Salvage Squad Simplex Locomotive

[Music] do [Music] this week the salvage squad are in the ramblers paradise of the derbyshire peak district but we're not here to take a stroll with a woolly sock brigade we're here to unearth a piece of history that changed the course of world war one what do you reckon train plane or automobile plane i'll take your money take your bet sir part of a fleet of over a thousand our mystery machine is one of the few to have survived the last 80 years it might look a bit strange but machines like this help to win world war one so what the blazes is it it's a simplex narrow gauge locomotive of course the weird looking body armor was essential for a machine that continually braved shells and shrapnel running many munitions right up to the front lines and if we can manage it in a few months time she should be pulling a full load again just as she did almost a century ago the man who's largely responsible for her surviving at all is ron redman hello meet the squad hi hello there nice to meet you rob hi hello so what do you reckon everyone it's a beast it's got such personality already it's in pretty good condition for its age but there is a lot of work to do i mean it's just amazing things let's have a little look inside you through let me drive it yeah i want to drive it it's fantastic isn't it good look you can go forward and better and backwards like get into trouble get out of trouble as quick as you like oh what is it jerry is it petrol diesel almost certain technical you know first world war and it's in such good condition it is amazing it is amazing ron discovered this strange looking machine in the early 60s it escaped the scrap heap by toiling away in a sewage work in leeds hauling truckloads of shall we say waste since retirement it's been stored by the mosley railway trust how did you feel seeing it there in a sewage works well it was remarkable i mean it was a pure survivor from the first world war and we just couldn't believe our eyes the first time we saw it i've always been an absolute out and out railway enthusiast and for the last uh 44 years i've been chairman of the narragage railway society so i think that's an indication of how keen i am i should say and i found this in 1961 and straight away i decided it just had to be saved and you'd like to see it running again i should really like to see it running yes well here's the deal ron if we can restore it which is still an if you won't be able to see it until we have is that all right with you but i can come back then certainly can that's fine i'll come across and have a drive thanks very much well if we're going to fix it we'll need to haul it out of hibernation at moseley and take it away for some major surgery one two three it's like bolting together a giant train set should have worn my suit [Music] with no engine to help it's gonna take sweat and muscle to get her out she may look cute but she's still a six ton lump well we're getting a little bit of a roll now i don't know why but jerry looks very scary staring out there do it actually you just keep an eye on it we'll do the rest [Music] so the squad prepare themselves for some hard work ron's gone and i'm off to see if i can find out something about the history of this little locomotive take it away narrow gauge track is well narrower than mainline track which means it's quick and easy to lay and can squeak through tiny gaps and round tight curves usually used to pull goods in difficult terrain tiny steam engines revolutionized industries like quarrying and mining a hundred years ago and by the first world war petrol engines like ours were beginning to displace steam what almost all narrow gauge locos share is a real simplicity and economy of design and our simplex follows that tradition scrupulously everything is bolted to a simple steel frame chassis the petrol engine sits under the driver this drives a simple gearbox with two gears to go forward and an identical two in reverse so really there's no front or back it goes just as well in both directions the gearbox drives only one set of wheels with a giant bicycle chain cover it all in four tons of body armor and that's all there is to it but it's 20 years since the wheels last turned and even a simple machine can turn into a nightmare after enough neglect so we've taken it up to derbyshire and enlisted the help of loco expert bob banks to make sure we don't go off the rails hello bob morny hey all right doesn't she look wonderful what do you think of it let's take it apart brilliant brilliant very unusual looking thing isn't it so what are we going to do well basically we're heading for the engine the engine on this local has not run for years just take a look do you think of that brilliant yeah and is that an unknown quantity it is at the moment and there are a few bits missing off it begs that well that's just up your street you'll enjoy that another big job of the whales if you want to have a look at those there yeah they've done a lot of hard miles all the chassis rebuilt all the chassis painted engine in armor plating all that cleaned down painted oh stop it keeps finding more and more crazy paint brushes by the end of this i'm going to know every single piece in this location well i hope you will help yourself that's what it's about yeah well that's what it's all about let's dig in and get that engine out then yeah where should we start uh well we'll have to start on the roof so if you want to just go around there and