March News Part 4

In great British tradition, we shall start with a generic weather related comment, it's getting warmer! This has made the workshop more pleasant if nothing else, with lots as usual to report on!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The roof is currently on hold as the late winter weather has meant that the roofing compound is taking its time somewhat to dry, so the order of the day has been to be busy with other tasks whilst allowing the roof to absorb as many degrees as possible. One of these tasks has been the steaming and clamping of two roof hoop shaped sections of ash that are destined for the ends of the coach pinning the edge canvas to the body. Whilst they successfully steamed and were clamped to a tighter radius than required in their finished shape, when un-clamped they sprung back to a straighter shape than desired. They have now been further adjusted and will hopefully be suitable for use next week.

Also on the outside of the coach, some of the guards handrails are being fitted to the doorways.

On the guards end of the vehicle, the end steps are now bolted on permanently and a particularly attractive feature, the red tail light, also put into position. The lighting itself needs finishing, but the physical housing is now in and can be suitably modeled if someone shines a torch through it from the inside!

Inside the guards van itself, the vacuum piping is now fully finished with a painted emergency brake valve and a very polished vacuum gauge in position in the correct places.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

We have been able to reallocate resources onto this coach that had previously been "stolen" for the big push on M4372! This week saw recommencement of the project to renew the floors inside the side corridor and also progress on the stripping and painting of the wooden interior parts for the luggage van area. Inside the store cupboard three shelves have also been produced this week, shaped to fit (due to the curved bodyside profile of the coach, each shelf is a different length/size) and then fitted into position onto the brackets that were fitted previously.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

The coach is being simultaneously sanded and painted, seaward and landward sides respectively. This is a cruel necessity due to the short timescale we have on this carriage, and the paint is inevitably getting dust in it as it dries! However sometimes compromise is necessary and we are progressing well with getting the coach ready to return to service as soon as possible. The seaward side paint preparation has progressed hugely over the week with large areas of the upper section (around the windows) now filled and sanded smooth.

Meanwhile, the landward side is transformed, with a coat of primer and undercoat both applied during the week. The undercoats are split as red and cream undercoats are required for the differing colours that form the "Crimson & Cream" livery. By close of play, the upper (cream) sections had also received their first coat of gloss. It is starting to look like a dining coach once again!

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The final section of welding repair has now been completed to the Sheringham corridor end, bringing to and end quite a saga that was hugely more involved than originally anticipated! This heralds the half way point for the corridor end welding repairs. Attention will now soon be turning towards round 2, the Holt end, and with welding completed we can now also consider refitting the Sheringham end internally. No rest for the wicked!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Re-upholstery of the seating continues.

Easter Break

Sadly due to a combination of taking time off and going off on holidays, there will be no Blog update next week. However subject to me not getting impounded in Customs trying to bring back Hungarian carriage mementos home, normal service will resume in two weeks time! Viszont látásra!

March News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

I was correct in my assumption last week that the suspicious package was the new roof canvas. The roof, duly prepared, was pasted in special roofing compound before the canvas was stretched on and pinned around the outside.

This involved a lot of ironing, a skill that I for one never knew a lot of the lads possessed and will no doubt be put to use back at home now that the cat is out the bag!

The finished canvas then had another thick layers of compound applied and it is currently drying, which is taking several days.

Meanwhile on the interior, an insert has been created that fits around the vacuum pipe where it comes up through the floor via a clearance hole. The end result is neater and will prevent drafts!

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

No progress to report.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

Another week focusing on this repainting task. The landward side has continued to progress well, with the sanding and filling now completed. This side is now ready for painting next week.

The final task on the windows was remaking some patches which had fallen out of the windows. These patches were plugs for older cutouts in the windows which once carried brackets for roof boards. These were fitted just below the gutter for named trains such as "The Pines Express" or "The Flying Scotsman". In case anyone was suggesting reinstating the brackets, sadly they appear to be random and in the wrong places, betraying the secret that the windows on this coach are not original and have been salvaged from a scrapped classmate.

On the seaward side, the aluminium window frames are now fully stripped and sanded back to bare metal. Failed rivets have been replaced and any surface corrosion around vulnerable areas cleaned back and treated. Next week will see paint preparation work move onto this side.

All four doorways have also been prepared for repainting and any small remedial work carried out.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

We are at last on the home straight for the welding repairs to the Sheringham end. Just one more section of panelwork now to fit (above the corridor connection) and that should see the major renewal completed. The corroded framework below where the new panel is destined has been cleaned and painted ready.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

This has now been successfully put into traffic with our interior work to the guards van completed.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

In a mass removal session, all of the remaining seat backs and side pieces were removed from the vehicle this week so that they can be reupholstered in due course.

