View allAll Photos Tagged serviceability
MO-1 slowly rolls into Millburn with the venerable 18 in the lead. They have one empty bulkhead to drop off at Center St. before they turn back west. At one point the M&E rostered a stable of serviceable Alcos, but with the recent retiring of 19, only 18 is left on a predominantly EMD roster.
On an impulse, I bought an Agfa Karat 12 some time ago, an interesting 35mm folder that used Agfa's Karat cassettes, the forerunner of their later Rapid system cameras. Sadly, although in serviceable condition, the front element of the Xenar lens was severely scratched, almost as if it had been cleaned with steel wool, and I deemed the camera un-useable. However, out of curiosity, I recently put a bit of Polypan F in one of the cassettes, and took a few frames.
This tip cart is on the grass outside the church in Dun le Palastel, and is used as part of a (very nice) floral display in summer, by the municipal authority gardners, and I rather like the dreamlike way the 44 ton MAN truck negotiating the nearby roundabout, and Credit Agricole's tasteless sign, have been reduced to almost shadows. I won't be persuing this line, but it goes to show that even totally ruined lenses will produce an image of sorts, often with quite surprising results.
1940's Agfa Karat 12, f3.5/50mm Schneider Karat Xenar lens, Polypan F in Thornton's Two Bath, 5+5 minutes @21C
Class V180 diesel-hydraulics in their former Deutsche Reichsbahn incarnation of the short specific period 1979-1980; 118 749-1 and 118 005-8 reposing in the roundhouse at Arnstadt on 4th February 2024. Built by LKM in 1968 and delivered new to Erfurt depot as V180 349, The V180.2 Class 118 749-1 is on loan from the DB Museum at Nuremburg. 118 005-8 is the oldest extant V180 class loco, built by LKM in 1963, initially working from Berlin-Karlshorst depot, between March 1963 and July 1970. Both DB Museum-owned locomotives are stored serviceable but currently do not have main line tickets. The livery variants are an interesting comparison.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
A typical filthy valleys class 37 has moved up from it usual coal train duties to be in charge of a mixed bunch of four wheeled and bogied non passenger coaching stock. 37179 is approaching Cardiff General from the Newport direction with a parcels train, 19th February 1977.
Locomotive History
This locomotive has had many guises in its lifetime and is still in front line operation. It was new in October 1963 as D6879 and was allocated to Cardiff until transferred along the coast to Landore in October 1971. In the 1974 TOPS renumbering scheme it became 37179 and was still a Landore allocated engine at the time of this photograph. Transferred to Scotland (Eastfield) in April 1982 and moved back south to South Wales (Cardiff) again in March 1985. It then became a bit of a gypsy as over the next couple of years it had spells at Tinsley (twice), Gateshead, Thornaby and back to Cardiff before it entered Crewe Works for refurbishment and remerged in February 1987 as 37691. It moved back to Scotland (Motherwell) in April 1992 and south to Immingham in May 1993 and spent most of 1994 in store un-serviceable. In December 1995 it was allocated to European Passenger Services and became 37612. It did little work over the next two years until sold Direct Rail Services in June 1997 for whom it still now operates forty eight years after being built.
Praktica LTL, High Speed Ektachrome
Black garage code plate shows this bus was allocated as a trainer,only used on routes on some weekends or when there were not enough buses serviceable monday to friday
Interesting meteor (with 2 flashes) - near Corona Australis constellation - above the Sea of Japan, on August 7, 2021.
I took photo from Yuzhno-Morskoy (near Nakhodka), Russia, with my camera Canon 60D (which still had serviceable lens).
Just another frame of this scene which was such a rare occurrence to capture both for the line and the locomotive.
A Plymouth and Lincoln passenger train (DBA Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad) is deadheading south as they pass over Jewett Brook a half mile north of the station in downtown Laconia where they will load their passengers. This is just north of MP 28 (measured from Concord) on the old Boston and Maine White Mountain mainline owned by the state of New Hampshire since 1975. Jewett Brook flows from Opechee Bay through the center of town draining into Lake Winisquam which drains into the Winnipesaukee River and will flow downstream under the Lochmere Bridge that is the destination of this rare mileage dinner train later this evening.
Per Jay Gadon:
The train was being brought down for a rare mileage passenger excursion from the historic Laconia Train Station to Silver Lake Road in Lochmere. Riders on this sold out train were treated to a delicious feast catered by Hart's Turkey Farm, and while the railroad hosts many Hart's turkey trains from Meredith to Lakeport, this special dinner train run from Laconia to Lochmere was about as rare as it gets. This ride coincided with the NH Pumpkin Fest in Downtown Laconia October 27th and 28th.
The four car train consisted of two demotored ex B&M Budd RDCs and two ex Lackawanna MU cars bracketed by SW1000 1012 on the south and GP7 302 on the north. The 1012 was blt. Dec. 1970 as Burlington Northern 438 and was acquired in 2014 thru LTEX and is a regular on all their summer passenger runs. 302 was blt. Aug. 1950 as Rock Island number 438 and came north in 1985 when the start up New England Southern acquired it from the bankrupt ROCK's estate. It hauled freight on all the remaining ex B&M lines north of Manchester as NEGS 302 until 1998 when it was sold to the Plymouth and Lincoln, who promptly chopped the nose and repainted it maroon and silver.
Again, per Jay the old geep usually sits around Meredith Yard as a spare engine and has seen very little use. But it was kept serviceable and returned to revenue service from October 14th thru the 28th for the first time since October 2018! This was my first time seeing her turn a wheel since the late 1990s when my Dad and I rode behind her still in green and yellow on the NEGS's short lived passenger operation operation out of Canterbury.
To learn more about the history of this line check out the detailed caption with this image taken last year: flic.kr/p/2oXC9oc
Laconia, New Hampshire
Friday October 27, 2023
GB Railfreight (GBRf) has acquired sixteen class 56 locomotives from UK Rail Leasing Ltd (UKRL), along with a number of spares and materials.
The purchase, which includes a mixture of both serviceable and stored, non-operational ‘donor’ locomotives, is a result of the continued growth in the railway services that GBRf provide. The company could not confirm nor deny any prospective plans for re-engineering the locomotives at this stage, as this is still subject to the final contract. However, it has stated that some of the locos will be moved from Leicester to various locations across the UK for further storage pending the option of re-engineering, whilst a small number could remain at Leicester and returned to service as ‘standard’ class 56s.
Some of the sixteen locomotives are seen at EMD Longport near Stoke-on-Trent.
30 tonnes of flammable concrete sitting on traction motors built by MKA is spliced between another two MKA rebuilds on a Sydney-bound freight: ALF22-BU1-ALF23-DL47-EL63-C503 departing Islington Freight Terminal with 7AS6 on Feb 18, 1995.
The BU units were an abject failure and complete embarrassment for those involved in vandalising 4 perfectly serviceable 600 class Alco units. Converted in 1994, they were all in storage by 1996, and scrapped in 2009. BU1 was originally SAR ALCo DL541, 605.
(95.025.10_7AS6+BU-IFTMwt)
Spending a couple of weeks touring Scotland it would be rude not to pop into a few preserved railways.
Resident Class 27, D5934 (27106) approaches Boat of Garten station with the 16:06 Broomhill - Aviemore turn (the last run of the day) on Friday 1st September 2023. Note the observation saloon immediately behind the loco.
She is one of just 8 examples in preservation, only 3 of which are currently serviceable, from a class of 69 built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) during 1961 and 1962.
She was given a TOPS number of 27 050 then later converted and renumbered again into the sub class 27/1.
Between 1971 and 1973, twenty-four Class 27s were fitted-up with dual (vacuum and air) brakes and reclassified Class 27/1, These Locomotives were converted for push pull operation mainly between Glasgow & Edinburgh and then renumbered back to 27/0 after from 1982 as push pull operations were withdrawn in favour of class 47’s.
Copyright Ken Davies. All rights reserved.
Covering a lack of serviceable Class 57/6s, 08836 is seen departing Paddington with the sleeper ECS.
From Wellesley State Park, New York.
Getting a handheld DSLR to do an iPhone-style pano isn't too tough:
* Set for manual exposure based on the most extreme portion of the scene. In this case it would be for the middle section's bright water and sky.
* Hold camera in portrait orientation.
* Start from the left, and take a series of exposures while rotating shoulders and back and trying to keep camera on the same horizontal plane.
* Have a generous amount of overlap between each frame.
Load all into Photoshop, first by doing any coarse adjustments you need to for either individual or the whole group in Camera Raw. Ensure that the open buffers are in a sane order. Then File -> Automate -> Photomerge; chose 'Add Open Files' as the sources. Then hit go!
(Instructions for my ancient-but-paid-for copy of CS6, YMMV)
End result will need cropping, in that you probably had some vertical wavering. And if your exposure settings were not consistent then some sections will show as being visibly darker or lighter than others.
But the end result of these 8 frames with a good bit of overlap was a perfectly serviceable 15,468 x 5,100 pixel image. This version is scaled way down prior to upload.
This little card reader has been with me for years. Small and durable, it has traveled the globe and transferred over 110,000 photos. A week or so ago, I inserted a card as always and the card refused to seat. After several seconds of gentle effort, I removed it and looked at the pins inside with a flashlight to find not one but THREE pins, in different parts of the array, bent at various angles approaching ninety degrees!
I needed the reader to transfer the images for my daily shot so emergency surgery was in order. I broke apart the housing to better access the socket and worked carefully with tweezers to bend the pins back into a serviceable position. While doing so, I discovered that some of the other pins had pulled away from the socket and extended a good 1/8 inch farther out than the others. It looked bleak. The little socket looked like two miles of bad road but after a while, it looked like the pins were straight enough to use.
Holding my breath, I gingerly worked a card onto the weary golden pins. It was snug and felt a little wrong but it seated. I plugged in the USB cable... and it worked. The LED flickered happily like the wagging tail of a puppy when the family returns home and away went the waiting photos toward my hard drive. I've been using it all week like this. Each time I separate or attach a card, I fear it will be the end but each time it has worked flawlessly.
I'll probably retire the little reader soon but the fact that it still lives, albeit naked and on borrowed time, makes me smile every time I look over at it. I love that little reader. :)
Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:
Mercedes-Benz O530 WEB628 /
Mercedes-Benz Citaro (12.0m)
N38F - 07/2012
Ex-Arriva Southern Counties South Disposal (GLw-3908) (12/08/2020)
Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (SH-3908) (12/2017)
Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (ME-3908) (06/2017)
Ex-T-GM (Heathrow) (09/2012)
New to the T-GM Group (Heathrow) for 2012 Olympic Game shuttle duties.
A bit of a proud moment for us at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, as the first of 2 Citaro's were made serviceable having been VOR at another garage for 2-and-a-half years! Our coachmaker, Wayne, has done outstanding work on them both, which has certainly given them a fresh new lease of life, something they truly deserve! MOT passed on Friday 4th September, taxed early Saturday morning.
Seen here at Beckenham Junction, performing duty 108 for Croydon Tramlink replacement between here and Elmer's End, via Beckenham Road and Birkbeck.
Beckenham Junction Railway Station (BKJ), Rectory Road, Beckenham, London
Saturday 5th September 2020
Busways (Stagecoach North East) have currently six AD Enviro400 MMC's on hire to Highland Country Buses at Inverness following a shortage of serviceable buses in the Highlands. 11300 (SN69 ZRF) was new in Janaury 2020 and quickly sent to the highlands after only a few days in use in Newcastle. This one is currently allover white pending the application of the new Stagecoach livery.
Still unsure which dress to wear for Afternoon Tea, so I start to dress in my underwear with these stockings, that have a green welt, as they seem to be my only serviceable tan stocking.
0-8-0T no. 764 159 and 0-8-0 no. 764 053 clatter across the flat rail crossing at Tîrgu Mureş Sud where the 760mm gauge line north to Miheşu de Câmpie crosses the 1435mm standard gauge line that runs from Războieni to Deda west to east through the town.
The train is a charter organised by the LCGB (Locomotive Club of Great Britain) using the last two serviceable steam locomotives available at Tîrgu Mureş depot. Sadly this classic Eastern European narrow gauge line serving a scattered rural community was only to last one more year after this photo was taken and the entire network has since closed.
Should be a double decker! Hounslow Heath garage have a shortage of serviceable double deckers when the school buses are out. The 482 is relatively quiet compared to the other double deck routes at the garage so is a candidate for single deckers if not enough double deckers are available.
Talking of Maynes, I thought it about time I chased up the ex Maynes transferred to Lincoln earlier this year and went over last week, but as usual I had left it a little too late and only two of the five East Lancs bodied Tridents were serviceable.