get organized with that we'll do it right so they've really got their work cut out first job is to remove all the heavyweight armor then claire's got the job of finding the original markings and colours before stripping and repainting it the engine and gearbox would have to come out and it will be down to jerry to get the engine running and find replacements for any missing parts the wheels look to be in a shocking state so axel's gonna have to get them off and sort them out the plan is to return her to exactly how she was when she went to war so any non-original parts like these windows will be chucked it's more than 80 years since the armor was fitted and it needs a little persuasion for axel's favorite tool according to axel size does matter [Music] our model of loco was known as the protected version there was a version with even heavier armor and i bet the squad are glad we're not doing that one because this armor is quite heavy enough nice shade of basically okay yeah brilliant right this side is ready to go what do you mean the door no no the front paneling now that has made it look different doesn't it did you just lift the back bit off then yeah you missed it i didn't even realize i've taken the back end of it off i'm so busy in the front there i'm doing front part but uh it's all gone it's just looking completely different it's good isn't it in 1914 the british thought the war would be fast moving and put their faith in newfangled lorries but by 1916 with stalemate in the trenches the lorries had churned the heavily used roads into a muddy quagmire and were quite literally stuck unable to get enough equipment through to the front line the war department turned in desperation to cheap versatile narrow gauge railways instead but close to the front line steam was a no-no smoke by day and sparked by night made them too good a target the solution was light petrol engine machines like ours over a thousand simplex locos were delivered to the war department and spent their lives ghosting up to the front line under the cover of darkness by the end of the war more than sixty thousand men were working on over two thousand miles of tiny track but their vital role is all but forgot how's that yeah to me oh we like that back at the workshop the old petrol engine's out and jerry's itching to get his hands on it jeremy one baby to deal with thank you very much indeed it's all mine now bob warned them there were bits missing but he didn't say how critical they were this empty hole should have a carburetor bolted to it but it's gone awol i know that the carburetor used on this is a zenith type 42 now that's very very similar to the ones used on an unsupercharged bugatti racing car so i think that's going to be my first line of inquiry jerry's sure one of his contacts in the classic car world can help oh hi long shot i'm after a type 42 left-hand float bowl zenith carburetor no you haven't got one of those i didn't really think you would have but uh i've got to keep trying while jerry tries to track down a replacement carburettor i've headed for the hills fastiniog in north wales is so mountainous even the sheep need four-wheel drive so it's the natural habitat of our little trains and i've come here because ron has promised to initiate me in the secret ways of the narrow gauge railway it was like walking into a giant strain set i'm just captivated by all these small engines really i think the much more manageable size than mainline railways and they really they do a fantastic job in mountainous country like this i think they've made certain parts of the country accessible that wouldn't wouldn't have been possible with the standard gauge it would just have cost too much to put a main line through these are wonderful railways with a lot of history but ron's had his fair share of ribbing about his obsession i did eventually go into civil engineering and i went into the drawing office one day and they'd found out that i was interested in railways and and somebody said in the background oh you know him he's a transvestite and oh i had to leave that down for a long time determined to turn me into a transvestite too one took me for a spin i'm not big on safety these ones are they oh drop down there this is about as authentic as we'll get the first world war i think yeah without the actual tracks a bit better the track's pretty good so it must be pleasing to see a train working like this oh yes i think it's uh the marvelous way to spend the money not the perfect weather but the perfect environment would you be pleased to see our loco back on the tracks oh yes i'm really looking forward to that well my trip with ron's all very well but the restoration of our little loco looks like it might be going off the rails as jerry struggles to track down the vital carburetor ah well that's it every single one of my contacts is exhausted i don't know what to do and without the carb these old movies could be the only time we actually see her running [Music] say hello to free trials of our latest services ideas for better business t-mobile would you call yourself adventurous perhaps you're just not aware that you live in one of the most inhospitable places on earth where people fight over parking spaces and idiots cross without warning a place where you must edge out gradually keep your distance and offer up prayers to the god of traffic lights please stay green please stay green [Music] of course you're adventurous [Music] you just happen to live in