September News Part 4

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

More body filler on the sides and sanding down this week, followed by some further painting.

A start has been made on sizing up and getting ready the window frames for the brake end of the coach. Two of these originally opened on hinges, but were screwed shut at some point in their lives so will remain so in preservation service.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

Dramatic progress this week after the Di-bond panels were fitted to the landward side of the coach. The first panel closest the Holt end has also had the top and bottom strip of beading added.

Further up the vehicle, preparation work to the flaking paintwork has commenced.

The two corridor end doors have now been removed for repairs and re-varnishing. Split woodwork has been chiseled out and replacement sections let in. Other splits have been glued up to seal them and much of the beading has been resealed into place to add extra water resistance.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

More painting of the underframe, with the first coat of rust-kill primer almost fully applied.

The bogies have started to be painted in black undercoat,. no rust-kill required on these as they were in much better condition than the underframe.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The new pressed steel end from South Devon Railway arrived this week and has been clamped in place on the landward corner. It is now in the process of being welded into position and first impressions are that it fits really well!

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521

We have been advised that due to the presence of too much rolling stock in and around the sheds/yard at Weybourne, that E4521 could no longer be accommodated. It has therefore been returned to storage at Holt for the time being. We may welcome it back later in the year once more space becomes available.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

This week the remainder of the Class 31 was signed off for painting after bodywork reconstruction reached an advanced stage. This allowed the Sheringham end cab and seaward side to follow the rest of the loco into primer. Meanwhile the Holt end cab and seaward side body has advanced into undercoat.

There is still a lot of work to do to the rest of the loco and the grills and louvers are now being tackled so in due course they can be painted and attached to the loco later.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254

The vacuum cylinder has been reassembled this week with its new seals and has passed its NNR test for cylinders which is good. It now awaits further testing to check if it passes all of the tests that BR had for such cylinders.

Elsewhere on the vehicle, all of the rusty bolts have been knocked out of the roof hoops, bringing the vehicle one step closer to getting its new roof.

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open 726631

The plate wagon has returned from Sheringham where it was in use as a bandstand for the 1940's weekend. Its return coincided with a downturn in weather conditions so we are waiting for drier weather before continuing with the repainting work!