2700HP

colinthefox

colinthefox

0
No, not a Commer. I've been volunteering at the local heritage railway, and we're restoring this............
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It's got two 1350HP turbo diesel engines and will do 100MPH plus............

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I've been welding the bodywork for best part of a year now. Well, after a Commer anything else is a breeze:) This loco regularly got doused with seawater along Dawlish sea front so you can only imagine the state it was in.

It's 68ft long. We've welded all along one side, across the back end and all the way back down the other side, and now we're doing the front end.......

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It's also had a big smack on the nose, so it got a bit bent.

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You can see where the buffer beam has been cut and shut in the past. Some time soon we'll have to lift it off its bogies to repair those. Should be interesting. Need a bigger 4 post lift:p

I have got to respect the guys who sat in the tiny cab and drove this at 100mph. It will be limited to 26MPH on heritage rails from now on.

Just thought you might be interested.
 
Excellent. Some of the spare bits make nice ornaments lol. Got it from a mate who plays with diesel at South Devon railway. 09B2338F-7681-4275-A3B0-731100E46121.jpegIt actually came from Hinkley Point as they used the same power plants as backup generators. The remit was there must be all spares on site in case of breakdowns. I would imagine that if you had to replace a camshaft then a couple of other bits may need replacing too. S/D railway bought the engine and had to take all the spares and my mate jokingly said would I want it………..hell yeah! Lol09B2338F-7681-4275-A3B0-731100E46121.jpeg
 
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renaultvation said:
Footplate is in a funny place and I cant see the firebox, boiler or funnel!
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LOL.

"Heritage" railway isn't just for steamers. They need backup for when the steamers break down (At the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group we always have 2 Thunderbirds ready to go at a moment's notice). Many heritage railways are diesel only at the moment due to exceptionally high trackside fire risk (we have one loco at North York Moors and one at Kent and East Sussex running most of their timetables. Good for us as they pay us per mile!). And as time goes on there's more nostalgia for diesels as the former diesel trainspotters become grandparents. Just as well as with the price and shortage of (Russian) coal, not to mention the particulates emissions, we can see a time when "heritage" will mean a diesel doing the pushing, top-and-tailed with with a steamer with a little fire that wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Mind you, a fill-up is 3000litres of diesel:oops:
 
colinthefox said:
LOL.

"Heritage" railway isn't just for steamers. They need backup for when the steamers break down (At the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group we always have 2 Thunderbirds ready to go at a moment's notice). Many heritage railways are diesel only at the moment due to exceptionally high trackside fire risk (we have one loco at North York Moors and one at Kent and East Sussex running most of their timetables. Good for us as they pay us per mile!). And as time goes on there's more nostalgia for diesels as the former diesel trainspotters become grandparents. Just as well as with the price and shortage of (Russian) coal, not to mention the particulates emissions, we can see a time when "heritage" will mean a diesel doing the pushing, top-and-tailed with with a steamer with a little fire that wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Mind you, a fill-up is 3000litres of diesel:oops:
Click to expand...
Further to this, West Somerset Railway is diesel only until further notice due to trackside fire risk. Good job they have our diesel back up!
 
Just rebuilding one of the transmissions..........

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.......and from what we've learned from this first one, we will now have to do the other one as well.
 

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More on this project......

Today, having repaired the stressed skin bodywork to stiffen it up, rebuilt both transmissions and removed both engines, we lifted it off its bogies and put it on stands so we can refurbish the bogies, which haven't had much attention for the last 50 years/ 1/2 million miles
:oops:

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I was too involved to take any decent photos, but if you want more, plus videos, plus a commentary (of sorts) you are welcome to visit depg.org, and would be even more welcome to put some funds our way to help pay for the lift. Have to say Baldwins Crane Hire were ultra professional and did us proud.
 
We've been repairing another broken transmission. This time an 1800 hp four speed automatic gearbox controlled by a hydraulic digital computer.

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Here's the top going back on. Carefully!

The torque converter fits on this end.

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Soon we will have to test it. Not quite sure how at the moment. We'd need a 1
MW motor, and I don't think the local grid would take it.
 
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