Gresley Buffet Wheels Swapped

Apologies for the lack of updates, with things being so busy it's been difficult to find the time to sit and write things down!

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

Modest progress continues to be made, primarily on the interior tasks started and described in previous updates.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (REPAIRS)

Sadly the contract mainline lathe companies were unable to accommodate us and the Gresley bogies for tyre turning in the timescale we had available. So this week we have fallen back on the emergency plan which is to lift the vehicle several times in a phased programme to extract the pairs of wheels bit-by-bit for tyre turning in house.

This week saw most other tasks dropped with priority given to bringing the Gresley Buffet into the shed and lifting it up to extract the Sheringham end bogie, which is the one with bad wheel flats. For speed, we then utilized the road crane to lift out a spare bogie and split the frames from the wheelsets. E9128E's own Sheringham end bogie frame was then lifted off the damaged wheels and onto the spare wheels. The re-wheeled bogie was then returned under the coach which was then lowered and reassembled in a reverse process of the disassembly. The vehicle was then brake tested and returned to traffic.

This temporary solution allows two of the worn and damaged wheelsets to now be turned back to a good profile. Phase 2 will see E9128E lifted again for the Holt end bogie to have the worn wheels swapped with the freshly turned ones before being returned to service again. Phase 3 will see those latter wheels (suitably turned) finally put back into the Sheringham end releasing the temporary wheels fitted this week. Only then will the vehicle be fully kitted out with good profile wheels which will hopefully give many years of trouble free service!

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

Other than the work on the battery boxes M14021 had practically stalled whilst we struggled to find an asbestos stripping contractor to remove the asbestos from the steam pipe. Unfortunately costs for this type of work have skyrocketed and the railway doesn't feel it would be best interests to proceed with the work at this time. The coach has now been stopped and will soon be stored up at Holt until the project can be restarted.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

Although a lot of work has been done to this vehicle (it has probably progressed the most of anything currently in the shed) most of the progress has been of the "more of the same" variety. Bodywork, welding, sanding and filling has been progressing down both sides of the vehicle through the guards area and down into the first two compartments and side corridor area.

Windows continue to be prepared and it won't be long before more of them are refitted back into the coach. Some of the window surround woodwork which had been removed from the vehicle is being sanded back to wood ready for re-varnishing. Also being sanded down is the inside of the guards compartment which will receive a heavy refresh along with a few wiring modifications as we have discovered a potentially unsafe design which was introduced when the accessible saloon modifications were undertaken in the 1990's.

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

The rear saloon bodywork has now been re-protected on the inside with several coats of bitumen paint meaning this area can now have its interior paneling refitted. Some of these have bowed outwards with damp so are currently being weighed down on a flat surface to try and force them back.

The first passenger doorway has had all its furniture fitted back on the inside. Because we replaced the door with an old drivers one out of the spares the passenger spec internal woodwork had to be transferred from the old door to the new, with all the adjustments that come with such a transplant. We are still having a few fit issues with the lower panel but we are nearly there.

The middle section of bodywork is now almost complete, with the new laser cut window bottoms tack welded into position. All the other smaller patches are also tacked so a session of full welding and grinding back is required to complete this section externally.

The second passenger doorway has been stripped out and corrosion swelling dealt with in the upper regions. More serious repair is required in the lower regions before we can proceed.

The third doorway (the drivers door) has also been stripped out for assessment and will need similar treatment to the previous two!

Midland & Great Northern Railway 1881 4 Wheel Tool Van 12 (REPAIRS)

Most frustratingly a guard left the handbrake applied on our oldest piece of rolling stock whilst being used at the Mixed Traction Gala which caused wheel flats and the need to take the vehicle out of service.

This happened some years ago to the same vehicle and it was put into a queue to be repaired for several years. We didn't really want history to repeat itself this time so the van has been immediately brought to Weybourne instead of being put back on display at Holt for the wheel to be attended to. Unlike in 2016, we now have some spare wagon wheels which allows us to do a quick swap and turn the flats out in the lathe later, rather than having 12 on jacks for a long time during the turning process.

The vehicle is now in the shed ready for lifting, and the two "new" wheelsets have been needle gunned back to metal ready for repainting. One of the four axleboxes has also been dismantled, inspected and cleaned ready for use again, with the remaining three to follow.

Hopefully it will not be long before this interesting vehicle is back in service.