orpington that's all here they come plaque's worst nightmare the creasing and crossing crossing and creasing bristles of the oral b cross action toothbrush lifting and sweeping away more black even more black than the leading manual toothbrush and battery brush beware plaque oral b cross action what are these magic business binoculars how do they work you look through them you see the future of business wow the future sure looks different what do you see it's a 3d holographic projection of the world to come things move fast everything's integrated everything works in real time how do we get everything to work i don't know it says i need another quarter [Music] say hello to customer services that understand your business ideas for better business t-mobile [Music] the salvage squad are restoring one of the forgotten heroes of world war one a narrow gauge loco used to ferry troops at ammo to the front line jerry's task is to breathe life into her tired old petrol engine but the rear carburetor is missing he was confident he'd find it from one of his contacts but it's so rare no one can help so jerry's gonna dump the problem on some poor old mug hello oh hi thugs it's jerry hello terry old mate railway well only just um i've just finished having a chat with ron and i'm on my way great i need a part otherwise we're stuffed i want a carburetor suitable for 1918 simplex locomotive can you help me for a 1918 simplex loco a carburetta well i can certainly ask brilliant mate thanks bye-bye blimey i wouldn't know carburetor if i tripped over one carburettor yeah but the guys at fistinio tell me there's a fabled room where old locos go to die and they swear that somewhere in this ultimate trainspotted shed is the right card for our loco only where if i can't find it our loco could end up on the shelf too just a pile of old bits back in the workshop axel and claire are trying to reach the wheels to see just how bad they are look at that 80 years of hauling sewage has really knackered them look at that gorgeous what a thing these wheels used to be flat on top so axel's really got his work cut out and jerry's ready to dismantle the engine which should keep him happy for a while i love these old things they're really simple really basic amazingly well made they seem to last up forever yes this is a nice thing to get my hands on why is it i don't think that's the last we'll hear of jerry and his engine still unknown to him i did manage to find the car beretta but i'd still like to go back to the squad with some idea of the life our little loco led so i've come to the royal engineers museum to talk to historian rebecca chaney about some of the people who spent the war with locos like ours so the tracks would have run right up to the front line they did yeah yeah and we've got we've got trench maps in in the collection here at the museum that show them going up to 100 meters just behind the actual front line trenches as well they would have constantly been under heavy bombardment from the german artillery and that kind of thing it was just as dangerous as being in the front line in these conditions there was no shortage of heroes like 19 year old alfred furlong he was working with the light railways at a depot and saw a fire on a couple of the engines wagons of an engine that he was clearing um unfortunately this engine was very very close to a massive ammunition dump which was on the outskirts of a french village and in order so the the fighting spread to the ammunition dump him and four other sappers risked the fire and actually moved the engine away but unfortunately just as they actually cleared the area the engine exploded and killed him unfortunately but for that he was also awarded an albert medal these are really quite rare they were um granted for um saving life in saving life in flanders at the cost of his own and do we know what he looked like yeah we've got just this one photograph of him just an ordinary looking bloke yeah i suppose they all were ordinary blokes weren't they conditions on the somme were often wet and muddy causing lots of problems for the train drivers like wheels spinning on the damp tracks they had the same problem at the sewage works and to solve it they scattered sand on the track to improve the grip but the effect has been to wear a deep groove down the middle of the wheels which will need to be flattened off to do this the whole wheel is spun in a huge lathe and the cutting tool applied to the moving wheel to cut through the worn and wobbly metal and give the wheels the correct shape again so have you been through a cut we certainly are yeah just set it guys just going to take it nice and steady to start with as the cutter bites into the lumpy old iron it skims off just the worn and rusty surface [Music] that's the kind of sound you wanna hear isn't it certainly is how long have we got we could be here for a while the new face looks perfect as good as the day it left the simplex factory 84 years ago [Music] back at the workshop jerry's love affair with the engine is over and he's called in bob for a spot of marital guidance there are three key sections they have to separate the crank case and the two cylinder blocks inside the cylinder blocks are the pistons they should just slide out as the cylinder blocks are lifted but our pistons are seized in the cylinders and the blocks just won't lift off right bob i suppose the only thing to do is to have a heave at that flywheel give it a try see if we can't get it to