October News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

More boring filling, sanding and repainting work this week, which is slowly making the body more and more presentable for its final unveiling. Some of the steel paneling which the doors are clad with have had their screws ground down flush as before they were sticking out proud which didn't look particularly neat.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

Still awaiting shed space. However the rot to the Sheringham end described last week has now been finished with internal match-board paneling replaced, as the latter had to be removed to instigate the repairs to the exterior.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E

A new addition to these notes, the M&GN Society's recently obtained Thompson era brake coach, which when restored will become the second member of the proposed LNER Mainline set. This set is intended to become unique in preservation as being the first full rake of LNER designed coaches preserved externally in their 1950's BR condition, unless someone gets the paintbrushes out first and beats us to it!

The coach itself remains in storage at Holt for the time being, however a replica LNER pattern gangway cover has recently been extracted from storage and rubbed down and repainted for use on this coach, as it will be on the end of the set eventually.

Up at Holt, the coach interior has been emptied of its seating and spares which it arrived with, paving the way for interior repairs and restoration work when the coach is tripped down to Weybourne.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

This one has been the main focus in the workshops this week, with a healthy selection of volunteers involved in the various tasks. The underframe repainting continues, and we now have it coated in undercoat along its entire length.

The process of checking and re-greasing all of the pins within the brakegear of the Sheringham end bogie is now almost complete, we are just waiting for some more split pins to arrive which will allow this task to be finished off.

Moving inside, the store cupboard has progressed really well with the remedial touching in now finished, the door frame fitted and the door itself hung in place. This door is one of the first varnished items to be refitted to the coach so is a bit of a milestone for the restoration. The light and ceiling ventilator grill have both been refitted which I believe now only leaves the blanking plate for the window vent to complete.

A start has been made on fitting out the five passenger compartments which was penciled in for this winter. The first angle of attack is to sand down and repair where required the ceilings before repainting. So far, compartment number 5 (closest to Holt) has had the ceiling sanded.

The luggage rack restoration is currently on hold whilst several of the aluminium brackets are removed and sent away for specialist welding to repair the breaks in them. These are a bit of an experiment and we don't yet know if the repairs will be a success but we shall see...

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The passenger communication apparatus has been refurbished, repainted and refitted to the Holt end on the seaward side this week.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

The remaining roof sections were painted through primer, undercoat and finally gloss this week.

This signals the end of our involvement with the loco at present, and a day was spent gathering all the parts for the loco which had become distributed around our shed during the time the loco has been with us. It is planned that the loco will return next door for further mechanical and assembly work next week.

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open TDB726631

This vehicle is now extremely close to completion. The remaining lettering is now complete along the bodysides which signals the completion of the repaint. Later in the week, the brand new through vacuum pipe was fitted underneath. All that remains now is for the pipe to be painted and for the vacuum bags to be fitted the ends, after which the vehicle will be released for service.

October News Part 2

This week isn't a particularly exciting week unfortunately, as most of the progress would appear to be in the "more of the same" format. However we are still here and have been chipping away at it!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Three or four bodies have been employed continuing the sanding and filling task on the bodysides. This has mainly concentrated on the seaward side, but the already "completed" landward side has seen a further round of filler too as some of the team were not 100% happy with it.

Also being progressed are the drop-lights, pictured last week, more examples having been dismantled and their frames assessed and the original glass removed.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

The Gresley Buffet coach cannot progress much at the moment until shed space is found for it to be repainted. However some additional rot was found in the end, next to the corridor connection, at the Sheringham end. This had to have the original paneling removed, the framework repaired with new and ta replacement board and beading fitted. All of this was achieved over three days this week.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

We mentioned last week that we ran out of primer which stopped us from applying it over the whole of the underframe of the vehicle. Well thankfully this week fresh supplies arrived which, over the course of three days, was then able to be applied to the remainder of the chassis as well as the two bufferbeams on the ends.

This means the whole thing is now primed which is the halfway point of the painting. We can now busy ourselves with completing the undercoating before the gloss black comes out!

A number of heater covers and black plates have now joined the underframe for the "primer party"!

The store cupboard is now painted inside with just some touching up to complete before the remaining components can be refitted (such as lights and vent grills etc). We are also working on a blanking plate for the inside of the toilet ventilator, which is now no longer required as we are expecting the cupboard to be slightly less whiffy than it would have been back in the day as a BR throne!

The luggage rack cleaning is now complete. This week has seen the broken retaining eyes for the string netting replaced with new examples, made by hand using fence wire. These will be carefully painted silver to match the aluminium racks themselves.

Moving onto the bogie overhauls. Painting is now complete with the Holt end bogie now in gloss black to match the other one. A start has now been made on removing each pin in the brakegear, of which there are many, checking it, then cleaning it before regreasing it and refitting it with a new split pin for guaranteed retention.

