August News Part 4

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

The extensive yellow lining has now been completed on both sides, including the notoriously difficult seaward side which in this particular corner of the shed is very dark to work in. No further colours have yet been started however as second coating of the yellow elements of the lettering has been the next task.

With lining in progress much of the other "finishing touches" are being done now there is no danger of paints splashing onto them. Receiving their final coats have been the buffers and bufferbeams, along with the rear lights which are now being painted red (as opposed to black), reportedly due to new evidence which has come to light suggesting this is the colour they should be.

Inside the vehicle, trim and netting associated with the luggage racks continues to progress.

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

Planking in the luggage van end continues, with areas of the finished planking being painted by further volunteers. Many areas are now already up to cream topcoat.

Also in the luggage areas some electrical trunking is being installed for the planned lighting.

The electrical lighting connections at the end of the coach have also been installed with the retention boxes for the plugs the next task. The footboards mentioned last week are now finished in gloss.

Further plumbing work has been done in the toilet, with the sink test fitted.

Externally, needle gunning of the landward side continues to progress with most of it completed this week, and paint now being applied of various types at different stages.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Bodywork continues. This week's progress has been a strip welded along the side of the Holt end landward side doorway, to marry up with the renewed roof panelwork installed last week.

Door work has also continued with the early preparations for hanging the middle door on the landward side. This is the door opposite to the one which has been being worked on for the last month.

The two last doors which require overhauling for use on the vehicle are also seeing attention. The second of the pair has now had its skin separated from its frame so that all the components can now be checked and restored ready for reassembly.

Internally, planking in the guards office which has been test fitted is now being permanently secured in place, this being possible after a number of supporting pieces of woodwork were returned to the metal framework.

Our old stack of varnished veneered woodwork, which was restored the best part of two years ago, has been dusted off, sorted into groups and placed into each of the five compartments ready for the interior refit which can begin soon.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

Not so much progress this week, but a few small victories. The landward toilet window which was recently removed has been stripped back to bare aluminium and etch primed on its inside, so it is now looking much better already.

Supporting timber removed from the two toilet compartments is currently in the process of being dusted down, assessed and a coat of primer applied to the ones in good condition. The visible varnished woodwork from the toilets is also being stripped down, sanded and bleached to return it to its former glory.

On the vehicle itself, all of the components have now been removed from the Sheringham end bufferbeam and most of it needle gunned to ascertain how much welding it requires to build back up historic corrosion.

Lastly, most of the sliding windows have been removed from the windows so that they can be cleaned up and made to operate smoothly once again.

British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)

Bodywork has now been finished on the Sheringham end. The next area to receive attention is to be the landward side. Some failed BR window bottom repairs are being stripped back and re-welded to improve their integrity...

...whilst other window bottoms have corroded away so are being replaced.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

No progress to report.

Southern Railway 1952 Covered Carriage Truck S1439S

This privately owned wagon is not normally featured in these notes, spending most of its time in the bay road at Weybourne. It is one of two vans stabled there and is the one which doesn't house the model railway. Over the past two weeks its owner has had it in the loco shed to undertake a series of repairs to the doors and other areas which had rotted, followed by a full repaint into British Railways Southern Region Green. It looks very smart and is now back in its normal position once again. Hopefully pictures will follow, although photography of vehicles in this area is difficult due to the proximity of fences.

Next Week

No Blog next week due to holidays!

August News Part 3

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

Lining of the landward side has progressed with more panels receiving their yellow line. Also yellow has been the first coat of the multi shaded lettering applied to the carriage. The four "3" symbols on the doors have been applied...

...as has the number and "GE" on the landward side.

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

Planking in the luggage van end has continued. The door to the guards office has also been fitted and now slides open and shut correctly.

Some footboards are also being prepared and are currently in undercoat.

Externally, painting of the underframe and bogies has progressed down the seaward side with grey primer now applied along most of its length.

Needle gunning of the landward side has now started with the Holt end bogie about half done.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Bodywork continues. The landward/Holt corner now has a replacement section of roof welded in.

The middle passenger door on the seaward side has now had its wooden jambs fitted and the door has been adjusted accordingly. It is now fairly advanced in its rebuild. Only seven more of that type of door left to do!

The compartment wall varnishing mentioned last week is now fully up to its first coat inside all five compartments.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

The outer skin from the Sheringham/landward corner has now been fully removed for the framework to be inspected and eventually repairs to be carried out.

It has been found to be in better condition than M4843 was which is good news.

Also removed has been two fabricated boxes which bolt onto the end of the vehicle and house the large square rods which translate the bulk of the force through the corridor connection. These had been distorted by rust and will need to be replaced.

The shock absorbers for the corridor connections pictured last week have also been glossed and are now stored awaiting refitting.

British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)

The repairs to the Sheringham end continue with the landward side of this end now tidied up considerably.

Along the bodysides of the vehicle, all the windows which need to be removed for repairs have had the glass removed, leaving the way clear for metalwork replacement when required.

Inside the compartments, all of the seating has been removed and reinstalled with each seat in each compartment swapped round 180 degrees to even out wear from sun damage and backsides, because people always sit closest the windows!

Revarnishing of the compartment interiors is a task we have decided to undertake as we were spotting the signs of water damage beginning to start as the compartments have probably not been varnished since BR days. So far, the two compartments closest Holt have been sanded back and a first coat of varnish applied. Due to the nature of this overhaul, we are doing this work "in situ" without removing any obstructions such as lamps, luggage racks etc.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

The roof canvas has been secured at the ends this week, with the vulnerable edges of the plywood protected in resin before the metal capping was bolted over the edge. This done, the roof canvas was able to receive a further coat of buff roof paint to impregnate the canvas and make it waterproof.

August News Part 2

Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853

A good week for 853. External progress has included yet another rub down of the gloss paintwork, to provide a key for the final coat, which will be varnish. More exciting has been a start made on the lining. Being a pre-grouping (1923) carriage, even a lowly third class crate such as this has an extravagant level of lining around many of the doors, windows and body panels. The form of this lining is beginning to emerge with yellow now being applied along the upper section of the guards area on the landward side. As with coaches of any era and livery, the lining brings it alive.

Internally, the "3" symbols to denote the class of the two compartments have also been applied to the doors. A surviving GER photograph was part of the reference used to ensure these looked right.

Last week it was reported that three out of the four compartment bench seats were complete. This week has seen the final example join its friends so both compartments are now fully seated.

Also in the compartments, a start has been made on attaching the luggage rack netting in place. This netting was left over from the Suburban 4 restoration project and looks right at home as the process of manufacturing luggage netting in 1955 was no different than in 1899.

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

The laying of the flooring mentioned last week has continued apace and the Sheringham end has now been done meaning the vehicle is fully floored! This is a relief as there is now a solid base on which to build up the rest of the interior. Whilst many advocate the "top down" approach, it is still nice to have the flooring done and dusted.

Moving onto the walls, the arrival of a large quantity of insulation has meant several sections around the luggage van end of the vehicle have been insulated.

This in turn has allowed many of the pre-cut and prepared wooden wall planks to be fitted. The wall opposite the guards office is now fully planked.

Elsewhere in the vehicle, smaller jobs also progress, including the plumbing for the toilet. A heat exchanger salvaged from a Mark 1 is being fitted which should provide hot tap water when the steam heating is on.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Bodywork continues. A large repair section around the Holt/Landward corner is now fully welded in flush and has been protected with paint. The platework in this corner which part of the passenger communication apparatus mounts onto has also been restored and refitted on top of the new material.

The corridor end woodwork, removed from the same end, has now been repaired of its rot and is being repainted so it can be refitted. It has made it as far as undercoat so far.

A start has been made on varnishing the compartment side of the corridor wall. This consists of ten panels (two in each compartment) and these need to be progressed so that they matched the fully finished wall paneling which is currently in store and will hopefully be refitted soon. So far, six out of the ten panels have had their first coat, with more planned.

Further down the coach, in a mirror fashion to Thompson E1866E, wall planking is started to be test fitted to the guards office area. It has been a long time since this was removed so it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, however volunteers have done well in retrieving the exact bits that came from those locations.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

Not as much done to this vehicle this week. However more of the Sheringham (toilet) end has been stripped out including the window on the landward side. This is needed to make the area completely clear to renew this whole end given the rampant corrosion.

The area facing renewal extends to just beyond the toilets up to the first passenger doorway. This arty photograph shows the usual Mark 1 horror to be found once the doorway is stripped out, whilst also including the coach number for evidence of its crimes!

Meanwhile, "on the bench", the cleaned up shock absorbers for the corridor connections have all been primed and undercoated. Eight of these are for E4521 with the remaining three coming from the Holt end of E21224.

British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)

There is always a flurry of jobs when a "Bronze" overhaul first comes into the shed and a few pieces fall off it after we lean on them! Given we are tackling end repairs to the vehicle, naturally some of the furniture from the ends is removed to deal with corrosion. This has included the lighting jumper cables and data panels. They have all been cleaned down and are now ready for repainting, with the data panels already in primer. These are unrecognisable from how they were before, the letters could barely be seen as so many layers of paint had been applied in the previous decades. The layers proved it hadn't been cleaned back to metal since it was built in the 1950's.

Already mentioned were the end repairs. The Sheringham end is the current focus, all of the lower crash pillers have been dealt with and new panelwork welded on top, on both sides of the corridor connection.

This has allowed work to move upwards, with a rotten section replaced around where the lighting jumper fits...

...and another section in progress in the top corner where the roof typically leaks and lets water ion,. The top of the piller is still in good condition in this area so hopefully the damage has been caught early on this particular one.

Also visible in that photo are the remains of the original inspection steps. These had been plated over by BR with unsightly large riveted patches. Whilst we are not replacing the steps this time, we will do a better job of removing the old ones, which are having the patches and the stumps ground flush.

Volunteers have been busy removing the required window glass along the bodysides (8 need removing for repairs) with the first two panes now out.

The repairs to the three door lock escutcheons, pictured last week, have now been completed which becomes one of the first jobs ticked off the list for this vehicle.

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

The roof canvas had been applied and bedded in this week, what an improvement given the vehicle had no roof when it arrived at the NNR!

Repair sections continue to be welded into the bottom of the body of the vehicle, a long strip being put in along the Holt end.

The axlebox oil reservoirs and bearing pads have been removed from the four wheels. The trays will be cleaned and reused, whilst the pads will be replaced with new examples, which luckily are still produced and available to buy.

Workshop

After a small break, the "Not to be Moved" boards mentioned a few weeks ago have been completed after the lettering was applied. These are now complete and await dispatch back to Sheringham where they belong.