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Category: Restoration projects

Posts about the many restoration projects at all stages of completion.

Simplex shunting a wagon
💰 Fundraising Appeal for Motor Rail 21282 ?>

💰 Fundraising Appeal for Motor Rail 21282

? Update (as of 4th July 2019): Money raised so far is  £690.00  with thanks to everyone who donated (including a very generous donation from a local business owner). Please keep donating if you are able to do so. Further funds will be used to purchase new traction batteries for the WR8 battery-electric locomotive

We have now had a quote from a supplier for parts required to get our Motor Rail diesel locomotive back into working order following the theft of several engine components during a break-in back in March 2019.

This leaves us with the sum of just over ÂŁ500 to raise in order to get 21282 running again. The locomotive has been a valuable workhorse for many years, and had the honour of hauling the first train when the Lea Bailey Light Railway Society first started work on the site in 2012.

Volunteers are working hard and investing their own time and money to improve the security of our storage facilities to avoid any repeat visits from thieves and vandals.

Donations

Click the Donate button below and use your PayPal account or credit/debit card.




If more money is raised than is needed to purchase the replacement engine parts for 21282, we will put any additional funds towards a full service and repaint of the locomotive once it is running. We are also aiming to purchase a set of traction batteries for the Wingrove & Rogers WR8 battery-electric locomotive owned by the Society.

Disclaimer: Whilst the Lea Bailey Light Railway Society is a not-for-profit organisation, we are not a Registered Charity in the United Kingdom. Your donation will be used at the discretion of the Society’s officers to further the aims of our projects.

Mine doors under repair
⛏ Mine Door repairs ?>

⛏ Mine Door repairs

The doors that lead into the Bailey Level mine are kept locked for safety reasons. Wild animals, small children, and even adults without the relevant training would all be at risk if they were able to enter the underground mine workings. Certain people, however, see a locked door as a challenge, and some recent visitors took it upon themselves to enter the mine uninvited, causing damage to the doors in the process.

It was good fortune that our volunteers had been planning a welding job and had brought all the necessary equipment along. The first job — an unenviable task — was to inspect the mine to make sure that our uninvited guests were not still trapped underground. Luckily our “visitors” had left the site unscathed and work could proceed with the repairs.

Using the rocker shovel and a tirfor winch, the bent part of the door was straightened and a piece of angle was welded on to strengthen it. Further pieces of steel were welded on to make a strong section to lock the door. Several addition pieces of angle have been welded onto the outside to prevent crow bars and other objects from being inserted in an attempt to lever the doors open. Other measures will also be taken to make the doors secure against unauthorised entry.

The job that was planned for the welder was also carried out — welding one of the rails to the baseplate to keep the new points to the correct gauge. In early November the doors were cleaned up with scrapers and a wire wheel and given a coat of black bitumen paint.

Eimco 24 during its first move at Lea Bailey
🔧 Eimco 24 First Move ?>

🔧 Eimco 24 First Move

Since its arrival in November 2017 the Eimco 24 rocker shovel has been inspected and found to be in excellent mechanical condition, despite its flaky paint and rusty wheels. In January this year, the control levers were freed off with the aid of Nick’s large socket set and a generous spray of WD-40.

On Sunday 3rd February, replacement pneumatic hoses were fitted and temporarily held in place with cable ties. The air motors and runing gear had the oil filled up, and the drive chain was sprayed with WD-40 and given some attention with a hammer to loosen the links.

The temporary track which had previously been used as a loading ramp to the arrival of the Eimco 401 has now been dismantled, in preparation for our next project. The track between the mine points and the container will be completely re-laid with new sleepers and granite ballast. Whilst the track is lifted, the area leading down to the inspection pit will be re-graded and a new set of points will be added to allow access to a second track which will be laid afterwards.

Temporary track dismantled
Temporary track dismantled
Eimco 24 arrives on Hiab tractor unit
đźšš Arrival of the Eimco 24 ?>

đźšš Arrival of the Eimco 24

The Eimco 24 is a larger version of our Eimco 12B rocker shovel which has been restored to working order at Lea Bailey Light Railway. This particular example has been stored outside for several years and is in need of restoration. Other than the operator’s platform and guard rail, the machine is complete. The air hoses and steel cables will need to be replaced with new ones and the bucket drive chain will require some work to free it off. Until our volunteers have had a chance to look closely at the condition of all the mechanical parts this Eimco 24 will remain as a static exhibit.

One interesting fact about our particular machine (which bears the number 45299) is that it has been converted to right-hand drive; most Eimco rocker shovels being built as left-hand drive models. We believe this was so that it could work with another machine in a wide tunnel to allow the two operators to work side-by-side.

Rear view showing Eimco 24 name
Rear view showing Eimco 24 name
Eimco wheelset on the rails
🛤 Back on Track and Under Pressure ?>

🛤 Back on Track and Under Pressure

With the wheelsets for the Eimco 401 back on site and re-gauged to 24″ the next task was to get them back into the frames. To say they were a tight fit is an understatement. Both sides had to be raised equally to avoid the axle boxes jamming in the horn guides. The wheelset nearest the driver’s position — which we have taken to calling the rear of the locomotive — was the easier (or least difficult) of the pair due to the presence of the adjuster bolts which are used to tension the drive chain.