rotate a few times and then have another girl whooping all the blocks off who's going to do the honours go on we'll both have a goal go on to me ready now there are two methods of freeing them a nice warm bath in oil to loosen things off or a bit of brute force and ignorance and jerry's got plenty of both oh dear um i told you not to go mad no you didn't you said put it a bit further this way oh i didn't wash your fingers if it suddenly goes to me no right okay fine god damn we now look problems it's going nowhere matey because that wedge is now stopping the piston from coming out of the bottom of the bowl we are a pair of dings look no it didn't down there yeah yes it is it's there it doesn't look like it is it is it is it does not it is two huh so we've got to knock this beggar out now this is turning into a pantomime oh well it doesn't it is it does not trust me trust me it's rusty over there that's where i was cleaning it that is the inside of the piston i'm sure of it are we going to either that or i can feel the edge of the liner you can feel the edge of the liner yeah yeah we're going to have money on this no oh jerry's none too happy you see that that's a bit how i feel at present i feel like a diesel soap rag come on jerry sit down and have a cup of tea but there's no rest for the wicked claire's task is to make the loco look like it did in 1918 she's busting to show them what her sleuthing has revealed about its original livery there we go look at that where'd you look for original paint where it's hard to repaint where it's hard to get a paintbrush in yeah and underneath the paint underneath the petrol tank is about as hard as it gets yeah yep so look that we've got we've got sewage works color first world war color sports car i like that color so where are we going sewage works chic or world war one drab world war one drab for sure that's the most interesting part of its history to me so um let's go for it i suppose we want to think about some logos and deliveries and things like that well if you look at the photographs we're beginning to know this thing backwards aren't we spot the difference it's grey you know it's black and white [Laughter] right silencer obviously uh some numbering yeah so there's a big identification plate on the front i like that this is interesting because those look like they're cast plates so we might have a look see if we can find on the armor holes or something like that where they might have been yeah you'll get too clever for this job guys a rudolph that's the best bit isn't it so that's a big step forward in getting her back to her first world war condition claire's found the original color information that we couldn't get from black and white photos and jerry's noticed that the exhaust had specially cast ends on it and that she had war department number plates i've been doing some sleuthing too and i may be able to explain how our loco got from the trenches of france to a sewage works in leeds but the answer may derail the whole project well i've been doing a bit of digging and delving and what i've discovered is that our loco was number one three six nine and the last one that was ever made was one three eight six so if my mathematics served me correctly that means it was 17 from the last one ever made and even more interestingly i found an advert from surplus magazine just at the end of the first world war in which they're selling some locos exactly the same type was ours new ones at perth fleet docks so it got as far as the docks presumably on its way to france but digging even further i find out there were 33 of these locos at the docks at perfleet which tells us as ours was 17 from the last maid that that's as far as it got they didn't make it to france so unfortunately i've got some other sad news for the squad so it looks like the only battle our loco has ever seen is the one between our gerry and bob but the grease monkeys have finally triumphed over the engine and after all that it wasn't too bad inside that's a bit of a cure it's egg really isn't it good in parts yes definitely yeah i mean some is tons better than i expected it would be for a 1918 engine i think heavens it's a part um i got to the point there that i thought it was going to be chuckling into a tank of diesel and leave it for three weeks in which case we weren't going to get this project finished yeah it's it's a part i'm thrilled to bits i know i want to build it get on with it well let's hope his confidence isn't misplaced as far as ron's concerned this job is just too important to fail well i think anything from left over from the the so-called war to end all wars is uh is worth saving and it has been out of service for for quite a long time but i think this protected loco is is well worthy of uh the attention it's getting long overdue but let's hope we don't disappoint him after all my detective work i'm finally going to unite jerry with the crucial carburetor i found in wales jerry i bring a good news the carb i won't ask it is it's a 42 hazed zenith that's the one excellent yeah it's got it look at that nice holy grail of carb wrath is that i'm glad you're happy i'm only here to help and facilitate i've also got a little bit more news here in my researching of the history of the loco which was built in 1918 i found out it was part of the last batch that were due for france but it never actually made it at present lying in per fleet where it was until peace was declared so we never actually made the