November News Part 3

A fairly thin update this week, as there has been a lot of larger jobs already reported on that have simply continued to be worked on.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The exterior doors, pictured last time, have continued to progress with more repairs and wood splices being added to them.

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

No progress to report.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

Interior cleaning has now been concluded, with the saloons and both end compartments (one toilet and one store room) all having had a serious wipe down, hoover and tidy up to remove the temporary workshop dust that had settled on all the surfaces. The doors have now been shut and the interior is officially complete and ready for passengers!

One challenge to overcome was the door "budget" locks (used to lock a door out of service if it is defective). Whilst trying to lock the carriage in readiness for releasing it back into the operating fleet we suddenly realised that the slots in the door frames for the locks to engage into had been missed out and weren't there! A day was therefore spent cutting these out, very neatly as the coach has now been fully painted, and the vehicle now has six fully locking doors.

On the exterior, the new batteries have been fitted and tested and work very well. Some other minor painting tasks such as picking out small lettering in white have also been undertaken. It is anticipated that next week, after two years in the workshops, this coach will be leaving us and returning to service.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

More woodwork refitting and toilet reassembly has been done. All of the Formica paneling throughout the coach has now been cleaned which has improved its appearance greatly. The bodyside preparation work also continues to progress rapidly, with the landward side now completed apart from a final (fine) sand the seaward side is now being brought to the same standard.

The roof scraping was also completed this week, and the first coat of new roof paint applied. Before this could be done, a few roof vents and other "furniture" up there was resealed into place as a few bits had come away.

British Railways 1956 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Second E43357

The additional guards steps mentioned last week have now been completed and are just in the process of being painted.

Metropolitan Cammell 1965 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 53083

The weather has now taken a downward turn, so the completion of the vehicle's repaint is awaiting space in the shed.