The first to be taken out of service, and looking at the damage quite understandably, was V126DJA, now on the disposal list it can’t be long before it makes its last trip one way to Barnsley.
Lincoln depot [taken through the fence] 27th October 2015.
The Trainman uncouples 37416 to allow 37156 "British Steel Hunterston" to shunt the stock and then couple to get the failed 37416 in position to work the 1110 to Inverness on Friday 6th July 1990.
Formerly a rare Motherwell allocated loco, its availability had been easy since a few weeks previous as it had been a regular feature on the Kyle services and for the rest of the the summer and indeed for the following year too.
The loco had to do a triple run-round and backshunt at Kyle to release itself (having topped a failed 37416 on the inward train) and marshal the dead loco in rear before it departed south.
37156 was stored serviceable in October 1996 and cut up at Wigan Springs Branch in January 2000
40011-N211 UHH & N133 YRM Seen here at Morecambe depot collecting dust. Both where new to Stagecoach Cumberland and are now the last Serviceable Mercedes 709ds still working part time in the Cumbria and North Lancs area.
This is one of the tiniest bars I've seen at a commercial pub. It was curious to see the bar staff turn sideways and inch past each other when two of them had to pass by.
With a lack of serviceable Class 91s, VirginTrains rolled out a pair of 'Thunderbirds' to top-n-tail the 15:05 Kings Cross - Leeds service, with 67012 powering north, and 67005 on the rear.
Not really the majestic landscape I intended to deliver. I went out to the Solway (the River Eden's estuary) to take pictures at Port Carlisle. This used to be the point where ships would go through a sea lock and travel into the city of Carlisle, delivering flour to the Carrs biscuit factory. It sounds a lot of effort for some biscuits, but in the 1800's, the biscuits they made were in great demand - given they stayed fresh for a very long time. They were therefore part of the diet of sailors and sea passengers the world over.
The now silted up port is in ruins and slowly being reclaimed by the sea. But instead of photographing that, I got a bit obsessed with this little rock and overconfidently decided it would make a great picture of the day.
In truth, I was happy to get a shot and get home. I'd parked about a mile away and wandered through marshes and bogs to reach where I wanted to be. Only to emerge from the undergrowth into a perfectly serviceable car park. Which I would have reached if only I'd driven on for a minute or so.
My walk was taken with the accompaniment of a cloud of biting flying insects too. Having recently been bitten by a tick, and with my memory still fresh of the google image search I performed so I know how to recognise the symptoms of tick-borne Lyme disease, this was a little disconcerting.
Once I got to the coast though, my interactions with nature were more pleasant. I set the tripod up in the water, quite low down, and noticed hundreds of tiny fish swarming around my wellies. I liked the fact that I didn't seem to be disturbing them as they darted around. That was until I realised in my reverie I'd squatted down a bit too far in front of the camera and had submerged my bottom in the water.
I realise people pay good money to put their feet in tanks of water for fish to nibble away at the dead skin. But what I was doing was an extreme version I didn't care to experiment with for too long.
PS - The horizontal red streak in the top right is a train on the Scottish side of the Solway - I had no idea I'd caught that until I returned home and dried out whatever body parts required it.
Nikkormat FTN w/Nikkor 50mm f 2.0 Prime on K64
My late wife, Delores [1957-2004] with my father and me in front of the Luscombe 8F that we flew to TX for him. My dad’s cousin [Woody Byers] had rebuilt and modified it from the stock 8F after he had had an engine failure and bent it during the ensuing forced landing. After about 15 years he finally finished it, but he was getting older, so my father bought it from him. Dad allowed me, a fresh - newly rated COMM/INST pilot to ferry it to TX from MI for him so that I could add some X-country time to my meager log book.
The compass had not been swung in about 30 years and I had no maps, no radio, no Nav Aids when I left southern MI for central TX [a hurried last minute trip, we flew into Battle Creek on the Kellogg Corporate Falcon 20 from KDCA – my brother flew many years for them and retired in about 2004]. I figured that since the 8F was a VFR only bird, that I would just head….. like….. that-a-way!!! I figured that if I was too far west I would hit the Rockies and if too far east the Gulf!! We got stuck in Fort Smith for a few days because of bad weather, but the actual flying was about 2 long days worth.
My father, Norman M Reed [11/11/1925 to 02/23/2023 – 97 yrs old], was a retired Allegheny Airlines Captain [US Airways]. He spent 13.5 years, 11,800 hours and 30162 take-offs & landings while flying the DC-3 in scheduled airline service for Lake Central Airlines [The FAA says it is a record for To's & Ldgs in a DC3 in domestic scheduled airline service], one of the legacy airlines of the "New American" Airlines.
Dad & Mom moved to Texas in 1977 from Catharpin, VA after my father retired from Allegheny Airlines [just before they changed their name to USAir in 1979 - he was originally with Lake Central Airlines - hire date 1953 - that merged with Allegheny in 1968] as a DC-9 Captain. He has flown in scheduled airline service the DC3, Nord 262, Convair 340 & 580 and the DC9-30 &-50. He was trained in the Army Air Corp during WWII on the P-47 & P-38. He never saw combat. Mom is 91 this year - 2025.
Luscombe 8
The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.
Development
Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Aircraft, also US-based.[2] Temco built about 50 Silvaires before selling the rights to the Silvaire Aircraft Corporation in 1955.[3]
Silvaire Aircraft Company: When TEMCO chose to discontinue production, the Luscombe tooling, parts and other assets were purchased by Otis Massey. Massey had been a Luscombe dealer since the 1930s. His new venture opened in Fort Collins, Colorado, as Silvaire Uranium and Aircraft Corp. From 1956 to 1961, this firm produced 80 aircraft. The make and model for all 80 was Silvaire 8F, with "Luscombe" shown in quotation marks in company literature. N9900C, serial number S-1, was built in 1956. This first aircraft was constructed from spares or Material Review Board (MRB) parts that were serviceable, but remaining from TEMCO's prior production. TEMCO supplied enough inventory for the completion of approximately four aircraft. N9900C first flew on September 10, 1956 and was sold, according to the FAA aircraft database, to a dealer, Boggs Flying Brokers, in California the following spring. Six aircraft were built in 1957 (serial numbers S-2 through S7). Serial numbers S-2 and S-3 were shipped via C-46 aircraft to Buenos Aires, Argentina.[4]
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luscombe_8
The last load of serviceable KSAs are prepped for transfer to Bescot. Thanks to Terry for the nod on this one, I would otherwise have missed it!
