345 update as of 21.07.13

Evening everyone......

Today I have carried out borescope examination on 345's engine and I am pleased to report no issues were found other than general wear and tear.

I noted that some of the piston crowns have distinct signs of poor combustion due to poor injection which usually indicates injectors and pumps are worn out.

Colchester fuel injection who are currently overhauling 345's fuel pumps and testing the injectors reported on Thursday that out of the 4 pumps they have stripped down they have found they are very worn and their operating efficiency was far down from specified output from the pumps.

This was also good news as this confirms that the pumps are the likely cause to the low horsepower issues we experienced when the loco was load bank tested in June,

I am now awaiting an indicative price for the fuel pump overhaul which is likely to be around the £4000 pound mark. The overhaul is likely to take a further week or two to complete.

I was hoping to be able to show you some footage from the borescope checks but unfortunately the LED light on the borescope malfunctioned.

We ended up driving to Mansfield to pick up a replacement unit from Maplins to complete the checks.

A big thanks to John Stephens for his assistance, transport to and from Barrowhill and sorting out the replacement unit

A reminder that D335 will be running at the ELR next weekend taking part in the 45th Anniversary to end of steam (1T57 Gala) Featuring : D9009, D1501, D335 - Steam locomotives - 49395 (Super D) , 80080 (Standard 4 tank), 45407 (Black 5), 44871 (Black 5) & 70013 (Oliver Cromwell).

Follow this link:  http://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/whats-on/elr-events/end-of-steam-festival/

This is very likely be D335 last passenger working until the loco has been tyre turned so please attend and show your support. The timetable with locomotive workings is yet to be released so keep and eye on ELR website.

The CFPS will also be having a sales stand present during the event so please feel free and pop down and say hello and buy something from our fine sales stock.

More news to follow soon.........

Cheers

Lee

This weekend ...... 335 and 345.

Hi everyone.....

Following a re-measure of the tyres on D335 with thin flanges I am allowing 335 a further outing this weekend to work diesel diagram on both Saturday and Sunday at the ELR.

The turn was originally booked for 20087 but unfortunately the 20 is stopped with electrical fault at present.

On Sunday Its intended to carry out the borescope exam on 345's engine whilst the injectors are out being refurbished. A bore scope is a small camera with an LED which allows inspection of the engine internals by putting camera down the injector pocket I am hoping I will be able to record and capture some of the footage and place on the blog page early next week for those interested.

More news soon......

Cheers

Lee

Diesel Gala and D335

Evening everyone......

I am pleased to report D335 ran very well over diesel gala and sounded absolutely superb when she hauled the beerex up the bank to Heywood with 6 coaches and two class 50's dead on the rear and did not miss a beat.

D335 also covered a footplate experience course the Tuesday before the gala due to problems with 37324's radiators.

The CFPS sales team did well also over the 3 days bringing in some £1200 into society coffers and we also did well with raffle ticket launch over the weekend too. Well done gang ................

Saturday 13th July.

D335 will be moved to Castlecroft depot this week for the cabs and engine room to be repainted by diesel group volunteers if you wish to assist with this please let me know so I can advise Andy Hardman to expect  .
A big thanks to Andy and diesel group volunteers for their kind offer of help.

Saturday / Sunday 20th/21st July

Next weekend after society committee meeting  I will be continuing maintenance work on D335 and prepping loco ready for 1T57 event at the end of July. Again if your free and wish to help please advise me so I know who is coming and I can allocate work accordingly.

Drop me an email on email address below if you wish to help out on the locos.

I hope you enjoyed the ELR diesel event as much as I did it was an excellent run event and well praised by visiting loco owners, crews and passengers.

If anyone has any photos of D335 from last weekend please feel free to send them to me.

Please feel free to comment on the event if you wish I will pass any comments and improvement ideas onto event organizer.

Cheers
email address : engineering@cfps.co.uk

Lee

345 update.

Evening All .......

Another update on 345 progress.

The fuel pumps and injectors have been dispatched today to Colchester Fuel Injection for overhaul and should take around 3 - 4 weeks to complete then another week to refit the to power unit. The loco will then go back on the load bank for further testing and setting up.

The cost for overhaul and repair of fuel pumps and injectors will be around £4500 - £5000 pounds.

During the few weeks whilst injectors and fuel pumps are away I intend to bore scope the cylinder lines to check for any damage or distress on piston crowns and liners and carry out assessment on the wear on the engine.

On Sunday I stripped and repaired the low water level switch and wiring to the switch which was causing WTR relay to remain energized even when coolant header tank was empty. The wiring issue was also probably causing the high water temperature switch not to function correctly as its operated via the same relay I will test this next time I am at Barrowhill.

I will keep you posted as further news come in on 345.

