Newsletter November 2019

The really, really big news was that just before everything got swept up in the turmoil  and became a rolling chassis on Saturday, November 17th.  A lot of preparatory work had happened in the lead up to the big day, which I'll have to cover in subsequent newsletters. Here I'll concentrate on the big day itself.

A lot of preparatory work had happened in the lead up to the big day, which I'll have to cover in subsequent newsletters. Here I'll concentrate on the big day itself.  As we headed towards the site just before 9am we found ourselves in a line of traffic behind a large crane from the firm of Ainscough, Grangemouth. Sure enough, it was our   hired crane; as we arrived at the site entrance it continued on so that it entered into the site from the eastern end. It reversed into the site, west of the Romney Hut and after completing the preliminary paperwork, the operator started to get set up; putting out the out-riggers, onto pads that were rolled out from storage on the crane. (At the end of the operation I tried to assist in the clear up by lifting one of disks to roll it back into storage – or rather, I tried, I couldn't lift it! The operator, Ian, made it all look so easy).

It was a 90T capacity crane, with a jib which could extend to 50m and all in weighed about 50T itself. This one was operated from various control points on the machine itself; in the cab and on the sole bar. No strapped on control unit for the driver here. As a consequence he was dependent on the instructions    given by man on the ground; in this case Brian Thomson. It did mean the crane operator largely stayed in the comfort of his cab.

The first task was to pull 80105's frames out of the shed, on their accommodation bogies, by means of a diesel. Then the crane set to swing the driving wheelsets into position on the track, in front of the frames. Using codes painted on the wheelsets they were in the right order and the right way round.

A piece of timber is just visible, keeping the
axleboxes apart on their respective axle.
Everything was well-lubricated, so they had a
tendency to slide around.

Lifting the frames up wasn't straightforward as the cylinder block caused them to be heavier at the front than at the back. This was compensated for by 'shortening' the two lifting chains that were attached to the rear of the frames. Where the four chains come together there are metal brackets which act like claws. The chain to be shortened is looped round and a link sat into this 'claw', effectively removing several links from the length. This procedure took some time as it was a case of trial and error as to how much to shorten the two rear chains by; before Brian was happy to proceed with the main lift.

With everything in place, the frames were slowly lowered down and the carefullymeasured components all gradually slid into place. The frames weren't lowered totally down, blocks were placed on top of the axleboxes so that the frames didn't slide too far down and foul on the boxes. Once the springs are screwed up everything will sit properly and blocks can be removed.

As a final job the back bunker was swung into place and bolted down.  All the time spent measuring, checking and re-measuring clearances etc. paid off; everything fitted where it should. It was a testament to the care and attention to detail of those who have been working away on 80105 all summer.   The accommodation bogies were taken off the track and the diesel was then able to push the rolling chassis back into the Romney hut. The crane was made ready for the road and left, around 4pm; job done.

At the end of November we once again attended the Falkirk Model Railway Show (Sat/Sun 24th/25th) and added another tidy sum to the coffers. Some time later this year the new college building should be open. However, the current word is that the 2019 show will be in the old building.

As usual the LOG(S) Shop was shunted out of hte bay platform for the duation of the Santa Specials.  However, it was back in place for the Diesel Gala and the Black Trains on the final weekend of 2018.  It was very successful making over £500.