Just over 12 months after the completion of the final member of our Suburban 4 set of coaches, we are pleased to report on the completion of the major intermediate overhaul for their predecessors: the unique London North Eastern Railway Quad-Art set.
The Quad-Art's have a remarkable story, of which only a much reduced version can be repeated here. Thanks go to Steve Allen for providing original information & research concerning the Quad's history which has been used in the text below. Also for providing many of the images spanning 1966-2008.
The Quad-Arts are a unique surviving example of a fascinating type of carriage set. Four mid-length wooden carriage bodies sit over five articulated bogies. Three all third coaches are joined by a brake third at one end. Other than the brake which has a modest sized luggage space and guards seating/equipment, the entire set is dedicated to full width compartments which have no joining corridor to allow maximum capacity. The whole set is just over 166ft long and seats over 300 which is a remarkable capacity bearing in mind that the set occupies the same length of two and a half British Railways Mark 1 coaches. The Quad art coach bodies are teak paneled and have a varnished finish. Roofs are canvassed, painted white. The interiors are basic - moquette on very thin bench seat backs and bases. The side and door panelling are oak matchboard. The bulkhead partitions feature three picture frames and wired luggage racks. Pictures above the seats usually include famous watercolour prints, a route map, and some adverts.
The concept of the articulated Quads was born when the Great Northern Railway (GNR) was investigating innovative ways to get round problems experienced in moving large numbers of commuters in and out of their lines from London Kings Cross. Short platforms, steep gradients and poor quality 4/6 wheel coaching stock in the 1910's led to Nigel Gresley being tasked with designing replacements. Whilst being most famous for his locomotive designs, Gresley also had a history of Carriage & Wagon (C&W) matters, having first worked for the Lancashire & Yorkshire's C&W department as long ago as 1901, quickly rising to the post of GNR C&W Superintendent by 1905.
Gresley pioneered to use of articulation, with two carriages sharing a central bogie between them, known as "twins". This allowed the coaches to be closer together and lighter in weight, proving beneficial to the GNR's short platforms and gradients respectively. His own design of bogie also improved the poor riding characteristics of the GNR's previous stock considerably.
By 1923, the railway's had been "grouped" into four large companies, the one of relevance here being the London North Eastern Railway (LNER), of which Gresley was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer upon its inception. Gresley was therefore in a position to continue his work on articulated coaching stock and in the same year of grouping, the first of his new extended "Quads" appeared, fixed sets of four carriages with all inner bogies shared. These followed successful earlier conversions of "twins" into "quads".
From 1923-1929 more Quad-Art sets were produced, each batch being slightly different to the last incorporating more passenger improvements as the design involved. Set 74 was one of the earlier batches, however it was fitted with electric lighting which was a step up from the earliest sets which had gas lighting. Nearly 100 sets were built and they nearly always ran in pairs, creating eight coach formations.
Like most suburban railway vehicles, our set No74, ran an uneventful life running on the same lines out of London Kings Cross doing the same job for several decades. Under British Railways (BR) ownership, the higher maintenance teak side panelling was over painted into their standard maroon colour scheme. The introduction of BR Mark 1 suburban stock in the mid 1950's started a replacement period for the Quad Arts with withdrawals from service from that point onwards. The introduction of Diesel Railcars in 1959 further accelerated Quad-Art disposals. Ironically these railcars were originally ordered to run the Midland & Great Northern branchlines but were themselves displaced whilst still under construction after the M&GN system was closed!
The last Quad Art sets operated in service in the year 1966 and set 74 was one of the sets that survived into this final year of operation. Shortly afterwards all of the surviving examples of wooden bodied articulated stock were all burnt and scrapped at various sites, with the notable exception of set 74. This set had been sent to A. King and Sons at Wymondham, on a one-way journey to Norfolk for scrapping, however the set was to later be resident in that county far longer than originally anticipated!
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| Wymondham 1966 |
Initially stored on the closed Wymondham East Junction – Forncett line, set 74 was purchased by the embryonic Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society who reputedly preserved the set for the same reasons the LNER built it, as a high capacity set with a low weight.
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| Stored on the Farncett line |
These attributes were deemed desirable for the fledgling M&GN who wanted the facility to carry lots of people during events using small ex-industrial steam locomotives. It was only later that the national significance of set 74 was fully appreciated after it was known that not a single example of 1920's articulated rolling stock had survived into preservation.
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| Quads at the rear of a formation bound for the NNR |
From 1969-1979 the Quad-Arts formed the backbone of the growing North Norfolk Railway's services between Sheringham and Weybourne. Some cream paint was applied over the top of the maroon in the late 1960's to improve their appearance as a stop-gap measure, with the set fully repainted in the early 1970's into brown livery.
However the set was worn out, and the deterioration condition of the doors led to the set's withdrawal from service in 1979.
The set was briefly resurrected in 1983 following some limited cosmetic work to star in the filming of "Swallows and Amazons" following which they were returned to store.