Reminder to everyone D335 will be operating during the diesel gala this weekend check the ELR website for further details.

Cheers

Lee

CFPS Engineering Blog picture page added

Evening all ...................

I have started to receive a number of pictures from our engineering team but there's not a lot of room on the blog page to fit them all in so I have created a Flickr page for pictures that have been sent.

I hope you enjoy the new addition to our new blog page.

Click link on the blog or use this one - http://www.flickr.com/photos/98322611@N02/

Cheers

Lee

A Further Blow!!

Hello everyone again ..........................

News from engineering team work today.

D335

Today we started the 6M/C1 exam on D335 and completed all the bogie lubrication work and tyre gauging and general underframe exam.

Items checked today are as follows:

• General bogie exam and fracture check - none found.
• All grease points on bogies lubricated and axlebox roller bearings.
• Traction motor suspension tube and gearcase motak levels checked.
• Blower and exhauster motors checked and cleaned.
• Wheel profiles checked and gauged. 
• All fluid levels checked and topped up.
• Generator end turbo chargers -oil drained and refilled with fresh oil. 
• One body side even got a polish too.

Now here come's the bad news during tyre gauging it was discovered that axles 3 is on 24mm flange height limit and axle 4 is the same which means D335 will require tyre turning ASAP. I estimate it will cost the CFPS a further £6000 pounds for the associated rail moves and tyre turning even if we use 345 to haul D335 to a wheel lathe. 

The loco will run on ELR diesel gala and the ELR's 1T57 (Fifteen Guinea Special) end of steam weekend at the end of July as planned but after that the loco will be stopped to prevent further wear on the flanges and preventing us from moving loco by rail on a one journey only arrangement.

 We have very little money in our coffers as all recent income has been spent on paying for 345's main generator and repair work at Barrowhill. 

We shall continue to carry out the exam work and keep loco in running order even just for shunting moves to prevent electrical equipment becoming damp.

This another setback we really could have done without and I once again appeal to you to support our society with financial donations or second hand books, model railway stock and magazines. 

A huge thank you to Eric Davies, Richard Clayton, Rob Purcell, Stuart Cawthray and our newest member of the team Joe Chester for their time today as always its very much appreciated. 

345

I am pleased to report that Mark Jopson and Seton Spencer have toiled away on 345 today and removed all the fuel pumps and injectors from 345's power unit so they can be sent to Colchester fuel injection as planned on Tuesday. 

Big thank you to Mark and Seton for their valiant efforts which enable me to carry out some of the other repairs on 345 tomorrow.

Richard and Rob Purcell at Bury also cleaned up and anti corrosive painted 4 cylinder liners in preparation for being installed into 345's engine during winter months.

John Stephens our stalwart chairman has also been at Barrowhill today running the society's sales stand.

 A Big thanks to John to for not only manning sales stand but taking Mark to Barrowhill so he could help Seton. 

New pictures added on today's activities on D335 at the bottom of the blog. 

Thanks for reading and more news soon.

Cheers

Lee

Engineering Work this weekend

Hello again....

This weekend work will be carried out on both locomotives at Bury and Barrowhill.

Saturday.

Team 1 led by myself will be carrying out service check exam on D335 and hopefully if a pit is available underframe greasing and traction motor inspection. (Start of 6M/C1/C2 exam)

Team 2 - comprising of Seton Spencer and Mark Jopson

Will be working on 345 removing injectors and fuel pumps so they can be sent away to Colchester diesel injection. The injectors are being tested and checked over and fuel pumps are going for long overdue overhaul.

This is the most cost effective way of hopefully sorting low horsepower issue out without resorting to pulling engine apart. During last load banking session the exhaust temperatures where checked and they were found to be very inconsistent across each cylinder which generally indicates issues with fuel injection / pumps.

Sunday

I will be attending Barrowhill to finish off removing fuel pumps and injectors on 345 if the team on Saturday do not manage to finish the work. I will hopefully have time to sorting out stuck low water level switch and replacing defective high water temperature Teddington probe switch.

The CFPS sales stand will be at Barrowhill on Saturday and Sunday as they are holding a family open day so if your near by please feel free and come and see us and hopefully one or two of our fine sales stand items may be of interest to you.

The fuel pump overhaul is likely to set the Society back a further £4,000 pounds so please donate anything you can spare to our cause as we really...... really need your support to get 345 fighting fit again.

Anyone interested please note D335 is rostered to work the Beer-ex on the Saturday 6th July of the ELR Diesel Gala departing Bury at 19:25. 50026 is on the other end.

Thanks in advance to Mark, Seton, Eric Davies & Richard Clayton for giving up their weekend at short notice.

Thank you in advance and more news soon.

Cheers

Lee.