Another Gronk that has recently arrived at Wishaw is former GWR 08663 which was sold to the Avon Valley Railway for just £1 a couple of months back. With GWR moving to standardise it's shunter fleet with the more common 110v version of the 08 Shunter, the 90v versions are being removed from traffic. Another loco likely to be sold on shortly is 08410 at Long Rock, Penzance which is also a 90v example.
A shrewd bit of business has since been made with RSS , who are in need of more serviceable Gronks and the Avon Valley Railway hiring it to them to secure vital funds to keep it running for years to come.
With regards to 08663, it's entire career has been spent on the Great Western, entering service in June 1959 in South Wales in the Swansea area. Periods at Swansea Landore, Plymouth Laira, St Blazey and Cardiff all followed.
It's GWR career ended at St Phillips Marsh depot in Bristol, it working alongside Intercity liveried 08822 for the past few years. The loco was repainted in to BR blue livery (with modern warning embellishments and non-standard thicker wasp stripes on the cab) and named 'St Silas' in 2016.
Merseyrail 507025 gets away from the Kirkdale station stop with the 09.32 Ormskirk - Liverpool Central in February 1994.
To the left in Kirkdale C.S ex LMS Class 503 28690 29720 & 29289 which at the time were OOU & in store.
* The Class 503s were progressively withdrawn from June 1984, the final service train running on 29 March 1985.
This was followed by a farewell tour on 13 April 1985.
Cars 28672, 29271 and 29702 had been used as a Sandite unit on the Northern Line after initial withdrawal in 1981.
Some units were scrapped at Cavendish sidings on the Birkenhead Dock Branch line, whilst others were scrapped at the nearby Mollington Street depot. The remainder were scrapped at Alexandra Dock, BREL Horwich and also in Northwich, mainly under contract to Vic Berry, TW Ward and HP Cartwright.
A single set, formed of vehicles 28690, 29720 and 29289, was earmarked for preservation. This was the last of the units built in 1938 to have been brought into service.
The unit is also one of the only two pre-war main line EMUs in existence which are still in original formation, the other being the 2-BIL belonging to the National Railway Museum.
The set was kept in serviceable condition and operated occasional special trains on the Merseyrail network until 1988. During this period, the set was used for the opening of the electrified line between Rock Ferry and Hooton on 30 September 1985 and for special services during Christmas 1985. At the same time, Merseyrail decided not to preserve a second set, due to a lack of spares. Following this, the surviving set participated in the Merseyrail 100 celebration on 6 April 1986. was purchased by Wirral Borough Council in 1991 and stored at Kirkdale until 1996.
Two parts of the set were then sold and kept at Steamport, Southport. Meanwhile, the Driving Trailer coach (DTS) was kept at the Wirral Transport Museum. The two parts of the unit, which were sold, have been owned by the Suburban Electric Railway Association since purchase by its forerunner, the Mersey and Tyneside Electric Preservationists in 1996 and were stored at the Electric Railway Museum on the outskirts of Coventry. After transport of the Driving Trailer coach from Birkenhead, the entire unit was correctly reformed at the Coventry museum in October 2010, for the first time in over 20 years The Driving Motor coach (DMBS) interior was open to the public during museum open days.
In 2017, the Electric Railway Museum announced that it would be forced to close and relocate its collection. The Class 503 set was moved in May 2018, to the Locomotive Storage Ltd facility in the former Hornby Railways warehouse in Margate.
The GXR is my favorite "retro" digital camera system to date.
I found a used P10 28-300mm unit on Kitamura Camera for really cheap.
As this unit is an interpretation of Ricoh's compact CX cameras, I was genuinely worried about the image quality on this unit. I've used a CX1 in the past, and the SOOC JPEGs beyond ISO 400 felt like bad watercolor paintings due to the aggressive smearing from the noise reduction functionality.
But with the GXR, you get access to the RAW files and the RAW files are extremely serviceable and crisp. And the image stabilization is quite effective!
Aperture settings only permit two settings--wide open or stopped down--just like aperture priority on most compact digicams of the time. It feels like it will make a decent addition as a travel zoom.
By the way, my dog acts like this when we're eating dinner. He's already had his.
It takes more than one or two people to keep a railway the size of Puffing Billy operating 364 days a year. An important division in that small army of people is the Way & Works crew, who keep all the track in serviceable condition.
Part of the ongoing track maintenance includes herbicide spraying. A herbicide train was recently run from Menzies Creek through to Gembrook, captured shunting at Menzies Creek shortly before departure.
Delaware & Hudson Baldwin RF-16 1205 at Whitehall, New York on June 20, 1977, Kalt 35mm slide by unknown photographer, Chuck Zeiler collection. Built by Baldwin in December 1951 as New York Central 3805 ( c/n 75361 ), it was one of 18 cab and 8 booster RF-16's built for the NYC, nicknamed Sharks, for the Sharknose design of the cab. The cabs were numbered 3804-3821 and boosters 3702-3709. By September 1966, the NYC RF-16's (the cabs had been re-numbered into the 1204-1221 series) were retired, traded to General Electric, and this might have been the end of the Sharks. But in the winter of 1967, the Monongahela Railway purchased seven cab and two booster RF-16’s for $6,000.00 each, including the 1205. In 1972, only the 1205 and 1216 remained in service, and in 1974, the Monongahela RF-16’s were sold to a scrap dealer. In mid-1974, the D&H obtained the two serviceable RF-16’s in trade for derelict freight cars of equal value. The Sharks were run through the Colonie Shops at Watervliet, New York, and painted in a blue “warbonnet” paint scheme. At the end of 1977, following a management shakeup, the Sharks were again up for sale, this time purchased by Castolite Corp. for $35,000.00 each. They were leased to the Michigan Northern (MIGN) which operated them until December 1978. The 1205 suffered a crankshaft failure while on the MIGN, and was moved to Diesel Electric Services (DES) in Minneapolis, MN. However, DES folded up before completing repairs, and both the 1205 and 1216 moved to the Escanaba & Lake Superior. I’m still searching for the final disposition.The RF-16 was the successor to the DR-4-4-1500, Baldwin’s challenge to the Alco FA-1/FA-2, EMD’s F-3/F-7, and F-M’s CFA-16-4. It produced 1600 hp (actually 1750 hp, but listed in the sales literature as 1600) from a Model 608A 8-cylinder inline prime mover, Westinghouse 471 main generator and 370 series traction motors, and an infinite-position air throttle. The electrical wiring was run in conduit pipes on the opposite side of the carbody as the cooling pipes, to solve the problems experienced with wet electrical equipment in the DR-4-4-1500. It was dubbed “the Hauling Fool” in Baldwin sales literature. The final count was 160 units produced.
