Three Vehicles Released

With such a busy schedule recently, the lack of blogging means that no less than three vehicles have been released from our workshop to re-enter service on the railway.

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

Since the window fitting has been completed, the focus has returned back on the interior fitting out. With glass fully installed, varnished wood window surrounds have been the next target, firstly being machined from scratch utilising science lab bench tops reclaimed from a school many years ago. These varnish up very nicely and have been used for a variety of components on other vintage coach restorations. Black edges have also been painted on the inside of the windows over the top of white mastic sealant.

London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

A rare site visit was made recently allowing the vehicle to be seen by NNR eyes "in the flesh" which was exciting, giving us a taste of what is to come. It was also interesting seeing our contractor's facilities which look impressive and fit for purpose.

Latest progress has included further adjustments of doors which had been providing trouble and additional roof coverings which will smoothen out the normally rough planked surface which the canvas will eventually be stretched on top of. During the visit the opportunity was taken to drop off three spare Gresley pattern doors and a variety of guards van furniture, all of which will assist the restoration through the latter stages of the contractors involvement.

The transformation of the vehicle compared to the state it was in when the restoration began is astonishing, and we are looking forward to seeing the vehicle touch down on NNR metals, all in good time.

Earlier this week beading has also been applied to the passenger saloon ceilings and been painted.

London North Eastern Railway 1929 4 Wheel Pigeon Van 6843 (BRONZE)

The Pigeon Van is the first of three vehicles covered in this post to be released back into service, following an intensive operation to get it over the finish line and conclude the repairs and refreshing. On the interior, the second half of the vehicle was cleared out and fully repainted from the roof down to the floor. The floor itself was cleaned thoroughly and all of the demonstration luggage and pigeon racks returned into place. Now that the vehicle is seeing less of a museum role and more of a running one, we have decided to concentrate all of the demonstration goods in one end, leaving the Sheringham end empty so that the vehicle can be used to full potential at events, particularly the 1940's weekend where an uncluttered buggy space will be welcome.

Incomplete guards emergency equipment has been restocked and a new sealed cupboard repurposed in order to bring the van up to current standards. The vehicle had been badly robbed to stock other guards vans at various times, so the purchase of additional equipment will hopefully mean we are less likely to see a repeat, as there will be more equipment in "the system".

The outside has also seen a lot of attention. With the spot revarnishing of the repaired panels built up layer by layer, the next step was to apply two coats of varnish fully over the entire vehicle. This has sealed in all of our repair work and returned the gloss shine to the body. To finish off, all of the iron-work, including the repaired guards lookout ducket, has been repainted with two coats of LNER brown, setting off the varnish nicely.

The roof, generally in good condition, has had a pair of rain strips fitted, which have been in the shed for 15 years awaiting fitting, one of those jobs that was missed during the original restoration and was never followed up. With these in place, two coats of white roof paint were added on top of the existing but heavily stained layers. It looks fantastic in white but I'm sure it won't last as such!

The final touches included recoating the step boards, bufferbeams and vehicle ends in gloss black, after which it was time to exit the shed ready for tripping back to Bridge Road sheds. This is the first member of the vintage train to be refreshed this year, as part of a programme to cover most of the set.

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

Discussions are planned to explore how best to increase progress on this vehicle, as despite being of utmost importance to our strategy, we have struggled lately to maintain a strong focus whilst servicing other vehicles and tasks. The vehicle did however take a rare trip outside as part of clearing the shed to allow access for a Branchline Society "rare lines" charter, which allowed recently completed bodywork to see daylight for the first time.

British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open E3868 (SILVER)

Visual progress has slowed somewhat as the steady task of making the windows good has taken its toll. A great deal of repair work to the aluminum frames and glass clamping woodwork has now been completed and the woodwork varnished up ready for refitting.

The exterior bodywork on the second half of the coach has now started in earnest with failed paintwork being mechanically removed from the lower bodyside.

It has been decided not to reseal the windows or undertake any interior restoration in the second half until the next works visit in a year's time, which will make the vehicle's return to service quicker.

The conversion of the battery boxes back to their original size has now been completed and the boxes painted up to gloss ready to refit to the underframe.

During the shunt to extract the Pigeon Van the opportunity was taken to jet-wash the bogies and underframe of 3868 which has allowed a start to be made on gloss painting the bogies and underframe.

