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!