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!