Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
With the first coat of undercoat now applied, it was found some of the marks left behind by the resin below were showing through. This week has therefore been spent carefully rubbing down once again to gain a smoother surface to which to apply the next coat of undercoat.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E
The vintage corner brackets, mentioned last week, which were salvaged from Great Eastern and Great Northern Railway grounded carriage bodies, have now mostly been attached to the new floor framework which has been fitted to the passenger saloon. This will create one large rigid floor structure onto which the top floor panels can be affixed.
Meanwhile, further cleaning of the brass window frames for the upper sliding lights continues. One of these sets, in a dismantled form, has also been dispatched to a casting company for two more to be manufactured. This is so that the window arrangement can be converted fully from the coach's original corridor configuration, into a fully open salooned vehicle. This will mean all the main bodyside windows will be fitted with opening lights, as at present there are two which are not so fitted, on the original corridor side.
There has also been continued work on the passenger communication chord modifications.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
This week has been focused on the wheelset swap on the Sheringham end bogie. On Monday the bogie was extracted and the bogie frame lifted off the old wheelsets, which were then returned to our spare wheel rack. This done, we split open all of the various drop links, springs, packing rings and dampers which form the suspension on this design of bogie (B4). This created a pile of roughly 120 individual parts to clean up and repaint. We have been working through these with several metal parts being shotblasted, others being cleaned down with a wire wheel and others being needle gunned. I won't bore readers with photos of each individual parts, however here is a view of some of the largest individual components, the coil springs, after cleaning and painting in a coat of rust inhibiting primer. Several of these were gunned down by Mike, our newest volunteer, who had bravely volunteered himself for this loud and dirty job early on in his volunteering career!
Meanwhile, metalwork also continues on the coach, with the final rotten floor support from the passenger components now replaced. This will allow flooring to be reinstated in due course.
The refitting of the air brake pipework has also progressed well, with the run of pipes now extending from the end of the coach, under the guards van and almost through to where it can reconnect with the existing pipework which didn't need to be disturbed.
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
Some more tasks which were were not able to finish last time we had a big push on this coach are now started to be attended to. The final doorway to be disturbed during the metalwork repairs now has a full compliment of door jambs again, after a lower section was replaced with a new example below where the lock catch is.
Some more covers from the electrical boxes underneath the vehicle, which were in extremely tatty ex-BR condition, have been cleaned back to metal and painted in primer.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188
The ceiling repairs mentioned in the last two weeks, have now progressed into the gloss white stage, however more coats are required as white paint gives such a weak cover...
With the roof stripping completed, this has now received its first coat of roof paint, which firmly kicked off the repainting transformation.
Salmon pink primer is now being applied along the landward (drivers) side of the vehicle, which reached the drivers door by the close of play on Friday. More primer will be applied next week no doubt followed by undercoat. The primer will be a good base for the M&GN Saddle Brown top coat!
Maintenance
C Exams continue on the running stock this week at Sheringham, in all weathers!
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