May News Part 3

Back from another weekend away... Well, we have to make the most of the sun whilst it's about don't we? The visits did have some relevance to the NNR, one day being spent at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway where the railway's diesel railbus, E79960, was making a visit for their gala weekend. Thankfully it is in rude health and appears to be very well looked after by its custodians at the Ribble Steam Railway. The vehicle last saw serious attention by members of our department in the early 2000's but has of course seen ongoing work since to maintain it, by both ourselves and more recently at the Ribble.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The draught excluders for the four doorways have been cut and sanded to shape. As these have been done by hand they have slight differences so have since been "paired" so as to make each doorway as consistent as possible.

Earlier in the week there was a surprise in the form of the 16 ton mineral wagon being delivered to us in Weybourne yard. This was requested late last year as three out of the four buffers for 853 were stored in there. Within a day we had extracted the buffers with the added advantage of also being able to fill up the wagon with some more long term wagon and heavy underframe spares, further tidying the yard area close to our shed. It was noted that Monkey completely shirked the heavy lifting, being more interested in testing out reupholstered seating instead....for armrest, read sun lounger!

The three buffers for 853 have already made it to the shed next to the rest of the vehicle and have been brushed down and painted in their first coat of "rust kill" primer.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The main focus of the department continues to be the Quad-Art set, the thorn...SORRY-the jewel in the railway's crown! The OCD project planning has reached a new stage for us after the "to do" list upgraded to a grid system so we could check progress on the four coaches that make up the set!

The Sheringham end pair of coaches continue to be most advanced and we have now started on the body and underframe jobs now that the roofs are done. All of the varnish rubbing down has been completed with the exception of three compartments at one end which is still obscured by scaffolding preventing access.

The repainting of the tedious bits of brown metalwork which surround the doors and their associated equipment has also been progressed on these two, with the Sheringham end coach now finished and the adjacent one in first coat.

All of the ceilings in these two have been cleaned of mould and primed (again with the exception of three compartments at one end which is still obscured by scaffolding) and the top coating in eggshell is now progressing well.

Underframe tasks are now also being able to be progressed. So far the wheels and bogie side frames have been de-greased and washed down to assess their cosmetic condition. If we have time we will probably repaint much of it to give it a boost as a lot of it is looking tired now after ten years. Some bogie side frames have already made it into black undercoat.

More bogies have also had their brake blocks replaced. We have now completed three out of the five bogies.

Moving onto the Sheringham end pair of coaches. With scaffolding erected, progress has been limited to the roofs themselves. The remaining repairs were quickly completed last week and painting has been the order of the day. The Holt end (brake) coach is now finished and the adjacent coach just requires one more coat and then the scaffolding can be dropped.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

More metal repairs to the Holt end/landward side corner have been completed. A new main crash pillar has been welded in to the corner and several smaller sections of replacement framework also let in. The whole structure has been cleaned and primed with new paint prior to moving to some of the neighboring sections.

As can be seen moving around the corner doesn't lead to any better metal!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Some limited work has been able to be undertaken although it is of a lower priority as this vehicle will not be returning to service in the near future. Most of the seating has now been moved out of the upholstery workshop and back into the vehicle, and progress is being made on refitting the cushions into the frames within the front saloon behind the driver's cab.

Workshop

More painting work has been completed on the platform trolleys.

The Axeman is furthering his crate empire nicely with crate numbers 3 and 4 taking shape fast. These pair will be for the engineering department next-door-but-one to us. It has been suggested we number the crates so that we can keep tabs on the growing population!