December News

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (BRONZE)

Some condensation free days has allowed some painting progress to continue. This has been helped by a new roof being fitted to the tent at Holt which again has reduced water ingress onto the coach! This has allowed the running boards to be (black) undercoated, the Holt end to be (red) undercoated and the landward side/Sheringham end to have their first top coats of Crimson gloss. A start has now been made on the first gloss on the seaward side.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129 (BRONZE)

The penultimate Vintage Set refresh project is progressing well in the shed at Weybourne. Having dried out from its thorough washing, all of the teak exterior woodwork has been rubbed down and all of the damaged and flaky sections along the landward side have been laboriously cut back to bare wood, with as much of the silvered and black water damaged woodwork as possible sanded back to clean wood. Some staining is too deep, as we had not got to it in time, so the damage is therefore permanent. We then had a wait for some wood bleaching acid to arrive to restore the damaged areas, which was delayed slightly as since we last ordered some several years ago newer regulations have been introduced making it illegal to supply to the public. Whilst heritage/business use is still permitted under the regulations, the formalities have had to be arranged. This arrived towards the end of this week and the offending areas have now all been bleached.

Whilst we are waiting, the undamaged seaward side and the two ends have been washed and given the first of two coats of varnish, improving their appearance greatly.

The vehicle's prominent footboards have also been the source of much attention, with the seaward side lightly rubbed down and treated to two coats of black gloss to top them up. The landward side, once again because of sun damage, had flaked in many areas so required more attention. The loose material has been removed followed by a good rub down, a coat of primer and two coats of gloss. These boards are now complete and ready for service once again.

In the New Year, the plan is to build up the varnish on the damaged woodwork on the landward side. The lining will then be recoated before the whole side is finally sealed in with a varnish coat.

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

The remaining fittings that were on top of the old (failed) canvas have now been removed, including the rain strips and the cantrail strips that pin the edges of the canvas to the body. This left a bare and relatively smooth canvas that the new material can be built upwards on. With the canvas bedding compound arrived, the first task has been to coat the roof in an initial coat of the compound, which is a distinctive yellow colour. This is now being left to dry over the Christmas period.

The tables for the passenger saloon are now almost complete with frames modified to allow legroom and treated table tops back from a contractor. Hopefully it won't be long before the frames are varnished up ready to accept the new tops.

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

No progress to report.

London North Eastern Railway 1945 Gangwayed Brake E70621E (SILVER)

The two corridor end doors, which are being progressed inside the shed now that the vehicle itself has been exiled outside, have been built up with replacement "di-bond" panels in place of the original plywood. Both frames have been repaired and have had a degree of sanding and filling smooth.

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

The main focus has continued to be the exterior of the Sheringham (kitchen) end. Several passes of sanding and filling has been done with primer applied where required.

The imitation window frames and door strips along with bump stops, hinges and other bodyside furniture have all been off the vehicle again to be protected on their rear faces, ready to fit permanently in due course. All of this work is steadily heading towards a final primer coat being applied, after which the area will be declared complete.

British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open NN3868 (BRONZE)

Interior stripping out of the Sheringham end passenger saloon has continued, with all of the interior woodwork around the windows now removed, which will allow the next task of removing the window glass to start.

All of the tables from this end and the wall mounted brackets have also been stripped out, leaving only the seating remaining to come out.

Maintenance

The final intermediate running exams of the season have now been completed, so plans are now already being made on how to handle the winter/closed season examinations. This year it will be particularly challenging as we will be working in amongst major disruption at Sheringham owing to the long awaited re-signaling scheme. 

Workshop

A new grit blasting cabinet has arrived and been installed, which is 2025's big workshop improvement (or treat!). Our old cabinet had become so intermittent and unreliable it had become effectively useless so this new machine will make such a difference.

November News Delayed

Apologies for the lack of updates, this has been because of an enforced period away from the railway owing to illness. Going forwards, it will probably be the case that we will aim for these updates to be monthly, a frequency that despite best efforts we had dropped to for most of this year in any case. There seems to be less and less time available for blogging so hopefully dropping to monthly will return some consistency.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (BRONZE)

At long last progress is being made, following a prolonged hold up due to the damp weather! Annoyingly rain had been penetrating the tent which, along with the temperature, made the carriage extremely damp on the outside preventing a good dusting and washdown.  A number of areas of the exterior bodyside have since been made good, repairing damage which has also taken time.

The sub team at Holt are now in the throes of priming the entire vehicle following a complete sanding and wash down.

It is hoped in the coming weeks to have a drier period which will enable further progress to be made.