Southern Railway 1939 Parcels & Miscellaneous Van S1359S

Recently purchased from a private owner, the M&GN Society's new van will be staying in its normal home in the cattle dock at Weybourne and has for the past month been repurposed from a store into an extension to the bookshop. Doors have been modified and extensive shelving fitted to the vehicle itself, which compliments modifications to the fencing and gangplanks to allow safe public access from the platform. It has now been loaded up with books and other items and is open for business on selected days.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

No progress to report.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

No progress to report.

Maintenance

We are now in "A" examination period, which in layman's terms is keeping our regularly running rolling stock checked and safe, with any other time used keeping on top of the steady stream of faults coming in. We are also continuing the tackle issues with the dining train kitchen cars such as broken switches on the generators and some improvements to the gas systems and valves.

Workshop

Replacement door seals and filters have been installed on our woodworking extraction machine which enabled it to pass the inspection and reassure us we are OK for the foreseeable future in this area.

M51188 Finally Completed

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

Some further painting has been undertaken on the underframe between the bogies where the toilet tank is fitted.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (REPAIRS)

We are still trying to get a firm slot with a contractor to see to the wheel turning.

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

The landward side battery box has now reached the completion of its repairs, and the whole box has been coated in primer showing off that it is now whole again and all in one colour.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

The steelwork repairs to the Sheringham end corridor connection have now been completed, and we are currently in the process of cleaning up all of the woodwork that came off the end in this area, and splicing in new sections where the old had rotted away. Once this is all ready we can start to look at reassembling the gangway end.

The bodysides in the wheelchair accessible end are progressing well and close to completion, with all four windows now refitted to the vehicle, bedded down on new sealant.

Bodyworks are now progressing along the seaward side towards the compartments. There have been lots of small repairs required to the steelwork around the doors and doorways and the window framework and surrounding skin in the compartments is also being similarly repaired.

A start has been made on freshening up the interior of the guards compartment. It has now been cleared of all clutter and a few items surplus to requirements removed from the walls.

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

The final protective painting on the renewed rear saloon welding work has been applied.

The first (and worst) of the six doorways has this week been completed, with all corrosion repairs finished, wooden jambs refitted to the surround and then the replacement door hung into place and adjusted. Doors are always very time consuming so it is nice to get the first one fitting nicely again in the frame. We have also added weather protecting aluminium side strips into the doorway, a feature fitted to most of our vehicles but 56062 had never been done by BR.

Bodywork and patch welding is now in full swing on the middle saloon on the seaward side.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The "winter" overhaul of this vehicle has now officially been completed! The final act was fitting the last missing items into the emergency ambulance cupboard, fitting glazing in front of the handle and then closing the door for the final time.

We also freshened up the surround to the handle by applying two coats of red to make it stand out.

New fire extinguishers were recently fitted so we adjusted the straps to make sure they were nice and secure.

This vehicle now has one of the neatest and most complete guards compartments on the railway.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Work continues to degrease and prime the running gear prior to the main task of repainting the whole vehicle.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

The vehicle has been made safe to move as it requires shunting around at Holt in preparation for next weekend's Mixed Traction Gala.

Maintenance

A week or so ago a piece of trim fell off in the first class area of DMU M56352. On further inspection all of the supporting woodwork behind the panels was rotten so a seat had to be removed and part of the wall panelling temporarily taken down to allow new woodwork to be fitted. Reassembly followed a few days later and now you would not know we had been there.

Workshop

The repairs to the dust extraction system in the woodworking area have now been made to the ducting and feeds to each individual machine. With this completed successfully, we are now waiting for replacement filters and door seals for the extraction unit itself which sits in the corner of the area.

More Bodywork

It has been a quiet month but we continue to work away on the various longer term projects...

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

The servery counter continues to be improved with the front being clad and the whole area being sanded down and painted.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (REPAIRS)

This vehicle has decided to copy the Quad-Arts and is now unexpectedly out of service with wheel flats awaiting tyre turning. We are aiming to have it rectified and contract turned as soon as possible and are currently working with the contractors to find a slot in their programme.

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

Work slowly continues on the landward side battery box rebuild and the overhaul of the eighth and final bodyside door.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

We continue to focus on the accessible saloon at the Sheringham end. Unfortunately we have hit our first serious snag with much increased corrosion being discovered around the corridor connection at this end which was better hidden than is often the case. As a result, woodwork on the end which we were going to leave in situ and reseal externally has all now had to be stripped off to reveal the corroded steel platework and holes below. This is now in the process of being chopped out and replaced, and of course a great deal more interior woodwork has had to be removed to facilitate this.

