Multiple Completions

With two weeks having passed since the last update, more than usual has been achieved, notably the boxing up of two major projects and the commencement of two more. Out with the old and in with the new as they say!

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

Modest progress on existing works. Further progress has been made on cleaning and painting the handrails for the guards door, which being LNER pattern are an unusual T shape. The gangway ends have continued to see adjustments to the bottom tread plates with the right angles and heights to avoid trip hazards eventually being set successfully.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

At the last update we were half way though the complex process of bogie extraction and tyre turning. The second pair of bodies were lifted successfully, the first one traditionally and the second was just raised a few feet at one end to release the intermediate bogie closest to the shed doors. The bogie furthest in was not required as it was the accommodation bogie which didn't require turning.

With the two remaining bogies extracted we repeated the craning (pictured last time) and these went to Leeds via road transport for an overnight stint on their state of the art wheel lathe. Bang on time they returned the following day and were craned back onto rails. We'd like to thank both of our neighbours the Engineering department and the Loco Running Shed, both of whom have been excellent in providing equipment, manpower and tolerance of us taking over more of the yard than we usually do. It was a case of everyone working together to get the job done smoothly.

Returning to the coaches, reassembly then followed which was a reverse of the disassembly. It was certainly a great feeling knowing the mechanical condition of the wheelsets should now set the vehicles up for a good life ahead. Before finishing the set completely we just have a few final tweaks to make to the vehicles, specifically in line with the M&GN Society's wishes for the set's formation in the longer term, which may for some be slightly controversial. More of that in the next update as it is still being finalised over the next few days.

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

Work on the landward side battery box continues and the front doors are now pretty much complete following extensive work and painting up to gloss black. The same volunteer has now started on tidying up the box itself which needs wood letting in on the two sides where weather and battery acid has taken its toll.

Corridor end components continue to be improved, with the recently welded gangway end "hoops" being cleaned up back to bare metal and painted in several coats up to black gloss.

Limited stripping of the underframe away from the areas containing asbestos has carried on, with more items removed from the bufferbeams.

A full set of wooden glass gripping bars have been made for the four small windows which will be reinstated in the guards and luggage areas. These are time consuming, some new, some repaired and all dry fitted to the frames and put into store to await window refitting.

Reconstruction of door #7 continues steadily with the luggage door locking bar being fitted and the full height wooden back panel now in place.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Once returned to the staging area the remainder of the lining in the upper parts of the bodysides was quickly completed. A few other minor cosmetic tasks such as repainting the gutters, returning brass grab handles back into place and cleaning/snagging were also undertaken. At the same time, a coat of varnish was applied to the whole exterior including the ends giving the vehicle that final shine.

It was then shunted out of the shed and a few days later tripped back to Weybourne where it was brake tested and given the final parts of the annual exam which ticketed it for passenger service again. 3116 was quickly marshaled back into the dining set and was star of the show at this weeks special train commemorating the awarding of the Queens Award for Voluntary Services (delayed from last year) to the NNR. We understand the day was enjoyed by all and a great success, with diners travelling the line in 3116.

With no finer launch back into service to speak of, 3116 now returns to its normal duties in the dining train, its Silver overhaul completed in just under five months.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

The highest mileage single vehicle to ever run on the NNR, 35148, had been looking increasingly tired and was being attacked badly by corrosion in recent years. Like many other popular and essential vehicles, it was squeezed longer than desirable as we had sister brake 21103 in the works (the latter being withdrawn over the Covid pandemic) and 35148 couldn't be spared. With 21103 now bedded down nicely in service, 35148 has been able to enter the workshops for its much deserved Silver overhaul to start.

The initial focus has been the landward side, Sheringham end corner working anti-clockwise. This encompasses the wheelchair accessible saloon and the two windows on that side. The first has been removed and has revealed a lot of surface corrosion under the frame. The second window is proving harder to remove and the fight for this will continue next week.

Early days yet for this overhaul but the first spade has entered the ground!

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

The second of the proposed railcar refresh programme vehicles is M&GN Society owned trailer car 56062. This requires much more work than the hired powercar 51188 which required little more than a repaint. This week it has entered the shed for a Silver body overhaul to be started.

Progress has so far been rapid, as it often is during the flurry of dismantling prevalent at the start of a big project. The interior has seen many volunteers descend on it removing the seating and lower paneling from the drivers side of the vehicle.

This has allowed access to remove the corroded window bottoms from the front and rear passenger saloon windows (middle saloon still to start), which has revealed reasonable condition framework but very poor outer skin. We have replacement sections on order but in the meantime stripping continues.

