Our overhead line inspection vehicle, HCT 022, left Longhoughton Goods Yard and was transported to Bo’ness to begin a period on loan to the Scottish Railway Preservation Society.
Checking over work took place over the weekend of 6/7 February and the machine has moved around the yard under it’s own power. The fuel system has had new parts installed. Operator training is to commence soon.
The machine is currently scheduled to be available for hire by other interested parties from 1 February 2011
The latest two OTPPG machines arrived at Longhoughton at the end of January.
HCT022 and 98710 both arrived into the yard on 28th January 2009 to join the rest of the group’s machines.
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The Matisa arrived safely in Northumberland during mid-March…
Following on from our previous article, the Matisa 68030 arrived at Longhoughton on March 14th to join our other machine.
Well it’s been quiet again over the winter for the OTPPG but its all change for 2007 and hopefully a good year ahead!
Personal circumstances have changed for some of us recently (or are about to change in my case – but more on that soon!) As a result we have decided to take advantage of a haulage opportunity and move the Matisa away from the Colne Valley Railway to join the Permaquip 98706 at Longhoughton in Northumberland. This will enable work to continue while the original team are elsewhere!
Matisa on the loading siding ready to be moved…
The machine moved away from the CVR on the morning of 13th March 2007 and was expected to be unloaded in Northumberland the following morning.
The damaged fuel tank remains in Essex for the time being – this will be collected by Mark soon and taken seperately with other items.
We potentially have something new in the pipeline too shortly so watch this space and the Yahoogroup for more news on that! Updates on both machines will also be posted on the Yahoogroup and (less frequently) on here too.
The group would like to take this opportunity to thank all at the Colne Valley Railway for their help and hospitality over the last two years
We have taken the decision to move our Permaquip 98706 from the Colne Valley Railway up to Longhoughton goods yard in Northumberland adjacent to the East Coast main line) where it will hopefully receive a little more attention than it has so far!
The machine will remain in OTPPG ownership but in the care of the guys based here (Northumbria Rail / Aln Valley Railway) where there is someone there most weekends.
This will leave us to concentrate more of our efforts on the Matisa at the CVR. We don’t have the time or resources to work on both machines at once so we feel this move will help work progress on both machines.
The machine left the CVR on Thursday lunchtime (12th October) and is now sitting in Longhoughton goods yard – joining the crane DS 1749 and other items of stock.
Thanks to all concerned for their help co-ordinating this move.
We expect to visit the Colne Valley on 14th October to concentrate efforts on 68030 before winter sets in properly. See other report to follow…
Well well well, what a morning! Thought I’d better cover at least one major OTPPG event..
Yesterday Ben received an unexpected phone call from Heanors who were at the Colne Valley Railway with no way of getting in! After a few more frantic phone calls, it was decided that 68030 could be left on the loading siding outside of the premises for the night.
I arrived at the CVR this morning just before 9am, and after taking a few photos Dick Hymas (of the CVR) turned up briefly and told me that the machine was parked too close to the gate – ie just a metre away!! And nothing could be done for a few hours due to meetings etc.
Gosh! Things are never straightforward!
I took a few more photos, and had a little explore of 68030. Strangely, it’s covered in sand. But not strangely, pigeon droppings also. Charming.
Whilst waiting, I went for a sandwich, and had my first look at 68706 at it’s new home. It was looking rather wet!
11am finally turns up, as do Dick, Paul and a shunter (D2184 – albeit the other side of the closed gate). After a bit of investigation, it transpires that the handbrake only works on one axle. With this in mind, it was released gradually, and 68030 was rolled down the hill carefully just far enough to open the gate.
D2184 was coupled up, and after a little journey and run-round, 68030 was dropped off in a temporary resting place. The highlight of this shunting was me having a quick ride in the machine – I like to think I’m the first person to ride in it for over 10 years! (Ben – don’t mention the McCullochs guy please)
Can I just take this moment to thank Dick & Paul at the CVR for their very short-notice assistance today. It was very much appreciated – thank you!
