Preservation Progress

Posted by gary on Sunday, April 20, 2008

And so we move on through our preservation efforts and to the biggest delivery in one move to date. First Group kindly offered us some of their surplus Valenta engines, together with a cooler group. Porterbrook also were kind enough to offer a cooler and so on 12th October 2007 we sent two lorries to Brush in Loughborough to pick up Valenta engines S148, S444 and S479, along with Marston Coolers 71091 and 71151. The move went to plan and the convoy arrived at our secure site without any problems.

Of the Valentas, S479 is a bit of a star, having been the featured engine in our “Midland to Manchester” DVD, which is still available on this website – click the Sales tab to the side to get the DVD and savour the sound in your living room! The engine is in good condition and was working when removed. S444 is not entirely complete – it has a good block, but the turbo and intercooler are missing. We’re keeping it, as the main parts are sound and we will have parts we can swap around to get the engine operational again, should the need arise. S148 is a strategic move: it is of the earlier recessed deck type of Valenta and we aren’t that interested in the engine as a whole. However, there are many parts that can be robbed from the engine for the rest of the fleet and economies of scale mean that it’s more cost effective to take the whole engine, rather than rob at a scrap yard or similar.

Of the coolers, Marston 71151 is a long term asset as it is in good condition generally. However, we can’t keep more than about 4 whole coolers, as they are rather bulky. As the framework is predominantly aluminium, they do not suffer from rust and we expect them to last for many years yet. As a consequence, 71091 was only ever a short term acquisition being stripped for parts in March 2008. The saved gearbox and radiator panels have been palletised and then shrink wrapped for safe keeping.

Click here to view Valentas S148, S479 and S444 ready to leave Brush

Click here to view one of our Marston Cooler Groups taking a ride around Brush on a forklift

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Preservation Progress

Posted by gary on Tuesday, March 25, 2008

And so to the next exciting instalment of our preservation procurement programme…… and probably the most nerve wracking so far! We had arranged that we would take Valenta S499 from the re-engineering programme at Brush and were waiting on various bits of paperwork and payment to progress. Then we had a call from a friend of a friend that some Valentas had been spotted at a well know scrap yard in Yorkshire. So at the end of September 2007 a team of 5 intrepid members turned up at the yard, armed with many spanners and hammers of increasing size.

Imagine our horror on entering the site to find a great big yellow Valenta with “S499” written on it! And alongside it another Valenta with “S380” written on it. A short session of guppy fish impersonations then ensued, followed by mobile phones smoking under the number of calls being frantically made. It turned out that someone was keen to clear space at Brush and had indicated that all the Valentas “in the way” should be disposed of. This wasn’t quite the case and after some negotiation with the scrap yard and Porterbrook we managed to secure both engines from the imminent cutters torch.

And so on 1st and 3rd October respectively, S499 and S380 were removed from the scrap yard and taken to our secure site, safe from any further damage. Luckily the engines were still very much OK: S499 had sustained a broken oil filler neck and slightly bent fuel rack arm on ‘A’ side, but other than that was fine. S380 had been robbed (by us!) but other than that was intact. S499 is our very best engine (still to date) as it only had about 9-12 months cumulative work post overhaul. Both it and S380 have NA256 turbochargers.

Click here to view Valentas S499 and S380 shortly after arriving at our site

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Preservation Progress

Posted by gary on Sunday, February 17, 2008

As the “refreshed” 125 Group website is now up and running we thought it about time to bring you an update on where we are with our preservation efforts. Rather than spill all the beans in one hit, we’re going to bring you snapshots of what we’ve done until we eventually get up to date – there’s far too much to tell! Also, to be fair to our membership, we’ll only post details on the website after the membership have been informed by the Group’s magazine “One Two Five”. So there may be a couple of months delay but hopefully info will get posted to present a working “blog”.

So let’s start with the beginning: S415 arrived at our site on 20/08/07, our first piece of the preservation jigsaw. The engine was just days away from the cutters torch and we couldn’t say no to a flat top engine that we were set of saving. OK, it’s missing a couple of heads, but in the main was intact and didn’t have any holes in the side. The nice people at Loughborough even steam cleaned it for us. Arrival at our site went without a hitch and the engine was lowered into a temporary position on suitable wooden supports in the secure compound. Several of the committee inspected the engine a few weeks later and did some rudimentary work of plugging orifices, oiling the “exposed” cylinder bores/pistons and even barring it over – which was accomplished with ease using a long wrecking bar. The engine was then covered as autumn approached in preparation for winter.

Click here to view Valenta S415 arriving at our site

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Register with the group online........

Posted by Admin on Monday, February 04, 2008

We're pleased to announce that you can now register to be a member with the group online, as well as by post. The advantage to this is you no longer have to pay the cost of postage and walk in the rain to your nearest post box! Just simply fill out a form, pay with Paypal and you're done! We'll do the rest!

To take advantage of this, click the Join us link from the menu on the left.

Please note: We do not currently have the facility to renew membership online, but will be soon including a feature to do so. Please continue to return renewal forms by post.
 

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2008 Calendars

Posted by Admin on Sunday, January 20, 2008

Please note we're coming to the end of our 2008 Calendar stock, so if you would like one to hang on your wall, be sure to order through the sales section NOW!  

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Posted by Admin on Wednesday, December 26, 2007

2007 has been a momentous year for 125 Group, and I use those words wisely and without hyperbole. We have placed ourselves in a unique position that I don't believe any UK based preservation group has found themselves in: preservation of the major items required to run the rolling stock, without actually having access to said rolling stock for preservation. We believe that we have acted in a measured and calculated way by acquiring a healthy stock of good, sound, flat top (with one exception) Valenta engines that will be sufficient for many years to come. History has taught us that having such a supply will pay dividends in 20-30 years time, should we have a 'leg out' incident or supply of parts dries up (as it inevitably will) from MAN Diesels and it's subsidiaries. We have also taken Marston cooler groups where we can, albeit to a lesser extent: your committee believes that the main focus should be on the Valenta engine and if we are honest then running a power car with a Brush or Voith cooler is no bad thing to mitigate any high water temperature trips during the summer months. But there is still a mandate and wish to preserve these cooler groups and we certainly intend to keep around 3 complete examples, plus spares, for future generations to savour.

Read more...

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