Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
With the underframe vacuum system approaching completion, a vacuum test was conducted this week. The cylinder and brakework appear to operate normally but the vehicle initially failed its "leak off" test. This is a "right side failure" (not dangerous) in that the vacuum leaks in such a way that the brakes eventually go on. Normally these leaks are undetected as the locomotive constantly creating vacuum overcomes it, however too many in a train leads to an eventual drop and brakes dragging on so it is good practice to have all overhaulled vehicles "vacuum tight" to prevent this from happening. The leaks were accordingly investigated./ So far, a leaking joint in the new pipe and a porus bufferbeam vacuum pipe have both been identified - the porous pipe has been replaced already. This has improved the leaking considerably but there are still some more preventing the vehicle from passing the leak off test despite the registered improvement. These investigations/repairs will therefore continue next week.
As hinted last week, the successful fitting of more foot board supports did indeed allow the boards themselves to be fitted and painted this week. They now just await top coating.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
Interior work on the store cupboard saw several brackets manufactured from scratch which will be screwed to the walls in due course and are intended to hold the shelving which will be fitted. Work on replacement flooring is also progressing well, with the new sections now cut to size and protected in primer. Other tasks that have been mentioned already in previous updates have also moved forwards, namely more interior guards van wooden planking stripped/sanded/painted, more exterior doors stripped of their old paint, and more compartment under-seat heater grills reaching the gloss black paint stage.
We have a good number of volunteers working hard on this coach at present, which is plugging the gap left by paid staffing being tied up exclusively on the other two Mark 1's currently in the workshop, allowing this one to progress. For that we are always grateful!
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
Further reassembly work has been undertaken in the Sheringham end saloon by the weekend team, who are now reaching the home straight with this particular task. A good hoover has made the area look a lot better and its now ready for the final reassembly work and any other sundry tasks now that is is a cleaner area.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352
The end is now in sight for the re-upholstery, which we are doing our best to conclude before the February half term week which is when this vehicle is due back into traffic. We do try and provide coaches in service that actually have seats fitted to them! We had a count up of the number of side trims (we call them "boomerangs" or "hockey sticks" due to their shape) which had fallen off and gotten lost over the years so that new ones could be made. They are quite a simple component, upholstered plywood with some fixing blocks attached to the back, and we were about half a dozen short. Enter Chris - a new volunteer with an interest in woodwork, who spent his first day with us this week. He successfully produced the missing items and these can now be added to the pile for upholstering next week. We hope he enjoyed his day helping us out and look forward to seeing him again, if he chooses to return to us of course!
British Railways 1960 Covered Carriage Truck E94464
The exterior has now had its main bodyside painting concluded, with the application of the second coat of maroon gloss this week.
The resident painter was obviously not fast enough, judging by the intervention of (yes it's true) Carriage & Wagon's new Monkey Hand Puppet, our latest member of staff! We can't work out if he's paid or volunteer yet, but he seems to be cracking on with the brush in any case...
The completion of the painting has allowed other odds-and-sods on the outside to be painted, including the handrails, gutter strip, wagon clips and most prominently, the chalk boards that carry the destinations. We now have the task of fending off the offensive messages and joke destinations which will no doubt be added to the boards by workshop staff with too much time and chalk on their hands!
The end doors have really come on this week as well, with three out of the four folding doors now bolted into position at the Sheringham end. Completion of these and final adjusting and painting is now expected to be achieved next week all being well.
Finally, the interior has seen a good number of cracks and holes in the aging floor filled in with flooring compound. This is a "reasonable improvement" sort of job and is not expected to last forever, however we shall see how it fares in service and it already looks better than the cracks etc which it has replaced. It will also look less stark after the whole floor has been repainted and blended in all the repairs.
Southern Railway 1939 Parcels & Miscellaneous Van S1359S
Now awaiting shunting out of the workshops.
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