front but that's why it survived doesn't it that's why we've got it here true will you get on with fixing that in and uh i'll see you later nice one yeah it's coming on isn't it it kind of dents things a bit to find out our loco never actually got to france but i have a cunning plan one thing i've discovered in researching our history is that a small section of the original world war one track still exists in france so i'm off to the continent to see if we can get it to run on the rails she was built for [Music] yes [Music] one in four scores will have mental health problems at some time in their lives they could find themselves unfairly judged and isolated by society it could happen to a friend a relative a partner it could happen to you let's stop the stigma of mental ill health see me i'm a person not a label if you're like me you hate having your teeth out for long real cleaning doesn't 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world war one unfortunately i've discovered that our loco never made it to france it was still at the docks when the war ended and was flogged off to a sewage works in leeds so i've come to frassie in the sun valley in france to the last remaining bit of first world war track and i've got a plan and the plan is to get our loco out here and have her traveling down the track she was built for for the first time the line is run by david blonde and he told me how they came to save this remarkable slice of history so we we find it at the beginning of the 70s and and so why not restore it and to to keep it and as a memory you know how close are we here to the front line of the world you know the front moved a lot during the war so it was here it was 10 kilometers ago and uh so so we're right in the middle of it yes the sun battle was just here yeah yes just continue shelling and bombing yeah yes yes cross yeah and they were taking everything to the front right they were taking supplies yes ammunition and uh men and uh performing in the other way you know uh so the narrow gauge was really important during the first war i think and uh but when you you see uh pictures or films you rarely see but they were they were here yes yes yes the unsung heroes of the of the war david we're restoring a first world war locomotive would it be possible to bring it oh yeah i think it's the better place to do it yes yes i think it would be absolutely perfect to see it on the track because it's unusual because it never made it to france it was supposed to come but it was at the end of the war so i think it would be very interesting to see it back yes where it was meant to be if we are going to take her to the somme then it's important that she looks just as she would have if she'd been there 80 years ago and back at the workshop axel and claire are busy painting the body armor claire's had paint made up to match the original world war one colour she discovered under the fuel tank this horrible sludgy khaki colour it's amazing it just says war doesn't it yeah war first world war out in the muddy battlefields of france and then you've got these tiny little trains pulling huge weights out to the front full of ammunition huge explosive ways yeah i mean i wouldn't like to be driving one would you i'd love to drive it but not with a ton of ammunition behind people sort of shooting at you i mean you just think of the guys at the front they need food water for the horses yeah a whole whole lot and of course the sadness is on the cargo on the trip going back probably taking the wounded home yeah steam locos rarely worked at the front as clouds of steam and showers of sparks gave their location away but the red-hot exhaust of petrol engines could still give the game away at night so ours came with an oversized exhaust that would never glow now being shot at wasn't a big worry in the lead sewage works and the original exhaust was scrapped long ago so claire's obsession with originality has led her to a foundry in a place called dove's hole where she's going to cast exact copies of the exhaust parts she's had patterns made that should be exact copies of the exhaust end plates now this is the bottom cover cover it all over and then just wrap it up yeah just tiny tool up this sand packs tightly around the pattern and then hardens in a process called curing with the sand hardened each mold can be opened up and the pattern removed leaving depressions in each half of the mold exactly the size and shape of the pattern and i just say we end up with the imprint of everything yeah because the last thing i'll do is destroy your sand yeah yeah you don't want to be ripping and rolling it out now we'll glue up to the top off the box that will glue the two arms together hopefully giving a bit more strength to soften something separating out all the with the mould clamp back together there's a hole inside the exact shape of the part we want all they have to do now is fill it with molten metal [Music] there you go got him okay [Music] okay push it back that's him is it back clear [Music] okay next one down here okay yeah hey thank you isn't it good do you love all the sparkles i just keep forgetting how dangerous it is bloody good is it hot it takes a couple of hours for it all to cool and then it's time to crack open the mold oh wow i don't look too bad no it'd be fine yeah no problem check on the side of it yeah there you go bad at all it's too hot that's the um id plate for the front of the engine all right i'm sure we can do that it'd be