May News Part 5

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (GOLD)

More of the same this week, with window work and other sundries progressing. Some of the windows, now that they fully slide up and down satisfactorily, are having a further coat of primer.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)

I was slightly premature last week reporting that the woodwork at the end of the luggage compartment was complete. It turns out some more framework was required as well as some packing sections to raise the level up high enough for a level floor. This has been tackled this week, along with more reinforcing timber to sit underneath where the luggage cage is located.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Bodywork at the bottom of the Sheringham end is now completed now that the second side of steel skin has been fully welded into position.

The steam heat piping reported on last week, has now been completed, with all 13 individual copper pipes now produced and fitted to the heaters. The system is now steam tight and can be tested for leaks once the coach is back down on its bogies.

"Project Bogie" continues steadily with just the springs now left to repaint, all other items now in gloss black ready to refit. The springs are red and have been lagging behind the rest of the parts as our needle gun was out of commission for some time.

Internally, a big milestone has been reached now that the replacement corridor flooring has been screwed down into position, meaning we finally have a strong and stable base from which to "open the gates" and start the interior refit. To create a dust-free area to start refitting, we are working towards getting the glass back in along the landward side. The wooden gripper bars are currently being dry fitted into place and any problems ironed out before we can look into glass fitting. The last two window frames were able to be fitted this week, after some restocked supplies arrived!

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (SILVER)

The main focus has been the exterior painting work. Earlier in the week, the primer stage was completed, making the coach all one colour again for the first time in a long while.

This has been followed by undercoating, which is now 50% completed, with the seaward side being treated first. This particular shade creates a sort of 1940's/army themed coach, we have been assuring visitors that this is NOT the final colour!

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

We are still easing into this new arrival! A few more items have tentatively been removed from the Holt end corridor, which will have to be dismantled to allow for corrosion repairs.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

Grit blasting, to remove scale and corrosion, continues apace with the body now completed and the chassis still to finish. As the weather has been changeable, it is being painted as it progresses, so we already have a much cleaner looking vehicle.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

Progress this week has included spot needle gunning of localised corrosion on the chassis, followed by rust treatment,. Any areas of black paint, plus the rust treated areas, were then coated with black undercoat, ready for the repaint of the whole chassis next week.

The couplings have been removed for a repaint and re-oil to make them operate freely again.

The handrails have all now been refitted to the vehicle, and are awaiting a top coat of white to really freshen them up. Also repainted white has been all the wheels and winders on the veranda ends, which operate the descending ballast plough.

The lamp irons have also been refitted back into place, so the body is now looking complete once again.

The final small job has been the fixing of a wobbly door catch on the entrance door to the cabin!

Miscellaneous

The project to re-roof the Gresley TK (better known as the "play coach" at Sheringham) has now been completed with the "fitted tarpaulin" now screwed down and secure. It looks a lot neater than many doubters thought it would and we are pleased with the result. We shall have to hope during the next big rain shower the leaks that have plagued this vehicle latterly are cured!

Lastly, one of the CCT bike & buggy carriers, which gained a flat spot on the wheels some time back, was reported to have become a lot worse this week.

Staff were duly dispatched and the flat has now been smoothed out somewhat, although not eliminated.

It has been removed from the train today to allow another effort to improve it, away from the running set of coaches, to be made next week.

May News Part 4

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (GOLD)

The six sliding drop-light windows in the guards/disabled area of the coach are now signed off as complete, having passed the highly scientific tests of first trying to open/shut them as gently and weakly as possible, followed by brutally wrenching them up and slamming them down like a vandal. Sadly both tests are required as they represent the full strata of the travelling public that will be using them. There seems to be a firm, established method now in place to cure the windows of their stiffness and binding once the operating strap was installed, so it shouldn't be long before the remaining four windows in the passenger compartments are also eased.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)

Internally, a further round of woodwork machining has meant the final sections of flooring (that at the luggage end of the vehicle) have been slotted together, the hidden sides protected with surplus paint, and then fitted on top of the steel underframe.

The handbrake pedestal, wheel and cover are now all completed and back in position, operating freely.

Further painting of lighting control and electrical equipment covers continues to progress.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Bodywork at the Sheringham end has involved welding the replaced panel-work over the renewed crash pillars on the landward side, as modeled here by Monkey. The seaward side is now being given the same treatment.