The first passenger doorway has also been started, as this was out of alignment and struggling to shut properly. It was found corrosion inside the door pillars, buried deep, was causing swelling and pushing the wooden door jambs inwards reducing the size of the door frame by over 10mm. It has had to be stripped down and the metal attended to to bring it back to a correct shape. This work is understandably still ongoing as the scope in this areas has spiraled somewhat!

Whilst welding has been started, others have been very busy taking each of the removed windows and cleaning up the aluminium surrounds, which will ensure a quality finish when reassembly eventually takes place, though at this stage that seems a very long way away!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Following several complications, the retaining straps for the fire extinguishers and wheelchair ramp have finally made it into position.

Half Way There

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

Work continues to complete and improve existing projects. The ceiling at the toilet end of the vehicle has been improved and a cover fitted over the extractor fan. A correct LNER handle has also been fitted to the new extra wide sliding door into the saloon.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The Quads have reached the half way point in the complex operation of lifting them and extracting bogies for tyre turning. They have been a major focus for us with most of our resources being put in this direction. This week, we resolved the electrical issue which had plagued the borrowed Loco Department lifting jacks and once these were working again a straightforward lift of 48861 was undertaken.

With the bodies in the air we then rolled the three bogies out into the yard, with the added complication that the bogie at the back (under the guards compartment) fouled the bottom of the battery boxes by about half an inch as the loco jacks do not lift as high as the carriage ones. We had to manually jack the bogie off the rails and slew it six inches to one side and roll it along the concrete floor clear of the battery boxes before repeating the process to put it back on rails!

Whilst outside the opportunity was taken to clean the oil off the brown painted wheels as the increased access is seldom available when the bogies are in their normal positions.

With all three bogies outside the next step was lifting them onto a flat-bed road trailer using the M&GN Society crane "Horace". Again this was done successfully and quickly and they were soon off on their way to Freightliner at Leeds. The move was undertaken by Box Worx in Woodbridge and was all done on time with no timekeeping worries.

Once at Freightliner their professional team then stepped in to turn the six wheelsets over a night shift back to the correct profile we required. One bogie has wheelsets close to the end of the tyre's life so the team were particularly helpful in carefully agreeing the cut and finished size in order to allow those wheels to have one more stint of service life and also correctly match the tyres on adjacent bogies further down the set.

Lunchtime the next day saw the bogies returned from the county of the Quad-set's birth back to their retirement home, Norfolk. Horace was in action again to unload, only this time in a snow/sleet blizzard! It was much less pleasant than the loading but we were lucky in that it was to be the following day before the aggressive winds came. The bogies were pushed uphill back in the shed, with the cold conditions becoming an incentive to push hard and get them inside quicker!

Following further slewing across concrete the three bogies were positioned back where they came from under the coach and the bogies of 48861 & '62 lowed back down. Plenty of re-greasing was done on surfaces we can't normally get to. This was officially the half way point for the project.

With the two bodies back down and harsh conditions outside, it was decided to reconnect the brake gear and vacuum hoses then adjust the brakes up correctly before shunting the vehicles outside. 

A shunt of the yard followed and 48861 & '62 were stabled outside with '63 & '64 coming in. These are the longer vehicles of the four so the jacks were all re-positioned ready to lift in the revised positions. The carriage jacks under '64 were leveled and weight gently taken ready to lift but we ran out of week to do the same on the loco jacks under '63.

Next week should see a similar story unfold as we repeat the process for the second pair of vehicles. As readers can imagine its been very busy!

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

The vehicle had to be moved outside so that its space could be taken by 3116, itself evicted from the staging by the Quad-Arts. No progress on 14021's overhaul was possible whilst outside but it has now reentered the shed following 3116's return to the staging.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Lettering and lining has continued with all the lower lining and letters now completed, including all of the data on the end of the vehicle.

Because the section of Quad-Arts inside the shed only had buffers at the Holt end, DMU 51228 was required to haul them in and out of the shed for the duration of the tyre turning. This meant the DMU was trapped inside the staging for a few days and is also the main reason 3116 was evicted onto the other side of the shed.

 

Whilst outside of the staging a large team descended on the underframe areas for a cosmetic upgrade. A coat of gloss black was applied to all visible areas of the outer underframe, battery boxes and bogies. Details such as springs and electrical sockets were also picked out in red.

The second pair of Quad coaches have buffers at the Sheringham end, meaning they could be moved into the shed conventionally allowing 3116 to be returned to the staging. This will allow the top lining to be completed next week after which varnishing will start.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Similar to 14021, no progress due to resources being directed towards the Quads.

Quad Set Splitting

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

The extractor fan has now been fitted to the toilet with the associated timing circuits tested successfully. Also completed in a revised step arrangement at the Sheringham (brake) end corridor connection, taking into account the height modifications made last week.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The Quad set has now dominated our attention fully! The first practical move was to transport the spare articulated bogie from the sheds at Bridge Road using a towing arm to bring it down the line to Weybourne.