easier than the other one i would think [Music] i love going for boundaries i don't know what it is it's probably all about molten metal but i got the number plates so they just have to be drilled and painted and the ends for the silencer they've got to find a tube to run between them without a silencer the noise from the exhaust pipe would be definite because every time an engine fires it produces an explosive cough of exhaust gas the silencer is simply a large metal can on the end of the exhaust pipe the noisy pulses of exhaust gas enter the can where they expand slow down and mix so that when they leave the silencer the explosive bang is more of a putt right there we go we found a bit of pipe exactly the right diameter so now my beautiful assistant here is going to hold it well i cut it to the right length [Music] you ready oh look at that we just went off at the end [Applause] good job you're not drilling a tunnel not the thing that's going to be fine is it great [Music] yes well the casting needs some machining done some bolt holes drilled but it will fit or i'll make it fit every engine has its own special sound and our loco is no exception ron can't wait to hear it uh we're really looking forward to seeing it running again and hearing that distinctive sound i think it's going to be it's going to be great banned from seeing our loco ron's dragged wife jean off to see yet more narrow gauge machines well i think my wife has come to terms with it over the years i think she is very tolerant and uh i think that's a good thing we have been married 47 years old when he took gene rambling in a field at the age of 16 she quickly realized it wasn't a romantic stroll ron was train hunting he said it's coming come on and he set off and ran and left this stream and left me in the field wearing high heels and with the cows coming up behind me and i didn't know whether i could jump over this stream or not so i said a little prayer and jumped and i managed it but my shoes just sank into the mud at the other side and he'd just gone off and he was photographing the engine so that's how i should have known then but it definitely added something i was only thinking about it the other day you know when you've been married a long time you suddenly start to think what would it have been like if he hadn't been interested we'd have probably had a lot less fun to get this inside the garage instead of the car [Music] a lot more valuable well there's no chance of ron putting the simplex into his garage anytime soon as poor old joey's engine is still in bits but with the paint dry claire and axel need his help to get the heavy armor back on going there's no fine control on this all right yeah i know come on i know ordinarily it's bolted top nut at the bottom so if it falls out if it falls out it still stays in right all right i'm done skiing this side [Music] cool let's get spannering that lined up quite nicely isn't it [Music] okay [Music] stop right right you little horror yay yes you know that we've got wheels we've got undercarriage got body and will you pull me away to work so the body and chassis is done and excellent clear have other projects to get on with but the locos engine is still a pile of bits so jerry's going to be burning the midnight oil for some time yet [Music] this advert could save your life [Applause] a properly fitted windscreen accounts for up to 30 percent of your car's structural strength at auto glass we replace your windscreen knowing it could save your life if your car rolls auto glass we fit safety as standard oh burn love try these gaviscon tablets see what they'll do for you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come up hey your mother's right burn down my house and kill my father that offends me now you must pay stop what are you doing you can't rush into something like this you don't even know kung fu you must train with a wise master paint a fence when the dutch brew the groce they take their time so must you [Music] we only let you drink it when it's ready now we've got your attention we hope you remember a properly replaced windscreen could save your life auto glass we fit safety as standard he designed helicopters submarines and tanks 500 years before they became reality but would da vinci's machines have actually worked two teams are given three months to build an 80-foot crossbow and a flying machine leonardo's dream machines after locomotive [Music] the salvage squad have been restoring a world war one narrow gauge loco it was destined to work on the huge network that supported troops at the front line but it turns out ours never made it so i've arranged for her to run on the last remaining stretch of first world war track in the sun valley claire and axel have finished the restoration of the body and chassis and we've all packed our bags and headed for france which leaves good old jerry home alone still battling to get that 80 year old engine running last piece i hope after a lot of late nights the engine looks great but it's yet to run [Music] i've got a little present for you [Music] it's all down to jerry now a drop of petrol to feed the carburettor contact and finally a good pull on the starting handle go on jerry [Music] yes my overalls died in the attack it's nearly 30 years since she last ran joey's done a top job in the sun valley the last surviving pizza first world war track is waiting for our loco [Music] she failed to get here 80 years ago and we weren't sure she'd make it this