The plan somehow came together up in Stranraer on Monday December 20th – at times I thought it wasn’t going to and the preceding Saturday and Sunday turned into long days of waiting around and not much happening!
I met Billy McCulloch on Sunday for a couple of drinks to discuss our battle plans and he seemed calm enough about the whole thing but I was still worried about what he had told me on the phone the day before while I was standing on Ayr station on my way down to Stranraer! He said that while walking the yard on Friday he had found a clamp around one of the points near the entrance to the yard – typically this was one of the points that we would need to change in order to get the machine to the level crossing area for loading. He said it didn’t have a padlock on the clamp and therefore shouldn’t be a problem getting it taken off by Network Rail. Apparently if it had been padlocked we would have had a paperwork nightmare on our hands and that I might as well have packed my bags and gone back home there and then! However the guy from NR wasn’t around all weekend so this was never going to be resolved until the Monday morning anyway.
So Monday morning arrives – I check out of the B&B and wander up to the yard with my bags. Billy & Co. are just passing in the Unimog and a van so I hop in and we go for tea and bacon rolls (of course!) before heading down to the yard. First good sign is that NR had already been in, taken the clamps off the point and put a warning Stop sign on the track into the yard – we had our T4 possession! Excellent.
I then call my contact at Heanors to see where the guys were with the lorry – I phone one of the drivers who tells me they are on the A75 about an hour away! Could it get any better?! However we still had a small problem in the fact 68030 was still in the shed at this point!
So the guys prised open the shed doors to reveal our new baby in all her (ok slightly tatty) glory! Billy was up at the level crossing with the ‘mog putting it into rail mode and then he headed down the yard edging slowly over the weeds and small trees! Some of the points needed a little bit of attention with an iron bar (!) to ensure the blades were in the right position but Billy had sorted most of them out on his Friday visit. Bear in mind these tracks hadn’t seen any use for probably 12 years or more!
Meanwhile I remembered some pieces of 68030 were lying on the track inside the shed from when the gearbox was removed so I went to recover those and any other bits that may have belonged to the machine. We also had a bit of a tidy up – returning engine panels to their correct location etc and getting rid of some of the broken glass.
The Unimog was attached with a rigid bar to the coupling and finally it looked like we were ready to roll! Before I knew it 68030 was dragged just clear of the shed where we paused for a moment to have a proper look over her in daylight and check again the track in the shed one last time. Even the sun came out briefly!
It was at this point that Billy told me he had phoned one of the local free newspapers who were sending a journalist down to get some photos for the big story of the day! I thought he was joking but no – by the time we had the machine up the top end of the yard a guy with a notepad had appeared! I’ve never done a press interview before!! He also took a shot of me and the McCullochs guys standing on the machine with cheesy grins, as seen below!
By now its raining and blowing a gale – as to be expected up there I suppose at this time of year but I had been quite lucky all weekend up to this point! Billy decides he needs more tea so off they go while I stay in the Unimog and wait for Heanors. I’ve never sat in a RoadRailer before – let alone one sitting on the rails AND while attached to an item of OTP that I had just bought! A very surreal and also quite a special moment for me! Doubtful it will happen again!
Billy and the guys return just as I see the Heanors low loader entering the yard.
Despite the fact the yard is now disused we chose a great day to block the access road level crossing into the old Stockton Haulage area! Apparently it was getting a tidy up that day and there were lorries, cars, tractors all coming in and out via the access road shuttling scrap metal to the yard down the road! Oh well they would just have to wait!
The low loader was carefully manoeuvred into position on the slippery sleepers and the guys did their stuff quickly and efficiently as I expected. They were worried it wasn’t going to fit on the trailer when they arrived but it did (thank God!) with a few inches to spare!
There were a couple of guys from Network Rail on site too – the older of the two told me he used to drive 68030! So it was interesting hearing what he had to say! I think he was quite sad to see it go – like an old friend! He said it had been in the shed 15 years but think this is a bit of an exaggeration because the picture on OTPPG website taken at Slateford is from 1990. I suspect it has been there since the early 90s though. He also said that it wasn’t until recently that it had been vandalised – which was quite annoying to hear.
