February News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Monkey has now been apprehended and seen the error of his ways. A period of cooling off time inside 853 was required without food to make him see the severity of last week’s actions. He has now agreed to be a good Works Monkey and apologised to the Joint Heritage Coach Fund volunteers, so we can now all move on happily!

Elsewhere on the coach, it has all been about corners this week so you could say that the team have been living on the edge. The Holt end/seaward side corner which was badly rotten has now been chiselled away back to good wood so that a major splice repair can be undertaken soon. The rot had extended into the window frame nearby so this has also been chipped out as required.

Already, the floor section at the bottom of the pillar has had a new piece let in so the road to recovery has already started. The guard’s ducket next to this corner has also been removed for its own repairs and to access the corner woodwork better.

Each of the four corners of the coach has a brass angle strip, and these have also been removed from all four corners of the carriage - many of them were found to have GER stamped on the backs, so they're genuine stock!

In case you were wondering, this paragraph contains the word “corner” seven times!

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

The Axeman decided to make a stand this week, four to be precise. These, in true preservation fashion, have been recycled using redundant material from the new Boiler Shop project and welded up accordingly. They are intended for use standing small coach chassis and bogie frames whilst the wheelsets and/or “W irons” are either removed or under repair. These will be first used later this year when the new 6 wheel chassis for 129 is being assembled.

British Railways 1962 Mark 1 First Open M3116

Contract seat re-upholstery is still in progress.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

The reglazing work has continued, with a further six sheets of glass now fitted which represents half of the total number which has to be done.

The Holt end corridor connection has also been removed following the discovery of more rot in this end than previously thought.

Interior work has included the restoration and repainting of the table brackets which hold the tables to the walls just below the windows. A sliding door has been re-varnished for the Holt end vestibule but was unable to be fitted as it requires some heavy adjustment, so the toilet door was hung instead, which nicely compliments the Store Cupboard door opposite which was fitted a few weeks ago.

Varnish stripping has concentrated on the vestibules with the Sheringham end vestibule now completed and the final, centre, vestibule currently in progress. Also in the Sheringham end vestibule, the last of the wall panelling has been refitted into position, the ceiling undercoated and the steam heater cleaned up and repainted ready for refitting.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

No progress to report this week.

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

As a low-dust policy is in place for the duration of the repainting work, finishing work on the coach cannot continue until the repaint is completed. The painting has therefore been the sole focus on this coach which is very nearly ready for service. The entire coach received its first coat of Crimson gloss, followed shortly by the second (top) coat. Only the seaward side now requires its second coat.

The reproduction carriage prints have arrived and are now waiting refitting in the picture frames, of which there are five in each of the nine compartments.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

Many of the areas of wood underneath the seating have received another coat of gloss increasing their protection. Much of the restored door woodwork has also been gathered together in readiness for when the time is ripe to assemble the final fittings on the doors.

Maintenance

Two more coaches, TSO E4843 and BSK W35148, decided to stop working properly in the vacuum braking department. This is obviously not a very good situation, so three spare vacuum cylinders are now in the process of being overhauled and tested to replace the failed examples on these two casualties.

The other valves within the system are also requiring overhaul/changing on W35148 in addition to the cylinders themselves.