This coach should be registered to travel to Cromer all being well, so items like the bogies are having particularly thorough attention to bring it to the standard required for such operations.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The Sheringham end seaward side door has become the first to be completed in terms of operating smoothly with its door jambs in place. Inside the same vestibule, supporting noggins to hold the refitted panelwork around the doors has been produced and is awaiting fitting.

The re-skinning work at the Holt end continues and the bodyside along the seaward side toilet is now fitted into place which completes the main skin on the bodysides themselves. Once some galvanised sheet arrives the work to reskin the roof which was cut away for the repairs can start.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

The last of the green gloss has now been applied, with the moving frost protection fins the last piece in the puzzle to be painted.

The rubbing down and repairing of the remaining roof sections is now also complete and these are now finished and awaiting painting.

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open TDB726631

A start has been made on Friday afternoon lettering the wagon. Keen to see more progress, Monkey was on hand to assist and the number, weight and legend "reach wagon" has been applied to the landward side. More lettering will follow on this side as well as the other side in due course as time allows. The remaining lettering should reveal a local connection as well...

October News Part 1

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Whilst a lot of people have been making use of the continued good weather, a small team continues to progress 853's exterior bodywork with more sanding and filling on the seaward side to ready it for eventual painting.

Some of the drop-light frames are being test fitted into the doors to check they slide up and down properly. We have several of these from dismantled bodies but once the correct selection has been made they will be dismantled as the glass inside them is not safety glass so will replaced at the same time as the glass in the rest of the coach.

The four brass door catches/locks for the passenger doors are complete after a period of many weeks getting each one positioned and adjusted correctly.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E

The Gresley has progressed rampantly now that it has moved roads giving full acess to the seaward side. Very quickly the Dibond lower panelling was fixed to the lower half of the coach and the beading all cut to size and fitted/sealed into position. The replacement cantrail has also been fitted at the bottom of the roof so the seaward side has almost caught up with the landward.

The varnished end doors have been refitted to the corridor ends which is just as well as with poor weather no doubt approaching having doors missing is not a good idea!

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The long task of underframe repainting continues. We ran out of primer before we could finish the Sheringham end which hasn;'t helped, but it didn't stop us as we simply proceeded to get the Holt end half (already primed) up to the next stage which was black undercoat. Now that primer is in stock again the rest will follow.

The bogie repaints are also progressing at the same time, with the Sheringham end bogie now finished and sporting gloss black. The Holt end is one coat behind but has been undercoated and is now in the process of being glossed.

The footboards pictured last time are also now finished in gloss black.

Luggage rack restoration also continues and I think the last one is now in the process of being polished up.

Inside the vehicle repainting work has recommenced on the store cupboard which is getting close to completion. A trial fit of the doorway, which was removed for varnishing, has also been undertaken.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

Two of the four door jambs required in the Sheringham end doorways are now fitted, with work on the remaining two ongoing.

Meanwhile the end skin on the Holt end, seaward side, is now attached so the vehicle is looking much more complete now when viewed end-on.

British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

The loco made it into gloss green for Member's Day which was the target for us. Since then, the bodyside hinged louvres for the engine room have been returned and fitted into position, which is fast filling all of the "holes" in the bodyside. The main set of moving frost protection fins is now the final component still to be painted green.

The remaining roofs which have not yet been restored are now being rubbed down and prepared for painting soon. It was originally intended to have these painted earlier but there simply wasn't enough time, however we are fast changing that!

London Midland Scottish Railway 1947 22 Ton Plate Open 726631

This wagon is now on the home straight for its restoration to working order. Work has been focused entirely on the painting. The underframe is now completed into gloss black and the body has received two coats of 1960's engineers "Gulf Red" which makes the wagon look very different to how it was. The floor, pictured last time, has had a second coat of grey floor paint which will hopefully protect it a bit given its open to the elements. The vehicle's position precludes getting a decent picture, which doesn't really do the work justice, but hopefully its transformation can be viewed properly at some point! All that remains now is the fitting of a through vacuum pipe (required for running in the demonstration freight set) and application of lettering.

Maintenance

A week before the Home Fleet Gala one of Mark 1 BSK W35148's brake cylinders stopped operating smoothly, making banging noises as it applied. The coach was removed from the train and sent to Weybourne for repairs. Unfortunately after an afternoon's investigation and adjustments which were unsuccessful, the following day the cylinder had to be removed from the vehicle and partially rebuilt to replace several worn consumable parts inside. Luckily it dismantled, reassembled and tested in a relatively straightforward manner so was able to be returned to the vehicle that afternoon ready for the coach in turn to be returned to Sheringham just in time for the gala. One of the reasons E21224 is receiving such a thorough overhaul is to give us a solid spare brake coach into the future to allow us to deal more easily with failures of "key" brake coaches such as W35148 which are required nearly every day we operate.