So that was that – 68030 on a low loader, heading off for its Christmas holiday in Heanor’s yard! Again this was another surreal moment where I had to pinch myself – I never thought when we came to have a look at it back in August that it was ever going to happen due to the number of obstacles (physical and otherwise!) to get in our way, but it has – thanks to the co-operation of lots of people from different companies.
Nick Wilkinson at First Engineering for taking us down there in the first place and getting the ball rolling and putting up with my almost daily emails or phone calls since the summer!
Ian Taylor at Network Rail and Billy McCulloch for working together to get the track possession sorted out, clearing the track inside the shed and positioning the machine down the top end of the yard.
Andrew Goodman at Heanor Haulage and of course the two drivers on the day – for loading quickly, efficiently and on time.
And finally Dick Hymas at the Colne Valley Railway for being accommodating to our needs and giving our first two machines a safe new home!
Its turning into a bit of an Oscars speech here but thanks also to all the enthusiasts who have shown support for this project in its first 6 months – here’s to a successful 2005!
DX68706 has finally arrived at it’s new preservation base, the Colne Valley Railway.
However the day didn’t get off to a brilliant start – I got a phone call from Vince at 8am saying he had had a small accident and one of his back wheels had been smashed… so there I was stranded in Sudbury without a lift to the Colne Valley and no taxis for miles! However I did eventually get a taxi and arrived at the CVR late but not that late – and still before the FE lorry luckily!
Santa was on his way (as well as 1000 visitors apparently) so the race was on to get it unloaded and the articulated lorry off site before too many cars arrived.
About 9.30 the lorry turns up and it is manoeuvred into position ready for unloading. One of the FE drivers told me the machine didn’t have any lifting points on it which I thought was odd. So they had to put straps underneath and attach chains to the corners. All went to plan and in no time it was sitting on its new siding (which at the present time is isolated from the main railway so no danger of any heavy shunts crushing it!) We were very lucky as the sun came out just at the right moment as it was being unloaded so the photos have come out very well!
Afterwards I took a more detailed look over the machine with Mark. The glass in the front windows that was already smashed by a rock had been taken out to attach the straps for loading and to be honest it looks better now without any glass in! We checked the batteries and surprisingly there was still some juice in them! It is generally sound in bodywork apart from a few rusty patches and the top section where the lights are is currently loose. All parts now need a general clean and lubrication – the roller shutter doors at the back and side are seized up at the moment as are a lot of the buttons and switches.
It has been crudely painted white by FE and the original yellow is showing underneath where this is peeling. Of interest is that under the white paint can be seen in large letters the branding “ENGINEERING SERVICES SCOTLAND” as well as a small panel underneath that reveals it did indeed carry 98706 for a while!
We also found a bird’s nest in one of the racks at the back! Long neglected but must have been a nice home for a family of blackbirds in amongst the track bolts at one time (I kid you not!) Another thing I didnt realise this thing had at the back under the roller door was a small water heater! I’d also forgotten the front of these things opens up like the doors on a Lamborghini – as seen in the photos below!
There was a very damp fault log book in the front compartment which as far as we could see only had one page filled in at the front – dated 1989. There were also some Train Speed Reminder Charts for Scotland SE sub zone and E sub zone!
So there we have it – our first machine successfully delivered to its new home! There is quite a lot of work to be done on it but its not impossible I don’t think and should prove useful to the railway once we get it running – as an inspection trolley and materials carrier etc. Of course you are all welcome to come down to the CVR to see it – if you want to help us work on it then you will have to join the society (£15 a year) but if not its just the standard entry to get in (it can be seen from the main entry road quite easily so you don’t even have to go into the yard really.) I attached an OTPPG info sheet to the side for anyone passing that wonders what it is doing there so maybe we will get some “passing trade” from that!
We’d like to thank ETI again at this point for their kind donation of this machine and FE for transporting it down at extremely reasonable cost considering the distance and unloading with precision and a smile!
