September News Part 1

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

More minor tweaking this week. The door lock catches mentioned last week have progressed but it is fiddly precise work. One has been fitted to the Sheringham end passenger compartment but requires some more work to allow the door lock to click into place nicely when the door is shut. I may be wrong but I suspect the GER door locks would have originally been non self catching, i.e. if you slam the door shut it can swing open again unless you actively turn the handle shut. Our revised design mirrors more "modern" practice (by modern we mean the early 20th century onwards!) where the door locks self lock so when you slam a door shut it catches into place and stays shut. They will however look identical from the outside.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

The application of resin and the addition of small packing pieces to the exposed lower framework is now complete around the whole vehicle. It is now ready for its new "Dibond" sheeting to be fitted (thanks to one reader who pointed out what this material was called). This is currently in the process of being ordered, there was a small delay as the original supplier was limited as to what sizes they could supply the material in. By using standard size sheets there would have been a lot of waste material and we would have had to alter the locations of the beading strips as the Dibond was not available in the lengths that the Gresley teak panels were typically produced to. However by using an alternative firm who offer custom sizes, we now have panels on order that will be pre-cut to the width required for immediate fixing to the Gresley bodyside, all we shall do is cut the required lengths. The off-cuts will be used on the four doors. Pleasingly, the custom Dibond sheets are also longer than the longest wooden panel currently fitted to the vehicle, meaning that we can now keep the same layout of vertical beading retaining original appearance. Before investigating the custom sheets, the standard 10ft sheets would have meant altering the beading arrangement slightly, as we would have required 5 sheets per side instead of 4.

Elsewhere on the vehicle, other remedial jobs are progressing. The wooden cantrail strip above the windows was found to be completely rotten so will be fully replaced. The old one has been removed from the landward side and the seaward side one is in the process of also coming off. Also found on the landward side was a 6ft section of ripped canvas which had been letting water in. So as not to disturb the rest of the roof, a replacement section of canvas has been carefully layered on top and covered in bedding compound, which should seal up the offending area.

Rot has also been found in the ends of the vehicle toward the bottom. This has been chopped out and new sections spliced in after a small area of end paneling was removed to facilitate access.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

This week has seen a continuation of jobs already in progress. Inside the vehicle, the luggage bulkhead pictured last week is now complete as far as primer, and looks much smoother than how we came to it. The remainder of the luggage cage framework has been sanded back and it is now ready for the steel mesh to be reinstated. This is as far as we can go in this particular area until the bodysides are welded so attention is now turning next door into the guards compartment, which is now starting to receive the same treatment of sanding to improve the walls ready for repainting.

The last of the steam heating elements have now been fitted to the interior, the final examples being two extra heaters in the guards area. This is because when we received the coach the original heaters were missing and we have no spares to fit to the original design. So the guards are not cold, we have fitted two heater elements intended for other areas inside the compartment where there was space for them. This included an old heater out of a passenger compartment on one side, and a heater out of a toilet on the other. Hopefully the two combined will provide enough heat for this fairly small area!

The challenging and filthy underframe clean up is now getting close to the end with only a few small sections left to clean up.

The air brake system continues to be refurbished, with a choke/isolation valve being stripped and cleaned this week. The air brake valves won't be refitted until the underframe has been repainted.

The battery box covers, pictured last week, have progressed and both sides (four doors) are now all in primer.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

No progress to report.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521

No progress to report.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

The Class 31 has now moved inside the shed and apparently is in our hands for the next three weeks.

It requires completion of bodywork, paint preparation and painting in this time. The first two are already well advanced and is being progressed by up to seven people each day so progress is swift. Welding work and the additions of the various strips and finishing pieces to allow it to be painted has been a priority.

The Holt end cab (the end which has not been rebuilt as it was done during the last overhaul) is in the process of being repaired where required and prepped for painting.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254

The restoration of this newly arrived van has started at Weybourne. The first task has been to remove all of the old spare parts which had been left inside it by its previous owner so they can be collected. This has revealed the floor for the first time which is in remarkably good condition considering the van had sat at the Mid Norfolk for some time without a roof! Now the area is clear that paves the way for restoration of the roofing hoops to start.

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open 726631

This little used wagon has been brought down from Holt as a volunteer project. It is in tired condition cosmetically and has been on a limited use list for many years due to perceived scrap sized wheelsets and a tendency to wobble at speeds over 10mph. Its only use currently is twice a year when it is used in Sheringham's platform 3 as a bandstand. Its wheelsets have this week been measured thoroughly and are in fact well above scrap size so that particular issue has been removed. Now it is at Weybourne, on an as-and-when basis, it will be looked at mechanically to remove the "wobble" at speed. It also requires its handbrakes adjusting as they are ineffective at present. It will also hopefully receive some cosmetic attention also to improve its appearance.

New Members

The new members mentioned last week have been settled in, but there's little sign of hatching or life just yet...