British Railways 1957 Metro Cammell Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory E79263 (SILVER)

After leaving the shed, the interior completion of this vehicle had dragged on somewhat so it was satisfying to give it a big push to get it finished ready for launching at February Half Term (the second vehicle in this update to be released back into traffic). This involved far too many snagging and smaller tasks to list, but the main ones including the completion of fitting aluminum window surrounds, wall trim and heater duct covers. This allowed seating to then be reinstalled, followed by a deep clean of the interior for service.

The Locomotive Department had been busy giving the vehicle a major exam since it had been out of traffic for so long, several jobs of which were handed over to us as it was our area. With these completed and signed off, the vehicle was deemed safe to return to service, operating for all of the holiday week successfully.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

Its been a fairly quiet month for this vehicle, which had been in the staging next to the Pigeon Van for much of the time waiting for a slot outside the staging. Once this came, the vehicle was rolled outside and the chassis jet-washed and all the green moss-like material removed. Once back inside and dried out, the underframe and step boards were treated to a coat of black and the lower signwriting was completed.

With the overhaul completed, the vehicle was removed from the shed at the same time as the Pigeon Van and is also now awaiting tripping back to Holt. 993707 is the third, and final, vehicle in this report to rejoin the operating fleet, this time in the demonstration goods set.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918 (BRONZE)

Still awaiting the fitting of its covering "hood" before returning to service in the demonstration goods train.

Maintenance

Much overhaul work has been missed due to some ongoing maintenance issues with the dining train kitchen car 81033. We undertook a great deal of work to increase the gas capacity of the kitchen and on board generator only for the generator to fail shortly afterwards. As a temporary measure we have set up a separate diesel generator to power the kitchen for now but we are now in a period of quite serious discussion about the best way to move forward in both the medium and long term.

A Decade of Carriage & Wagon News

Today marks the tenth anniversary of this blog. Exactly a decade ago on the 16th January 2015 we decided to try something slightly different and share the news from within Carriage & Wagon online to all enthusiasts rather than those within the railway's membership and volunteer base. Needless to say it was successful and still keeps the same format ten years on with only a few minor tweaks. Looking back on the first post, we had two out of the four suburban coaches receiving major overhauls as part of the Lottery Funded "Suburban 4" project. Brake Third E43357 was having its guards van paneled out with new wood planking as all the originals had been lost from when the vehicle had been used as a generator car, whilst Third W46139 (at the time planned to be E46139) was having all of its interior veneered wooden paneling varnished ready for refitting in the later stages of the restoration. The humble "ordinary Mark 1" was represented by Tourist Second Open E4641 which was also undergoing a heavy overhaul. Lower half reskinning and welding work was ongoing on the outside with the rebuilding of one of the toilets the focus of attention on the interior.

The Joint Heritage Coach Fund team were in full swing with the restoration of the M&GN (ex Midland Railway) Picnic Saloon No3 which was having toilet water tanks fitted and the inside of its luggage compartment painted.

It's amazing to think that the vintage train only had two passenger carrying vehicles back in 2015 and with no Suburban set we only really had the Quad-Arts to bolster our two Mark 1 service rakes during special events or busier weekends. Wagons had not been forgotten however, and in parallel with the Picnic Saloon restoration, the Bird's Eye AF container was still in the workshop, almost finished and ready for adding onto the conflat wagon and into the demonstration freight set.

I hope readers have enjoyed a brief look at where the railway's C&W department was back in 2015. Things have certainly changed with many vehicles added to the fleet and sadly one or two taken out (for now at least) but overall it is clear that we have made progress over the last decade. From a personal perspective, my 2015 self had been working for the railway for less than 18 months as a 23 year old standard C&W operative and was still finding my feet in the mighty machine that is the NNR. Now, ten years on and taking a more senior role in the department, I am still just as proud sharing our achievements with the rest of the community online. It's scary to think that as the NNR itself celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, that we have been blogging for 20% of that historic journey! I certainly hope the next 10 years is as enjoyable and fruitful, as we get stuck into our next steps on the road forwards!

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

Returning to 2025, the Joint Heritage Coach Fund's Thompson continues to progress with window fitting remaining the centre of attention. Since the New Year it has been the toilet window and its opposite counterpart (behind the bar) that have been glazed. These windows have a white opaque finish, with the blue being just the protective film. Thompson vehicles had quite characteristic oval white toilet windows so this is being reproduced and will certainly highlight the Thompson design when it is settled in amongst either Gresley or Mark 1 stock in the future. The vehicle is now almost entirely glazed, with just a few small windows in the tops of the double accessibility doors now remaining.

