Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
No progress to report, due to the normal team working on 1359.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
The main progress has been the re-starting of the interior refit on the store cupboard (which was in fact one of the two toilets). The remaining paneling out has been completed so we have now a blank canvas to build up on. There is a lot of poor/damaged/broken Formica that was badly chopped about when the previous owners turned this space into a shower cubicle. For this reason we have decided to apply filler en-masse into all of the cracks, missing corners etc and then paint the whole area. This will be perfectly acceptable for a private cupboard. This filler work is now in progress and sanding smooth will follow. The skirting around the lower edges has also been completed, as this was missing when we got the coach.
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
No progress to report.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352
Nearly all of the bottom seat cushions have now been reupholstered (only 4 left) so the bulk of concentration will now turn to the more complex seat backs. With the vehicle now out of service until February, we have been able to remove many of the seats and move them in bulk into the upholstery shop to be treated. The centre saloon was chosen as the first area to be stripped out.
Whilst the seating is removed, we are taking the opportunity to repaint the ceilings as they have clearly not been touched for many years (and certainly not by us) so would benefit from being all one colour! This sort of work is a nightmare to undertake whilst a vehicle is in service, so each saloon will have its ceilings painted before the new upholstered seating is refitted. So far, the centre saloon's ceilings have been rubbed down so that the new paint has a key.
We also painted the two air intake grills for the heaters whilst the seats were gone, as these are also impossible to get to effectively with the seats fitted.
British Railways 1960 Covered Carriage Truck E94464
The dreaded underframe cleaning has been completed this week, which has allowed the next stage of the underframe renovation to be tackled. Over a few days the landward side has been painted into primer and now awaits undercoat.
We would like to re-wheel the vehicle soon and get it back on its freshly turned wheelsets. A small shunt was undertaken this week which has allowed us to move the two wheels back in close to the vehicle so they are now ready to have the axleboxes refitted.
Moving onto the exterior works, the various fittings including chalk boards (pictured last week), the hooks and bump stops for the doors have all been reinstated now that all the welding repairs are done. All of the doorways have also been reexamined and a few areas of corrosion dealt with, to hopefully arrest any problems with door alignment in the near future. The woodwork around the door jambs has also been made good and is complete again after the vehicle's repairs. With all this complete, we are now ready for paint preparation and then final painting! Phil has once again stepped into the fold and got his filler and sander out, which is now the main focus for the exterior.
On the interior, the ceilings have had all of the beading strips fitted, of which there were many, and any gaps (due to uneven ceiling panels) have been filled. This can now hopefully be painted in gloss next week, which should finish off the task. With the ceilings approaching completion, and following a "top down" approach, the sides are now being looked at. So far, the seaward side window glass has been refitted including all of the wooden window surrounds on the insides, which also act as retention strips for the glass itself. As we have been attending to each window, any small planking repairs in the immediate vicinity have also been completed. The seaward side is now therefore also ready for painting.
Southern Railway 1939 Parcels & Miscellaneous Van S1359S
This van is now starting to blossom, with all of the Crimson gloss topcoat being applied this week.
As you would expect, this has transformed the vehicle and it suddenly looks much better than when it came in just a few weeks ago.
The edges of the roof (which is covered in a green lorry-style tarpaulin) has had its appearance improved by painting the edges black. The extra time in the workshop (due to CCT E94464 not being ready to move just yet) has allowed further jobs that were not in the original scope to be tackled. This has mainly included quickly tidying up the underframe gear and painting the visible bits into primer (gloss to follow soon), and the reinstatement of one or two of the original windows that were panelled over when it was a departmental vehicle. So far the old patches have been pulled off revealing fairly sound woodwork beneath where a new window and outer frame can shortly be refitted, making the vehicle look more original.
Having seen the chalk boards on E94464, somebody must have decided that 1359 could have them back too! A mixture of new and spare examples have been gathered for use on this vehicle (which had them missing) and they are currently being painted prior to fitting.
All of this rapid progress on 1359 is the main reason why GER 853 hasn't had many updates over the previous few weeks.
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