One on the many Daimler CVG6 buses operated by West Bromwich Corporation, 167 pictured in the then Midland Red bus station at Oldbury off Tabernacle Street. The stylish Weymann bodied bus belonged to a batch of twenty identical buses delivered new to West Bromwich CT in early 1952, numbered 157-176 (GEA157-176).
After service with WBCT these were withdrawn as follows:
1969 - 157, 158, 169-171, 176.
Of these withdrawn buses, only 157, 170 & 171 passed to the newly created West Midlands PTE in October 1969, but were not operated.
The remaining serviceable buses from this batch passed to WMPTE and were renumbered with an 'H' suffix denoting that they were ex West Bromwich vehicles.
These were withdrawn under WMPTE ownership as follows:
1969 - 162H, 163H, 164H
1970 - 160H, 166H, 168H, 170H
1971 - 161H, 165H, 172H, 175H
1972 - 159H
1973 - 173H, 174H
Two buses were initially saved to preservation, 172H and 174H. Today, only 174 survives and is in a fully restored condition at the Black Country Museum, Dudley.
Returning to the picture - 167 is pictured working the 16 service, which was part of a group of routes, the 15, 16 & 17 that provided services between Oldbury and West Smethwick via West Bromwich.
Of these routes, the 16 was the full through working, while the 15 and 17 were short workings of the 16 route. These were:
15 - Dartmouth Square - Oldbury
16 - Spon croft - Dartmouth Square - Oldbury
17 - Dartmouth Square - Spon Croft
These services along with all ex West Bromwich CT routes were taken over by WMPTE in October 1969.
The bus station - The old concrete sheltered bus station pictured was lost under the redevelopment of the area and the creation of the Oldbury Saver-Centre in 1979/80, now solely a large Sainsbury store.
A rarely seen/published Apollo 8 image, capturing the moment of ignition - immediately before achieving full thrust - of its five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, marking the start of the historic mission, December 21, 1968.
I believe that's the jettisoned Q-ball cover immediately to the left and a little below the apex of the Launch Escape Tower/Launch Escape System. Too too cool:
apollo11space.com/how-does-the-q-ball-cover-retraction-sy...
Credit: "APOLLO 11 SPACE" website
www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/000928.html
Credit: collectSPACE website
www.facebook.com/share/p/yxNZUShc4FeCvbaF/?mibextid=K35XfP
The “coolness” of the image led me to further research the engineering genius that made it possible. And the following pertains ONLY to the START-UP of the F-1 engines - which is what’s happening here, like super-duper fast!!!
Mind-boggling. Keeping in mind, this is 1968:
First, for those technically inclined, the following excerpt:
“The mechanical aspects of the Rocketdyne F-1 ignition sequence are mindboggling by themselves. In any large liquid-fueled rocket engine, a lot of massive parts have to be brought up to speed in a very short amount of time. The turbopumps in the F-1 are massive. Here's a cutaway: twicsy.com/i/hveRmc
One propellant line would be bolted to the top of the case. The cylinder in the center is the shaft. At the top of the shaft, you see the low-pressure pump, which feeds into the top of the impeller for the high-pressure pump. Its discharge flange is barely visible on the right. Beneath that is the other propellant's high-pressure impeller, arranged upside down relative to the first. Beneath that the "spiky" cutaway versions of its low-pressure pump. The intake flanges form the prominent "flank" of this assembly, and its discharge flange is also barely visible. Finally at the bottom is the toroidal combustion chamber for the gas generator and (at the very bottom) the drive turbine.
That's several hundred pounds of hardened steel and titanium that has to be brought up to minimal operating speed in just a few seconds. The "starter motor" (actually akin to how jet engines are started with compressed air blown into the compressor) gets that assembly to a barely serviceable speed -- a mere fraction of its operating speed and pressure, but just enough to get the propellants flowing.
Now we discovered through experience that you get smoother starts if you first inject oxidizer (liquid oxygen in this case) and then fuel, then spark the igniter. You see this in the slow-motion ignition videos as a cascade of white vapor. This, combined with the relatively low flow rate of propellants during the ignition transient, means a fairly non-propulsive, multi-directional conflagration first occurs (i.e., an ordinary fireball). As the gas-generator achieves a more self-sustaining operation and the engine builds thrust (and thus the plume becomes more unidirectional and propulsive), it entrains the air surrounding it by means of Bernoulli's principle.
As you may know, the simple explanation of Bernoulli's principle is that unidirectional fluid flow produces a zone of low static pressure around the flow column. The plume is moving downward only, therefore exerts no static pressure on the air around it. The air around it, however, is in a non-flowing state and hence has considerable static pressure (sea level normal). So, this creates the tendency for air (and the largely non-flowing fireball it now contains, due to effluence from the startup) to get sucked sideways into the plume and (obviously) start moving rapidly downward with it.
But this is not a finely demarcated effect. It is spread out over the several lateral feet of air (and fireball) near the plume, which means that the trend is for the static air (and fireball) pressure to decrease as one approaches the plume, and the entrainment flow therefore also to increase over those same few feet. Eventually (air being elastic), the effect diminishes as one gets far enough away from the plume.”
From/at:
forum.cosmoquest.org/forum/science-and-space/space-explor...
Credit: CosmoQuest Forum website
And, for the rest of us, the following is a MUST watch, seriously.
AGAIN, THIS IS FROM 1968.
THINK ABOUT IT:
Credit: Scott Manley/YouTube
Which is embedded here:
space.stackexchange.com/questions/26183/why-does-air-get-...
Credit: Space Exploration Stack Exchange website
The Darmstadt tramway currently has an acute shortage of serviceable vehicles and has pressed museum ST7 31 into regular service. The 1960s era tram currently makes two runs on weekdays between the Bolenfaltor depot and Cranichstein. Unfortunately neither particularly well timed with the first running very early in the morning and the other at midday. At sunrise the first course is seen along the relatively new line in Kranichstein. When this tram was built the area was likely nothing but farm fields.
