There were a lot of activities in what was the heavy engineering shop, including building wagon underframes for ’21 Ton’ all steel mineral wagons. The production rate was one per hour with four jigs working in parallel, giving four hours to load the jig and weld up. They were also building Mark 1 carriage underframes and again there were parallel lines as it took time to weld up all the steel.

One side of the shop had a moving line for the repair of carriage running gear. Cars that came in for repair had to be stripped and removing the seats was a chore that young fit apprentices were to undertake. Some interesting things were found under seats; old tickets, money, and a court summons for a prostitute spring to mind. The bodies were lifted off their own bogies and placed on old bogies modified to carry them at a much higher level to allow access to all the underframe equipment. The regular bogies proceeded up their own ramp to the repair area where pre-made racks of all the wearing parts were located. Rather than spending time deciding which components needed replacing all of the wearing parts were renewed, thus restoring the bogies to as new condition. Meanwhile the couplers were changed while the buffing and draw components were examined and repaired as necessary. The steam heat system pipe work was also examined and tested while the wheels were turned and balanced, and the axles were tested for flaws. By the time the carriage body reached the end of the ramp its bogies were ready and all the underframe equipment overhauled. Ride height was adjusted after measuring buffer heights and bogie heights together with the necessary clearances by changing the tension on the spring eyebolts.

Another bay was dedicated to DMU bogie and brake systems overhaul, engine removal and replacement, followed by yard testing and finally mainline testing. On one of the yard tests I learned an important lesson; know what to do if the test goes wrong! We were testing the deadmans devices (the deadmans is a handle that had to be kept depressed), if it was released after five to seven seconds the brakes should apply. We had several power cars and a length of track available to us with a bumping post at one end. We would insert the keys into each cab in turn, move off slowly then the engineer would release the handle saying “now” to begin the test. My job, as the apprentice, was to hold the stop watch and count off the time from the release of the handle, and after around six seconds there would usually be the hiss of air as the brakes applied. This was repeated until almost the last unit where things went wrong; when I had reached seven nothing had happened, and as I continued to count everyone just stood there. When I reached fourteen we hit the bumping post at about five mph with a load bang. Lesson learned! In later life, when I was running test and commissioning, I always made sure people understood what to do when the test didn’t go according to plan.

The mainline tests were to prove that the gears changed smoothly, that the reverse feature worked correctly, and each cab could control the train. These tests were usually performed on the Wirksworth branch, where we could stop and start or reverse at our own pace. I went on one test over the main line to Chinley, where we had to keep going due to other traffic.

One very interesting job I had was working on the first production mark 2, first class corridor (FK) number 13379. Unfortunately it was destined to have a very short service life, being destroyed in the Hixon disaster in 1968.

This shop was an interesting mix of both metal work and wood work. With the transition from wooden carriages to all steel carriages with both wooden finishes and plastic laminate finishes the skill set changed. I experienced fabricating body components, including assembling and then welding complete body sides in a large jig. There was also much repetitive work on small components, for example stamping holes in steel plate or bending roof sticks in a press.

I worked on the Mark 1 production line building Corridor Composites (CK) installing floors, partitions, etc. To hang doors we were allowed ten minutes for adjustments and some interesting tricks were used. One thing that the inspectors were very picky over was that the slots in screw heads had to line up.

Also at that time trailer cars were being built for London Underground (1962 stock) and they were very different to BR carriages, being aluminum, fitted with sliding doors, and having specially treated wooden floors. I spent a couple of weeks working on that line.

While carriages were not highly technical the sheer volume of components arising made this a busy shop. Several safety critical items were repaired and or built in this shop, door locks have to stand regular slamming yet remain closed and secure during all the movement that the carriage makes as it runs down the track. The locks in use then had the ability to latch when partly closed, but not until the handle returned to the horizontal was the door fully secured. Locks were gauged and tested for torque needed to open and ability to engage under all conditions.

Vacuum brake cylinders were overhauled and the rolling ring renewed while the cylinders were tested for power and leakage. Direct admission valves allow the propagation of a brake application to be accelerated down the train. As they sense a decrease in the vacuum they open to allow air to be admitted so increasing the response. They had balanced diaphragms so all joints had to be cleaned, all gaskets renewed, the valve seats polished, and of course tested. Smaller items like budget locks and comfort items like ash trays, toilet tanks and taps, etc, were also dealt with.

I returned to the Locomotive Works for my final year of apprenticeship and was posted to the gang that worked on locomotives undergoing overhaul. They were responsible for disconnecting and re-connecting cables both to the power unit and bogies, as well as supported load testing and traction proving, to ensure all traction motors rotated the same direction. This involved applying oil to the rails and making the wheels slip, the apprentice having the job of standing by the wheel to ensure it rotated in the correct direction.

I also worked on rebuilding collision damaged locos, particularly the class 24 which had very weak frames under the cab. A heavy shunt that a steam loco would shrug off resulted in the class 24’s cab pointing towards the rails and a works rebuild.

During my time in this shop I learned an important lesson when fault finding, never assume anything, check the basics first. I had been helping an electrician find a ground fault on a ‘Peak’ (class 45) locomotive and he brought over an oscilloscope. This was housed in a huge box on a pair of bicycle wheels and enabled us see what exactly was happening as the relays opened and closed. He carefully hooked everything up and turned it on, but nothing happened. I had been watching intently, so was a little disappointed with the result.
“I bet that valve has failed again,” the electrician said and proceeded to open it up. Inside an array of 1950’s technology with valves, etc, was revealed. He removed the valves and after he had examined them reseated them, but the device would still not power on. “I don’t know why it isn’t giving a reading,” he said.
“Is the battery flat?” I asked.
His reply was unprintable and cast serious doubt on my parentage and sexual prowess. “What do you mean batteries?” he asked after calming down a bit.
“Well, you never plugged it in so I assumed it was battery powered,” I explained. After he had plugged the oscilloscope in it worked a charm.

This was not the most interesting shop, apart from dismantling the failed engines when there was a chance to see the failure modes. The Rolls Royce engines had dry liners while the Leyland engines had wet liners, so failures due to cracked liners produced very different outcomes. Otherwise it was just a repetitive job, and as the engines were cleaned in the shop it smelt strongly of the chemicals used.

A fascinating place where I was attached to an expert that looked after the works air compressors and air systems. More interestingly he also overhauled oxy-acetylene cutting and welding gear and as we had to test the equipment after repair I learnt how to gas weld. The Millwright’s Shop was the very original locomotive repair shop and still exists. We worked on the mezzanine, which was accessed by a less than stable circular iron staircase. When three or four people were going up or down during shift change it was quite alarming. At the next work station to my assigned location was a man who repaired bicycles. BR had quite a fleet of them and he spent all day stripping and repairing them, after which they were painted and returned to the stores.