The turn of a CIE key…
Posted by Stephen Payne | Filed under Development, Reports, Restorations
Walking through the yard of Kells Transport Museum in Cork, you see a lot of buses, coaches, trucks, minibuses, in fact just about anything could meet you around any corner, as each time you adventure into the depth of grimy, bewildering vehicles that you might find something new. Well each time we are down, two vehicles always pop up in conversation during breakfast, probably the only two truly amazing vehicles within the museum grounds at Cork. Having worked for 12 3/4hours on R913 back in Freezing December finally came to an end with the apprentice finally signaling that she had started, as the mechanic glanced into the engine in amazement. The other vehicle might not be as unique as R913, but does come from the same period and was a true veteran of the CIE fleet, having been the longest serving member of its class.
Yes, no matter where you went on your adventure anytime you were down, you always met the miserable, almost skeletal remains of a badly deteriorated vehicle that is E106. Having been purchased from Bus Eireann in 1998, she had been lying in Knockraha hidden by other vehicles for nearly six years, and another few years sitting in Capwell garage, which is where she lost a lot of her identity.
Well, eventually we got around to having a good look at her, seeing that she required a lot of parts, and being a small problem with the fact that there was really more work to do than would be normally put into a vehicle, but the decision was made to have a go anyway.
So last weekend, armed with the usual tool boxes, as well as a portable LED lamp, Stephen Payne set to work on rebuilding her from slightly modified parts off different buses across the yard. The sump, rocker assembly, injectors, lift pump, injector pump, injector piping, water pipes, rocker cover, clutch assembly, as well as reverse gear were all replaced, as well as a modified drive shaft from an LA as the original had been badly warped.
Starting work at just after 11pm, it seemed as if it were the last place on earth anyone would want to spend their Friday night, but Steve braved the damp ground and pursued the goal of waking this gentle beast from her death bed. 3am came and went, and frequent dashes up and down the yard for oil, water, batteries and forgotten parts eventually paid off, as at 7.28am the last dash was made up to the office, master switch turned on and with the turn of the oily CIE key, dashboard lights as well as the horn and buzzers broke the perfect silence that was Saturday morning. One more turn of the key and away she went, seven seconds was all it took before she was firing, and the sound was of absolute magic. Never before has an engine started with such ease and sound so perfect, a constant rev was kept until she was idling on her own, and the levels were checked. Everything okay, the buzzers eventually went out and the reverse gear was selected.
Handbrake released and a very nervous mechanic reversed her out of her grave, and moved her up towards the office. Not a puff of smoke from the engine, and sounding as a leopard purr should, she gracefully progressed up to the main gate, where she was left idling while further checks ensued.
So once again, another veteran of the Irish Transport Scene has purred to life, and will be heading towards the MVPSI workshops shortly, as E106 is to be completely refurbished to the standard required. It just goes to show that even things which seem as if they are finally fit to face the grave, can in fact turn around to once again grace the roads of Ireland, and possibly the UK, you would never know what could happen…