Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
Our own Bungalow revival continues to progress steadily, with more work tidying up and improving the doors. Some smoothing and filling work has been undertaken this week to several doors, with the set of double (luggage) doors now in a coat of red primer.
Inside the compartments, the ash poles for the luggage racks are now fitted and have been stained in "Jacobean Teak" (our own mix of several wood dyes). These are now being varnished and have received two coats already.
London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E
The notorious "Gresley Buffet" has arrived outside of the shed for remedial works to begin. Possibly the most emotive coach on the entire railway, it has a lot of history with the line since first being restored in the 1980's, possibly because it was the venue for many a volunteer get together and therefore happy memories! Removed from service a little while ago, resources were unavailable to undertake the exterior panel replacement that it badly requires. The decision to pull it from service and not to re-restore it immediately was criticized in some quarters, but the great news is that the Joint Heritage Coach Fund have agreed to undertake the works instead which will have the result of this coach returning to traffic much sooner than originally feared.
They have not wasted any time either, within a few days of being positioned in the yard, the split/rotten beading and paneling was fully removed from the landward side, and is progressing well also on the other side. The panel problems are only present below window height, so all work is focusing on these lower paneled areas.
The revealed framework below, for several years now an unknown quantity, was thankfully in generally sound condition. Rot is present in several places but is sufficiently limited to be able to be dealt with via splicing and patch replacement of required areas. The largest area so far has been a single upright which had rotted away at the bottom and up part of its length. A replacement piece has already been cut to shape and spliced in. The framework has been coated in some resin to give it a top-up form of protection before the new panels cover it all up again.
The framework is currently in the process of having 5mm packing spacers nailed to it as the replacement panels (the details of which will be revealed in due course!) are much thinner than the existing panels which are being removed. These spacers are needed so that the replacement panels are flush with the surrounding body, and so that the replacement beading sits over the whole arrangement nicely and keep as much water out as possible!
Now to engage in some platform end rumor as this question will inevitably get asked! A collaboration of the team undertaking the work plus owners the M&GN Society have advised that during these refurbishment works to return the vehicle to service, it will be retaining it's 1950's Carmine & Cream exterior livery. I await the cries of disgust and support with equal anticipation!
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
This vehicle has now returned from Bridge Road sheds and has been the main focus inside the works this week, as a renewed drive to progress the major overhaul has been instigated. Inside the vehicle, the bulkhead wall inside the luggage compartment has been flatted smooth with a sander and some old cracks and holes filled and sanded to get a good base for repainting.
One of the main components for the adjacent guard's compartment, the desk, has now reached the end of its refurbishment and has been reassembled and all its catches and finishing touches fitted. It looks great!
Toilet preparations continue, the toilet seat is now fully varnished and has been stored ready for refitting once we have a toilet to attach it to!
Also from the toilet, but below it this time, are two water drain valves which empty the whole system of water when they are operated by crew members, this is particularly useful for draining down during winter when the frosts would damage the pipes etc. These valves have been removed from the coach, stripped and cleaned before being reassembled. They now await refitting as always!
The outside of the coach is currently unable to be progressed, so for the first time in NNR ownership the coach has been raised off its bogies on the jacks so that underframe work can commence.
A good start has been made this week of the horrendous job of scraping down the rust underframe members below floor level, it really is a dirty and thankless task. Those who have volunteered to contribute to this task have the greatest of respect! Amazingly, six separate people (victims) have all put in a day this week on this particular task. The brushed up metal will receive paint in due course.
Also underneath, the electric heating system has now been fully removed. The asbestos stripping contractors destroyed any hope of the electric heat system being retained for the future when they unsympathetically ripped out much of the system so as not to risk contamination. This has left us with a chopped up half of a system that is now useless, so we have removed the remaining parts of the wiring, inter connecting jumper cables and electrical conduit/trunking which was attached to much of the underframe. We now have more room under there to both clean up the frames and also to work on other systems in the future, including the brake pipes and also the fitment of a new steam heat pipe so that this coach is able to be heated by our engines! Much of the electric heat system was bolted in positions where the original steam heat system was located, so even of the electric system was in a condition where it could have been kept, fitting the steam heaters back into place would have been challenging.
Lastly, a start has been made on stripping down and repainting the battery box covers. These are in good condition under all the grime, so should scrub up well!
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
The centre vestibule has received a further coat of varnish as the previous coat was found to be a tad patchy once it had dried.
British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521
This coach has now arrived inside the shed having spend many years inside Bridge Road sheds in storage. It is currently being assessed to determine a scope of works.
New Arrivals
We are welcoming two new arrivals of Carriage & Wagon relevance to the railway. Both have been known about for some time but to preserve confidentiality we have had to wait until they actually roll off the lorries before including them in these notes. The first is a 12 ton BR box van, number B784254, the fourth now on the railway and recently transferred from our neighbors at the Mid Norfolk Railway. It is privately owned and restoration work to improve its condition is expected immediately, so depending on the owner's views it may well be featured on this blog as wagon restoration, whilst not completely unheard of, will be something unusual for the department!
The second arrival is a LNER designed Thompson era Corridor Brake Third (BTK), number 1866, recently purchased by the M&GN society from the Llangollen Railway. It will replace the Thompson BG (which has no passenger accommodation at all) in the Society's long term "LNER Mainline Set" but will be operating much sooner than the BG would have, as the BTK has already received a substantial amount of restoration work. We look forward to getting stuck in to finish it off, however it will be heading to Bridge Road sheds for a little while whilst the current projects are completed first.
Love the Thomson corridor Brake Third.
ReplyDeleteWhat's going to happen to the BG? Hopefully retained as is, or as a bike van for the LNER mainline set.
ReplyDeleteRichard, the BG is being removed from the mainline set, replaced by the Thompson BTK. The BG was always the "weakest" vehicle in the proposed set in any case, as it is internally a fairly useless configuration.
DeleteIt will be returning to its old role of museum coach, which means its exterior will be staying "as is" as you call it!