This was then positioned close by and the middle coach raised off its neighbor using hydraulic jacks allowing the Holt two coaches to be drawn away and into the shed, with the spare bogie being rolled under the Sheringham pair to essentially create two "twin sets".

With the Holt pair moved into the shed, 48862 was lifted using our own C&W jacks whilst 48861 (the brake coach) remains on the ground as we encountered problems getting the Loco jacks (which we borrowed) to work.

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

The window surrounds pictured last week have had a second round of filler and paint and are now complete to the stage we want them at before they are fitted.

Work to rebuild the landward side battery box lid continues.

The areas of bodyside which had been stripped back to bare metal have had a coat of primer to offer protection as 14021 had to be moved outside for a week to allow passage for the Quads.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Exterior painting is now completed with the ends being painted black early this week. This in turn allowed the corridor connection rain hoods to be fixed permanently.

Whilst work has focused on the Quads, Brian the sign-writer has been keeping 3116 going and has been applying lining and lettering to the main bodysides. Each side is at a different stage with the various colours and coats, but about half of the task has been completed.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The straps for the fire extinguishers and ramp have now been sewn so can be refitted soon. The vehicle briefly had to go into partial service for an Operations training day but we still aim to complete the guards area before the main season in April.

Return of the Quads

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

Focus continues to be on the toilet end of the vehicle with the ceilings pictured last week improved with some side pieces and finishing strips.

Mesh has been added to the fabricated vent grill (for the toilet extractor fan) which will be subtly added to the exterior, in order to deny entry to flies and small birds.

Another extractor fan has been added to the guards compartment as there are no opening windows in this area and it is thought it might be prudent to encourage hot air to vent into the luggage area. A fan has been fitted and tested, the exit hole being disguised by a suitable BR era grill more normally found in ceilings.

The enlarged interior door has been fitted to a runner mechanism and mounted in place next to the guards compartment.

Work also continues to modify the step arrangement at the other end of the vehicle in the corridor connection. As part of this it was discovered that the corridor connection was too high in relation to the buffers, and this has been rectified to bring it back down into spec.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The Quad Set just refuses to go away and they are back again for the latest attempt to put them right! Following last year's failure to reprofile the wheels on the bogies in situ, March is to be dedicated to lifting all four of the coaches and sending all of the bogies away for the work to be done. A big task and the first time the set has been fully in pieces since it was restored by West Coast Railways 15 years ago.

So far, apart from a huge amount of planning, the set has been extracted from the sheds at Holt and is now in the yard at Weybourne. All brake rigging, vacuum and electrical connections have been removed so the four coaches are now ready to be lifted in turn.

Inside the sheds, preparations are being made including borrowing the locomotive lifting jacks to work in collaboration with our own. Special adapters are being fabricated to bolt onto the loco jacks to enable them to lift the Quad bodies, and given the safety critical nature of these then the appropriate design, certification and testing procedures are being followed.

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

More component work this week with the door frame of Door #7 being painted ready for reassembly.

A full set of window surrounds for the small windows located in the guards and kitchen areas has been made up, some from their original locations and others stolen from the two windows which will no be reinstated. These stolen examples are making up the numbers elsewhere where rot has rendered the originals unsalvageable. These have been repaired where required, sanded, filled and primed and now await further filling and sanding.

Components for the corridor end bellows are also being progressed, with hoops and rings being stripped back to bare metal and primed.

We have now also finished cleaning the last of the luggage racking, these look very nice indeed and are now stored away safely awaiting the day they can be fitted.

Two steam heat end cocks have been removed from the main pipe which is going to be removed as part of the asbestos strip. Whilst off, they have been stripped down, cleaned, reassembled and painted ready for use.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Exterior painting has continued to be the priority. This has now been completed along the bodysides with two coats of crimson and cream applied down both sides. The corridor ends have been undercoated with glossing due next week before the vehicle is temporarily removed from the staging to make way for the Quads.

Also on the corridor ends, replacement rain hoods have been made and test fitted as the old ones had become holed. These will have their final fit after the painting has been completed.

Internally, the worst of the dust and dirt that had accumulated whilst the windows were out has been removed from the upholstery and carpets. Tables which had suffered sun damage have had their corners glued back down after we spotted that many had lifted. Exposed table edges which were also sun damaged have also been re-varnished.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The straps for the fire extinguishers and wheelchair ramp are in the process of being sewn up. 

More Doors and Painting

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

The ceiling panels which have been in production over the last few months have now been fitted to the toilet and adjacent corridor area.

Also in the same area, teething problems with the door lock activated circuitry for the toilet extractor fan have been resolved and it is now working correctly.

