September News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Progress this week has mainly been confined to the application of more body filler to the sides and consequent sanding down.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

Due to logistical issues the Di-bond panels were unable to be delivered this week and have been delayed into next week, which means there hasn't been any leaps forward with repaneling the vehicle. However in preparation for their arrival, the half-round beading strips delivered last week have all been coated in resin to prepare them for fitting once the main panels are in place.

The underframe, which was gloss painted last week, has had several of the detail pieces painted in white/red etc. Items have included the emergency couplings, battery charging sockets and the clips for the underslung equipment boxes.

On the landward side, the replacement teak cant rails have now been fitted, so hopefully any water ingress from the roof will be prevented.

Finally, the bottom framework repairs are now also completed. There was a large section replaced on the landward side, and the smaller section on the landward/Holt end corner has also been completed and boxed back in where end framework had to be removed.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

This week saw progression of the two current main tasks; repainting the guards area and the underframe restoration. The latter is currently being hoovered of all final dust and a start has now been made applying the first coat of paint to the main frames. This is a reactive paint designed to apply onto rusty surfaces.

A plan has now been made of the new steam heating pipework, and several components that will be used for the refit have been gathered ready. This pipework is due to be fitted once the Class 31 project is complete.

The bogies, which have hitherto been untouched, received a steam clean this week has has revealed they are in excellent condition. Once dried out, the frames will require little more than repainting which will save a lot of stripping work.

The battery box covers mentioned last week are now safely stored ready to refit.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The framework repairs to the corridor end are now completed and we are now awaiting delivery of one of the South Devon Railway's new pressed Mark 1 ends which promises to be an exciting and time saving development for us. Whilst we have the skills to fabricate Mark 1 ends individually, they cost us hugely in term of labour cost, so we are hoping for a positive result using the ready-made South Devon examples as we may well be using them regularly into the future as we have a succession of Mark 1's awaiting end repairs.

In the meantime, the toilet area on the seaward side has been stripped of all its panelwork to allow repairs and removal of the framework below. It is therefore looking quite skeletal at the moment!

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521

No progress to report.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

Bodywork is now nearing completion with the Holt end cab and landward side reassembly completed early this week. This in turn has allowed the same area to be painted in primer, meaning 50% of the loco is now primed in "Kermit" green...

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254

This week it has all been about the vacuum cylinder which was defective. It has been removed and stripped down into its component parts. The exterior bowl has been needle gunned and repainted gloss black, making it the nicest vacuum cylinder on the railway by far! Other components such as the main piston have been thoroughly cleaned but the cylinder cannot currently be reassembled as the replacement rubber rings and seals are still on order.

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open 726631

As explained last week, this vehicle is currently away at Sheringham where it is in use as a dance/band stand for the 1940's weekend, a function it performs twice a year. This will be the last event (for a while) that it appears at in a shabby condition!

Workshop

We are still handling a lot of station refurbishment work, particularly at Weybourne. A second platform bench is currently in for repairs and repainting, which has best been done in a dismantled state.

All of the bicycles that have been cosmetically restored are now also back "in saddle" on the platform once again, just in time for the 1940's weekend.