March News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The glazing arrived this week which has allowed a start to be made on this task, which is one of the final major ones left in the vehicle's restoration. Two have been fitted so far in the guards end.

In the meantime, much of the brass-work such as the door hinges are having paint scraped off them as there has been a change of heart. They were previously to be painted (as they were in the vehicle's latter days) but it has now been decided that they would be better plain brass (as per the vehicle's earlier days).

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E

The exposed heavy framework at the Sheringham end under the luggage van area has been cleaned up this week and painted with surplus, end-of-life paint to protect the hidden areas. The sooner the floor is back in place, the better!

Last week we reported how E1866E was to be the beneficiary of the lighting control equipment and dynamo removed from the Gresley Buffet (E9128E). Well the Gresley got its own back this week as the buckeye coupling on E1866E was nicked and went the other way in order to fit to E9128E to allow it to pass its exam and reenter service for the Steam Gala next weekend. The Gresley had a worn example which can be rebuilt in due course, and it had failed its gauging test.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

Not a great deal to report this week - as underframe work had to be halted so that we didn't trap the DMU in the back of the shed. Some more welding of floor supports has been done with the latest area to be renewed being under the guards compartment which was sitting at the incorrect height.

The letter rack, also for the guards compartment, has been cleaned up and sprayed in primer ready to go silver.

We were able to get a good view of the recent work to the bodyside and Sheringham end bogie during a shunt at the end of the week.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

The main focus this week has been getting both corridor connections refitted, which was achieved over two days. The troublesome pins and bushes were adjusted and fitted to the bottom end of the Sheringham end connection, these were the parts we had been waiting for to be manufactured and ordered. The Holt end was more straightforward to remove but much more awkward to fit as for some reason it wanted to put up a fight!

Before the Holt end could be fitted a degree of preparation work was undertaken including the fitting of the woodwork which sits behind the connection and gives something for the flexible bellows to screw into.

On the bogies, the repainted bearing caps have all been refitted with each bearing washed, cleaned and re-greased properly during the process.

Preparations to refit the gutters which had to be removed for metalwork repairs, are still ongoing.

The same day that M4843 was extracted to refit the Holt end corridor connection, it was moved into the staging area, where final refitting of the components which sit very high (such as gutters, corridor connection bellows and toilet filler pipes) can now progress from a better level.

The seaward side store cupboard is now also up to undercoat stage.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

We are now firmly into finishing touches territory. The windows are all refitted and the top lining has been applied (two coats, cream) which concluded the work to be done inside the staging area. The vehicle was moved outside and back into the shed on the opposite side which showed off the fresh green paint in the sun.

The yellow panel has also been painted onto the front - specially applied to upset those with an aversion to them!

Much work has also been done on smaller but essential finishing tasks such as cleaning window glass and removal of stray paint from glass and door handles etc.

Maintenance

The Gresley Buffet and Suburban brake have both now been returned to Sheringham following minor works and exams. The Gresley has now been fully recommissioned mechanically, as mentioned earlier receiving a replacement buckeye coupling. The suburban brake has had step adjustments made, a super-deep step being the eventual solution to the problems that the guards were having getting in and out. Both will see use during the upcoming gala.

March News Part 2

The Blog returns after several weeks "off air" due to weekends away. One of these included an event to mark the completion of the cosmetic restoration of the National Railway Museum's 2-HAP Electric Multiple Unit powercar. It was very interesting comparing vehicles, methods and workshop facilities at their site in Shildon. Needless to say they have done an excellent job and spent a large sum of money on this retired workhorse. For those who believe that the NRM are only interested in royal trains and Flying Scotsman, they really must see this 2-HAP vehicle as it pretty much represents the opposite to the nation's favorite steam loco: it's not a locomotive, it's anonymous, and a run-of-the-mill commuter vehicle. Serious investment in these areas of the NRM's collection is very encouraging to see, and is not too dissimilar to our own restoration endeavors such as the Quad-Art and Suburban projects.

