About Renown Repulse Restoration Group

Several visitors here may not be familiar with the back story of RRRG so here is our history and mission statement!

Renown Repulse Restoration Group was formed in 2002.  It had been feared in enthusiast circles for some years around this time that the Operation Collingwood project to restore various ex-British Rail class 50 locomotives was failing and that their assets might end up being scrapped.  Operation Collingwood’s fleet consisted of nos 50001/23/29/30/40/45 with most of these being heavily stripped ex-scrapyard examples.  The best condition locomotives were 50029 Renown and 50030 Repulse which had never been in a scrapyard and were definitely worth saving for restoration.  RRRG was formed following discussions between enthusiasts on an internet forum and in summer 2002 we were advised that our bid for Operation Collingwood’s remaining assets (50029, 50030 and a number of spares) had been successful.  Whilst we knew it wouldn’t be an easy task, we were heartened by the fact that 50030 was substantially complete with only a few missing parts, mainly electrical.  50029 was less complete but still had all major components present.

Later that year we accepted an offer from Peak Rail to base our restoration project in the yards at Rowsley South station where we have been ever since.  The first task, following an agreement with Peak Rail, was to make the locomotives look smart and presentable and we unveiled the cosmetically-restored 50030 at a Peak Rail diesel gala.  50029 followed suit, disguised on one side as long-scrapped classmate 50003 Temeraire as a publicity stunt.

Since then the major thrusts of our work have been acquiring parts, overhauling the acquired parts as well as those already present on our locomotives, and then refurbishing the locomotive interiors and refitting parts.  We have acquired several major parts including two good condition generator sets (to improve on damaged examples bought as part of the original deal with Collingwood) and a complete diesel engine/main generator set.  This power unit, purchased in 2006, was important because the engine in 50029 seized in service and has considerable internal damage and also because the main generator in 50030 needs to be repaired.  The power unit purchased is being overhauled to completely renew its bearings and piston rings and return it to “zero hours” condition.

Heavy mechanical work continues, as described in the various posts on this site!

50029 ‘Renown’ after bodywork overhaul	50030 ‘Repulse’ after bodywork overhaul
50029 ‘Renown’ in 2002	50030 after arrival at Peak Rail in October 2002.

Nene Valley Railway diesel gala

We will be at Wansford station on the Nene Valley Railway over the weekend of 19-20 February with our sales stand at their diesel gala.  It promises to be a great event and our thanks to the Nene Valley for inviting us again.  We always enjoy going to Wansford and the NVR has put a good lineup together for this event so come along and enjoy rides on their trains, sample our merchandise and have a chat about the RRRG project.

Another CU1

Back in 2002 when RRRG successfully bid and secured Renown and Repulse together with various spares David Phillips was a volunteer at Pontypool &Blaenavon Railway and safely stored a CU1 on our behalf. As Sarah & I were travelling down to Swanage diesel gala this weekend to enjoy recently restored 50026 it was decided to call in to David’s home in Trowbridge to collect the CU1 en-route. Whilst there I received a bonus in the form of an Ammeter for one of the cabs. I would like to thank David for safely storing the parts and also for the hospitality he and his wife offered us.

CU1 collected from David Phillips

CU1 Wiring Loom and Plugs

Cab Ammeter

Updated share certificates

RRRG investors who have earned shares through work parties or purchased additional shares, up to the end of June 2011 will shortly receive an updated share certificate.

The date of end June is chosen because, for historical reasons, this represents the end of the RRRG financial year and so any shares obtained after this date will NOT be counted in this update. Only shareholders whose shareholding level has increased by one or more whole shares will receive an updated certificate – put simply, if you haven’t acquired any more complete shares since the last update then you won’t get a certificate this time round!

Anyone who thinks they should have an updated certificate but hasn’t received one by the middle of next week, please get in touch.

Work Party 28th April 2012

Sarah and I attended site and again met on site by Dave who I now think lives on site full-time as he is always there :-)

Dave continued with clearing and tidying the container a job that when he started thought would take a morning ended up taking three days. Once this was completed he continued with the refurbishment of the radiator grilles. The process takes such a long take as each element is being stripped back to bare metal, prior to priming and painting, and as BR’s policy appears to have been apply new paint onto the old there are numerous layers of paint and a rainbow of colours.