One area of concern is the floor which has corroded and pushed upwards in "classic Mark 1 fashion" preventing the sliding door from opening and closing correctly. We are hoping to get one last run out of the steel floor before it is fully stripped out and replaced, which is a major task, so this has been deferred till its next visit. In the meantime we are treating what we can access and bring the floor back down level so we can attend to the sticking door.

The bodysides are going better with all the window repairs in this saloon complete so the windows can go back in soon. The plan is still to complete the accessible saloon externally so that we can move in volunteer teams into the interior, which is badly needed as we currently have no vehicles in the works available for those who undertake such internal work.

The windows which have been removed from the compartments continue to be diligently cleaned up, including the glass sheets, which will give us a head start when we move down into this area.

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

Bodywork continues steadily. A full production set of laser cut window bottoms have arrived which will help continued metalwork. The first 1/6th of the vehicle has now had its bodywork repairs completed which is a small milestone, but important as we think this is also the worst 1/6th. The adjacent doorway will be next to complete.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The new ambulance cupboard sign has been designed and produced and married up to a repainted frame and custom cut glass front. This week it was fitted onto the front of the cupboard in the guards van so we now just need to glaze the frame which covers the access handle and then shut the door for the final time!

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Recent progress has been de-greasing all around the axle-boxes and running gear in preparation for repainting these areas of the underframe.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

No progress to report.

Workshop

We have identified improvements to the dust extraction system that is fitted to the wood working machines in the workshop. These are currently being worked on with a view to making the system as efficient as it can be and therefore making the area as healthy as it can be. 

Returning to Bodywork

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

The main focus continues to be underneath, with the rerouted steam pipe pictured in previous weeks being moved underneath for reconnecting. Further work is also being undertaken on the mounting straps for the Control Emission Toilet tank, the reason for moving the steam pipe in the first place.

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

Several new asbestos surveys has been taken after the initial contractors either declined or quoted uncompetitive prices. We are currently awaiting fresh prices. Meanwhile steady rebuilding of the landward battery box continues.

The final door rebuild has stalled whilst other maintenance tasks on other vehicles have been undertaken.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

Bodywork continues with the main area of attack being the landward side, in particular the guards doorway and nearby window apertures. The accessible saloon section on the landward side has also become the first to be flatted back in preparation for filling and painting.

Some further limited door patching has been done and many more doorway side strips have been removed and are having sealant and corrosion removed. Also being progressed is the sealant removal from the window frames that have been taken off the vehicle.

The first of the sliding corridor end doors (Holt end) has been removed from the vehicle, sanded and undercoated ready to be repainted brown.

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

Work has picked up again with stripping out spreading to the cab front. All three windscreens have been removed.

The first passenger doorway to be repaired has had all it's new metalwork completed and painted and is now ready for reassembly and building back up.

This can't happen until the replacement door is ready however. This has been stripped as far as possible and will now have all of the serviceable interior furniture from the old door transferred to it.

The metalwork continues to progress on the seaward side along the rear saloon. All of the patches have been cut out and replacement metal tacked in place ready for full welding next week. Some prototype replacement window bottoms have also arrived and been tacked in successfully. With tweaks noted, the production run can now be ordered.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

No progress to report.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

The good weather has seen good progress continue. The main thrust has been needle gunni g down of metal on the chassis and body frame in the morning and protecting it in new anti corrosive primer in the afternoon. This cycle has worked well with three out of four sides of the wagon treated so far.

On less weather predictable days, some time has also been given to de-greasing the lower running gear with a view to painting in the future.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

No progress to report.

Gala Preparations

A lot of time and effort has been spent this week making preparations for the Steam Gala. Having an event where nearly all of our rolling stock is intended to be in use, so early into the season, puts a great deal of strain on the maintenance and examination side of the department, as it prevents us spreading the annual exams into May. All of the "special stock" has come out of winter hibernation and been ticketed for use for this event and indeed for the year ahead. It has been worth it however as a real show has been put on with some interesting formations and a good time had by all.

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

Work has restarted underneath the vehicle, with a good section of the new re-routed steam pipe being produced ready to fit, as the original route was needed for the new control emission toilet tank.

This tank continues to be arranged underneath the vehicle, with thought being given as to its mounting arrangement. 

A good step forward on the exterior of the vehicle has been the arrival and fitting of replacement glass for the small luggage area windows. Around 3/4 of these have been fitted already with just a few still to finish off.

Additional shelving and further tweaks are being made to the servery area inside the vehicle.