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| During filming |
In 1987 steps were taken to try and halt the worrying deterioration which had been accelerating. Interior paneling was removed, rotten timber disposed of and interior bulkheads partly dismantled in some cases. This access allowed all of the main structural timber to be coated in preservative which went a great way towards saving the remains of the set for any future project to restore them fully. However the articulated nature of the coaches meant that restoration of the four coaches would have to be done all at once, which was far beyond the reach of the North Norfolk Railway's resource. For this reason, the set continued to stand under tarpaulins at Holt for the whole of the 1990's.
In 2001 a comprehensive survey was undertaken which estimated the cost of restoration to be £500,000. After a generous benefactor offered £50,000 if it could be matched, fundraising began to restore set 74. Following an appeal and articles in the railway press, the Heritage Lottery Fund put forward a match funded grant of £341,000 with representatives from the National Railway Museum acting as project monitors. At last the fortunes of the set had been reversed.
Full restoration (rebuild) was carried out under contract at Carnforth between 2003 & 2008, the set temporarily leaving Norfolk after a fleeting 37 year stay!
Whilst at Carnforth each coach had to be stripped down to its bare skeletion, major framework repairs undertaken.
Each door was completely rebuilt and refitted, new teak panelling replaced much of the old and the exterior returned to its original varnished appearance.
The roofs were repaired and re-canvassed, interiors rebuilt and the underframes stripped down and repaired.
Each bogie was also similarly rebuilt with no stones left unturned.
Following its return to Norfolk, the sets final finishing was undertaken before being formerly launched at "Quad Art week" in July 2008.
Since 2008, the Quad Arts remained in service at special events on the NNR, used each season as required. The previous deterioration of the 1970's-1990's was much reduced owing to the set now being stored undercover when not in use. However after about 8 years use, some evidence of water ingress was detected inside the vehicles, so they were immediately withdrawn from use and kept indoors whilst a slot in the workshops could be found to undertake repairs.
In April 2018 the set arrived in the sheds at Weybourne for repairs to be undertaken. After a joining of forces of several volunteer groups, it became apparent that the opportunity to do more than the original repairs and it later turned into an intermediate overhaul, quite fitting as we were approaching the ten year anniversary of the completion of the original restoration. The following works were completed over the next three months:
- Roof canvas repaired around the electrical trunking which had failed allowing water to enter the interior
- Trunking modified to prevent a re-occurrence and the whole area re-sealed
- Roofs claened down and repainted white
- Bodysides and ends rubbed down and re-varnished
- All bodyside metalwork (such as grab handles and window mechanisms) repainted LNER brown
- Footboards and certain visible underframe components repainted black
- All brake blocks replaced for the first time since BR days
- All doors and locks mechanically inspected and repairs carried out
- All other mechanics given a major exam
- Interior compartment ceilings repainted
- Compartment vents permanently closed to prevent further mould issues
The culmination of the above work is the re-launching of set 74 that looks as good as it did in 2008 when first launched. In fact, some have commented that it looks even better than 2008 owing to the fact that the varnish is "deeper" as a result of it having many more coats today than it did ten years ago.
Very fittingly, the Quads return to service will be during the "Story of Suburban Travel" week, 2nd-8th July, the same event formerly known as "Quad Art week" and ten years exactly from the sets original re-launch into service.
Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
With all the excitement of the Quad Arts being rolled out, remarkably there has also been good progress on 853, a predecessor to the Quads! The vehicle's exterior appearance is changing dramatically again as it is being painted in the next coat of primer, salmon pink.
We may be persuaded to keep this as its final colour as it would be authentic for the London & South Western Railway at least...
Two doors are in the process of being hung and so far proceedings have gone remarkably well as doors have a real reputation for being difficult.
The equipment for the passenger communication chord is being overhauled and modified so that an example from a Mark 1 coach can be used here.
The reclaimed buffer heads have also been measured for final adjusting so that they can be fitted in the near future.
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
Work has concentrated mainly on the two ends. At the Holt end, the new steel sheet paneling has been welded into position properly and dressed up. The window aperture is now also present and the window which lives in this slot has been cleaned up ready for refitting with new sealant.
The corroded roof edging has had replacement section also welded in. This covers up all that rotten framework which has been dealt with in previous weeks.
Also at the Holt end, the corridor connection has been removed to allow for the full repairs on the end itself to be tackled in due course. This required the telehandler to compress the connection slightly so we could draw it outwards with its buffing legs still attached.
We don't normally do them this way but issues with the Sheringham end have led us to modify our technique for this end to avoid unnecessary hassle twice over.
Meanwhile at the Sheringham end, steady progress on rebuilding the interior of the vestibule continues. The focus this week has been the production of the flooring bearers which will be bolted into the floor and from which new flooring can be built back upwards.
The seaward side solebar has also been cleaned up and repainted into undercoat.
British Railways 1962 Corridor Second M26012
Work on this "chocolate overhaul" has been limited by the fact the coach was waiting outside until we could remove the Quad Arts freeing up inside space. However a run of good weather has allowed good outdoor progress to be made in the meantime.
This week has seen completion of remedial work to the lower "skirt" which had been showing signs of corrosion. This done, the whole thing has been painted up as far as undercoat. The rest of the coach bodysides from the waistline downwards has been filled and sanded ready for a quick coat of paint in due course.
Any remaining time has been spent doing spot repairs and repainting of the aluminium window frames.
