Of crossed wires

4th May 2025

Bank Holiday edition.

By rights, Monday should have been straightforward. Load an 08, take it from Barrow Hill to the customers, and unload it again. After all, we had already shifted 3 without anything untoward. I hoped, based on meeting Jeff at Barrow Hill by about half eight, that I might be wrapped up and home by early afternoon. On my way in, Jeff rang to say he'd been stuck in a tail-back from an accident on his way in to the yard so he'd be 'about an hour'. Ah well, I would have sometime to kill. Alongside the loading track at Barrow Hill was a wall. It wasn't where we normally load but it did get a bit close when you're driving in and lining up, and I've seen the trailer marker lights, the ones that stick out on stalks at the back, scrape the wall on occasion. Two guys had been demolishing this wall (reinforced concrete) on Friday and were back to finish off the last bits and check that no rebar stood too far proud of the ground. I wandered around passing the time until Jeff arrived and the week got under way.

Almost every 08 seems to drip oil, or coolant, or something, and this one was no exception, as soon as it tipped up to start climbing the ramp on to the trailer a steady drizzle of engine oil rained down. I tell myself that in return the trailer won't rust and it might help protect the timber decking but I rather doubt it. With the loco aboard we backed out and Jeff set off, and after shutting gates I followed, or rather, took the direct route to the customer's. My arrival, of course, was received positively as meaning that the loco was on its way, and I warned them that this one might spill some oil so they organised a wheely bin full of 'sawdust' (actually wood planings) in anticipation of mopping up after it.

Jeff arrived earlier than I expected. Monday traffic was for some reason quieter and he arrived in about 45 minutes after the hour he had taken for the locos last week. Better still I had repaired my tape measure, marked the ground and managed to get the trailer spot on so that our rails could butt up to theirs rather than overlay with the tapered sections. That meant less rail and timbers to set up so a win-win.

With the ramp built and the loco unchained, it was ready for rolling down off the trailer. The donkey engine was running and we were all set when Jeff heard a 'pop' from the winch end of the trailer. I didn't but saw a pool of oil rapidly expanding from the control valve so hurriedly shut down the donkey engine. (And remember, 'shutting down' isn't an instant stop. You cut the fuel, but the flywheel keeps it turning and the pump keeps on pumping for what seems an eternity.)  At first we thought a quick release connector hadn't properly engaged so re-attached it and started up again - more oil, but this time it was obvious that it was emerging from underneath the valve.

Clearly the winch was out of action, and the customer's preparations for tackling oil leakage from the loco came in handy instead for containing the oil, now dripping off the trailer on to the floor. I carry some spill granules in the van but this sort of spill was beyond my capacity!

Plan B was implemented which had the tractor unit lined up behind and a steel cable between the loco and the tow-hook to control it down. Once again the loco needed assistance from forklifts to descend, but whereas with the winch, you pay out continuously and the loco would gather a little speed until the winch rope held it back a bit, even with as good a driver as Jeff, the sense of 'speed' up in his cab is impaired and the loco came down rather faster then we would normally do. Fortunately as the ramp rails and the customers were butted together this went smoothly, and no, the 08 didn't shed another drop as it came off. Oh and this was the day to say farewell to the Merc tractor, as the new one was due for delivery later in the week.

Tuesday, I had visitor due that afternoon and Andrew had insisted that I must 'tidy up' as the shed looks a little dishevelled. I spent nearly 4 hours of the morning on this task, starting at the shed entrance and initial walkway on the principle that first impressions count. Jordan and his pal had been down the previous evening doing more container painting and had finished by a little tidying up plus a spring clean of the sink which helped. At one o'clock I locked up and headed back to the Country Pile for lunch, confident that I would get back down for about five to 2 as the visitor was due between two and two-thirty. At ten to two they rang to say they were at the gate...

Still, the meeting seemed to go well, and a few odds and sods I had brought down to show off did seem to have the right effect.

Wednesday was a day over at Longsight, attending to some niggles with the Alstom loco. Thursday and despite the heat I headed up to the yard to change the defective control valve on the trailer. I took an identical one as that way I knew the bolt holes would line up, but after seeing what had happened to the underside of the old valve, I do wonder whether it would be better to change it for a better quality one when the trailer next comes back to Darley Dale for some TLC (which may be soon as Andrew has plans to manufacture a rearward extension). I had, for a few weeks or so, been considering adjusting the relief valve up a bit as the winch needs a snatch block regularly yet when it stops the engine doesn't seem to be labouring that hard, suggesting that the relief valve is opening and so depriving the winch motor. But if the valve base won't take the lower pressure(s)?

Jeff was at the yard, the old Merc still in action but the new one was due for delivery Friday (on Monday it had been expected Wednesday). I returned via the powder coaters to collect a number of fabrications destined for export.

Friday and apart from a quick trip to the machinists for the last part of the export order it was largely an admin day. As a side light into what can happen, a client had asked me to organise a suite of loco moves, we agreed a date (to begin Tuesday next in fact) and then he went on holiday. In essence it was a loco from A to B, offload and reload another to go to C, offload and reload then back to B and finally swap for a last load back to C. The first A to B move was scrubbed when A said they couldn't get the loco out for a couple of weeks. B said the first loco out of there was trapped in behind another that was up on timbers and the last one in my chain couldn't be brought back to the loading point in time as it was at the other end of the line. C said they knew about the one to leave but wouldn't be able to shunt it out in time for Tuesday and anyway they had Allelys due in. I rang Jeff and told him Tuesday was 'off'.

Saturday and I headed down to the shed after an early lunch. My van was full of the fabrications waiting for the export order and I decided the first priority was to decide now to pack them. I put it all in one wooden box I had retained with this in mind and concluded it was really too large as it was little over half full. I had a smaller wooden box and given that overseas transit costs utilise both physical dimensions and gross weight, the smaller box would be cheaper, so I took it all out and started again with the smaller box before I was satisfied. This in fact took most of the afternoon up and the other jobs on my list - testing the 03, the minilok, and the Davis Barclay - hardly got a look in before it was packing up time.

Sunday however, again after an early lunch, I decided I would start with the 03, as I wanted to test (a) that the clutch operation did now work with the timer relay and (b) that the Clutch In and Out lights I'd installed worked correctly. It started off well. On powering up the 'clutch out' green light, located next to the oil pressure warning light, came on as I expected. What I did not expect was that it went off as soon as the oil pressure light extinguished and when I had raised sufficient air pressure, moving the lever to put the clutch in had no apparent effect at all. I shut the engine down, and as the oil pressure dropped away, the oil pressure warning light came back on and yes, so did the Clutch Out light. A check across the Clutch Out LED showed a mere 7Volts. I won't bore you with all the causes and effects, Suffice it to say I had managed to connect a couple of wires wrongly as I had either misread the numbers printed on the cables or my schedule of which cable carried what, but by the end of the afternoon the 03 would move up and down and the clutch In and Out lights showed up correctly.

Several readers commented that last weeks descriptions would have benefitted from a picture or two so while I was under at the connection box I grabbed a couple. The first  (above) shows the clutch piston rod pushing down the limit switch and the second shows the clutch cylinder bracket - actually this is one for a CF10,000 series converter and must be changed for one intended for the CF11500 converter before long. With that, I did a few minutes in the workshops on a couple of other matters before returning home, but as Monday beckons I'll perhaps get to catch up on the other jobs tomorrow.

As for the rest of the week, well Tuesday may be cancelled but I have a stack of month end and other admin tasks to see through, with more to follow. Come back next week to see what they were, or if I can remember them. See ya then.