London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

No progress to report.

London North Eastern Railway 1929 4 Wheel Pigeon Van 6843 (BRONZE)

The pigeon van has progressed really well, with the repaired exterior teak side paneling pictured before Christmas now safely refitted and sealed into the body once again. Amazingly, the beading has all survived and has been very carefully pinned and sealed back onto the coach with even the distinctive yellow lining remaining intact.

The rest of the outside has seen lots of much smaller but equally important micro-repair works to reverse some of the damage over the past eight years since the vehicle was last refreshed. A small corrosion repair to the guards side-ducket has been made and will be repainted in due course.

All of the areas which had chipped away have now been bleached to bring some colour back to the damaged areas and we have started the process of patch varnishing the damaged and rubbed-back areas to bring the layers up to a number similar to the rest of the vehicle. Once these are built up they will be blended again and we plan to cover the whole bodysides in several layers of varnish.

In between the outside progress, the interior is also getting a refresh as this has not been undertaken for around 20 years. Most of this will consist of a simple repaint but a lot of components have had to be temporarily removed from the walls for this to happen so it has still been quite a task. The vehicle is being tackled in two halves with the Sheringham end being the first to be done. The ceiling and walls have both been rubbed down and repainted and now look great again.

This has included the folding pigeon racks which have been creamed and now just need the ironwork picking out in black.

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

Progress on the construction of a "First Open" type toilet compartment continues. We have been carefully laying out all of our wall and door sections to make sure we have the components to modify and create the new wall arrangement that we need. Many of these parts have also been stripped of their old varnish and some veneer gluing and repairs have been undertaken to vulnerable areas. There isn't a dramatic amount to show at this stage, but it is all in the preparation and the care and attention this winter will produce a super vestibule in due course!

British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open E3868 (SILVER)

We have continued to have a strong focus on this overhaul and the second of the two quarters of bodyside has now been rubbed back and prepared for repainting. This section was very good with minimal welding repairs required meaning it has been completed in a good timescale.

The Holt corridor end has also seen the same attention, but despite being a much smaller area there has been more cutting out of metal than on the sides, as the ends tend to be vulnerable. These repairs are nevertheless now predominantly complete with just the areas around the lighting jumper cables still to finish off. These are slightly behind the rest of the end as extra time is being allowed to reinstate the wiring in the immediate area.

The body mounted lamp irons have also been removed from the ends as we plan to replace them with corridor connection mounted examples which are correct for the vehicle. The project to repair the battery boxes also continues with the removed boxes being cleaned up and needle gunned ready for new backs to be fitted to them. On balance we decided to switch our plan to swap the battery boxes with another vehicle in favour of repairing the originals instead.

Moving onto the interior, all of the damaged window glass securing studs and holes have now all been cleaned up, repaired and re-tapped where required, so that we get a smooth glass refitting session when the time comes. A start has been made on repairing and preparing the removed window surround woodwork as much of this will need stripping and revarnishing before it is refitted.

The ceiling panels in the Holt end of the coach (including two out of the three vestibules) have now been repainted gloss white and they certainly look much better than before.

British Railways 1957 Metro Cammell Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory E79263 (SILVER)

Work to seal the leaking new window rubbers in continuing where possible with resealing days being followed by rainy days to check the effectiveness of repair! With all of the side panels now back in place, we have started refitting the aluminum interior window surround trims and rubbers. The team have established a refit technique that will speed up future days undertaking this task.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

There has been a major effort on painting this vehicle inside and out, with very little else going on! The exterior has seen two coats of Gulf Red paint applied all the way round, followed by a refit of the handrails. These handrails and other parts such as the vacuum pipes on the ends have also been painted white.

Some finishing touches are now being applied to the sides including overhead warning flashes and the black boxes which will contain the engineers' department data and maintenance dates, which were a feature of these vehicles in the second half of their lives. Other items such as lamp irons and wagon label clips have been refitted showing that the end is near!

On the inside of the verandas, all of the winding gear has been repainted along with the inside walls and the cabin ends and doors.

