Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (BRONZE)
Painting and lining continues when weather conditions allow.
Great Eastern Railway 1907 Brake Third 295 (ASSESSMENT)
Not a coach that appears in these (virtual) pages very often, if at all, is the hidden and secretive Great Eastern bogie brake number 295. This coach arrived in the railway's very first consignment of rolling stock back in 1967 during the embryonic days along with the Quad-Art set, being a remarkable survivor from the 1907 dedicated "Norfolk Coast Express" rake, running to Sheringham itself from London Liverpool Street. Much like the Quads, in 1967 295 was too elderly and required too much work for the pioneers to be able to afford to restore, and was used instead as the railway's very first volunteer accommodation, its only appearance in the public eye being a filming job in the 1970's, this brief role in Dad's Army being followed by decades of storage, initially under a tarpaulin and latterly inside the carriage sheds at Bridge Road (Holt). For much of its 60 years in preservation, it has looked as it does now:
295 holds the record as the single item that has been located on the preserved NNR for the longest period of time (other items in the 1967 consignment such as the B12 loco and Quads all having spent periods away from the railway under overhaul or on holiday). It is also however the only item from those days that has not yet run on public trains! With a view to looking to change this fact, the vehicle was temporarily taken outside of the sheds, blinking in the light, for a photographic survey which will help funding applications to be made over the coming years. It is accepted that the railway does not have the resources (financial or physical) to restore this coach in-house for the duration of the Gresley train project as an absolute minimum, however conversely we are also committed to not disposing of this unique and cherished piece of "family silver". For these reasons, seeking help is the only option for the foreseeable future.
Observers should not get too excited, this process being merely an assessment at present, with no assurance of success or guarantee that anything will progress quickly. However, there is always hope that a route "may" progress, so fingers crossed and watch this space.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)
The new roof canvas has finally arrived after a long lead time after ordering, at least after the wait it is now warmer than it has been which should make fitting more comfortable! There is also the added bonus that the local caravan parks are now open again for the season, which means the team working on this vehicle has near enough doubled in size compared to the winter crew! The new canvas, which smells delightfully fishy compared to the last one we ordered some years ago(!), has been opened out and spread over the length of the vehicle. After a week weighted down with paint tins on ropes to stretch it and acclimatise the canvas, it was bedded down underneath. The roof is now green in colour, for a limited time only.
London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)
No progress to report.
London North Eastern Railway 1945 Gangwayed Brake E70621E (SILVER)
Restoration has recommenced following its winter break. The mains wiring has now been completed, with sockets fitted all around the vehicle's interior and a central lighting strip running down the ceiling of the two main spaces. All have been wired up to a shore-line connector on the outside of the vehicle, with cabling fitted as sympathetically and discreetly as possible in case the vehicle is ever restored to original condition in the future. One advantage of completing this work now is that further overhaul works to the interior can now be done in very well lit conditions. Given the vehicle has virtually no windows, lots of work lights have been required before now to see what we are doing!
The second area of progress has been the conversion of the vacuum brake cylinders from LNER pattern to BR. This offers standardisation across the running fleet at the NNR and will make maintenance easier in the future. The conversion involved sourcing a pair of overhauled cylinders from stock and slightly modifying the mounting brackets, a bush being fitted as the LNER cylinders have larger pivots than their BR counterparts.
Finally, the vehicle has been lifted and its bogies swapped. The original bogies have been exchanged for a pair formerly under (donor) Gresley Buffet car number 9118 which continues to provide spares for the LNER train project. These bogies are actually spares for our own buffet car (9128) but experience tells us that bogies store much better under vehicles than they do outside on their own directly in the elements. Therefore 70621, which will not be used intensively at all in the future, will provide a good home for these bogies.
British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)
Door fitting has continued with the final two exterior doors on the vehicle, those at the Holt end, now permanently fitted, complete with wooden jambs and weather strips. This brings to a close a huge effort to get the eight doors to this point, slam doors always being a large part of the exterior of the vehicle to get right.
Work on the Holt end vestibule also continues internally, with the metalwork under and around the floor all now cleaned up and protected ready for the floor to be refitted. Now that the doors are complete, work is focusing on preparing the ring of supporting timber that bears the floor for fitting, using repaired original sections supplemented by replacements made from reclaimed hardwood from the luggage area of the coach.
The upholstery team have now also turned their attention fully to the seating so that they are ready in time to meet the rest of the coach. The first "production" twin seater has now been upholstered (except its box cushions) and looks very nice indeed.
British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open NN3868 (BRONZE)
Window woodwork for the Sheringham end saloon has continued but has not progressed meaningfully owing to having to progress other tasks. However it is hoped to realise a set of window retaining bars soon so that glass can be refitted to the vehicle. The restoration of seat ends has progressed better, with a full set for the Sheringham end (50%) now stripped back to bare wood ready for bleaching.