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Anyway, to business. The exterior of 853 has been rubbed down gently over the past few weeks to key up the BR Crimson and allow the recently delivered Great Eastern Crimson to be applied. The glazing for the vehicle is still waiting to be delivered and it is required to be fitted before the final painting of the outside can start.

On the interior, the painting of the ceilings into eggshell has been completed ion the two passenger compartments and a modern battery has arrived which will power the LED lighting from a suitably hidden location.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E

Since the previous update significant internal work has been completed. The raising of the floor timbers to the correct height (pictured last update) has been completed along the entire length of the passenger portion of the vehicle. With this done, all of the stored components from the guards areas have been moved to the opposite end of the carriage, so now work in the passenger end ceases allowing access to tackle the guards end for a bit.

The old flooring has been pulled out of the guards van area entirely which has revealed the top of the steel underframe below.

To allow this to happen the "glasshouse" guards compartment had to be stripped out and removed. This will be reinstated once repairs are completed.

Other ongoing tasks have included the fitting of the passenger communication apparatus to the Holt end and reupholstering of the lounge style chairs down in the "soft furnishings" department.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The Sheringham end bogie received a busy reassembling session which resulted in all the millions of bits and bobs being reunited into a single bogie once again. The ride height will have to be adjusted in the future but for now this end is done. We have held back from dismantling the second bogie as we require the vehicle to be movable or else the DMU will be trapped in the staging area of the shed for longer than it should be in there.

The bearing caps for both bogies have now all been repainted up to yellow gloss, which looks very bright.

Also underneath has been further air brake pipework progress, with several new sections being bent into shape and other (smaller) squashed sections replaced. Most of the underside pipework is now whole again, with just the pipes that feed up into the guards compartment still to fully install.

Other air brake components are starting to be fitted back onto the vehicle, including the two main brake cylinders.

On the exterior bodyshell, the repairs to the landward side are now complete along the passenger section of the vehicle. Work has now started on renewing corroded "crash pillar" end framework at the Sheringham end.

One of the four pillars has so far been treated.

The polishing of the metal window frames on the seaward side passenger compartments has now also been completed, which means all of the windows for the whole vehicle have now had all of their original paint removed.

Moving onto the interior, resources have been available to allow all of the flooring to be refitted in all five compartments, reversing the stripping out which was required about a month or so ago to instigate repairs to the corroded steel floor supports. This done, the supports for the corridor flooring (also removed) have now all been repaired and test fitted into position, their final fitting is awaiting suitable bolts to be ordered in.

Finally, several more coats of varnish have been applied to the compartment interior walls.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

This coach has now returned to the workshop where a number of the smaller jobs that had not been finished off have been sorted out. The centre door on the landward side had a missing aluminium weather strip which has now been fitted back into place.

The internal woodwork adjacent to this door pillar is now also being replaced. On the Holt end, the supports for the lighting control jumper cables have been fitted into place.

The final rodding for the passenger communication apparatus has been cleaned back ready to repaint.

Preparations are being made to refit the gutters which had to be removed for metalwork repairs. The woodwork which will be screwed onto this end before the corridor connection is refitted has been repaired with many new sections spliced in, and will be available soon to refit.

The final window which was removed, the seaward side ex-toilet one, has been refitted which in turn has allowed the reassembly of the seaward side store cupboard to progress through to completion, with re-paneling and re-flooring completed. This area is now also painted in primer.

The store cupboard opposite, which was at a more advanced stage, is now finished in gloss cream.

 The bulkheads in the vestibule outside the cupboards is being rubbed down for further coats of varnish.

On the underframe, various restored lighting box covers have been refitted into their respective positions.

he bearing caps for the wheelsets have been painted yellow (at the same time as E21224's).

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Repainting has continued, with the vehicle given two coats of green gloss.

This completed, the windows are now being refitted wherever they had been removed, and those that were in situ throughout are having any paint splashes removed off them.

The route indicator box for the front end has been glazed and just needs the false numbers/letters applied.

Inside the guards van the cream interior walls have been cleaned and/or patch painted where required to make them smart again, the floor has been repainted and the chequer plate flooring has been cleaned up of any spilled paint etc.