The springs on the front wheelset are a bit “saggy” and may end up being replaced, but as a temporary solution the locomotive has been levelled with two wooden packing blocks. Once all the bolts were tightened up the faces of the tyres were cleaned with the aid of a grinder and polished with emery tape to remove any high spots and prevent them from rubbing on the frames. All that was left to do was slide the locomotive slowly onto the rails and park it up in preparation for the next task.

Before a pressure vessel can be tested with air, it needs a hydraulic test to verify the structural integrity. If there were any leaks or weak spots this would show up by the egress of water and avoid the risk of an explosion. Of course to fill the tank with water the air needs to be removed so a special air bleed pipe was made which required the locomotive to be tilted over and a small hole dug underneath in order to fit it.

The water was pumped in using Nick’s petrol powered fire pump from our own supply which flows out of the mine and is crystal clear as long as nobody has stirred up the silt by walking along the drainage channel! Once full, a special pump was used to pressurise the system to 165 psi which is 1½ times the working pressure of 110 psi.

After verifying the pressure reading and visually confirming that there were no leaks we were able to call in a professional to carry out the necessary pressure test and visual inspections to certify the pressure vessel (see video clip below). The next job will be to connect the drive chains and test the air motor which was blanked off for the test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH81hUe5uj8

Up on blocks
🔧 Eimco 401 Progress ?>

🔧 Eimco 401 Progress

If you were a mine operator then a compressed-air locomotive such as the Eimco 401 would be a very useful thing. Most underground mines would already have a compressor to power the air tools and the 401 was designed to be easily convertible between the two popular rail gauges of 18″ and 2ft. Of course “easily” would be dependent on a number of factors, such as a fully-equipped heavy engineering workshop, skilled workers with experience of the task in hand, and a programme of regular maintenance and cleaning. Carrying out the same job outdoors in a forest on a locomotive that has been stored out of use for some time is a completely different kettle of fish.

Before any attempt could be made to remove the wheels, the drive chains would first have to be disconnected. A build-up of old grease and a layer of dried mine-waste was certainly not useful! Even with the chains out of the way, the wheels would not come out without a fight. The wheels are fitted to the axles with a set of spacers which can be removed and re-installed in two different configurations depending on the gauge required. They are “outside” the wheels for 18 inch gauge so to convert to 24 inch would require them to be re-fitted “inside” the wheels. Of course to do this one must first get the wheels off the axles. Even the largest sledgehammer and heavy block of wood only managed to move one wheel about an inch in an afternoon so a different solution was needed. Our local narrow gauge railway engineer Alan Keef was given the task and apparently the ex-Simplex wheel press required abround 40 tons of force to get the wheels off!

A number of compressed-air fittings have been obtained and are stored off-site ready for use. Another important job before the locomotive can run will be to hydraulically test the pressure vessel and have it certified by a professional inspector. Our volunteers are working on this behind the scenes, and we are having a special fitting made which will let air out as the vessel is filled with water in order to carry out the hydraulic pressure test.

Eimco 401 at Lea Bailey
đźšš Arrival of the Eimco 401 ?>

đźšš Arrival of the Eimco 401

Eimco air locomotives were manufactured in Salt Lake City by the same company that produced the well-known compressed air mucking machine aka rocker shovel. Following the restoration to working order of the Eimco 12B rocker shovel, the Lea Bailey Light Railway was offered an Eimco locomotive on a 2-year loan from its home at the Lavender Line based at Isfield station in Sussex. There had previously been a proposal to build a narrow gauge railway on the site, but this seems unlikely to go ahead, and the locomotive’s owner was not in a position to carry out the restoration.

The first job will be to get the wheels off and re-gauge the locomotive from 18″ to 2′ so it can be put onto the rails. The locomotive is designed to be convertible between the two gauges by removing the wheels from each axle and moving a pair of spacers. How easy this task proves to be depends on how much dirt has made its way inside over the years and of course the condition of the grease which can harden over time.

WR8 Progress ?>

WR8 Progress

Removing the battery box
Removing the battery box from the WR8

Note: This post was created in May 2016 using photographs from June 2015. Due to an oversight by the Administrator, no write-up had been provided. The following was written from memory in July 2023 using the photographs as a guide.

The Wingrove & Rogers WR8 had been stored on top of the bogie wagon along with the 18″ gauge WR5. In order to make progress in the restoration to working condition it needed to be lowered back onto the running line. Using a pair of rails, the battery box was gently slid off the frames onto some higher ground before shunting the wagon into position outside the mine.

Using some stacks of sleepers to match the height of the wagon, a pair of bridge rails was used to roll the locomotive off the wagon which was then moved out of the way. Using the central support as a pivot, the bridge rails could then tilt down like a see-saw when a sleeper was removed from one end. Using the length of the rails as a lever it was then possible to remove one sleeper from the other and and from the middle, and repeat the process until the locomotive could be gently rolled down onto the track.

History does not record the method used to lower the battery box back onto the locomotive, but no doubt the nearby supply of rails, sleepers, and crow bars proved useful to the volunteers in their task.