August News Part 3

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

The varnishing on the seaward side of the carriage has now been completed, however a few parts have to be redone on the landward side, so there is still a little bit of varnishing still to complete.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The large steel C sections that were recently brought indoors have now both been drilled with the myriad of holes that will accept all of the various spring hangars and axlebox "W irons". Being able to drill all of these holes in the right places first time really shows the skill of the engineers we have involved on this task. One of the C sections has also had bolts fitted thrugh the holes and the heads welded to the sections, creating studs (of a kind).

On the chassis itself, work has been focused on the drawgear equipment. The plates that go on the ends of the vehicle and hold the drawhook itself in place are now fitted onto the headstocks, and the central section of the continuous drawgear has been assembled complete with rubber springing in the centre. The wooden packers that help hold he body up have also been trial fitted to the top of the chassis.

Centre section of continuous drawgear with rubber springing

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

A major milestone has been reached with the vehicle this week: the completion of the metalwork repairs. This represents the single greatest aspect of the coach's overhaul, so is great to see it at this stage. Now that the metalwork repairs (which have to be done whilst almost no other work is underway) are behind us, more jobs on the rest of the vehicle have been progressed this week. Roger Williams, who has spent several weeks repairing the aluminium window frames (removed some months ago), has now started the process of refitting the frames to the carriage, wok so far has entailed preparing the fresh metal with undercoat in the areas that will be hidden when the frames themselves are fitted.

Meanwhile on the interior the large sections of floor which had been removed from the seaward side of the Sheringham half of the carriage, plus the floor from the Sheringham corridor end, have been fully replaced with new hardwood supports and plywood flooring. This is in readiness for the start of some of the interior components being refitted to the carriage.

Floor supports being installed

Floor completed in the Sheringham end saloon

Floor completed in the Sheringam end corridor area

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

The interior stripping out mentioned last week is almost complete: all 8 compartments are now empty and only the third class corridor and toilet now remain to be treated. The doors have also progressed, all 13 have now been stripped down to their component parts, and several are now receiving metalwork repairs where they have rotted into the next world. The wood frames of the same doors are also being protected where required, as these doors progress we continue to get a better "feel" for how many can be cleaned up and reused, how many require metalwork repairs, and how many are corroded beyond repair. Some have rotten wooden frames with good (reusable) metal skins screwed onto them, whilst some others have great frames but severely wasted skins!

A door with a new bottom fitted

On the exterior, the landward side gutter is now removed from the carriage, following the seaward side which was done last week. The conclusion of the welding repairs on E4641 has meant attention is now able to turn to replacing the rot on E43041. A start has been made on the Sheringham end/seaward side of the vehicle, with one and a half compartments-worth of old panelwork removed to assess the framework. Unfortunately this coach is fantastically rotten, and is clearly the worst of the Suburban 4 project vehicles. A long journey now awaits us, so expect plenty of "metalwork repairs to E43041 continue this week" reports in future weeks (months?!?).

The first section of rotten framework revealed

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

All of the "fire breaks" (pictured last week) have now been painted, concluding this job. Seat reupholstery continues with more seat backs being re-trimmed this week, the number of bits required to retrim for this coach can now be counted on one hand.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

More luggage racks have had their washed strings repaired and refitted to the aluminium rack itself. This task is ongoing, as is the toilet plumbing and interior varnishing described in previous weeks.

British Railways 1957 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory E56062

The waist height bodyside line and underframe lettering have received a second coat, and the white vacuum "stars" have been applied to the underframe. The white stars were at such a height that a chair was required to paint them, so the solution that any self respecting individual would reach was found: a brown winged armchair! This concludes the repaint for this vehicle. Handrails have now been refitted and any damaged areas and odd nuts/bolts have been touched in to match the rest of the vehicle. E56062 will therefore be leaving us very soon.

Painting in style!

Ready to roll