DM&IR 403 rests on Track 1 at DUD prior to taking a special inspection extra north the following morning. On the left is Copper Range Baldwin S-12 No. 200, owned by the Soo Line Historical Society (DSS&A Division does much of the work on it). At the recent SLH&TS convention in Duluth it was noted that 200 and DSS&A RS-1 101 will be turned over to the LSRM once they are made serviceable (no firm timeline).
With no emission modifications, DW93 is no longer serviceable in London from tomorrow and it's expected to be withdrawn later on tonight, here it is on route 319 for the last time... or is it? It's apparently got until the 29th of February before it has to leave London service... hmm.
UPDATE: 4th March 2016 - The emission deadline has been extended until the end of this month, this bus is still yet to have AdBlue fitted so we will have to see if it remains in service (hopefully)!
Arriva London - DAF DB250LF/Wright Pulsar Gemini - DW93 LJ04LF - Route 319
Very much a grabbed shot seeing as its a going away view in poor weather. I've uploaded for its rarity value and in the hope someone can shed more light on the working.
NOLI (North Of London International) Eurostar set 3303+3304 is seen on the South Eastern mainline at Chart Leacon west of Ashford station heading towards London with an ECS working.
The Regional Eurostar sets were never in regular use as the intended services were abandoned by BR ahead of privatisation when Eurostar services passed to new operator LCR (London & Continental Railways). GNER took 2 sets on lease in May 2000 to operate the "White Rose" Pullman service between Kings Cross and York, this was as a direct result of stock shortages caused by the Mk4 and class 91 refurbishment programme. A third set was added to the GNER pool in May 2002 when workings to Leeds also saw Eurostars used. GNER returned the sets to LCR in December 2005 as no longer required after the 91+Mk4 overhauls had finished. Of the seven sets built Eurostar had kept one serviceable for special workings (set 3313/3314) but obviously not available on this date making this picture more surprising seeing as the set was still on lease to GNER at the time. It was running as an empty stock working between Dollands Moor Yard and North Pole Depot to my knowledge. I very much suspect with HS1 open between the Channel Tunnel and Fawkham Junction by this date it was being used to refresh drivers on the classic route for diversions which was dropped when services switched from Waterloo to St.Pancras and the third rail equipment was removed. It pre dates the internet gen sites so if anyone can clarify the working and why GNER sets were used I would be grateful. From my notes at the time they ran sporadically for a fortnight in March 2005.
Shortage of serviceable Scania Omnicity's at Oprington has resulted in some loans of Croydon's allocated 293 vehicles to assist. Resulting in some Scania Olympus's to transfer back to Croydon. Taken approaching the Ewell By Pass. Taken 22th July 2015
Ex Victorian Railways oil-burning 2-8-0 steam locomotive J-550 is seen preserved in a park in Warragul, Victoria. This loco ended its career in the early 1970's as yard pilot at Bendigo.
It was initially preserved at Mirboo North in Gippsland before it was purchased by Steamrail Victoria and moved to Newport Workshops where it was stripped of serviceable parts.
It was cosmetically restored and then swapped with A2-986 so Steamrail could start restoring the A2.
In 2013, the 'J' was moved from Warragul to Noojee where the loco was preserved on a short section of track next to a recreated Noojee railway station. The old railway from Warragul to Noojee was closed in the 1950's and the original station was demolished soon after. J-550 was moved to Noojee as a representative of the 'J' class locos that ran on the line before it was closed. 10:27am, Sunday the 4th of January, 1987.
Vintage Amsterdam pre war 4 wheeler tram set in 1971. Interestingly the 464 and 721 are still serviceable to this day. © Henk Graalman 12sep71
Return of the old-timers.....
With Scotland slowly returning to something close to normality after being in lockdown after these past three months, service levels are being slowly increased. This has meant every serviceable double-decker has been put back into service to meet the demand, and some single-deckers too.
Here we see 17-year old veteran 33370 (LK53EYM) reactivated from hibernation and heading through Carntyne on its way to Easterhouse on the 46. This bus was one of the few in the Glasgow fleet to receive the large block capital ‘GLASGOW’ fleetname. Unlike other First fleets in the rest of the UK, this block fleetname wasn’t common for First’s Scottish fleets. It was new to First Centrewest in 2003 and was then transferred to First Games Transport in 2012 for the London 2012 Olympics. After that, later the same year, it came to Glasgow.
It’s fair to say that after nearly eight years pounding the streets of Glasgow, it’s looking a tad rough. Prior to the pandemic, these buses were under threat of pending withdrawal, as it was expected that with more new buses likely to come to meet the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) requirements, these old-timers would be high on the list to go to that great scrapyard in the sky. Indeed some had made the trip and others were in reserve.
However the pandemic has changed that. The LEZ has been postponed for now and First has frozen all capital expenditure on new vehicles. So these weary veterans will be with with us a bit longer. And I’m pleased at that, as I feel they’re some of the nicest buses in the fleet to travel on.
Who knows, some may get the new First livery as a result.
NJ Transit F40PH-2CAT no.s 4119 and 4120 are seen on display during he agency's MMC Family Days event on Saturday October 5, 2024. The two locomotives are the last of 17 NJ Transit F40s that remain in service on the railroad, though the agency operates an additional 8 Metro-North Railroad F40s that are provided for West of Hudson service. Earlier in 2024, locomotive 4120 suffered damage after hitting a fallen tree, and was shopped for repairs. The display in front of the locomotive showcases the work done by NJ Transit personnel to return the locomotive to serviceable condition.
DUB 15/06/13 FirstNation Airways Ltd. Is an airline with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. The company is founded and chaired by the ex-CEO of Bellview Kayode Odukoya[1] and received its first three leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft in early April 2011. The airline ceased operations in October 2012, reportedly because of problems with serviceability. The three Airbus A320s were repossess by a lessor, the Aviation Capital Group.[1]
FirstNation resumed daily flights to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in October 2013. Its fleet consists of two Airbus A319-113s formerly owned by the Italian low-cost airline Wind Jet.[
Built 1997 Ex F-GPMI, EI-DVU, 5N-FNE
The last remaining pool of five 90mph 2-car 2-HAP units were used to strengthen rush hour services between Tunbridge Wells and London Charing Cross and only worked a few peak hour trains. This need was driven by the fact Tunbridge Wells Central station is sandwiched between tunnels either end and the longest train that can be reversed was 10-cars so the 2-HAP's were generally attached to 2x4-VEP's to make up a high density 10-car formation, plus their first class compartments provided a bit of extra capacity as the route has always been renown for its well healed clientele.