The front saloon (behind the cab) has also been the seat frames sanded back and repainted blue in the same way as we did in January with its partner M56352. This work can only be done with the cushions removed but before the new ones start being refitted!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352

Similar to M51188, it has now been successfully put into traffic with re-upholstery work completed. As promised last week, I have photographic evidence of the final (of the three) passenger saloons to be fully fitted out with the newly upholstered seating.

March News Part 2

With the snows gone we are back to full strength with the department once more running normally, well as close to normal as we can manage given the reprobates that frequent the building!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The scaffolding continues to be put to good use with any gaps or edges smoothed or sealed along the replacement plywood which has been attached to the roof. There is also a large and suspicious package that has been left unattended next to the coach (like the ones we are told to report if we see in a public place!) which we think may be the new canvas covering? All will be revealed next week when "Team Great Eastern" are back in and open it...

Inside the vehicle, the handbrake pedestal and wheel have now been fitted properly, this was possible now that the body and chassis are united again. The guard's emergency valve and associated pipework has also been fitted adjacent to the handbrake.

Another  "swan-neck" vacuum pipe has been made for the outside of the vehicle, but can't currently be fitted as the scaffolding is in the way!

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

No progress to report.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

This coach has been the main focus of the works this week, sadly the focus has been progressing very tedious and non-newsworthy tasks. The landward side aluminium window frames are now fully stripped and carefully sanded back to bare metal. Failed rivets have been replaced and any surface corrosion around vulnerable areas cleaned back and treated. What this has allowed is the start of the filling and paint preparation sanding work to be done. So far, about a third of the side has been prepared.

Meanwhile, the seaward side (slightly behind) has been progressing simultaneously. The first job, that of burning off all of the cream bodyside paintwork, has now been completed. Phase two, stripping/sanding of the aluminium window frames, is now also well advanced. The above work would ordinarily take weeks and weeks (as it did for E21224 last year) but by putting more than half of our workforce onto this single task, it has been condensed into a much smaller timescale.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

Some more panel-work, this time around the sides of the corridor, has been permanently fitted.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The railway's latest DMU (hired in) has yet to see passenger service, being booked out tomorrow (at the time of writing). Members of C&W have assisted the locomotive department to have a good stab and getting mechanical and electrical issues with it sorted before it goes into service, however that work is largely outside the remit of this Blog. Of relevance here has been the continued cosmetic attention to the guards brakevan area, which needed some loving care when it came to us. We have removed the mushrooms from in there(!) but unfortunately the wall paneling that the fungi were growing in was not salvageable, so new panels have been made, fitted and painted. The remaining walls have also been repainted to spruce up the whole area and it now looks a lot better than it was a fortnight ago. I will try and get a "completed" picture in next week.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

As mentioned last week, the re-upholstery department are now progressing their next vehicle. The lower seat cushions continue to be focused on, as none of the seat backs have yet been removed from the vehicle.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352

The final half dozen seats have now been returned to the vehicle this week, ready for the March weekend running days. This now completes this task and we can walk away from the vehicle, content in the knowledge that it is fully reupholstered and ready to take on the 2018 season! Again, I will try and get a "completed" picture in next week.

Maintenance

A final note, after a few drawhooks failing testing recently we decided to asses our spares of these and gauge them all to work out how many "duff" ones we have hidden away and how many spares we hold ready to fit when needed. Consequently the box has been emptied and tests done to determine that about 1/3rd of what's in the box are failed examples. It's useful to know these things when running a fleet of 30 coaches!

March News Part 1

The snowfall this week unsurprisingly crippled the railway with the works effectively being shut down by the middle of the week. A very low turnout of staff and volunteers has obviously meant there is much less to report on this week. However members of the department were admirably in attendance every day, spending time assisting other departments to keep things going during the disruption.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

No progress to report.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

No progress to report.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

All of the cream paint on the bodyside along the landward side has now been successfully stripped off. We are now progressing the next phase of stripping which is getting the nine window frames on this side back down to bare aluminium so we can start again with them. This is very fiddly work with lots of little crevices and takes a disproportionate amount of time to do!

After they are stripped any gaps around the outsides are being sealed up and any failed rivets drilled out and replaced.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The corner of the roof has now been returned to its rightful place after a section of galvanised steel was let in.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

No progress to report.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

Now that the upholstery team have finished renewing the material of the National Railway Museum's trailer car (M56352), they have moved onto the other half which is currently inside the loco shed for engine repairs. So far, several lower seat cushions have been taken from the vehicle and are now being recovered.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352

No progress to report.