigh, all of the sales events on which we depend for a substantial part of our income, had been cancelled. It wasn’t until 7th May that our volunteers were able to return to Eastleigh, and when we did, we were pleased to discover that significant progress had been made in our absence.
At the time of our last visit in the previous October, 47771 had just been moved inside the building to the Loco Bay, lifted off the accommodation bogies on which it had rested since August 2017, and placed on stands. On our return, we were impressed by the amount of work that had since been carried out.
Externally, the roof sections of the engine and auxiliary compartments, and the centre bodyside access doors had been removed. The roof sections were located nearby; the auxiliary compartment section which also contains the cooler group, appears to be in good condition. By contrast, the engine compartment section is badly corroded along its lower edges and the silencer cover is also missing. Corrosion is a common problem on Class 47 roof sections, and it may be easier to replace this one rather than repair it, if an example in better condition can be obtained.
Lower down, the fittings had been removed from the buffer beams at both ends, as had the drag box cover plate from No.1 End. All four side inspection plates had been renewed.
In the auxiliary compartment, the compressors, exhausters and air receivers had been removed pending being testing and re-certification. An oil priming pump we’d acquired to replace the original that was removed before we bought the loco had been fitted. The hydrostatic pump, also missing when we acquired 47771 had also been replaced along with the safety grille missing from the No.1 End traction motor blower.
A great deal had been achieved in the engine compartment. Our replacement turbocharger had been fitted and the ‘A’ side intercooler which for so long had obstructed the gangway, was now back in its proper place and connected to the turbo and its associated pipework.
Other engine components that had been removed during the loco’s sojourn at Crewe DMD prior to us acquiring it, had been replaced.
In the former boiler compartment, the air receivers had been removed and were awaiting testing
We later spoke to one of Arlington’s engineers who’d been doing this work. He told us that the engine bars over freely, also that he’d conducted a water test on the cylinder liners and had so far found no evidence of leaks.
47771’s bogies had also received some attention during our absence. The damaged cables on traction motors 1-5 had been replaced, and the handbrakes at both ends had been freed off. Replacements for missing pipework, a brake block hanger and brake block, and a slack adjuster, had all been supplied and fitted.
On the minus side, small amounts of a substance that may contain asbestos was discovered inside the control cubicles. It is thought to have emanated from arc chutes that had deteriorated in the damp atmosphere while the loco was in open storage. As a precaution, the affected areas had been sealed off to await treatment by a specialist contractor.
On resuming our visits to Eastleigh, most of our working parties’ efforts have been concentrated on the bogies. We’d been about to prepare, clean and paint them when the lockdown began, so after it ended, these jobs became our immediate priorities.
It wasn’t until the 6th August that the lockdown finally ended for us, as this day marked the return to action of our Sales Stand for the first time since January 2020. Between those dates, all the events we’d normally have attended had instead been cancelled, with the resultant loss of much income vital to 47771’s continuing restoration. Our presence at Eridge station on the occasion of the Spa Valley Railway’s Summer Diesel Gala on the 6th and 7th of August was followed by Welling Toyfair on the evening of the 26th of that month, with visits to the Bluebell Railway’s Toy & Rail Collectors Fair at Horsted Keynes station on 19th September and the Folkestone, Hythe & District Model Railway Club’s Model Railway exhibition at Folkestone on 2nd and 3rd October.
In addition to the above sales activities, as 2021 drew to an end, our Restoration Team continued to be busy at Eastleigh Works. The highlight was the arrival of our recently-acquired Field Divert Resistor Bank on 30th November. This is ex 47524 and will replace the one inside 771 which was severely damaged in the attack on the loco by metal thieves in 2009.