I think the term rebuild may be something of a newer term, for say the post steam era. What I remember hearing most was the class 1 to class 4 overhaul or shopping term. Of course all this may just mean the same thing regarding steam. Don't know about the diesel era stuff. I can;t remember which as the heaviest repair, the class 1 or the class 4. I think one was essentially what they considered a total shopping, or rebuild!!!
Greg
PS...Best steam shop I ever visited was Bloemfontaine shop in South Africa. Wow, what a place in 1984. There were at least 10-15 engines under various stages of repair. Guys were knocking out staybolts from stipped down boilers/fireboxes, wheel work was being down, and other things. Mostly 4-8-2's and 4-8-4's.
We got the cooks tour purely by accident. We had a permit for the shed in Bloemfontaine, and I inadvertantly asked where the shop was and if we could go there. They said we did not have a permit, but would make some calls. A bit later we found ourselves being introduced to the head shop foreman, and then his right hand man took us through the rebuilding area. It was quite a perk for the 4 of us, including the two wives!
To stay on subject I beleive the D&S got a wheel-turning machine from South Africa, but not sure of that.
Also in De Aar there was a small backshop, and I went inside to find a guy working on a big "Cincinnati" drill! Got a video of that one too! Sad thing was seeing the rows of dead 25's(Condensors) at De Aar.
If I had that tour to do over, it would have been an all-day thing, instead of about 30 minutes. I would have gotten more up close and personal stuff, cause you can't get that sort of thing today, anywhere really!
Greg