Sarah & I continued with the  assessments of the KV10′s. Starting with the best we are checking and cleaning contacts and replacing unserviceable parts. We have finished one complete unit having to re-terminate a couple of broken cables connections and replace a couple of components. The next best KV10 selected had sound looking components but the cable terminations at the top of the unit looked a little rusted and three of them sheared off when attempts were made to loosen them even after liberal application of WD40 (other lubricants are available lol). Therefore we had to loosen of the paxolin board from the body of the KV10 and using recovered termination studs from other scraped units these were replaced but this is not easy as unless you disconnect cables going from one side of the unit to the other side the board only gives finger width space.

Our next visit to site to continue with work on the KV10′s will be in a few weeks as we will be participating in a railtour with EE Type1′s and a couple of galas where it’s hoped to sample a certain Mr Spracklen’s 50026.

Work Party 21/04/2012

 

Myself, Sarah and Toby the dog attended site and the usual weekender Dave was there when we arrived. Dave spent the Saturday erecting a shelving unit the group aquired courtesy of one of our volunteers employers (enough said) and having a general tidy up.

We spent the day working on assessing our KV10′s. A couple were found to have damaged PCB connectors, I have found a source for acquiring replacements.

A damaged KV10 PCB Connector

The worst KV10 was dismantled to use a template to check the remaining units and to provide spare parts.

The two KV10 boards removed.

The dismantled shell and heat sink of a KV10

A list of spares needed is being compiled and all parts sourced so repairs can be carried out prior to transporting the KV10′s and associated PCB Control Cards for testing.

WorkParty 14th April 2012

Following a recommendation from The Fifty Fund I made contact with a Mr Noel Craigen, a former Technical Engineer with experience at various British Rail Traction Maintenance Depots, to assess and test our KV10s and Control Cards.

For those who are not in the know a KV10 regulates the voltage of either the Main Generator or the ETH Generator and are otherwise known as CU3 & CU6 respectively (each Class 50 locomotive uses two KV10 units). Each KV 10 has a pair of Control Cards that need testing and pairing also.

I met Noel at Rowsley on Saturday and we carried out an initial inspection of the KV10′s and associated Control Cards. Noel has confirmed prices to carry out electrical and function tests as necessary. Once I have ensured any visible damage or missing parts have been repaired/replaced the KV10s will be transported to Yorkshire to Noel’s premises for the tests and necessary repairs  to be completed.

Chris Dave & Me sorting through KV10's

Me inspecting KV10 Control Cards

This is another important stage of the electrical and control work underway.

Nene Valley sales stand stock logistics

After work on the evening of Monday 2nd April Mark and I drove miles and met up off J18 M1 to transfer more stock to me for the Nene Valley Railway Tornado and Thomas event. We have accumulated a lot of steam and generic railway stock over the years and beefed up our toy offering so I saw this as a great opportunity for RRRG and the Nene Valley Railway were happy for us to attend and publicise our attendance.

We also spent an hour discussing a number of RRRG challenges.

Another long drive partly through some new roads to me around Naseby on a pleasant evening saw me somewhat tired but managing some attention for Jack the dog and Frankie and Bella the rabbits before bed to be fresh for the commute and work tomorrow.

 

Nene Valley sales stand stock logistics 2

On Wednesday 5th after work I met up with the Fifty Fund to collect more stock.

We sell stock supplied by the Fund to increase the variety of our offering and we share the profits.

We also spent an hour trying to help each other with the constant challenges of Class 50 preservation groups.

 

Work on site 1st April

Mark Burrows was on site briefly on 1st April.  Here is his report:

“I found another 10-12 conduit and pipe clamps that I need for in the generator room. I cleaned these up with wet and dry sandpaper and a wire cut brush, then white spirited them and painted them. Also put another coat of paint on the 40-odd clamps that I did last time I was on site.

I also re-secured 50029’s tarpaulin which was loose and flapping around a bit on one corner.”

Dave Rolfe was on site as usual and continued with painting a second coat of paint onto the radiator grilles.  Mark took a few photos and noted how good they were looking; we will share these here soon.