On Thursday 22nd November D1015 worked under it's own power from Tyseley to Old Oak Common. Champion is at Old Oak for a bogie change, new windscreens and final preparation for a return to the mainline. The loco worked as 0Z52, leaving Tyseley around 11am and arriving at its destination shortly after 3pm.

Depite initial hopes for an April return to railtour duties, things have taken longer than planned. D1015 has now been successfully fitted with GSM-R and the bogie swap is underway but this has highlighted a couple of other issues meaning D1015 cannot now work the Pathfinder Tour in June as planned.

A series of photos from March 28th showing the air tanks being craned back into D1015 at Tyseley. The end tanks (largest and heaviest) which go under the valance were man-handled back into place from the pit below onto their straps using just packing and a lot muscle!! Many thanks to Tyseley for the use of their crane.

Stuart Hyde was also on-site working inside D1015 repainting some of the locos pipework. Click any thumbnail to enter the gallery.

The overhaul of the replacement 'B' end engine progresses well. So far the engine block has been cleaned internally and externally cleaned then repainted and partially rebuilt in the groups workshop before being moved to the D&EG workshop at Williton to use the turnover stand they have there.

The engine stand was also derusted, cleaned and repainted, then transported with the short engine and the rebuild is continuing rapidly. All the associated engine pipework, engine room doors and flooring have been cleaned and repainted as required in the workshop. The failed engine has been removed from the loco and stripping is almost complete.

Meanwhile the engine room has been thoroughly cleaned to a very high standard and only some of the pipework will need repainting. Two frost damaged air pipes have been removed to the workshop, repaired and repainted, then refitted to the loco and a new water pump seal has been made. The replacement bogie has been completely stripped at Washwood Heath and the frame cleaned and tested for fatigue cracks and those found have been repaired.

The wheelsets have successfully passed their ultrasonic test. All the bogie brake cylinders have been stripped down, cleaned, overhauled, rebuilt and externally repainted in the workshop. New brake hanger bushes have been manufactured and the brake gear overhauled, rebuilt and repainted also in the workshop.

Photos from a recent work party at Tyseley including four from DTG Engineer Steve Vial of recently removed parts from Western Champion's damaged 'B' end power unit, not for the feint hearted!

With the 'B' end power unit bay empty, the opportunity was taken to give the area a good clean. A few photos of the work done by Tony Aloszko, Paul Winter, Tom Pierce, Stuart and James Hyde, James and Jacky Duncan at Tyseley are shown below.

The final job of the weekend was covering up D1015 for Winter hibernation in a giant tarpaulin to protect the loco from the elements. Click any thumbnail to enter the gallery.

A selection of pictures showing 'B' Engine being successfully lifted out of D1015 at Tyseley. Excellent progress has been made on both the replacement power unit and a replacement bogie, and we will be working hard to return D1015 to the main line as soon as possible.

2009 saw Western Champion back in the First Great Western Heavy Maintenance Facility at Old Oak Common for a transmission change at the 'B' end. The old transmission, loaned to us from D1041 'Western Prince' by Bury Hydraulic Group, has been removed and the brand new Voith L630rV unit fitted.

This round of maintenance will also see the 'B' end pre-heater replaced with an overhauled one, some original flexible pipework in the Serck oil system replaced with new and the engine to transmission cardan shaft changed for an overhauled one.

A small selection of photographs are below, taken with the permission of First Great Western. Click on any thumbnail to enter the gallery.

Running on the mainline meant that OTMR (On-Train Monitoring Recorder) equipment was going to be essential sooner or later. Work to fit OTMR to D1015 started on 4th January 2006 and was completed on 30th July 2006.

This timespan included the planning of the electrical conduit run, fabrication and installation of said run under the B-end cab floor and corridor into the preheater compartment, running of cables in conduit, fitting of the equipment in the cabs and the 'Black Box' under the preheater and the terminating of the wires both ends and finally, static testing of the equipment. The installation is located underneath the B-end preheater.

Steve Wainwright checking OTMR data settings	Newly installed OTMR Equipment

Western Champion took a 'year out' in 2004 to allow the 'A' end transmission to be sent away for repair. This was the first time the 'A' Voith L630rV transmission had been removed from the loco in preservation so, whilst away, the area it occupied was cleaned and repainted as required. The cooler group has to be removed to access the transmission so this was also inspected and cleaned.

