February News Part 4

With viruses over, normal service can resume!

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Painting has continued to be the main focus at present. The landward side has received its second coat of undercoat and an initial gloss coat of BR Crimson has been applied to the same side. As the correct crimson for the coach has not yet been ordered, a different shade is being used on the first coat to build up the layers.

Meanwhile, the ceilings inside the guards brake area have received a coat of eggshell - more painting!

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E

Getting a solid floor back into the vehicle is the current theme. More supporting bracketry has been fitted to the renewed structure, which is now having a filling piece added to the top. This is because the timber available to build the new floor structure was not quite as thick as the original, so to get the finished floor level correct it needs raising up slightly.

Externally, parts of the passenger communication apparatus are being installed, over a new plate which has been added above the corridor connection to repair a rotten area that was discovered in that region.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The bogie which has had its suspension components dismantled (described last update) has taken up most peoples' time in an effort to get everything painted up ready for reassembly. With a lot of manpower all the items are now starting to reach the gloss black stage, although some items such as the coil springs are going into more exciting colours like red!

Metalwork on the landward side continues to progress well. The lower six inch "skirt" on the body has now been fully replaced along the length of the passenger compartments.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The Holt end vestibule is being reassembled now that there is some labour available for the tasks. A troublesome section of rotten veneer in the corner, has been replaced with a much cheaper plywood version of itself. However, with careful application of varnishes, stains etc we have managed to get away with blending it in successfully with its neighboring woodwork which remains original. The images shows how you can't really tell which bit is the new section, which is a sign of a good repair.

The section of ceiling which was removed to allow for the end steel-work repairs has also been returned to its rightful position and the lighting reconnected.

Inside the landward side store cupboard, the last outstanding woodwork task, that of making some skirting board, is now progressing. The skirting is now cut and finished roughly to size, and is now ready for fitting.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Repainting continues, with the whole vehicle now completed in primer, making it all one colour once again.

Maintenance

RBR E1969 has briefly entered the workshop for some heavy maintenance. This coach seems to be like a boomerang, constantly returning to Weybourne as fast as we try to hurl it back to Sheringham! The latest cause for concern for this "problem child" has been the wheelsets which have gained high flanges meaning they require turning back to the correct profile. It wasn't long before the vehicle's bogies were disconnected and the body lifted off them.

The bogies were removed as whole units and positioned outside for collection by road transport.

They were duly collected by Reid Freight and dispatched to Ilford depot for turning.

This was done incredibly quickly with success, but unfortunately large defects in the tyres were discovered lurking below when the lathe operators were doing their work. In the end good metal was not found until the wheel was just 2mm above the lowest size permissible. What this means is that luckily the wheels are acceptable for their next turn of service, however we have lost several "turns" worth of metal in one go so a set of wheels which we thought would be good for many years are now on their last hurrah so to speak. We shall now all hope that this coach does not suffer any mistakes that lead to severe wheel flats - as that will condemn this particular set of wheels to the dreaded retyring (a much more expensive process that involves replacement of the outer steel tyre). For now however they are good to go once again, the wheel profile (as expected) now being perfect.

The bogies arrived back at Weybourne two days after collection and now await refitting to the coach.

In other "maintenance news" we admire the Loco Department's latest paint job, to "Charger" which is their new mobile tool station and battery charging trolley. Network SouthEast lives again in Norfolk!