M4843 Launched into Traffic

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)

A big visual difference has been made over the past two weeks, with ceiling panel fitting now well underway and 75% of the main passenger saloon panelled very quickly. Even with the protective film still in situ, the extra lighting in the coach is noticeable with the new panels providing a lot of reflection.

London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

The first quarter of seat cushions have now been reupholstered by the department at Weybourne, and the second quarter of seats extracted from storage and moved to Weybourne to be similarly treated.

London North Eastern Railway 1931 Corridor Third E12493E (REPAIR)

No progress to report.

British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)

Bodywork progresses well with the seaward side of the main passenger saloon now looking the part. Three window sections are now skinned with all framework also replaced where required.

The final two windows are in the process of being cut out and framework repairs are ongoing, with the floor bearers done and higher up examples now ready to be replaced.

The guards compartment has been built up nicely with the replacement ceiling now in place and most of it beaded.

The walls have had final paint preparation and have been primed and undercoated, which has transformed the area into the cream colour that it will b close to when finished.

Further adjustments and restoration has also been done to the relocated ambulance cupboard, which is now physically completed and in place accessed from what will be the kitchen.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (BRONZE)

This vehicle has now finally been completed and returned to service just in time for the Autumn Showcase event. Lots of the usual finishing touches were made to the outside including some reassembly and cleaning work, but the largest outstanding task was converting the strip lighting to LED versions which will be much kinder on the batteries. We also replaced the filament lights in the vestibules with LED's so this is now the first fully LED coach on the NNR.

The final task was to lift the coach and change the coil springs in the bolster of the Sheringham end bogie. These had proven too difficult to remove before but we were now armed with a bespoke squeezing device which managed to crack the corrosion and split apart the required plates to allow a spring change to occur with some good spares we had in stock.

We also undertook a steam heat repair whilst the coach was on jacks, so hopefully the cold area of the coach that was reported last winter will be cosy once again during this year's Santa and Norfolk Lights trains!

British Railways 1957 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory E56062 (SILVER)

Sadly this vehicle was not able to be launched at the Showcase weekend which had been the plan some time ago. However we have still done well externally with the remaining windows now back in place. This allowed all of the signwriting to be done including numbers, chassis lettering and various legends on the doors and corridor end.

After the lettering and numbering was applied, the entire vehicle has been treated to a final sealing coat of varnish, which almost completes the exterior. Just handrails left to refit now!

Before the vehicle re-entered the staging, finishing touches to the bogies and axleboxes were made with the tyres painted white and the axlebox covers yellow.

The vehicle will be available this weekend for viewing during the member's shed tours.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918 (BRONZE)

The seaward side rubbing down is now complete, wood hardener applied where necessary followed by red primer.

Also primed are the metal repair plates, which are to be fitted in various places, along with new timber replacing the rotten planks on both seaward and landward side.

British Railways 1959 21 Ton Lowmac B904149 (BRONZE)

This wagon has now been moved into the shed temporarily whilst there is space vacated by 4843. The Youth Development Club finished off priming the exterior and have also rallied round and applied back undercoat.

The "bodysides" have also progressed into gloss Bauxite brown.

The replacement planks have all been profiled underneath so that they sit nicely into all the rebates and over rivets etc. These have been rot treated on the undersides and on all edges that will be hidden once fitted. The bolts for these have now arrived so all being well it will not be long before they are fitted.

Maintenance

The new tables for BSK 35148 have now arrived from the contractor. These look very nice and are of an identical design to those that visitors may have spotted inside BCK 21224. They require varnishing and the first coat was applied this week.