April News Part 2

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

This week No3 has had a heavy tidy inside and out, which has cleared the area around the coach and also emptied the interior, giving the first chance since the seats were installed to see the open saloon devoid of tools/equipment. This is partly as the coach is due to be moved temporarily next week for an hour or so for a metal cutting guillotine machine to be transferred from the “old” machine shop at Weybourne into the carriage works. This was because it was found that Carriage & Wagon were using the machine more often than any other department, so during the reconfiguration of the works to accommodate the boiler overhauls, it was decided to transfer the guillotine to us.

General interior view

A vacuum test has also been taken to test the brakegear and vacuum cylinder arrangement. It seems there is a problem with the latter which will have to be investigated however the system does hold the full 21 inches of vacuum normally.

Pulling 21 inches

This tidying however hasn’t prevented progress on the rest of the coach, with some gloss paint being applied to the seaward side of the carriage, only to be rubbed down again as it was found to be badly contaminated with dust. The tidy up should help the next attempt in this regard.

The luggage door showing the red/yellow lining mentioned last week

On the interior, the door to the toilet has had its glass revealed (it was previously protected in plastic), whilst inside the toilet the light “globe” has been installed with the help of an angled base (described in March News Part 3) which allows the light to sit level whilst also being screwed to the curved ceiling.

Toilet door glass

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

Due to our resident metalworker slightly altering the days in which he comes in, there will be an update on the exterior bodywork next week. The eight window frames for the Holt end saloon are now being prepared for reassembly, and are in undercoat.

On the interior, the floor for the store room (used to be the second toilet but will not be reinstated as such) has started to be machined from hardwood whilst directly above it a water tank has been removed as this will also not be required in service with only one toilet (the second water tank will be retained). A lone volunteer is also doing sterling work progressing the interior woodwork varnish stripping, and has now moved onto the interior bulkheads in the Holt end saloon, which will be most useful for when we “move back in” to this saloon for reconstruction after the bodywork repairs are concluded.

British Railways 1956 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Second E43357

In common with last week, E43357 has been a centre of attention. On the interior, the guards van continues to progress. The side walls are now in white undercoat and all beading etc has been finished. The ceiling has also now received a cream top coat so we are approaching the end for this area. Brackets have been manufactured for the bulkhead (installed last week) which holds the guards mirror which is part of the periscope system. The second periscope has now been gloss painted and is ready for fitting into the roof to join the first one which was fitted in 2014. The two pairs of double luggage doors have been undercoated in red as that was their original colour scheme for some unknown reason... Several bits of metalwork from the backs of the doors have also been cleaned up and undercoated by volunteers.

Completed (second) periscope

The exterior has come on visually, with several days of final preparation work and cleaning being undertaken on the body sides and ends (the latter have now been fully sanded and are at the same stage as the sides) which got the whole vehicle ready for final painting. This started on Thursday and the seaward side has been undercoated in crimson. These coaches take longer than traditional Mark 1 vehicles to paint as the number of doors and windows slows down the painting process.

The undercoated seaward side

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Second E46139

Our newest member of staff has been working on the underneath of E46139, as good an initiation as any! The vehicle has been lifted again to allow under-floor work to be done in relative comfort. As this coach is not going to be steam heated, the connection to the pipe-work which feeds all the heaters has been blanked off sympathetically, so if we wish to heat the vehicle in the future, only a small section of pipe will have to be reinstated. There is now the main steam pipe running through the vehicle end to end. Volunteers have started to clean up some of the areas of the underframe which is particularly visible, which will compliment the fully repainted bogies well. Two refurbished vacuum cylinders have also been fitted to the coach whilst the direct admission valves that are situated next door to them have been taken off and stripped down for overhaul. A start has been made on adjusting the ride height of the vehicle which is done by adjusting the springs on the bogies.

A flurry of action underneath E46139

Workshop

We’ve received several requests concerning an update for the workshop sack barrow refurbishment, which hasn’t been mentioned since February News Part 1. All four barrows have been through works and are now back in traffic. Whilst it is rare to see all four in service at once, which only usually happens during gala events, the entire fleet was captured here in an arc which was arranged during a photographic charter: