June News Part 2

Due to commitments last weekend and this weekend coming, this is a mid-week Blog update so there ends up being two updates covering three weeks.

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

Painting preparation of the windows has continued with all of the modified droplights now back in red primer. It won't be long before the final painting process begins. To this end, the footboards have been sanded down again ready for further painting once the body is treated.

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

The guards "booth" pictured last week has seen more refinement this week with further beading added and other loose ends tied up. A start has been made on preparing the glazing for the same bulkhead.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Lots of progress on this coach this week. Bodywork continues. The full extent of lower end crash pillar corrosion at the Holt end is now known, with all four pillers requiring replacement at the bottom.

In a similar fashion to the Sheringham end, the base plate is also corroded and two sections of it on the seaward side has already been curt out, replacement sections made and welded back in. The two crash pillar repairs on this side are now also almost complete, with the outer example in and painted, with the inner example not far behind.

In a big craning session, "project bogie" has been completed for now, with all of the spring components reassembled and put back into place under the bogie frame. This also reunited the restored wheelsets with the rest of the bogie. The bogie is now back in one piece and back under the coach, albeit with both bogies in each other's place at the moment! These will be swapped over during the next shunt.

Also underneath has been the refitting of the air brake cylinder actuating rods and the reservoir tank for the air braking system, which is now almost complete again.

Flooring repairs continue, with the toilet floor now finished and back in place which will allow us to start building this area back up very soon. To this end, the first of the components (the paper towel rack) have been selected and stripped down ready for re-varnishing. Returning to the floors, the missing flooring sections in the luggage van area at the Sheringham end are currently in the process of being machined and prepared for refitting.

Cleaning of the internal alloy frames along the corridor side continues well, with a large team on the job. A start has also been made on sanding down the corridor ceiling ready for repainting. A sawdust bin has recently been acquired for use in the guards brake (the original was missing), less than 24 hours after arrival the bin was cleaned down and primed and is now in undercoat awaiting gloss paint.

British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843 (SILVER)

The exterior repaint continues. The seaward side painting is now complete with two coats of maroon gloss having been applied. The landward side has received one coat with the second to follow shortly.

The two black ends have been undercoated, whilst the Sheringham end sliding door inside the corridor connection is now repainted into cream.

Internally, the window surrounds have all received a coat of brown to make good minor damage since they were painted first time around.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

Dismantling continues. Both ends are now at a similar stage with both corridor connections prepared for removal in the near future. This has involved a lot of careful dismantling of the passenger communication apparatus, end steps and handrails, and the corridor connection bellows, which consist of a remarkable number of individual components.

We now have a large box of small parts which will all require cleaning down and repainting or re-greasing in the coming months. This process is already underway with some pins being cleaned up and the end data panel for the coach stripped back.

The RCH jumper cable components pictured last week have now been brought up to gloss black so have now been safely stored ready for refitting when the coach is nearly ready to return to service - this is some way off!!!

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

This vehicle is now inside the shed for the lion's share of its bodywork to be completed. The doors have had their rotten outer skins removed revealing the full extent of framework rot below.

The roof spars have been refitted providing a solid base for the new roof to sit on top.

The plywood panels for the new roof are currently being encouraged into a curved shape.

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

The final jobs were painting the interior walls and a few hours over the inspection pit where all of the mechanical parts were lubricated and the vehicle given its Fitness to Run exam. Some bolts were replaced and all of the axleboxes removed and wheelsets examined. Luckily these had a clean bill of health so it was reassembled with new oil.

Last weekend the vehicle was returned to traffic and now joins the NNR's regular freight train. It operated successfully for the three days of the Mixed Traffic Gala and attracted many compliments and much attention.

(C) Steve Allen

Now, which wagon do we resurrect next?!?