The steam heating continues well. The thirteen heaters, which were fitted but then had to be removed again to replace rotten flooring, have been refitted once again. This has allowed the final missing sections of the steam system to be installed, the individual copper pipes that feed each individual heater. These are being manufactured in house by machining the ends and nuts and soldering them to new copper pipe. Each pipe is bespoke to the route it has to take under the vehicle.

Both bufferbeam shut-off cocks are now also fitted to the ends of the pipe. We are not far off being able to test the whole system.

"Project Bogie" has done well again this week with all of the springs have now been needle gunned, which brings to a close the de-rusting part of the operation leaving just painting still to complete. A start has been made on repainting the springs. A lot of the washers, links and other sundries are now all complete up to black gloss.

Internally, the new hardwood window gripper bars have now been completed for the main bodyside windows on the landward side, having received several coats of varnish. The flooring down the corridor has also been adjusted and completed, and now pretty much only requires final screwing down into position. Some missing parts have been replaced around the entrance to the guards area, which was slightly behind the rest of the corridor.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (SILVER)

Some small details are being attended to on the interior, such as painting door runner strips which sit on the floor. Externally, the passenger communication apparatus which had all been refitted but wasn't working properly, ended up having a major strip down again and modification of the angles of the various bars before it could be made to work nicely. It now operates very freely.

Exterior painting is now the main angle of attack for the next few weeks. 3/4 of the vehicle has now been painted in primer, which is getting it all one colour again for the first time in a good while.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

The next major project has now arrived on site, TSO E4521. This has been in storage for over 10 years and could do with being brought back into the system to allow other TSO's to be removed for major overhauls. A start has been made on removing a few of the smaller components, such as the electrical lighting leads on the ends of the vehicle.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

The restoration of this freight van has now restarted with the better weather. Replacement buffers have been obtained for the vehicle, two having been fitted whilst the other two are away for overhaul. A start has also been made on shot-blasting and repainting the exterior parts of the vehicle, with the lower half of the Sheringham end already treated and in primer.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

A fixed steam cleaner has allowed the underframe to be jet washed down, removing all of the loose paint in the process.

The sign-writing has been completed, the final items being the "return to March" and "return to Norwich". The completion of the lettering means the whole vehicle was able to receive its final topcoat on the body, a coat of varnish.

The handrails re now being repainted in preparation for refitting shortly.

Miscellaneous

A side project has been the roof repairs to the Gresley Corridor Third at Sheringham, in use as a static play coach. All of the protruding roof vents have now been removed for future safekeeping and panelled over. A set of battens to hold down a new roof covering have been ordered and are being painted in the workshop prior to fitting.

We have also received another two "not to be moved" boards from Sheringham. These have been stripped back and now await painting.

May News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (GOLD)

Another week spent adjusting the sliding droplights so they operate freely. The landward side of the guards compartment and disabled area is now pretty much there.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)

Some more timber has been delivered which will allow the completion of the floor reconstruction at the luggage area end. From the same area, the handbrake wheel pedestal, where it sits in ther floor, has been removed and repaired as the original wooden base needed building up a bit where it had split and rotted slightly. However it was able to be retained rather than replaced. With this refitted, the wooden box which encases the operating column has been removed and is in the workshop now being cleaned up and repainted. Some replacement catches have been fitted to the side which hinges open - this allows the column to be accessed for oiling and maintenance. The old catches did not look very good, or original.

Externally, a lighting box (ex Gresley Buffet car), has been cleaned up, repainted in primer and has been refitted to the vehicle.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

The Sheringham end crash pillars repairs have now all been welded to the new baseplate (featured last week) which concludes the framework repairs in the lower part of this end (the corroded top end around the roof-line is still to tackle).

A return has been made to the new steam heat pipe installation project which stalled a few months ago. New flanges have now been machined to size and welded onto the extreme ends of the pipe which stick through the bufferbeam.

These are now ready to receive their bolts and will allow the steam heat shut off valves to be fixed onto each end, and the Sheringham end has already been trail fitted.

The current focus is securing the large water drain which sits in the middle of the coach at the bottom of the system, which involves more welding and flanges.

Due to running out of rivets, no more window frames have been able to be refitted to the exterior. However whilst we wait, the large task of machining new timber gripping bars to hold the main panes of glass in place has been progressing very well. This will allow the central area of the coach to become a sealed area. The gripper bars are held in with many small machine screws so each one must be fitted and drilled carefully in each window so it butts up to its neighbour neatly. We didn't have any surviving originals for these, as the previous owners destroyed them when they fitted thicker double glazing units to the coach.

