September News Part 2

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Work has continued on the ongoing projects that have been described in full over previous weeks. More of the outside beading and paneling has been removed to allow renewal to take place where required with the landward side being the current focus. The lockers for the guards area have also progressed.

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

The chassis has changed in appearance dramatically over the past fortnight as it has become more than merely a set of frames and now has its three wheelsets positioned underneath it, and the "W irons" in place on the chassis itself. Linking the W irons with the wheels are the axleboxes, which have also been fitted to all six wheels. This was a fairly involved process as it was very important to get all the alignments correct so that the wheels sit straight on the chassis. Some thick metal packing pieces are required to locate the W irons correctly and these have been made and are now currently in the process of being painted.

Adjustments being made to W irons

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

This carriage is the next major one for releasing back into service, so the drive is now on to finish it properly and tie up all those loose ends. The toilet plumbing and water heating system, which was never quite finished earlier this year, has been under the spotlight again with various tests and tweaks to try and get trouble-free service from it. A few leaking and blocked pipes have been found in the system so these will have to be dealt with.

On the rest of the coach a big push has been made on the sanding and filling required before the painters are called in. The first week has seen one side nearly completed. The battery box covers, which were looking a little sad, have also been removed for repairs and repainting to spruce them up a bit, as otherwise the rest of the coach (once painted) will show them up!

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

Another coach that's been seeing a lot of attention. Woodwork stripping, sanding and varnishing has continued apace with a huge stack taking up the workshop, and stripping of corridor partitions inside the coach itself has also started at the second class end.

A trip to our secret storage location has meant that more interior components stripped out of the carriage are now back in the workshop to be dealt with. The glass for the vehicle has been assessed with original (non safety) panes disposed of and the ones with "kite marks" retained for refitting in the coach. These will have to be cleaned before fitting.

The exterior doors on the coach have moved forwards with all of the locks now properly aligned and fitted, a single sentence which took someone a full week! The gutters for the coach have been expertly scraped back to bare aluminium and then coated in primer ready for refitting.

The passenger communication apparatus at the Holt end of the coach has been fully rebuilt and re-attached to the coach, this was required due to its poor condition and operation, one of the many tasks we have had to undertake that wasn't originally planned for.

Lastly, a set of brake shoe hangers have been cleaned and painted for the bogies. Eagle eyed readers will know that this has been reported on before, however the brake gear from the bogies was "stolen" from this coach to speed up the bogie overhaul of TLO E48001 (out-shopped last month) so we are now painting up the examples originally from E48001 in order to fit them to the bogies on E43041 once it exits the staging area.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

This has now been in traffic for two weeks since we "finished" it. We have opportunities on Fridays to do a bit more on the vehicle if the weather is dry. The vehicle's numbers, "Private" and "Guard" signs have now been painted on the sides in black and will receive the main (cream) colour in due course.

British Railways 1958 GWR Designed "Fruit D" W92097

This van is now back in service following rapid completion of its repairs. The two wheelsets, freshly turned on the wheel lathe, were refitted to the vehicle along with a set of replacement brake blocks borrowed from another wagon on the railway which is currently stored out of service. The broken spring was replaced which re-commissioned the drawgear and the vehicle was then returned to Sheringham.

Metropolitan Cammell 1965 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 53083

Work on the repaint is progressing well on dry days. The landward side and the Holt end of the tank has now been painted in its first coat of gloss and the vehicle is beginning to shine for the first time in years!