Inside the cabin, the tops of the tool lockers, which were looking shabby, have had a coat of cream to freshen them up, and a replacement vacuum gauge has been fitted.

The vacuum gauge was purchased on Ebay and is a bit of an oddity as it is a duplex gauge that has had one side obliterated and knocked out of use. It has LMS origins, which this vehicle also has, so it was felt an interesting addition to replace the vans previous standard BR example which read slightly low in any case. The rather crude modification made it unattractive to collectors so came up at a good price, however this very feature also makes it unusual and matches the brakevan's humble engineers department pedigree, so it is felt to be a good fit for the vehicle.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918 (BRONZE)

The two lamp irons removed from 3868 are being prepared for reuse on this wagon.

Maintenance

Winter C examinations have now started with CCT 94464 the first of the fleet to be undertaken this year at Sheringham. This was after it had been split off from the Norfolk Lights Express train and all the external rope lighting and internal cabling and generators were removed. The removal of lighting was also undertaken at the same time to the rest of the set which is now having a well-earned rest from service.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2024

As is traditional, the final Blog post of the year looks back on what we have achieved these past 12 months. Exactly a year ago, I wrote about the challenges of adjusting to the post-Covid world of a slashed volunteer workforce which for us had led to a drop in released carriages after we’d reverted to more thorough works, which contrasted with the 2022 quick refresh policy that had to some extent given us a false sense of strong progress. Returning to 2024, we have pushed on with the same policy as 2023, that of continuing a mix of minor and major overhaul work to a variety of vehicles. Happily, despite having the same policy, we have outshopped many more vehicles this year compared with 2023 which suggests that we have, at long last, adjusted ourselves to the post-pandemic resource landscape that we now must work with going forward. Therefore, I think this year will probably be the last annual summary that uses the pandemic as its comparative yardstick, which is no bad thing as we seek to move on towards a positive and exciting future.

This year, we have completed two Bronze level overhauls, two at Silver level, a mid-life revarnish and routine revarnishing of the four Quad-Art vehicles. These were joined by two repaints of static coaches assisted by corporate volunteer group visits and no less than five wagon repaints. The wagon figure is particularly noteworthy and is a bit of a record, only being matched by the year 2017 which saw an equal number treated. So a total of sixteen vehicles noticeably improved in condition.

Four of those vehicles (25%) were wagons undertaken by and/or funded by the Joint Heritage Coach Fund, who have done particularly well with freight stock this year, forming 80% of the “wagon output”. The Fund (an arm of the M&GN Society) have not appeared this year in the carriage totals, primarily because they are doing such good work progressing two thorough Gold overhauls of historic LNER vehicles that demand long-term attention. Gold overhauls are essential to the long-term survival and health of our fleet, are often the most rewarding projects of all, but do not add to yearly “scores” very often. Nevertheless, we look forward to an increase in LNER specimens in the main running fleet in the future.

Sticking with the long-term theme, the railway’s core Carriage & Wagon department has its own project quietly progressing: replacement kitchen and future dining car 14021. Much like the LNER restorations, 14021 remains in the workshop, just where it was 12 months ago, but in a greatly improved condition. We had not started the vehicle in earnest last year, but over the summer and autumn period a significant amount of the major bodywork this coach demanded has been completed. Around half of the body rebuild works have now been completed, so with a fair wind we may have a completed shell being fitted out this time next year! Below are the monthly summaries of what we have achieved this year:

In January we were hiding up at Weybourne from the cold weather steadily progressing what was already in the sheds. This involved continued component restoration on long term diner 14021 and painting of the main service set brake 35148 which was having bodywork repairs and a repaint having sat most of the previous season out.

February was another mundane winter month, with bodywork progressing on DMU trailer car 56062, diner 14021, and the Fruit D wagon up at Holt. Over at the contractors in Derbyshire, LNER Brake Third Open 16631 reached a milestone when the bulk of the exterior bodysides were finished and painted in a holding coat.

March was the third month in a row which could be described as "steady progress", reflecting very much that the bulk of carriage restoration work is sadly not glamorous. We suffered a graffiti attack at Holt, thankfully on a stored carriage, the results of which we eradicated very quickly, as is our policy.

April at last saw a vehicle released back into the wild following works. Just missing Easter was brake 35148 which made a welcome return to service as it contained the favored accessible saloon, which the railway had done with without for an entire (2023) season. Its place in the workshop was taken by the Gresley Buffet car (9128) for a much needed exterior refresh.