Great Eastern Railway 1884 Wisbech & Upwell Tramcar 7 (BRONZE)

As part of the vintage train refresh project, this winter should see the remaining vehicles in the train treated. With two coaches already completed and the third in the tent at Holt (see above), two more remained to be completed. The first of the outstanding pair was selected as the Wisbech and Upwell coach, which was fortunately found to be in the best condition of the vehicles in the set pre-refurbishment. It was quickly decided that a thorough wash down and coat of varnish would be all that was required, and the exterior was duly acid washed and died out before being moved into the shed.

A comprehensive rub down followed after which the vehicle was washed down again and given a coat of varnish returning the shine once again to the bodywork. Whilst inside the shed the bufferbeams and railings on the verandas were treated to a coat of black paint to smarten them up and the handbrake wheel and builders paints were repainted white.

With works completed quickly, the coach was extracted from the shed and returned to storage to await a relaunch next season.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129 (BRONZE)

Hot off the heels of the Wisbech coach, we are immediately tackling the fifth and final coach in the vintage set for refresh, Teak panelled M&GN 129. This needs slightly more work than the Wisbech, with a few areas of beading having become devoid of varnish and water damaged, however we do not believe there is any actual wood renewal required. The coach was tripped back from Bridge Road sheds following the berthing of the Wisbech coach and on arrival was quickly washed down with "the special stuff" that eats away brake dust and road dirt. It was then moved inside where it is now drying out ready for varnish repairs to begin.

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

The big news is that scaffolding has been erected around the vehicle giving safe and easy access to the roof, the tackling of which was long overdue. The roof has not been seriously examined or touched since the vehicle arrived so it was good to be able to get up and see what is required in this area. Unfortunately the previous roof paint has failed somewhat but will prove difficult to remove, which causes a slight headache. It was decided that the unstable material needed removing and that a new covering would be required over the existing.

So far, the roof has been sanded down and all loose paint and material chipped off. We now have a surface that is part bare canvas, part sanded down gloss paint. All of the roof vents have been removed along with the carriage board brackets, leaving the gutter strips still to detach. A new canvas and bedding compound will now be ordered ready for fitting once the roof preparation is complete.

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

Roof work has also been progressing on the current major Gresley restoration, with the roof boards having been sanded back and primed.

Meanwhile furniture is being populated in the guards compartment, with the guards cupboard, letter rack and folding shelf being dry fitted before further adjustments, painting and permanent fitting.

London North Eastern Railway 1945 Gangwayed Brake E70621E (SILVER)

Work has continued both on the exterior and interior. Internally, the ceilings have progressed and are now in white gloss just in time for the more damp wintery conditions.

A degree of rubbing down and repair work has also been undertaken on the guards booth.

Externally, more cladding has been fixed, to several doors, but issues with some of the catches and mechanisms on the doors has prevented them all from being completed.

Unfortunately the coach has had to be moved outside for the winter which will reduce progress significantly, however we hope to return to the project in earnest come the Spring.

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

This major overhaul has continued to progress very well. Both the Sheringham and Holt ends have been reskinned with new pressed ends which have transformed their appearance. Both ends have had further trimmings added to them, but in different ways. The Sheringham end has received furniture in the form of the data panel cast plate and two inter-coach electrical connector blocks, bowls and leads.

Meanwhile, the Holt end has had the emergency passenger communication gear test fitted, with mounting plates now permanently welded on.

Sanding and filling is now progressing on the Sheringham end and kitchen area of the outer bodyside.

Internal work has continued with the two sliding doors for the passenger saloon the focus. Mechanisms have been restored and test fitted along with door posts for the doors to slam against. Lots of furniture for the inside of the Sheringham corridor end has also been repaired, sanded back and will be painted soon. These walls will speed up the kitchen fitting process if they are ready to go, so are being done now in readiness for internal paneling out in the future.

British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open NN3868 (BRONZE)

Our winter project drawn from the main mark 1 running fleet has now started, with the special anniversary brown coach returning to us for repainting.

It also requires the second half of the interior intermediate overhaul to be completed. Several volunteers have now made a strong start on dismantling seating, tables and woodwork from the Sheringham end passenger saloon which will be the focus.

Two vestibules have also been rubbed down ready for revarnishing.

British Railways 1959 Metro Cammell Railcar Driving Motor Composite Lavatory W51505 (BRONZE)

Very shortly after the previous update, this vehicle was lowered back down onto its bogies with the wheelset issues resolved. It then exited the shed and shortly afterwards entered traffic making its NNR debut.