The five remaining units were slated for withdrawal on 15th January 1995 but this was hastily brought forward at short notice to 23rd December 1994 as by that date only 3 units were serviceable and one of them was stopped at Ashford on the morning of the last day leaving just 2 sets 4308 and 4309 to complete their diagrams on the last day.
4309 is seen here in Tonbridge Down Main Carriage Sidings waiting to run ECS into the station to work the final single 2-car train formed of a 2-HAP namely 2E50 the 17.25 Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells which would then attach to the 17.14 Hastings to Charing Cross for the 19.10 Charing Cross to Hastings and Ashford. On this date being the final evening the 2-HAP didn't run through to Hastings as booked attached to a 4-VEP after the split at Tonbridge where the Hastings and Ashford portions part company and was instead detached leaving the Hastings train as single 4-VEP. It was then coupled to 4308 and failed 4311 to run special ECS to Ashford Yard for formal withdrawal and transfer to Ramsgate for component recovery.
Snowplough ADE 321012 was based on a former LNER Steam Engine Tender and a former Steam locomotive buffer beam mountable large plough.
During the winter of 1984 , and many before, it was always reliable and in fact the only serviceable one at Eastfield when the Whiteout struck the West of Scotland on the 21/1/84.
Alas though this sterling service could not save it from scrapping in May 1985 , as seen here at Eastfield Depot in Glasgow.
it was an even greater shame that it was not offered to Railway Preservationists.
Na de opheffing van het trambedrijf van Aken in 1974 kocht Genève vijf gelede Düwag-tweedehandsjes die in 1958 waren geleverd aan Mönchengladbach. Na een bezoekje aan Schindler in Pratteln voor diverse aanpassingen - Georg Fischer-koppelingen, deurbediening door de reizigers, oranje kleur, verwijdering remlichten - kwamen er drie in dienst op de destijds enige tramlijn 12, Carouge - Moillesulaz.
Het werd geen groot succes. De vervoercapaciteit was een stuk kleiner dan die van de standaard-tramstellen waar de Düwags een aanvulling op waren. Toen vanaf 1987 nieuwe Düwag/Vevey-lagevloertrams in dienst kwamen, werden de drie rijvaardige oude Düwags verkocht aan Lille, waar ze nog tot begin jaren '90 hebben gereden op de Mongy
After closure of Aachen's tramway system in 1974, Geneva bought five second-hand articulated Düwag cars, originally built in 1958 for Mönchengladbach. After a visit to Schindler in Pratteln for some modifications - Georg Fischer couplings, passenger-operated doors, orange livery, removal of brake lights - three of them entered service on the only tram line of that time, route 12 between Carouge and Moillesulaz.
They were not really a success. Their capacity was considerably lower than that of the Swiss standard bogie tram sets they complemented. When new Düwag/Vevey low floor trams entered service from 1987 on, the three serviceable older Düwags were sold to Lille, where they were in operation on the Mongy until the early 1990s
Genève, Rond-point de Plainpalais, 1976
The Mary K from Hamilton's Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum awaits it's flight home after visiting for a "wings and wheels" event a couple of weeks ago. It was in service from 1944 until 1995 and is dedicated to, Flt. Lt. David Hornell, a Canadian, who was decorated with the British and Commonwealth's highest order - the Victoria Cross.
His citation on June 24, 1944, is extraordinary: Flight Lieutenant Hornell was captain and first pilot of a twin-engined amphibian aircraft engaged on an anti-submarine patrol in northern waters. The patrol had lasted for some hours when a fully-surfaced U-boat was sighted, travelling at high speed on the port beam. Flight Lieutenant Hornell at once turned to the attack.
The U-boat altered course. The aircraft had been seen and there could be no surprise. The U-boat opened up with anti-aircraft fire which became increasingly fierce and accurate.
At a range of 1,200 yards, the front guns of the aircraft replied; then its starboard guns jammed, leaving only one gun effective. Hits were obtained on and around the conning-tower of the U-boat, but the aircraft was itself hit, two large holes appearing in the starboard wing.
Ignoring the enemy’s fire, Flight Lieutenant Hornell carefully maneuvered for the attack. Oil was pouring from his starboard engine, which was, by this time, on fire, as was the starboard wing; and the petrol tanks were endangered. Meanwhile, the aircraft was hit again and again by the U-boat’s guns. Holed in many places, it was vibrating violently and very difficult to control.
Nevertheless, the captain decided to press home his attack, knowing that with every moment the chances of escape for him and his gallant crew would grow more slender. He brought his aircraft down very low and released his depth charges in a perfect straddle. The bows of the U-boat were lifted out of the water; it sank and the crew were seen in the sea.
Flight Lieutenant Hornell contrived, by superhuman efforts at the controls, to gain a little height. The fire in the starboard wing had grown more intense and the vibration had increased. Then the burning engine fell off. The plight of aircraft and crew was now desperate. With the utmost coolness, the captain took his aircraft into wind and, despite the manifold dangers, brought it safely down on the heavy swell. Badly damaged and blazing furiously, the aircraft rapidly settled.
After ordeal by fire came ordeal by water. There was only one serviceable dinghy and this could not hold all the crew. So they took turns in the water, holding on to the sides. Once, the dinghy capsized in the rough seas and was righted only with great difficulty. Two of the crew succumbed from exposure.
An airborne lifeboat was dropped to them but fell some 500 yards down wind. The men struggled vainly to reach it and Flight Lieutenant Hornell, who throughout had encouraged them by his cheerfulness and inspiring leadership, proposed to swim to it, through he was nearly exhausted. He was with difficulty restrained. The survivors were finally rescued after they had been in the water for 21 hours. By this time Flight Lieutenant Hornell was blinded and completely exhausted. He died shortly after being picked up.
Flight Lieutenant Hornell had completed 60 operational missions, involving 600 hours’ flying. He well knew the danger and difficulties attending attacks on submarines. By pressing home a skilful and successful attack against fierce opposition, with his aircraft in a precarious condition, and by fortifying and encouraging his comrades in the subsequent ordeal, this officer displayed valour and devotion to duty of the highest order
A Chicago and North Western local powered by RS3u 4250 has completed its switching at Appleton Papers at Combined Locks, Wisconsin on Columbus Day, October 11, 1982, and is heading back to the mainline to couple onto its train.