"Project bogie" continues well, with many of the cleaned up components for the suspension now painted into primer and black undercoat. Once our needle gun is repaired, the rest of the kit should hopefully be able to be cleaned down to join the rest.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (SILVER)

Interior snagging and finishing has continued. The hinged corridor end door at the Holt end now catches shut properly, this was found to be a pin that had come adrift inside the mechanism. The sliding bolt to lock the door has also been adjusted as it wasn't securing properly either. Work on the sliding windows is now complete and they have been refitted back into place where they have had to be removed. The floor has also been painted in the Holt end vestibule around the toilets.

The corridor end faceplates have made it into black gloss and are now complete.

Mentioned last week but not photographed was the repainted roof.

Exterior painting will commence next week.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (REVARNISH)

This vehicle was moved back into the shed this week to be finished off. The ends were quickly repainted into black gloss followed by the "restriction C1" lettering. Some solebar lettering was also added and then the coach was released back into service and returned to Sheringham.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

A slow week this week for the wagon. Some challenges and a broken steam cleaner meant that not much has been achieved, although a small part of underframe was cleaned down, removing a lot of loose black paint and revealing the grey undercoat below.

The ceiling inside the cabin has been rubbed down ready for repainting. The red paint also arrived (which we had run out of) which allowed the second coating of the red to be completed. The vehicle is now ready for its top coat, which will be varnish. Matt black chalk boards have been added to the ends, a feature which most of these vans had but this one hasn't had them so far in preservation.

May News Part 2

This update, although representing a very normal week with noting too spectacular, happens to be the 200th blog post since its inception, back in January 2015, and what a ride it's been! Here's to the next 200...

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (GOLD)

Another week progressing ongoing tasks, namely getting the sliding drop-lights to operate correctly.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)

Good progress has been made on the rebuilding of the luggage van end of the coach in order to match the same work already completed in the passenger half. Much steelwork has been painted in protective paint (up to gloss) and more large replacement floor timbers have been cut to size, primed and fitted into place. So far about half of the wooden floor supports have been installed.

Above this flooring, the overhead steam heating pipe has been extended by adding a new section.

Sticking with steam heating, 2 and a half of the four extended saloon heaters which were being prepared last week, have now been fitted into place in the passenger saloon. This was made possible after a set of brackets were made up with the caring touch of the Axeman.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

The repairs to the end crash pillars continue. The heavy plate that the middle crash pillars sit on was cut from new steel this week.

Shortly afterwards it was welded into position, which required some quite interesting multi staged welds.

Elsewhere on the coach, four of the seven aluminium window frames have been fitted back into position along the landward side, which represents part of the the initial stages required to get the interior reassembly underway.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (SILVER)

Whilst waiting for the correct paint to arrive, the interior has been receiving some snagging work (slightly earlier than normal) which will give us a head start later on. Some odd items which didn't fit properly have been rectified and much work has been put into freeing off some of the sliding windows which were too stiff.

Other work has included checking all of the door catches and hinges on all of the internal doors and adjusting where required. A sticking droplight in one of the doors have also been adjusted so it operates correctly.

On the exterior, the first stage of the repaint was able to be completed, the painting of the roof in our specialist roof paint. This coach was stripped and roof painted not too long ago, so this time round a thorough clean and the addition of a further top-up coat has been all that is required. Meanwhile the corridor connection faceplates have been brushed down and rust-killed.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (REVARNISH)

Currently in the yard having been used for the Thomas event last weekend, it is due to be moved back inside shortly for the ends to be repainted and some missing lettering replaced. It should not be long before this one is complete and returned to Sheringham.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)

The second coat of red gloss has now been applied to all of the exterior, which just one veranda end left to paint internally. This has allowed sign writing to be added to the outside, which is now complete except for the two "return to" sections.

For those interested, the large E represents that the vehicle was part of the "Engineers" division, rather than revenue earning. The small E is the region, the vehicle had M (Midland) when it came in the workshop but the repaint opportunity has been taken to reallocate it to E (Eastern). The "Oyster" is the name of the vehicle type whilst the number follows at the bottom. The DB prefix again is a reference that it is part of the engineers, or departmental, fleet.

The veranda ceilings have also been rubbed down ready for repainting white. The handrails, currently off the vehicle, have been painted in white undercoat ready for glossing next week.