April News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Work has now slowed on this vehicle due to the manpower needed to progress the Quad Art set, however Monkey at least has been able to keep the ball rolling, with the two rear tail lamps (pictured last week) having their lenses fitted and further coats of paint added.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

Work has now started in earnest on these, with large teams at work most days. The Holt end pair of coaches are having their water damaged ceilings cleaned down within the passenger compartments. Each ceiling is also being repainted and so far a good number of them have been primed and some also top-coated in eggshell.

Meanwhile scaffolding has been erected over the Sheringham end pair of coaches, which was done over two days. Midweek, we were able to get up on there and assess where the water has been getting in. The ventilators appear sound but there are two wooden strips which run along the roof either side of the vents which appear to be causing problems. One strip is hollow and carries electical wires, the other one is cosmetic and is a solid piece of wood. They have small sections cut into the bottom of them every 12 inches (about 1mm tall) which are supposed to let water drain through and down the coach roof via gravity. These have all gotten completely blocked and the gap is completely insufficient which has presumably created a central "trough" of bathwater which has leaked into the hollow strips and into the ceilings via the holes where the cables pass through to service the light fittings inside each compartment.

We have been systematically cutting out small sections of the wooden strips and raising them to create a much larger gap for water to pass freely through. Other areas are being resealed with sealant to try and halt water getting into the cable troughs. The holes where the cables pass into the compartments are also being sealed.

Other areas of roof have bubbled, particularly around where the rainstrips are (more wooden pieces, this time near to the bottom of the roof which stop water dribbling downwards onto the bodysides - effectively gutters). The bubbled paint is being cut cleanly out and will be recovered in the near future when we paint the roofs.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

The last few days that this coach was with us was fairly frantic as we tried to complete everything we needed to do before releasing it into service. We were able to give the main underframe components a repaint into gloss black, along with the bufferbeams and associated equipment, including the footboards which were peeling badly.

This done, signwriting of the symbols and lettering required on the underframe was completed, here Monkey is seen getting involved with the Emergency Lightin' - no "g"... I'm sure readers who listen to Radio 2 on a Friday afternoon will pick up the reference!

Wednesday morning saw the coach tripped back to Sheringham just in time to be reformed into the dining set for its maiden voyage on Thursday evening. We are very pleased to have received positive comments already on the coach's appearance, it really looks remarkably improved on how it came in nine weeks ago.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

Currently in Bridge Road Carriage sheds waiting to be brought back to the workshops.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Re-upholstery continues nicely. A trip into the upholstery workshops revealed that a great number of the passenger seats are now completed and ready to refit.

The current areas of progress are the side cards, or "boomerangs" which are being re-clad in the new blue leatherette style material.

Guards and drivers seats are also being stripped down ready for recovering in due course.

Weybourne Station

Lastly, a small update on "side projects" for up on the station which have been completed alongside the carriage work. Firstly, a photo of the platform trolleys which have been mentioned in these blogs a few times but they never featured after they were all finished and painted up on the platforms:

Secondly, a recent arrival via the M&GN Society has been a scale model of a haycart which has arrived at Weybourne a few weeks ago. Straight away, before it had time to deteriorate, it was cleaned back and repainted into red and Great Eastern Railway blue! It is now on display in the picnic area accessed under the road bridge from the main platform.

To stop the wheels rotting with groundwater, four stands have been made (out of old boiler tubes) to raise the wheels slightly off the ground for display purposes. They are in currently in the process of being painted.

April News Part 2

As I type this the last two locomotives are heading back to Weybourne light engine having successfully completed the first day of the railway's steam weekend. The day has shown off most of Carriage & Wagon's recent achievements and it's a bit of a highlight for us to see most of the toys out at once. Whilst the vintage train was sitting it out, the suburban set and freight sets were both out with (for me) the highlight being the first run for many years of a parcels train on the railway. Two restorations (PMV S1359S and CCT E94464) completed in the last 12 months have made this possible with five non-passenger vans/coaches available for use. It's always nice to offer regular gala visitors something new so hopefully the parcel set was appreciated by those who saw it.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Back in the workshop, good progress has been made with the vintage coach. The four roof ventilators pictured last time have been fitted to the roof which completed all of the fittings up there.

More coats of white paint then followed and after it had dried the whole roof was wrapped in plastic to keep the workshop dust from spoiling it. The scaffolding has now also been removed from the area now that the roof is complete.

On the Sheringham end of the coach, an interesting cosmetic bar has been added which would have operated the gas supply "back in the day" - basically a massive light switch. An interpretation based on drawings and photos has been fixed to the end of the coach to represent what once was there. Other smaller plates with signs such as "on/off" etc have also been added. Some of these items have been restored some time ago and have been in store waiting for the right moment to be added to the vehicle.

The Holt end has also progressed with a final piece of vacuum piping being added, which includes the "swan-neck" on the end. This was unable to be added with the rest of the pipe as the scaffolding which had been recently erected got in the way! It now awaits its rubber flexible hose to finish it off.

On the bodysides, the four grab handles for the passenger doors have been fitted within the beading.