Maintenance

RBR E1969 was raised to the correct ride height by means of packing and is now back at Sheringham where it belongs. Before it left, the opportunity was taken to repaint the tyre slip marks on the wheelsets, a mainline running requirement and the originals were starting to get a bit faded through road dirt.

In its place has been the suburban set which has been down for C exams.

A replacement step has also been fitted to the guards brake as there had been reports people were struggling to get in and out of it. This one is larger and at a more convenient height.

The Gresley Buffet car has also returned from Holt and has been in the yard so it can be stripped of surplus equipment.

It has a generator fitted which provides lighting these days, so the dynamo and lighting control boxes have been removed as they are wanted to fit to Thompson E1866E.

Some bits were unbolted but unfortunately other bits had been welded in situ originally so had to be cut off.

Several Not To Be Moved boards are being painted up for Sheringham, they have been carefully masked off to paint the red chevrons which these require to display.

Other maintenance has involved much replacing of brake blocks on running vehicles to ready them for the new season.

March News Part 1

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

This week has been a "more of the same" affair with existing tasks progressing, with a strong painting theme. The interior ceiling painting using eggshell has now been completed in the guards compartment and is now progressing through the two passenger compartments. Meanwhile, the exterior painting continues and the whole coach has now been brought up to its first coat of Crimson gloss successfully.

Red is a poor colour for coverage so further coats (at least one) will be required.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E

The work described last week involving packing up the new floor supporting timbers to the correct height has continued. About half of the passenger saloon has been completed (the half nearest the brake compartment) and treated to a coat of primer to seal it all in together.

More of the exterior passenger communication apparatus at the Holt end has been worked on also.

Plastic tubing is now in stock which will be run along the length of the passenger saloon behind the paneling, to create a conduit for the wiring which will serve the wall lights.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

The final miscellaneous bits and bobs for the Sheringham end bogie have received their final coats of paint so this bogie is now ready to be reassembled and returned to the vehicle.

I have included a photograph of the steel-work lower "skirt" fitted which was reported on last week but with no illustration:

Said steel-work has continued at a good pace, with new steel window corners being added the length of the corridor opposite the passenger compartments.

Areas of rotten panelwork around the doorways are now also being renewed where required, and where it had to be chopped away to replace the doorway steel structure.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843

This coach is currently in exile in the Locomotive shed (to make room for RBR E1969 - see below) but work has still been able to continue. The landward side store cupboard (ex toilet) has had its lower skirting board fitted which concludes the woodwork required in here. This, in turn, has allowed it to be painted inside into primer.

Meanwhile across the way in the seaward side store cupboard, the floor has had replacement supports fitted below it so we now have a secure floor on which to build upwards from. The next task is refitting the framework for the walls and ceiling which is now in progress. A start has also been made on producing some replacement wall paneling out of hardboard, in an exact copy of the process we went through a few months ago with the landward side store.

On the outside of the vehicle, all of the bearing caps have been removed from the wheelsets and cleaned up, with half of them having been shot blasted ready for repainting.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Repainting work continues, with the vehicle now brought up to the undercoat stage.

Other tasks have also been completed, including the second coat of roof paint which means the roof is now finished.

Inside the vehicle, the two damaged ceiling panels have now had their finial coat of white gloss. Their final finish is not perfect, but it is a great improvement on the flaking bare wood that they were before.

Maintenance

The bogies have been returned back from Ilford.

The vehicle was raised up again on the jacks in order for the bogies to be refitted to the vehicle.

Unfortunately due to metal being removed from the wheels, the vehicle is now out of tolerance and is sitting too low. The suspension has been packed out on the bogies in order to raise the vehicle up back to the correct height, which is the prescribed method for raising the coach's height when fitted with this design of bogie. Having the correct "ride height" is very important so that the corridor connections line up without a big step in the floor, and so that the buckeye couplings mate together properly when coupling up. Quite some time has been spent this week ensuring this has been attended to.

Whilst the vehicle has been in the workshops several rotten footboards have been removed, and new ones produced to take their place. They are currently in the process of being painted up and have reached the undercoat stage.

We finish will a view that shows it isn't all work and no play!