October News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

No progress to report.

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

No progress to report.

London North Eastern Railway 1929 4 Wheel Pigeon Van 6843

The two wheelsets have now been turned back into profile on the wheel-lathe and have been returned to the workshop. The first set is in the process of being cleaned prior to repainting as the wheels both look a little sad.

The end panels, repaired last week, have been repainted gloss black which has boosted the appearance of the vehicle's ends.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

The stainless steel water tank has been completed and was refitted to the plumbing system, but during testing some of the joints were unable to be sealed. The tank has been removed again for the joints to be looked at. Once the system is leak free, a test will be made to see if we have hot water to the sink! The six door cards mentioned last week have now been fully varnished and await refitting once the painters are out of the way.

On the subject of painting, this has been progressing well over the week, with the whole vehicle in primer by Wednesday.

By close of play on Friday, the undercoat had been applied along both sides of the carriage giving the vehicle its two tone appearance for the first time.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

The refitting of exterior glass has continued with the toilet areas being the latest to be glazed. A sheet of toilet glass was broken some years ago and will have to be replaced.

The wooden door surrounds have now been fitted so the mundane task of stripping off the old paint from the areas of bodyside that were not replaced  has been progressed instead.

Roger Ison took the opportunity (whilst E4641 was being painted) to clean down the two bufferbeams and remaining chassis solebar (on the landward side) and get them painted up to match the rest of the underframe.

Metropolitan Cammell 1965 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 53083

No progress to report.

Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society Lorry

The Society's Austin K2 lorry has been brought into the workshop for some restoration work and a repaint, all of course supervised by Monkey. This has seen the teams usually associated with the vintage stock helping out the lorry volunteers. Aside from a series of mechanical tasks which had accumulated since the lorry had been purchased by the M&GN Society, rubbing down and preparation works for repainting have been undertaken, and some areas such as the flat side doors and wheels are already seeing paint.

The Axeman, himself an aficionado of classic road-going transportation, has been involved with the restoration work, concentrating on the vehicle's badge. The owners and the police have been informed...