Sticking with the same theme of wiring, a modern twist has been added to the guards compartment control panel, volt meters to assess battery life with in built USB sockets! This will certainly be the first brake on the NNR that will be capable of charging the guard's phone!

At the Sheringham corridor end, a reclaimed step plate from the Thompson BG has been fitted and painted.

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

A vanilla period for this vehicle, with the rebuilding of the final two (double) kitchen doors continuing steadily. The frame repairs to door #7 are now complete and a new hygiene friendly back panel is being produced for it.

Door #8 continues to be improved by volunteers, with the skin now separated from the frame, which promptly split into three pieces!

The landward side battery box doors have been removed, dismantled and are now being repaired and readied for repainting. There were many layers of tar like paint to remove to get back to the original wood.

The wooden window surrounds for the small windows in the guards and kitchen areas have been extracted from storage so that they can be stripped and sanded, standard practice for a Gold level overhaul.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

The paint preparation work has now been completed around the entire exterior, which allowed primer to be applied quickly to the two corridor ends and the landward side.

The landward side remains the main focus now, as we seek to bring it to the same stage as the seaward. Red and cream undercoats have been applied to the top and bottom followed by two coats of red gloss along the top and one coat of cream gloss round the middle band. This gloss was then applied to the seaward side as well so both sides are now at a similar stage.

The gangway end repairs are now complete, the final tasks being the repainting of inside the corridor "tunnels" along with cleaning and painting of the gangway faceplates.

Internally, the Holt end vestibule has now been re-varnished so it matches the other end. The removed door furniture has been returned to place. The removed sections of window surrounds inside the passenger saloons have now been refitted and any sun damaged sections re-varnished. We are now making smaller improvements to the interior such as sticking down the edges of some of the table tops which had lifted in the sun,. It won't be long before cleaning work will be the focus on the inside now that the windows are back in and other tasks are coming to an end.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

One last push required to tie up the loose ends on this vehicle before it is declared ready for the 2023 season. Inside the guards compartment, all the areas of yellow paint which were deemed too thin on the walls have had another coat so this is now up to an acceptable finish. All that remains now is to finish off the emergency equipment.

A new wooden frame has been machined and primed which will screw onto the front of the ambulance cupboard. New glass for the frame has been made and delivered ready to fit once the frame is ready and the poster printed off. At the same time, new emergency glass to shield the opening handle has also been made ready to fit once we order the final missing items from inside the cupboard itself.

Various new straps to hold the fire extinguishers and wheelchair ramp have been measured out and now await sewing up.

Volunteer's Forum

This week saw the annual NNR Volunteer and Staff Forum held in Sheringham. For the first time it included a section dedicated to Carriages and I was invited to present a few minutes of what we as a department had achieved during 2022 and our hopes and dreams for 2023 and beyond! I was humbled to receive a great reception from both the railway's higher management and also the volunteers who attended who, unanimously, gave positive feedback for the department and the update. It was a very successful and enjoyable event with lots of food for thought.

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

A further week of progress on existing projects which included more paint being applied to the ceiling panels.

The wheelchair width door also got more varnish.

Finally, a new development, an extractor fan is in the process of being installed in the toilet. This will cleverly trigger using the slide door lock and will run automatically whilst the toilet is occupied and also for a predetermined time after the compartment is vacated. Quite early days yet but an air duct has already been routed through the ceiling and the electrics associated with the door lock trigger are being installed and have been tested using a bulb temporarily as we don;'t have the fan itself yet!

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

More bodyside stripping has continued with the seaward side of the luggage area now almost completed. Also in progress are the door overhauls of the final two doors, #7 & #8. The former is receiving framework repairs to the wood and the latter is still being stripped down to its component parts, though several of these have been cleaned ready for reassembly already.

The corridor end tread plates mentioned last time have progressed to the point where primer has been applied, they look so much better than when we started on them.

A new project has commenced in the form of restoration of the battery boxes. This has started with the doors from the landward side, which have been dismantled and a start made on stripping off all the old thick bitumen paint. Also new has been a strip down and sand of two side bearers which belong behind the flexible bellows of the corridor connection. One of these will need further repair but with all the old paint now off we can properly see what we're working with.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

With new rivets in stock the window refitting has continued apace along the landward side, and indeed was completed this week.

The more advanced seawards side saw undercoat applied giving the coach its two-tone appearance back.

This was followed by gloss paint on the red sections top and bottom.

The ends are also progressing with the Holt end now reassembled following some woodwork repairs around the gangway.

Moving onto the interior, replacement first class signage has been applied to the seaward side replacing old examples had become tatty.

The Sheringham end vestibule has also been re-varnished which has lifted its appearance considerably. The Holt end vestibule has been rubbed down ready for the same treatment.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The vehicle is currently inaccessible due to track contractors working in the yard.