February News Part 3

We start with a picture of part of the team currently involved in the M&GN Picnic Saloon and Conflat/Container wagon. They are occasionally let out onto the station platform provided they behave of course...

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

Exterior painting continues, with the undercoat spreading round the landward side of the vehicle. Being a wooden panelled vehicle, the repeated coats at this stage will build up the layers and be of great benefit to the final finish. Work to adjust the length of the buffers, described in January News Part 2, has been concluded and all four are now resplendent in gloss black and waiting refitting.

Undercoat building up on the landward side

Moving indoors, the two saloon tables have seen a further coat of varnish, and the folding table inside the luggage compartment has now been painted cream to match the surrounding panelling. A black circle has also been painted onto the roof to represent where the chimney used to be.

Completed buffers

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The urinal described last week has progressed with the “bowl” now essentially complete. However rather crucially there is not yet a hole at the bottom of this magnificent vessel so no doubt work will continue next week.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

Welding has been completed in the Holt/seaward corner of the carriage and lots of new steel framework and panelling is now present and protected in anti-rust paint. The repairs now extend to the doorway so work will now move on to the main section of coach on the seaward side. It is a long but essential part of any carriage overhaul. Work on the toilet has slowed due to manpower being required on BG M81114, however some small fittings have been progressed and the “skirting” which will go around the walls just above the floor has been machined and painted ready for fitting after the lino goes in. A milestone with the interior woodwork has been reached: the timber for the Holt end saloon is now entirely stripped back of old varnish and is now ready for new varnish.

The protracted work on the Holt/seaward corner of the carriage is now completed

British Railways 1954 Grounded Tool Van DB975129 (Ex Brake Corridor Second 34495)

This vehicle has finally bitten the dust and is now officially razor blades. This will therefore be the final time the coach is mentioned on this blog, take a bow 34495...

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Gangwayed Brake M81114

A fair amount of manpower has been directed at our newest acquisition, with a second and third coat of green paint applied over the rust-sorry-bodywork. It now looks infinitely smarter than when it arrived. Our work has now been completed by also scraping the graffiti off the windows, resealing the roof vents (they are currently missing) to limit water ingress, sweeping out the interior, clearing out the gutters of leaves/detritus and finally applying some stickers to the outside with the vehicle’s numbers so that enthusiasts can identify it. M81114 will now be used statically at Sheringham as required.

The thrill of scraping windows is evident...

British Railways 1956 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Second E43357

The supporting ceiling timbers, described in February News Part 1, have now been completed. Work continues inside the brake van with a rather nice section of wooden trunking being manufactured to feed cables from under the coach, up the bulkhead to the ceiling via a lighting control box.

Ceiling timbers now fitted

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Second E46139

E46139 has been lifted this week and its bogies removed for overhaul. This signals the start of the mechanical overhaul, which will deal with everything below floor level. So far one of the bogies has had all its brake shoes and linkages removed and has been needle gunned to remove old dust and flaky paint. This is yet another long and tedious task but should make the underneath look a million dollars.

E46139 lifted

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Second Lavatory Open E48001

While the temperature remains low, seat end stripping of varnish continues for the Sheringham saloon seat ends.

British Railways 1958 Conflat & Type AF Container B502824 & AF65970B

The conflat wagon, B502824, made a flying (24 hour) visit inside the shed to be varnished to give the side a new shine to match the newly painted container (AF65970B) which will soon be lowered onto the conflat. A few areas of the chassis, such as the ends of the vacuum brake pipes and hand brake handles have also been repainted red/white respectively. As the conflat is already restored, no more work is required to it other than the fitting of the vacuum cylinder.

The conflat during varnishing

Clive Morris

We finish with a report of the passing of Clive Morris, the North Norfolk Railway’s chairman and a key part of the Carriage & Wagon department. Clive, 78, was a very active C&W volunteer in the earlier days of the department and continued to help out occasionally from home, the restoration of woodwork from the Mark 1 suburbans being a recent example. Perhaps more importantly, he was a champion of fundraising, and was instrumental in attracting the lottery funding to restore the beautiful Gresley Quad Art set and later the four Kings Cross Mark 1 suburban vehicles, the restorations of which are currently in full swing. It is a fairly safe statement that without Clive, we may well not have had the Quad Arts today. It is a shame that Clive did not see the entry into service of the suburbans and our thoughts are with this wife Betty and his family. North Norfolk News has published an obituary this week.

Clive enjoying travel on the Quad Arts