In May, the Gresley Buffet was returned to service after its rapid body refresh. This involved replacement and/or repairs of much of the upper and end wooden panels and repaint to the sides and roof. It had been due to be done in 2025 but heavy usage on the cream tea trains had led to accelerated degradation of the vehicle, so it was felt it needed to jump the queue to protect this older, wooden, vehicle. We also bid farewell to ex-tube wagon chassis 732930, which had been used as an underframe for vintage coach M&GN 129, until it was replaced by a better riding and more historically accurate 6-wheeled version a few years ago. The chassis went to Ferryhill Heritage Railway Trust in Aberdeen, who were to use it to carry one of their vintage coach bodies.

June was the third consecutive month that a refreshed vehicle returned to service, this time it was brake coach 21224 which had been brought up to Weybourne for some repairs and a revarnish. Revarnishes are relatively quick so the coach was back out as quickly as it arrived.

July inevitably saw a return to steadier work, and we took the opportunity to lean in and get some heavier work done on long term project 14021. The fourth member of the LNER train, Third Open 13548, was extracted from Bridge Road Carriage sidings and emptied of spare parts storage, so that it would be ready for dispatching to the contractor engaged in Brake Third Open 16631 in due course.

In August, corporate volunteers assisted in the exterior refreshing on several static vehicles, including LNER Corridor Third 12493 at Sheringham, the former "play coach" that sits very visibly in platform 3. They also repainted support vehicles at Weybourne that house the bookshop and model railway.

September was another month to celebrate, this time the completion of the Fruit D wagon repairs and repaint. A huge amount of other work was also ongoing with several more projects edging closer to completion, including the DMU trailer car and Mark 1 Second Open 4843. LNER Brake Third Open 16631 was moved in Derbyshire from one location to another for its repairs to continue. Back at the NNR, there were also two more wagons in the pipeline, being undertaken by the team up at Holt and the Youth Development Club.

In October, the repairs and exterior repainting on 4843 were completed and the vehicle returned to service. We also started on a great number of Norfolk Lights Express preparations that were designed to improve the experience this year.

November saw no less than six vehicles released outside, Lowmac wagon 904149, the DMU trailer car (which had been transformed into 79263) and the four vehicles that make up the Quad-Art set. The Quads had been treated to their routine revarnish, whilst the Lowmac had had heavier deck repairs and a clean down and repaint. The DMU of course was a long running project, which is still not completed internally, but space in the shed was needed for the new winter 24/25 projects.

The final month of the year, surprisingly, saw a last minute reveal in the form of Pipe wagon 740918, which had been repainted by the Holt wagon team. The rest of the month was taken by absorbing all of the new projects that are going to kick-start 2025 off!

It has been an exceptional year for "outshopping" with numerous passenger and freight vehicles being so treated. So what will 2025 bring? It is expected that the existing long-term Gold overhauls of Thompson 1866, Gresley 16631 (under contract) and Mark 1 Brake First Open (Kitchen) 14021 will continue on their existing trajectory over the course of the year. The three normally operating vehicles that are currently in the shed for repairs are expected to be completed and returned to service in the first half of the year. These include Mark 1 Second Open 3868, Gresley Pigeon Van 6843 and Oyster Brakevan 993707. 3868 will be returning to its 1970's colour scheme of Midland & Great Northern Railway Brown to take part in the 2025 NNR 50th Anniversary celebrations. Other vehicles that will be treated to refreshes should include DMU powercar 51192 along with vintage train members M&GN Picnic Saloon 3 and Great Eastern Railway 853. We should also commence the Silver overhaul of DMU powercar 51228 which will take much longer that the other refreshes. Towards the back end of the year, we have a period of time dedicated to continuing to protect several of our normally static vehicles which will degrade beyond repair if we do not do some external repairs to them. These candidates will include protecting the side of the play coach (12493) which wasn't accessed this year by the corporate volunteers, along with work to Thompson BG 70621 to create a multi-purpose rolling events space. 70621 will in due course replace Mark 1 BG 81269 which is currently in poor order and used as a Christmas trains support vehicle. If time allows, right at the end of the year, Corridor Second 25189 may just get a look in as this coach is now due for cosmetic attention, particularly to its paintwork. I think everyone will agree that will plenty to be getting on with for the year!