The Rebirth of an M15Z42-B-1-1 QR 368 (Serial 196 of 1973)
My good friend, Paul Rollason, obtained 368 back in 2003 from the Rockhampton district of Queensland Rail and with the help of another friend and General Manager, Peter Burden, of the Samford Fairmont Section Car Workshops have been undertaking the restoration of this car.
It is one of the most thorough restorations I have ever been witness to and a credit to the time and effort put into the car by these two gentlemen. I have also been able to assist Paul with some parts, original factory manufacturing blue prints and snippets of advice along the way and I am honoured to have played a very small part in this magnificant project.... Mark Swaby 2006
Some Brief History
368 is a 42 inch gauge Fairmont Railway Motors M15B model and was assembled from local and imported Fairmont parts at the Pacific ACE Equipment Company plant (Tutt-Braynt Pty Ltd) Salisbury, Brisbane, Australia during the early part of 1973. It was delivered to the Queensland Goverment Railways Stores branch at Redbank on the 12th April 1973 and dispatched to the field sometime after that.Its life in railway service is unknown at present but at some time during its working life it got re numbered to CSC 011. It ended up being withdrawn from service and put up for sale at QR's Rockhampton Knight street depot in 2003 where another good friend Mick Saffioti brokered the sale for Paul and arranged delivery to Brisbane.
A link to the history and data of the M15Z42-B-1-1 model in Australia.
368 has been won from the railways and on the way to its new home....The next time 368 hits the steel ribbons it will be restored to its original manufactured factory standards....and in this case a lot better with the meticulous standards applied . As you can see old 368 is in rather a sorry state and a complete rebuild from the ground up will be necessary.
Its up on stands and the project is underway
Looks like the head came off without snapping any studs..phew, but by the look of things the motor appears to be in need of lots of TLC also .
The ROC type engine is out. I can see oil around the magneto side flywheel so the piston ring type seals must be worn. I also noticed some burnishing on the big end which indicates bearing wear. Note the drive pulley is still quite shinny so the car is not too long out of service.
This pic tells its own story.....eeeek Good trick I use for cleaning out this mess is one part molasses to eight parts water..fill it up and let it soak in that solution for two weeks and all the rust and scale will be dissolved...PS. a bad odour eminates with this process so well advise to do outdoors.
Bare bones...I think that may have been the easy bit.
As they say restoration is from the frame up and 368's frame is looking pretty good..
Paul left no stone unturned fitting new springs, bearings guides, bushes and anything else that needed replacement. Doesn't it look good!! The car will sail along the rails with all these new suspension components.
Another shot of the frame and refurbished suspension set up.
The ROC engine is finally refitted to the restored frame after much rebuilding....a .030 O/S piston was required and some new magneto drive components along with all the bearings, gaskets etc. Paul has fitted a second new belt as a spare and you can see it tied next to the axle pulley. Those of you that have changed a belt on an M15 or one of its sisters the M9 or M19 will know all to well the drama's and time taken to replace one. Smart move Paul!!!
A close up of the more rare magneto setup for those of you that are not familiar with this sort of ROC ignition. I note that Fairmont went back to using this primative ring type crankcase sealing method, as used on the ODB engine, for the magneto side bearing casing...and of course these sealing rings are getting very hard to source.
You may also be interested to know that all most all M15's left the Australian factory with this magneto option as the majority of M15's were ordered by Queensland Railways and this was their preferred ignition system for all Fairmont models.
Taking shape...the front panel and some floor panels have been fitted. Paul used new aluminium frame members and panels throughout as the old ones were past their use by date.
Another view of partial assembly.
The restored cab is back on....Queensland Railways M15,s were delivered new with this style of steel and timber cab.
Side view of cab showing new plywood and shiny bolts.
368 is finished...sitting outside the Samford Workshops awaiting its test run. Doesn't a picture speak a thousand words....bloody fantastic!!! and well done Peter and Paul.
On the Steel Ribons we all love.
Peter at the controls as 368 runs under its own power. A last minute failure the week before required a replacement water hopper to be rushed from the Fairmont Help Line store house at Newport in Melbourne. No leaks now.
368 completes a successful test run on the Samford Workshops test track. Note the unrestored M15 behind awaiting Peters magic touch.
Well its all systems go and everyone is waiting for 368's big shake down and first run with ASSCO...stay tuned.
Paul, Peter and myself would appreciate your feedback on this project....feel free to drop us a line Contact by Email
Mark - August 2006 The Restoration
The following is a pictorial history of 368's restoration ....I hope you enjoy and appreciate the fantastic effort that has gone into the restoration of this car so far. I am eager, as i am sure you all are to see it on its first official motor car run here in Australia. Stay tuned!!