New shaft bearings were amongst a number of new components purchased to give the 'A' end the full treatment, at a total cost of €68,000.00 all told! One of the bearings had failed and others were found to be worn or life expired - little point spending money at Voith without making sure everything else was in order.

In Germany, Voith engineers tested the transmission simulating train loads, this involved operating the transmission to the normal engine output .... and then adding a further 50bhp input for good measure. The refurbished L630rV was returned 6 months later complete with the Voith 'Seal of Confidence' stuck to the side.

Photographs with permission from and courtesy of both First Great Western and Voith Turbo. Click on any thumbnail to enter the gallery.

In January 2003 we started to strip down and rebuild the engine that failed on the test run back in January 2002. The failure was caused by oil starvation to a bearing which overheated and melted. Luckily the bearing transferred to the crankshaft (known as picking up) and the crankshaft itself remained undamaged. Once the crankshaft has been ground to remove the bearing metal we will build up the engine ready for use.

The transmission which had seized at Old Oak Common before we had even left for the Severn Valley Railway went to the Voith Turbo Factory at Hayes. It has been totally stripped down for investigation and we have found that all the bearings need replacing. Most areas of the transmission were coated in mud, formed by oil and water mixing after years of storage out in the open and the sump was full of emulsified oil. To remove gear wheels we need to 'blow' them off using oil at pressures of up to 4000 BAR (59,000 PSI).

Cosmetically, to represent the locomotives early livery, the 'T' shape yellow warning panel from the 'A' end was removed, returning D1015 to how it was in January 1963. The 'A' cabside roundel was also left in the correct 'incorrect' position and the Overhead Live Wire warning signs also left at the same angles they were 40 years ago. Routine exams and inspections were carried out to check the locomotives health. All oil and coolant levels were topped and grease added to the greasing points. No problems were found and in the middle of January another UAT was carried out. This is now an annual requirement for operation of vehicles over 40 years old on the mainline. Another requirement for mainline running is the fitting of TPWS. The system is not mandatory at this time but any locomotive which doesn't have TPWS is limited to 75mph from 16th of July 2003. Left: Railwayman and DTG member Paul Robinson rubs down the newly applied undercoat of the yellow panel at A end ready for the first coat of topcoat.

We have a rolling programme of overhauling our spare components and then carrying out a component exchange programme to further improve the performance and reliability of 'Champion' and we are carrying out some minor modifications such as repositioning switches in the engine room for improved accessibility. At some stage we hope to refit our brand new boiler to the locomotive to enable it to operate trains on preserved railways during the colder months.

D1015 raised in the lifting bay whilst the old B end bogie is exchanged for an overhauled one

Written on the intermediate gearbox is 'Float Rectified 13-12-72' - this indicates that the gears located within have been checked for excessive movement in the bearings and that the gear teeth all mesh correctly. Unfortunately the one locomotive we do not have any maintainence record for is Western Champion! The last works visit was May to October 1972 so this bogie was not fitted then. The locomotive would have had numerous bogie changes since October 1972, both for routine reasons and through any failures.

Bogie overhauls include rebushing of all bearings in the brake and running gear, all springs changed, final drives examined for signs of wear or fatigue, cardan shafts stripped, bearings changed as necessary and rebalanced and a thorough bogie frame clean was carried out. Another Ultrasonic Axle Test was also carried out whilst the wheel sets were out. Left: Overhauled bogie ready to be installed

Finally a few photos from around the loco showing the high standard of work. This has meant a protracted overhaul but it has paid dividends in maintaining reliability on the main line.

Looking along the non corridor side of one engine. Pink pipes indicate lubricating oil and blue pipes coolant water. Equipment painted orange indicates electrical and red is fire protection systems.	Compressor control equipment mounted in the engine 'vee' in the boiler compartment. Several modifications were carried out to the wiring to improve reliability.
One of two fuel pumps, one per engine. Notice the floors are free from oil and dirt!	One of the control cubicles mounted in the drivers desk in each cab. The 'brain' of the locomotive, housing relays, contactors and fuses.
Drivers desk with the covers off showing some of the loco wiring. The lengths range from around 3 inches to over 100 feet.	A similar view with the covers back on again and showing the drivers position complete with newly installed 'posh' seat!