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.