The Blog Returns

Regular readers will have been disappointed with the lack of updates over the past two months. This was due to a sabbatical being taken to push through the final stages of the restoration of Class 104 DMU trailer car M56182, a very personal project which hasn't been included in the main C&W blogs. Much time off was taken and midnight oil burned but the endeavour came to a conclusion last Saturday with the vehicle being launched into service. Aside from the time taken away from NNR duties, mentally organising the concluding parts of the restoration and of course the launch day itself demanded all concentration as well as time, so by the end of the day there simply wasn't any energy available to writeup this blog! However the good news is that we can now return to normal and regular updates are planned to resume, starting with this week!

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

The centre passenger doors continue to be a focus to modify them into a better fit. These have proven challenging and time consuming with further repairs being required using framework from a donor Gresley door.

All the droplights for the vehicle, expertly made by Ian Starks of Northmark, have now been glazed and are getting their first coats of varnish. On the guards doors, handrails have been fitted to the outside of the coach.

The plumbing on the control emission toilet tank is now all but completed, but there is still a leak on at least one joint so repairs will have to be undertaken. Regretfully the volunteer leading this area is a seasonal one and now that we are into autumn it may well be next Spring before this job is finished off.

London North Eastern Railway Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

Further conversations have been had with LS Engineering who are getting an increasingly clearer picture as to how rotten the BTO actually is under the panel work. Revised quotes are being prepared and it is certainly hoped for work proper to commence soon.

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

Completely coincidentally, the last blog update two months ago recorded that M14021 had been paused and tripped to Holt for temporary storage. Interestingly, this very week has seen the same coach return and shunted back into the workshop ready for the restoration to recommence. Further updates can therefore be expected!

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

This vehicle has been the main focus for us over the last two months, with both paid staff and volunteers making it a target to push forwards the task in hand. The Holt end corridor connection and seaward side, both areas which were outstanding, have seen intensive welding repair works undertaken in order to get the whole vehicle up to a point where metalwork is complete. Several more repairs to doors have since been found which have also proven time consuming.

Several window frames have been refitted to the seaward side and preparations are underway to get the remaining examples fitted to the landward side.

We undertook a water tank test on the toilet as in its latter years in traffic the vehicle was suffering leaks when the tank was filled up. We found a broken air breather pipe which appears to have been the cause but there are also supply issues further down the pipework as water was not able to get to the toilet or taps very quickly suggesting a blockage. More investigations will be required.

Inside the vehicle, the most progress has been made inside the accessible compartment. This has had several cots of varnish and now glows again. The ceiling has been repainted and much of the furniture such as tables below the windows refitted. We are currently in the process of renewing the lighting in this area with LED replacement tubes.

Moving down the vehicle, the guards compartment was in pieces receiving wiring modifications for the accessible saloon lighting, which has now been completed and simplified. There are now two switches (for the guards compartment and accessible salon) rather than the consuming five switches that there were before. It has now been reassembled to a point where the walls are receiving filler in old holes and a smooth down ready for repainting. The ceiling has also been refreshed. We plan to undertake several emergency equipment improvement features to bring this brake compartment in line with E21103 and E21224 which have already been so treated.

The side corridor is slightly behind everywhere else but it has been rubbed down on the landward side ready for varnish. The seaward side requires more work as it has suffered badly from sun damage. Again, the ceilings have been repainted.

The compartments are all at different stages with some having been varnished and other's not. Some have ceilings repainted whilst others don't.

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

Work has focussed on the interior with several damaged Formica panel being re-glued onto new plywood. This has been successful and several of the rejuvenated panels are now back in place on the walls.

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

The two replacement wheelsets were refitted o the vehicle which has now returned to traffic.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Progress over the summer has been modest with all the underframe fully cleaned down and primer and undercoat applied. The top half has seen a start made on a few woodwork repairs.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

Painting work has progressed well in the warm weather and is now substantially complete. Recent work has been centred on the underframe and the vehicle was shunted out from the museum platform to facilitate this. 

M35148 Half Way There

As we are now in holiday season the workshop hasn't been as busy as it could be, but things are still moving along...

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

The two centre doors (the only passenger ones) have been removed from the vehicle and all the internal door cards and furniture have been removed from them. The brass hinges have been removed and their old steel screws thrown away. In turn the outer steel panels (Thompson doors are wood frame with a steel outer skin) have been painstakingly removed to allow access to assess what needs repairing.

In the guards area of the coach, the lozenge shaped upper window surrounds have been finished and painted.

Inside the guards compartment itself, the postal rack has been fitted complete with a quick release mechanism to allow cleaning of the window behind.

London North Eastern Railway Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

Parts are being gathered for the Gresley BTO currently off site at LS Engineering, now that there is a more complete picture of what is missing from the vehicle.

A further milestone is that four replacement wheelsets intended for the vehicle have been turned on the lathe and will be prepared for dispatch to the Ecclesbourne Valley to be used on E16631E.

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

As explained last week, 14021 has been moved to the sheds at Bridge Road for the foreseeable future.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

The main milestone this week has been the completion of welding repairs to the landward side of the coach, following steelwork being put into the compartment side-corridor section of the vehicle. The piecemeal nature of the progression makes it hard to judge things but we are well over the half way point with corrosion repairs now. The next challenge will be the Holt end corridor connection and end which has so far been fairly untouched and needs a lot of work.

On the interior front, we decided to freshen up the guards seat and reupholster it in "Trojan" moquette to match the passenger seating elsewhere in the vehicle.

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

Bodywork has slowly continued, with the welding now completed in the middle saloon area on the seaward side, including all new window bottoms. These have all been ground smooth this week and painted in a holding coat of grey primer.

Internally, the reassembly of the rear saloon on the seaward side continues with around half of the removed Formica paneling returned to the wall after all of the supporting timber work had been refitted.

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

Preparation of the two replacement axles for 12 is going well. The wheelsets and all four axleboxes have been rust treated, primed and given a coat of gloss black. The axleboxes have additionally been extensively cleaned out before the painting process began. The photos show the process of moving the wheelsets from one road of the shed to another to clear the way for shunting out the staging area and come courtesy of Richard Coleman.

Southern Railway 1939 Parcels & Miscellaneous Van S1359S

The shelving and lighting has now been fitted to the PMV in the platform at Weybourne which is now completed as "The Sidings" bookshop extension. Be sure to make a visit if you spot the doors open at Weybourne on your next visit!

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

A small amount of de-greasing has continued on the seaward side of the underframe equipment.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

Hopefully there will be a larger update next time, but reports suggest that the vehicle has turned a corner and that the bauxite brown paint has started to be applied.

Workshop

The shunt to move E56062 and remove M14021 allowed the staging area of the shed to receive a good clear up and hoover, the fight against dust being eternal of course!

A new drivers seat for the B12 steam loco has also been upholstered.

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.