Other smaller items of progress have included the two cosmetic oil lamps which are being built from scratch, again based on drawings and photographs. They now have cute little chimneys and bezels where lenses will soon be fitted. The coach will have two of these lamps, one each side.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

That's right, the moment we have all not been waiting for! The Quad Arts are back with us and have already left their mark by doing their usual trick of stuffing up half of the workshop - an unfortunate hazard when dealing with a 166 foot that can't easily be split! They were recently moved from Bridge Road Carriage Sheds and are now inside for assessment to cure the water ingress issues that forced their withdrawal from service in 2016.

Initial assessments show that one of the coaches is suffering much more damp than the other three as it has far more pronounced mould inside. Further work on the water ingress will start once scaffolding has been erected around them. The initial plan is for the two coaches that are closest to Sheringham to be tackled first.

Meanwhile, we have made a start on the other major task: the replacement of the brakeblocks throughout the set. All 40 will be changed for the first time in well over 50 years. So far we have completed one bogie with four more to go.

The Quad Art set is likely to be the main focus of these updates for the next month or so, as they are being prioritised as soon as M4372 is returned to service.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The store cupboard is progressing through to the gloss stage with walls now appearing in cream plus a white ceiling.

This coach has now been moved to Bridge Road Carriage Sidings and will be staying there for the duration of the works on the Quad-Art set. E21224 updates will therefore cease until the coach returns.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

This dining coach has been somewhat of a priority over the last fortnight as we race towards its completion deadline. The seaward side has been fully gloss painted (two coats) and both sides were then fully lined out complete with numbers. The coach has been changed from E4372 to M4372 as that is the historically correct one for the livery that the coach carries.

The smaller white lettering on the vehicle's ends and chassis is now in progress and is about 50% complete.

We are now chasing up smaller jobs such as repainting footboards, bufferbeams and other ancillaries that will boost its appearance. Nothing more than a top up coat of black is required as in these areas the coach is in very good condition from a corrosion point of view.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

Progress has concentrated on the Sheringham end corridor connection which can hopefully be refitted before too long. There are various shaped sections of wood which have been stripped of their old paint so that they can be repaired and repainted prior to fitting. Some of the most challenging parts have been two shaped metal "hoops" that form part of the "tunnel" that passengers walk through. The steel was quite corroded but this week they have been repaired with new material where required.

Also at the Sheringham end, the vestibule has benefited with one of the doors being rehung.

This coach has now been moved to Bridge Road Carriage Sidings but will hopefully be returning to us shortly once M4372 has been returned to traffic.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Re-upholstery continues steadily, I must try to remember to get some photos of the progress. Inside the vehicle itself, repainting of the seat frames is now complete so they are now ready to receive their new upholstery.

April News Part 1

I am back having seen an extremely drizzly Hungarian capital city, returning to carriage restoration somewhat reluctantly!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The roofing compound has been deemed dry enough to continue with the roof. The steamed curved roof hoops, along with their straight sisters, have all been fixed to the edges of the roof canvas pinning the latter to the sides of the coach (at the top). This allowed more "roof furniture" to then be fixed into place. In no particular order this has included curved rain strips, the gas lamp tops (tee-pees?) and fake gas piping. The piping also extends over the edge of the roof and vertically down the Sheringham end of the vehicle.

There are four ventilators which sit above the two passenger compartments on the roof. There were only three decent examples "in stock" to restore so these have been cleaned up and painted ready for fitting. The fourth has been made up from a variety of "bits". Whilst the last one was under construction I must admit at first I thought it looked horrendous so sneered slightly at it! However it was not finished and after a lot of welding and fettling it has come good and will look fine alongside its authentic counterparts on the roof.

Elsewhere on the coach, all of the guards door handrails have now been fitted into position.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The replacement flooring along the side corridor is now almost finished with all of the large panels now cut and test fitted. There are now only a few smaller floor repairs to do where electrical conduit passes up through the floor from below.

Meanwhile inside the store cupboard, painting is well underway with the walls now in white undercoat and the tops of the shelving in black undercoat.

Work on stripping, sanding and priming the wooden sections of the luggage area also continues steadily.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

Progress has focused mainly on the repainting, although a repair to a defective door on the landward side has been successfully made and the windows on the same side have also been cleaned of stray paint.

The landward side paintwork is now substantially completed, brought right up to gloss Crimson & Cream colours. The top lining (above the windows) has also been applied but the bottom line will wait until the coach exits the staging area.

By Easter the sanding and filling work had been completed on the two ends and the seaward side allowing the painting team to make a start on these areas. So far, all of the remaining areas have been coated in primer and undercoats and now await the commencement of gloss.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

Now that the welding repairs are completed to the Sheringham end, a start is being made on reassembling all of the interior and fittings from that area. However this has so far been limited to laying out all of the bits and undertaking a bit of head scratching!

At the Holt end, the areas requiring welding are being stripped out to facilitate these repairs. The landward side toilet has horrendous corrosion at gutter level which extends from the corner right along a six foot section to the doorway, it is one of the worst cases we have seen in a while.

Parts of the veneered toilet bulkhead have now been removed so that they do not catch fire when we start welding.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Repainting of the front saloon seat frames and re-upholstery of the seating continues.

