Will Canton reopen for mainline locos

Now that D B own Arriva trains there may be a slim possibility that work on D B Schenker locomotives maintenance/repair may be carried out at that location again.Scrap wagons have already been sent to Canton G W L for tyre turning along with the 66's.
Canton should never have been shut with the fantastic facilities and expertise it had on tap.
Come on DBS,move the work back there.

billy basher wrote:Now that D B own Arriva trains there may be a slim possibility that work on D B Schenker locomotives maintenance/repair may be carried out at that location again.Scrap wagons have already been sent to Canton G W L for tyre turning along with the 66's.
Canton should never have been shut with the fantastic facilities and expertise it had on tap.
Come on DBS,move the work back there.

Rumour has it, that Mc Donald is down to close it on Monday.

if its a sensible decision DBS will do the opposite

wetbag wrote:if its a sensible decision DBS will do the opposite

Mc Donald is Willys old sparring partner from Canton Depot days. When he shut Canton, he asked Willy where he was going to, Billy said to Margam and he evidently said don't get too comfy there. Willy had a couple of years at Margam and then moved on to greener pastures.

I think Billy has a job that he is more suited to then many other people in their jobs. Amongst all the crud he gets involved in, the most satisfying part of his job is must be being called to a failure on the mainline. Many not so confident people wouldn't want that type of hassle and would be very quickly on the phone to Willy, but I'm sure Willy loves the challenge with his van full of homemade over the years 'get me going gadgets'.

Get me going gadgets A bardic lamp,a hammer,screwdriver and a magic wand thats all is needed.

billy basher wrote:Get me going gadgets A bardic lamp,a hammer,screwdriver and a magic wand thats all is needed.

A few of Willys secret tips.....

Class 66 - Can of easy start
Class 37 (Punched nose) - Forklift Truck, Sling, Lifting Eye with Van on standby

tug a class 66 to drag

We don't get that many 66's to drag as 98% are fixed on the spot,we are faster than the AA.Some are fixed so fast maintenance control don't know about them till we tell them.
"Keep em running" and keep them away from toytown is the mantra.They earn nowt when they are not in service.

good point bud pity you cant keep your tugs alive

08706 had sustained collision damage last week made worse because a large bit of it had not been refitted at toytown,it then developed an AVR fault which has since been fixed.
08605 has had a few annoying faults that has now been fixed
08921 could have been repaired but with no facilities at tidal to carry out a repair it was decided to get this non standard remote shipped out in the next few weeks.
These locos are worked very hard running 21 hours out of 24 hauling scrap in blocks of 6 to 7 wagons.The main priority is keeping them running and keeping Celsa happy,as a break down can cause new product to built up in the bays slowing down production .
It can be hard work keeping the 08's running,making sure that the Class 60 and 66 exam programme is kept up to date,plus,attending breakedowns on locos and wagons.There are huge costs to a failed train on the mainline,Network rail penalties,delays to passenger trains and late arrival of freight to customers.
But what you have to remember,this job has to be done with a maximum of two staff,sometimes just one person due to leave being covered etc.
Some days it can be quiet,that means everything is running fine,other days it can be manic.covering virtually the Western area up to Didcot,Westbury,Plymouth Ashchurch,Bristol and all of South Wales.
It can be fun

billy basher wrote:08706 had sustained collision damage last week made worse because a large bit of it had not been refitted at toytown,it then developed an AVR fault which has since been fixed.
08605 has had a few annoying faults that has now been fixed
08921 could have been repaired but with no facilities at tidal to carry out a repair it was decided to get this non standard remote shipped out in the next few weeks.
These locos are worked very hard running 21 hours out of 24 hauling scrap in blocks of 6 to 7 wagons.The main priority is keeping them running and keeping Celsa happy,as a break down can cause new product to built up in the bays slowing down production .
It can be hard work keeping the 08's running,making sure that the Class 60 and 66 exam programme is kept up to date,plus,attending breakedowns on locos and wagons.There are huge costs to a failed train on the mainline,Network rail penalties,delays to passenger trains and late arrival of freight to customers.
But what you have to remember,this job has to be done with a maximum of two staff,sometimes just one person due to leave being covered etc.
Some days it can be quiet,that means everything is running fine,other days it can be manic.covering virtually the Western area up to Didcot,Westbury,Plymouth Ashchurch,Bristol and all of South Wales.
It can be fun

Wetbag, Willy's fudged the issue about Class 60's and probably isn't aware that 84 has failed and 59202 has come to the rescue.

I seem to remeber ten years ago or so that a pair of Willys feeler gauges were found in the camshaft of a 60 sent from Canton to Toytown for rogue repairs. Err have I got it right or is it the other way round.

Willys job is not for the feint hearted and every day without fail he'll bell me at 8. Ta Willy.

From my point of view its sad to see one of EWS's top shunter men fuelling loco's and carrying out minor exams when he could be championing EWS's reliability improvement programme for shunters.

Saw 84 draged past east usk at around 1900 Friday
The reliability programme is already in place,its called wing and a prayer

As far as the Class 60's ,they are a very good loco.But due to parts availability,very few, due to BMW/ Man getting the Mirrlees factory and their high engine hours.This class has a limited lifespan unless they are re engined.
The class 60's can outpull a 66 due to the traction setup of these locos.If they have a Traction motor defect on one motor,the output is shared by the remaining 5.
The early days of this class were troubled with minor problems but were overcome by BR fitters and Mirrlees enginers working closely on improvements.Canton fitters had a head start due to their work on the 37/9's.
The 4 Mirrlees locos worked well but the 2 Ruston engined locos were better.One of the main problems with these locos were the silencer box fractures.This was overcome by removing the boxes and piping the exhaust straight out from the turbo charger.Hence the throaty sound.
The Class 37's were a great workhorse that were at home on any type of traffic,be it on the iron ore or passenger.
The class 47's were the best,pull anything and reliable if given some tlc.
The class 66's though not popular,are very reliable and the mainstay of freight in the UK on average they are running 6000 miles per month.
The class 59's are also a good loco.
The class 08 /09's have also been a great workhorse but as some last had a classified overhaul 20 years ago this declining fleet is finding things hard as they are worked harder today than ever.

billy basher wrote:As far as the Class 60's ,they are a very good loco.But due to parts availability,very few, due to BMW/ Man getting the Mirrlees factory and their high engine hours.This class has a limited lifespan unless they are re engined.
The class 60's can outpull a 66 due to the traction setup of these locos.If they have a Traction motor defect on one motor,the output is shared by the remaining 5.
The early days of this class were troubled with minor problems but were overcome by BR fitters and Mirrlees enginers working closely on improvements.Canton fitters had a head start due to their work on the 37/9's.
The 4 Mirrlees locos worked well but the 2 Ruston engined locos were better.One of the main problems with these locos were the silencer box fractures.This was overcome by removing the boxes and piping the exhaust straight out from the turbo charger.Hence the throaty sound.
The Class 37's were a great workhorse that were at home on any type of traffic,be it on the iron ore or passenger.
The class 47's were the best,pull anything and reliable if given some tlc.
The class 66's though not popular,are very reliable and the mainstay of freight in the UK on average they are running 6000 miles per month.
The class 59's are also a good loco.
The class 08 /09's have also been a great workhorse but as some last had a classified overhaul 20 years ago this declining fleet is finding things hard as they are worked harder today than ever.

Wetbag, can you move this posting to a new topic. Thanks.