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

Work on the landward side battery box continues, which has turned out to be more rotten than first appeared.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

In similar style to previous weeks, a continuation of the bodywork which is slowly creeping its way down the Holt side. Several doors are having in-situ metalwork replacements, particularly around the lower end. As we don't like to strip the doors fully down unless it is a Gold level overhaul, this is a good way of giving the doors a new lease of life and removing corrosion for relatively little outlay, albeit without being able to protect the rear faces of the metal as much as we would perhaps like.

Further passenger compartment windows have been removed to allow early corrosion underneath the frames to be dealt with.

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

No progress to report.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

No progress to report.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Now that Spring is in the air and we are getting some drier days, this wagon project which had to be stalled in the Autumn has now recommenced. This week the landward side ironwork has had a coat of red primer applied all along the body. It is planned next week to move onto the Sheringham end which so far has escaped attention.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

This week has been all about paint stripping, getting there slowly but surely.

A start has also been made sanding in areas where the existing paintwork is pretty good.

Peter Leny

It is our sad duty to inform readers that long standing C&W volunteer Peter Leny died last week. Peter was known universally as "Doctor Peter" owing to the fact that after joining the department there were too many Peters to keep track of and his career had been as a GP. Peter was old school, a gentleman, down to earth and softly spoken. I never saw him angry even once, and one of his greatest skills in my opinion was the ability to convey any irritation in such a way that the listener hardly realised he was complaining, an art which is surprisingly rare! Peter was an interesting person to spend time with, having a seemingly eternal bank of stories from times gone by providing heathcare to the general public. There was a case study relevant to almost any situation being discussed. Despite being long retired Peter was often consulted by other volunteers and paid staff for an opinion on any ailments in the department, something I never fully worked out whether he minded or not. He would be far too polite to say if it did bother him! Peter's entire life was dedicated to helping people beyond himself and being part of a wider cause, which he translated seamlessly into his volunteering at the NNR. Peter understood completely that his weekly contributions tediously cleaning down carriage components were part of the backbone of the restoration process despite not being particularly photogenic. He gave many years to the railway and his departure around the time of the Covid pandemic leaves a hole in the department hard to fill.

Doctor Peter (left) with partner in crime Nurse Peter

Tanker Rides Again

Thank you for all the well spirited comments following last week's April fool, it was nice for the readership numbers to (temporarily at least) return to pre-Covid levels. This week, in contrast, has been a short week due to Easter and lower levels of volunteers with grandchildren being off and holidays being had!

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

The woodwork associated with the servery area is being painted up.

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

The slowly advancing negotiations with the asbestos removal contractor regrettably has fallen through and they no longer wish to undertake the work. We have now returned to the drawing board and are now exploring a new batch of contractors.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

Work continues to focus on the wheelchair accessible saloon, but not in a particularly photogenic way. Further metalwork has been tidied up and more small areas replaced and painted around the four window apertures and work is also ongoing on tackling the doorway edges on the double (former luggage) doors. Some of these are having the wooden frames removed, others can remain in situ. The rough aluminium weather strips capping the doorways are all being removed, cleaned and prepared for refitting. It would have been nice to replace these four-piece examples with the superior one-piece type which fit under the hinge between the body, but this would involve very time consuming stripping down, hinge removal and door resetting. For that reason we have decided to let this one go and simply stabilise any early corrosion and refit the old strips. A substantial amount of supporting woodwork modifications are also being made around the windows on the interior, to make window fitting and removal easier in the future.

Further down the vehicle, a start has been made on preparing for the future phases of the corridor and compartments. The first compartment window has been removed, following dismantling of the surrounding wooden trim.

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

Focus has remained on doorways, with the first one receiving more metalwork. The second doorway has also been stripped out with wooden trim and door jambs removed allowing all of the metalwork below to be needle gunned so we can see where we are. We believed the second door to be better than the first, but underneath things have proven to be just as bad! At least this doorway doesn't have an out of shape door!

Removed seat frames continue to have their lower legs painted, many of these are up to gloss now, with a few still in undercoat.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

No progress to report.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

No progress to report.

Metropolitan Cammell 1965 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 53083

The Devil Tank successfully had its buffer changed this week, a fairly straightforward task for once. We extracted a spare buffer from stores but then discovered that all seven of our spares had the smaller buffer head whereas the tank should have the larger type. After a head scratch for a bit we spotted one of the box vans in the yard which are internal use only had been fitted with a larger buffer out of convenience.