March News Part 4

In great British tradition, we shall start with a generic weather related comment, it's getting warmer! This has made the workshop more pleasant if nothing else, with lots as usual to report on!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The roof is currently on hold as the late winter weather has meant that the roofing compound is taking its time somewhat to dry, so the order of the day has been to be busy with other tasks whilst allowing the roof to absorb as many degrees as possible. One of these tasks has been the steaming and clamping of two roof hoop shaped sections of ash that are destined for the ends of the coach pinning the edge canvas to the body. Whilst they successfully steamed and were clamped to a tighter radius than required in their finished shape, when un-clamped they sprung back to a straighter shape than desired. They have now been further adjusted and will hopefully be suitable for use next week.

Also on the outside of the coach, some of the guards handrails are being fitted to the doorways.

On the guards end of the vehicle, the end steps are now bolted on permanently and a particularly attractive feature, the red tail light, also put into position. The lighting itself needs finishing, but the physical housing is now in and can be suitably modeled if someone shines a torch through it from the inside!

Inside the guards van itself, the vacuum piping is now fully finished with a painted emergency brake valve and a very polished vacuum gauge in position in the correct places.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

We have been able to reallocate resources onto this coach that had previously been "stolen" for the big push on M4372! This week saw recommencement of the project to renew the floors inside the side corridor and also progress on the stripping and painting of the wooden interior parts for the luggage van area. Inside the store cupboard three shelves have also been produced this week, shaped to fit (due to the curved bodyside profile of the coach, each shelf is a different length/size) and then fitted into position onto the brackets that were fitted previously.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

The coach is being simultaneously sanded and painted, seaward and landward sides respectively. This is a cruel necessity due to the short timescale we have on this carriage, and the paint is inevitably getting dust in it as it dries! However sometimes compromise is necessary and we are progressing well with getting the coach ready to return to service as soon as possible. The seaward side paint preparation has progressed hugely over the week with large areas of the upper section (around the windows) now filled and sanded smooth.

Meanwhile, the landward side is transformed, with a coat of primer and undercoat both applied during the week. The undercoats are split as red and cream undercoats are required for the differing colours that form the "Crimson & Cream" livery. By close of play, the upper (cream) sections had also received their first coat of gloss. It is starting to look like a dining coach once again!

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The final section of welding repair has now been completed to the Sheringham corridor end, bringing to and end quite a saga that was hugely more involved than originally anticipated! This heralds the half way point for the corridor end welding repairs. Attention will now soon be turning towards round 2, the Holt end, and with welding completed we can now also consider refitting the Sheringham end internally. No rest for the wicked!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Re-upholstery of the seating continues.

Easter Break

Sadly due to a combination of taking time off and going off on holidays, there will be no Blog update next week. However subject to me not getting impounded in Customs trying to bring back Hungarian carriage mementos home, normal service will resume in two weeks time! Viszont látásra!

March News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

I was correct in my assumption last week that the suspicious package was the new roof canvas. The roof, duly prepared, was pasted in special roofing compound before the canvas was stretched on and pinned around the outside.

This involved a lot of ironing, a skill that I for one never knew a lot of the lads possessed and will no doubt be put to use back at home now that the cat is out the bag!

The finished canvas then had another thick layers of compound applied and it is currently drying, which is taking several days.

Meanwhile on the interior, an insert has been created that fits around the vacuum pipe where it comes up through the floor via a clearance hole. The end result is neater and will prevent drafts!

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

No progress to report.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

Another week focusing on this repainting task. The landward side has continued to progress well, with the sanding and filling now completed. This side is now ready for painting next week.

The final task on the windows was remaking some patches which had fallen out of the windows. These patches were plugs for older cutouts in the windows which once carried brackets for roof boards. These were fitted just below the gutter for named trains such as "The Pines Express" or "The Flying Scotsman". In case anyone was suggesting reinstating the brackets, sadly they appear to be random and in the wrong places, betraying the secret that the windows on this coach are not original and have been salvaged from a scrapped classmate.

On the seaward side, the aluminium window frames are now fully stripped and sanded back to bare metal. Failed rivets have been replaced and any surface corrosion around vulnerable areas cleaned back and treated. Next week will see paint preparation work move onto this side.

All four doorways have also been prepared for repainting and any small remedial work carried out.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

We are at last on the home straight for the welding repairs to the Sheringham end. Just one more section of panelwork now to fit (above the corridor connection) and that should see the major renewal completed. The corroded framework below where the new panel is destined has been cleaned and painted ready.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

This has now been successfully put into traffic with our interior work to the guards van completed.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

In a mass removal session, all of the remaining seat backs and side pieces were removed from the vehicle this week so that they can be reupholstered in due course.

The front saloon (behind the cab) has also been the seat frames sanded back and repainted blue in the same way as we did in January with its partner M56352. This work can only be done with the cushions removed but before the new ones start being refitted!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352

Similar to M51188, it has now been successfully put into traffic with re-upholstery work completed. As promised last week, I have photographic evidence of the final (of the three) passenger saloons to be fully fitted out with the newly upholstered seating.