This unit, formerly 1613, is the result of a wreck rebuild by ALCO during which the RS3 received an RS11 hood, along with a 251-series power plant. Unit 1624 was also rebuilt, but spent its last years in the deadline at Huron, South Dakota and was not renumbered. During the Spring of 1981 it was brought east from its long-time assignment at Huron to Green Bay, Wis., along with the rest of the serviceable four-motor ALCO's. It was generally assigned to Appleton or Green Bay.
On this overcast day, my brother and I started early from our dad's campsite at Devil's Lake State Park near Baraboo and headed north to Wisconsin Rapids, east to Stevens Point and Green Bay, south to Kaukauna, Appleton, Neenah, then onward in the darkness to suburban Chicago. Knowing that the ALCO's weren't going to last forever, we tried to see them at every opportunity.
After catching freight #295 at Kaukauna, as was our general practice, we followed the Appleton Flats branch to catch whatever locals might be running on the Appleton Jct.-Kaukauna line. At Combined Locks we lucked into this unique unit, one of my favorites, and followed it to LC Siding at Little Chute. I'm sure we wanted to follow it more, but it was getting late and we still had many more miles ahead in our journey.
I've always thought this branch would make a nice basis for a model railroad. In addition to switch jobs assigned to Appleton Junction and Kaukauna, there could be as many as 2-3 locals out on the line switching mills at Appleton Flats, Kimberly (MidTec) and Combined Locks, plus the huge Thilmany mill at Kaukauna. There were also several pre-fab metal warehouses owned by Kampo and Warehouse Specialties that used rail service, where finished paper products were stored until shipment. One of the jobs was routinely assigned two units, usually a pair of Geeps.
Ruston and Hornsby 165hp Diesel Electric Shunter D2961 is one of a number of 165 h.p. 0-4-0 diesel shunters at the SVR, but is the only one with Diesel Electric transmission, producing a sound reminiscent of a tram in operation
The locomotive was built by Ruston and Hornsby ("R&H") of Lincoln as works number 418596 of 1957, and was delivered new to ICI Limited at Winnington, Cheshire, where it carried the name 'Stephenson'
In early 1965 418596 moved to T.H. Ward of Sheffield, and late in the same year moved on to Higgs and Hill, Contractors for Fiddlers Ferry Power Station. After returning to Wards, it moved to Tunnel Cement at Birsley, Flint in 1969.n
In 1972 the locomotive was sold to Tinsley and Lovatt of Trentham, Staffs for overhaul, after which it was sold to its final owners, Patent Shaft Steelworks of Wednesbury
In the first years of SVR preservation, shunting duties and engineering trains used steam locomotives, in particular the ex-industrials 2047 Warwickshire and 686 The Lady Armaghdale. However the ease of use of diesel shunters led to their early adoption, with Highflier the first to arrive in 1971. The Red Ruston, the first of the 165 h.p. R&H shunters was next to arrive in 1972, followed by Mary also in 1972 and Yellow Peril in 1975. All saw regular service at a time when the railway was developing and expanding to Bewdley, but with the exception of the Red Ruston they proved underpowered for the job.
The closure of Patent Shaft in 1980 gave the SVR the opportunity to acquire a further four 165 h.p. R&H shunters at 'bargain rates'. They were painted in a 'bilious yellow' and were rather battered in places, having apparently been in the habit of pushing their way through piles of steel plate. Diesel Electric 418596 (unnamed) was in better condition than the rest and was initially intended for P-Way use, while the plan for the three Diesel Mechanical shunters Alan, William and Archibald was that two would be allocated to the terminal stations allowing the third to be under repair at any given time. Two spare engines were also obtained.
When 418596 arrived on the SVR on 1 November 1980, it was owned by SVR(H) having been acquired at a cost of £1000. It was repainted in BR green livery with the later BR 'ferret and dartboard' emblem, and given the fictitious number D2961 in keeping with former BR fleet numbers. After receiving mechanical attention it was allocated to the P-Way department as intended. However by summer 1981 experience proved that it was better suited to yard work and it had become resident in Bridgnorth yard. It quickly transpired that William and Archibald, the latter owned by Pete Cherry, were not going to be kept long-term so ownership of Archibald and D2961 was simply swapped, with Pete Cherry becoming owner of D2961.
Both William and Archibald were subsequently cannibalised for spare parts.
D2961 was used as the principal Bridgnorth yard shunter until the arrival of the more powerful BR Class 08 D3586 in 1986, after which it continued in service at Bridgnorth performing movements in and out of the boiler shop and light yard shunts. However by spring 1997 D2961 was out of traffic due to a blown engine. A Gardner bus engine had been acquired to see if it was possible to achieve an easy engine swap[7] although with no success.
In spring 2003 a report from Trevor Davies in SVR News noted that the Class 08 Society were assisting with returning "the Bridgnorth boiler shop Ruston" to service by repairing and restoring parts, in addition to their main activity of restoring 08133. By winter of that year D2961 was at Kidderminster with repairs still incomplete.
After that time progress was slow for some years. By summer 2010 renovation work was still in progress at Kidderminster, although the diesel set had been started for the first time in several years during the preceding winter. This had required D2961's engine to be rebuilt from its crankshaft and also provided with a reconditioned fuel pump and injectors. At that stage it still required work on the brake and suspension systems together with a full electrical overhaul before being available for service.
By summer 2012 the overhaul of the fuel and brake systems had been completed after considerable effort by a small team of our volunteers, with a reconditioned brake valve being fitted along with a new safety valve. This had enabled the locomotive to move under its own power for the first time in many years. The next six months saw the wiring completed, new spotlights fitted, and generator traction motor guards made and fitted, although the locomotive suffered a setback in November when it was hit by an attempted theft whilst in Kidderminster yard.
Considerable work was also carried out on the bodywork during the renovation. The cab and its roof were almost completely replaced, as the original platework was well past its prime. The cab received all-new woodwork including the floor, and tool and battery lockers. New cab doors were fitted with '08' style door locks and handles, allowing all qualified shunt locomotive drivers to gain access.
D2961 eventually returned to service at Bridgnorth in 2013. Trevor Davies summed up the renovation in SVR News by noting "There is a lesson to be learned here, that is if you are not going to see a big repair project through, then please leave it in one piece, as it makes it easier for those who may wish to take up the baton at a later stage. Preservation is full of projects that started with good intentions, met with a dose of reality and as a consequence foundered."
As of 2023 D2961 is still based at Bridgnorth and is serviceable. It is still owned by Pete Cherry