time but after a long overnight journey jerry's finally arrived the rest of us are waiting for him and we've got just one question is it gonna start jerry it did in the workshop it did in the workshop so unless it's got soaked through on the trip down which i don't think it has it should be fine a bit of track to get her off the truck and it's time to see if jerry really did fix her or just struck lucky right that's a pop there should be mate jerry but will she start come on facing you mate come on jerry [Music] it's got the concerned face on oh what are you doing jeff wait the fields come up [Music] there's a sludge trap there's a catches any particles that are in the tank and conceivably could have blocked but we'll fill it up well and truly and have a go right not a big problem is it no good you mean you didn't unblock the sludge truck oh we did yes but it could have consumed him yeah who did clean the fuel tank out nothing wrong with that fuel tank mate absolutely nothing wrong yeah was it good yeah [Music] don't make that noise don't make that noise no it's a proper job on that fuel tank how's it looking joey nothing so we definitely got it's not my fault no no there's nothing wrong with the fuel tank it must be got a lovely carburetor i know that much we are there we go coming in getting serious now anyway jacket mate if you would poor sense of humor the since evaporated ready come on mr t nearly the weight of the project's on jerry's shoulders again [Music] don't kick back on you all right [Music] come on as the engine warms up claire's silence is working beautifully time now to see how she goes with john rollins from the mosley trust as our test pilot ron redman the man who found her is on his way to inspect the squad's work oh he's going back up the ramp don't do that all right looks good but there's just time for jerry to get his greasy mitts on the controls get him something right darling yes cheers matey that's right mate [Music] no speeding yeah i think you're left right john most important thing is the break there screws clockwise for on anti-clockwise for off yeah forward and reverse selection on this lever right and just two speeds on there first speed towards you there's a neutral in the middle and then second speed away from you right yeah break off and give a toot on the horn [Applause] that's the way and gently in with the clutch it uh it's quite sharp [Applause] gentle on the clutch and then straight across from first to second that's it that's about as good as it gets that's as good as it gets in it it's so bizarre two little narrow wheels and then this huge massive fodding it's not going to fall off the tracks is it so cold no he hasn't stalled he's going to try and get kangaroo leaping it did cover a little bit here it comes it's coming back is it coming back i'll give you five out of ten for that one fair enough i've never seen anyone kangaroo [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] hold on i've got to have a go at this [Applause] [Music] now i can't wait to see sucky's face when he comes back now you just imagine a hundred tons of train behind it yeah here's the break to [Music] hey let's play trains tonight i want one i want one exactly well lied and everything can we have a train now with ron just a few minutes away it's time to hitch up a bunch of world war one trucks and hide hello and here's the man himself ron redman nice to see you again and you i think i've got something to show you ron very good right would you hang on here for a second right can hear something yes it's so exciting it's not very noisy [Music] i haven't got this wrong it's coming from that way yes that sounds healthy enough what do you think it's good doesn't it that looks absolutely terrific like new i didn't like you hello hello nice to see you all again hello what a way to arrive yes yes it looks really good perfect here we go so after 80 years our loco sets off hauling a train on the first world war track she was built so when you see the photographs of them in the first world war with these wagons full of shells quite a load they had a longest train sounds really good it's really good so ron how does it feel to see it restored well i think i think it's wonderful it's and it's great that it's running again it's it's alright it was looking very sad when the project started wasn't it and there's nothing to locomotive really that just standing still you want you want to some life you know and just listen to this noise i mean it's it's music to the ears isn't it a vintage 40 horsepower range with it yeah you mentioned the noise at the beginning of the project i never really understood but i do now yes there really is a charming sound at its peak more than 60 000 men worked more than 2 000 miles of this track under enemy fire little of this vital but forgotten story of the great war survives but at least we've saved a tiny part of it from the scrapyard the squad is salvaging a steam car next week and you can find out more about tonight's challenge at channel4.com science battle stations will show you the b-52 bomber inside out on thursday at 8. coming up tonight would leonardo da vinci's designs for a giant crossbow and the glider really have worked paul aims to find out by having them built next

Channel: FinlayLavery303

Views: 6,374

Rating: 4.8285713 out of 5

Keywords: Salvage Squad, Simplex Locomotive

Id: P_MJ-OF7cqs

Length: 55min 16sec (3316 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 03 2020