Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
Work has resumed on "the old girl", although the volunteer team is still not back up to full strength just yet as this week was still quite close to the Christmas/New Year period. Nevertheless some minor tweaks to the newly installed vacuum piping has been made, and some more sections of it painted. Also on the underframe, the long footboards (which run along the full length of the vehicle) are being prepared for fitting and are being cut to length and having various end pieces fitted and holes drilled to allow them to be bolted to their supports in due course.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
The latest job this week to be started has been an assessment of the plywood floors inside the compartments and along the side corridor. One or two sections inside a few of the compartments require replacement, as does at least 50% of the side corridor, which has suffered water ingress. One thing you do not want is fare paying passengers to make a hole in the floor with their ankle as they walk along the train!
Work inside the store cupboard continues, with the wooden window surrounds being dry fitted to the window (the glass for which hasn't been fitted yet). This work has required quite a bit of adjustment to the frames and surrounding panel work to make them fit in a satisfactory manner.
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
Welding work on the horribly corroded Sheringham end has resumed in the New Year, thankfully as it's a big job that needs to be progressed! The seaward side corner and top rail above the doorway has now been completely stripped off for a new doorway to be welded in. This of course required the door itself to be taken off. This now paves the way for new steel to be added in, much the same way as was done a few weeks ago on the opposite corner. At this stage of the process with less ans less of the original coach present, accurate measuring is absolutely essential, as the image depicts:
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352
No progress to report.
British Railways 1960 Covered Carriage Truck E94464
The focus to try and finish this vehicle is now starting to show. The underframe has progressed as the vehicle was lifted on jacks again this week and re-wheeled onto its refurbished wheelsets. This has in turn allowed the rest of the mechanical work to progress, namely fitting new brake blocks and adjusting the brakes. It has been discovered that the linkages underneath are all stuck after 10 years of little use, so we intend to revisit next week for a serious session to free everything up properly. This must be done before final adjustments and vacuum brake testing can be done.
Moving onto the exterior of the body, the big news is that the paint preparation work (sanding and filling) is complete! Woo hoo! All that remains now is some more minor fettling to the doorways and the vehicle will then be ready for exterior painting... The supporting straps for the Sheringham end doors have also now been cleaned up, primed and undercoated.
On the interior, the vehicle's original lights (which haven't been used for about 30 years we think!) actually work after we put some batteries on the vehicle and put some bulbs in the holders! The main focus however has been the two planked sides and Holt end doors which over a couple of days have received their undercoat paint, which means they are all one colour for the first time in a while.
Southern Railway 1939 Parcels & Miscellaneous Van S1359S
A final (small) repair has now been made to the air vent situated near the roof on the Holt end of the vehicle, which has been painted black to match the rest. The vehicle is now on hold to await movement into the staging area so its roof can be painted.
Maintenance
The New Year brings with it more maintenance commitments. The forthcoming weeks will see members based at Sheringham to tackle "C Exams" to most of the operational Mark 1 vehicles to ready them for the season that lies ahead.
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