17 June 2017

June News Part 2

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853


After last week's "dramatic" report involving the chassis this week holds all of the excitement of Grandma's net curtains. The tasks of steadily progressing the long jobs already in motion have continued as usual.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224


The bulkhead at the Holt end of the carriage has been sanded down, after having its varnish stripped off last week. More wooden interior parts have been stripped, sanded and repaired.


Work has now also started on the ten main passenger windows. The sliding parts have been removed and are in the process of being cleaned up to a fine aluminium shine. These had been painted gold by their previous owner, but we do not require the 1970's restaurant look so will be returning them to their original state. Any repairs to the catches and springs etc are being done as we go along.


The windows themselves are having all their old sealant and paint removed so that they can be refitted in due course once the bodywork is completed.


Now that work on E4236 is reaching completion, some resources have become available to return to the exterior doors for E21224. These are currently dismantled and more repairs to the steel skins have been completed.


These doors should be able to be built back up before too long.


A start has also been made on machining some new hardwood floor supports to replace those which had to be cut out when the bodywork was being undertaken on the seaward side. It is nice to be producing new parts for the coach rather than chopping out old parts!

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236


The interior refresh continues. A great deal of the wooden varnished interior has been rubbed down and a new coat of varnish applied to freshen it up. This task is about 2/3rds completed.

On the exterior, the remaining corridor end woodwork has been fitted to the Holt end, completing this task.


Two rotten lighting jumper cables have been removed from the ends and the surrounding metal repaired, to prevent any further water ingress. All of the removed fittings, springs and buffing gear from the corridor connections have been painted into black undercoat to help get them ready for refitting the corridor connections once the repaint is completed.


Speaking of repaints, now that E4236's repairs are sufficiently advanced, the vehicle has now been handed over for paintwork preparation. So far the entire landward side has been rubbed down, filled and made ready for the painters. The seaward side is due to follow next week.


British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192


The space in the shed that M51192 left vacant was not in that state for long, with the same vehicle returning into our midst for more repairs after the diesel gala. This involved it being lifted again for a couple of days. It has now been put back on its bogies, again, and departed the shed once more on Friday.


British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352


Before entering service a small contingent from Sheringham were available to give the vehicle a good clean, so it now looks much better.


Royal Navy 4 Wheel Flat 269


The wagon has had the wooden deck protected with creosote this week. The wagon itself is now completed and just awaits a suitable load adding to it...


M&GN Dray


Work on repairing the Dray at Holt continues.

Workshop


As part of the Mezzanine storage area project, the shed requires a super-sort out and tidy up with each section having bits that require storing on the mezzanine removing, and what remains stacking and storing properly. The first 1/4 of the shed, the staging area, is now completed and hopefully the new tidy set up can be maintained!

09 June 2017

June News Part 1

The nations favorite Norfolk Carriage News is back once again, like a reassuring cup of tea at the end of a long journey home...

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853


Dramatic progress was made when the chassis was lifted off the accommodation flat wagon which was pulled out from underneath. Whilst in mid air the opportunity was taken to extract the two wheelsets (already restored some time ago) from storage and roll them roughly into position so that they are close to hand when they are required. The underframe was then gently lowered onto stands where it will reside whilst the four "W irons" are attached.


The W irons themselves have now all reached the gloss black stage so now match the chassis in their completeness. The chassis has also reached the gloss black stage. The two now await being brought together.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224


No prizes are available this week for anybody guessing the progress here... It's been more woodwork varnish stripping! A lot of the separate panels and trim are complete now so the bulkheads on the coach in situ have been started.


Good progress is also being made on repairing some of the split and missing/rotten sections on some of the woodwork awaiting varnishing.


British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236


This coach has seen the most progress of all. On the interior, the ceilings which had to be removed to instigate corridor end repairs have now been refitted, and the saloon ceilings have had a coat of paint to freshen them up.


The varnished panels are progressing well in terms of lightly rubbing them down for a top-up coat of varnish. Some poor vinyl signage has also been replaced, such as the labels which inform passengers of the emergency communication apparatus ("do not pull the chain"). Finally, the wooden window surrounds have also received a "top up" coat of brown to smarten their appearance. These were already painted, as opposed to varnished, during a previous restoration.

The exterior has also come on in leaps and bounds. Both ends are now fully welded up with sound metal and new skin. New wooden supports have been made and these have been fitted to the Sheringham end along with the passenger communication apparatus.


The refurbished windows mentioned last time have been fully sealed in to the coach to try and stop water ingress, although I'm sure it will find a way!

The doorways are also fairly advanced, with the aluminium weather strips fitted to the door apertures and sealed in. This then allowed the six doors themselves (already refurbished) to be refitted. The coach is now nearly whole again from the outside!


British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192


It was a race against time for the Locomotive Department to get the vehicle serviceable in time for the diesel gala. Although there are ongoing issues, the vehicle was deemed fit to operate for the weekend, being finished just a day before the event! The road M51192 occupied has once more become vacant.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352


This vehicle has now returned to traffic, and has been in use with M51192 for the Diesel Gala. The coach was filthy however after spending a period inside the workshop and we were lucky that a small contingent from Sheringham were available to give the vehicle the once over before the event. Cinderella made it to the ball!


Royal Navy 4 Wheel Flat 269


The Navy wagon was moved out of the workshop to make space for re-wheeling 853. This has allowed some rotten parts of the decking to be replaced so it is acceptable once more. The deck is now waiting to be creosoted to give it some protection from the great outdoors.

M&GN Dray


The horse dray from Holt has sadly deteriorated rapidly in the short time it has been up there, so part of it has been removed and brought back for some remedial woodwork repairs. A new front top rail has been produced and the horse shafts have been sanded back, resin applied and then primed as the paint was flaking off badly.