Given box vans normally have the smaller type, we placed the (small) spare onto the box van and moved the larger one onto the tanker. The actual removal and fitting of the buffers was pain-free, with all bolts behaving.

Although we didn't have much time, a quick clean up and a coat of anti-rust primer was applied to the area of bufferbeam normally covered by the buffer.

Whilst we had the tanker at Weybourne the air braking system (seldom used) was fully tested and found to be in working order. The wagon has therefore had its "fitted brake" ticket reinstated so provided it is moved around solo then it can run as an air braked train, which is not that common on the NNR.

Quint-Art Return

NOTE to retrospective readers: The section in red was constructed as an April Fool's joke!

London Great Eastern Railway 1907 Quint Articulated Set 74

As hinted in last week's update, we have now fully completed the work on the set. Satisfied that the wheel profiles were correct for the original 4-coach formation, it was back into the shed once again to undertake the final part of the puzzle. The M&GN Society's long term aim has for some time been to utilise Great Eastern 295 and run it with the Quad-Arts in matching teak to bring wheelchair accessibility to the set for the first time. With recent quotations for bogie overhauls having risen, instead the recently acquired articulated accommodation bogie has been utilised to its full potential and the body of GER 295 centrally placed to create a Quint-Art set perhaps decades earlier than would have otherwise been possible.

It is anticipated that the centre coach will be locked out of use for a few days whilst we complete the finishing touches to the bodywork, however the disturbance to the rest of the set for the tyre turning was too great an opportunity to turn down when it came to undertaking the body lifting works. The set will be in service this month so come on down and see for yourself... you'd be a fool not to!!

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

Back in the workshop the Thompson has seen some detailing work to the large sliding door at the brake end of the passenger saloon to widen it further in a way that the draught strips can be more easily fitted. The upper pelmet has also been added and surrounding pillars tidied up.

At the opposite end of the coach, the mini-bulkhead wall separating the bar counter from the saloon has been fitted and rapidly a framework made up for the counter behind.

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

The landward side battery box refurbishment continues with the box itself taking the focus now that the doors are complete. The right hand side is particularly bad with around two thirds of it having now been cut away with timber being prepared for its splice replacement.

The battered framework for door #8 continues to be soothed back into life with repaired parts being prepared ready for the framework to be reconstructed.

The corridor end metal oops for the gangways have now both been completed having been brought up to black gloss.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

All four of the windows have now been removed from the wheelchair saloon, which has made a good start.

The apertures are in reasonable condition despite the eruption corrosion and we have caught most of it in time. Some small areas have been chopped out and replaced, with other being cleaned and rust treated. A start has also been made on cleaning up the doorways, which bizarrely have shown very poor outer weather strips but on closer inspection don;'t have the more normal heavy corrosion beneath. So far so good.

At the Holt end, most of the vestibule ceiling has been removed. this had suffered from leaks in the past and had become a damaged and untidy mongrel of repaired pieces. The opportunity of this overhaul will be used to replace what requires replacing and improve this area in the process.

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

Unlike 35148, the DMU has been sinking deeper and deeper into the mud with more problems with the bodywork and doors pointing to the conclusion that this one isn't going to be a particularly fast turnaround! Nevertheless we plough on! The first doorway has been a major focus this week with more rot chopped out and one side pillar completed with new lower framework and skin welded in. The door was test fitted again but has found to be too out of shape to re-use so it will probably have to be swapped out with a spare.

Whilst we await laser cut window bottoms to arrive, the exposed framework is being needle gunned to stabalise it.

The removed windows also continue to be cleaned down to give the aluminium some life again.

The passenger seats are all having their water damaged sections at the bottom of the feet de-rusted and repainted. So far, they have been needle gunned, rust treated and primed where required. 

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The ambulance cupboard picture frame has been undercoated.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

The M&GN Society's brakevan, despite having last been refreshed as recently as 2016, has been taken out of service again for more remedial work, a necessity for wooden wagon stock that is kept outside sadly. It has been taken on by "Team Pete" at the museum at Holt station, who have turned out several wagons now including the Southern Railway brakevan.

There is a lot of work to be done, the timbers on the balcony corners need to be replaced as bolts have rusted and split the wood. A start has been made on preparing these for removal. 

Also started is the heat gunning of old paint from areas where it has become unstable.

Metropolitan Cammell 1965 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 53083

The "Devil Tank" was stopped late last year as it was reported to have a compressed "oleo" buffer. Following tests to ascertain it was benign the vehicle has been removed from the freight set and tripped to Weybourne for a buffer swap.