May News Part 2

An image which was taken last week which didn't make it into the Blog for some reason: 76084 in steam breaks new ground for the class, the first standard 4 inside the carriage shed whilst moving 4843 into position. But don't linger too long, or the fire alarms go off!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

No progress to report, the usual workforce having been borrowed for Quad-Art progression!

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

Great progress continues to be made with the Quad Art set, mainly due to the fact that almost everybody has been together working on it. Work carries on with the coaches split into two main work areas: the two Holt end coaches and the two Sheringham end coaches.

Starting with the Sheringham end pair. The repainting of the repaired roofs has been completed this week, with two more coats of white being added making a total of three. Roof work is now therefore concluded and on Friday the scaffolding around these two coaches was removed so that we can focus next week on interior and bodyside jobs.

Before the scaffolding was removed, we were able to make a head start on some of the re-varnishing, with the cant rail strip being keyed up and varnished and some of the hard-to-get-at panels on the intermediate ends also rubbed down near the top where it will be very awkward to reach now that the scaffolding platform is gone.

Moving on to the Holt end coaches. The preliminary roof repairs including the water trough modification (please read the entry from two weeks ago for a full description of this work) have now been completed on the brake (Holt end) coach.

This is great as it means that the brake coach now only requires the roof to be scrubbed and repainted. Similar work has been progressing on the other adjacent coach. Scaffolding was erected around the two Holt end coaches towards the end of the week allowing full resources to be directed at the roofs from next week.

Moving downwards, a start has been made on the exterior work planned for the set starting with these two coaches. The brake coach has now been fully rubbed down ready for its re-varnishing in due course.

Meanwhile, the adjacent coach has received a repaint of all of the metalwork associated with the doors (catches, bump stops, window edges etc) which are all painted in a horrible light brown colour! Picking out all of the metalwork again in fresh paint, should join the repainted roofs in making the set look the best it's looked since its major restoration was completed ten years ago.

Interior work has also continued. All of the repainted compartment ceilings in the two Holt end coaches are now finished, and a coat of paint has also been added to the guards van area which was also looking a little stained.

Now that the scaffolding has been swapped over, the tasks associated with each end will reverse so the next few weeks we will be doing it all again just at opposite ends of the workshop!

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

More of the corroded Holt end is being pulled apart and rotten areas are currently in the process of being chopped out and the remaining sections needle gunned to clean them up, prior to new material being prepared and let in. Corrosion is rampant as usual and more and more of the toilet area is going to have to be renewed.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192

The upholstering of the seating is now completed which means the task of refitting the seats can soon start in earnest, but it is unlikely to be able to progress rapidly until the Quad Art set is completed.

Workshop

In other news, the Axeman has been busy building his third steel crate (see last week), whilst woodworkers have been busy repairing and repainting trolleys for Weybourne station once again.