Norfolk Lights Express
Over the last few weeks the department has been involved in the railway's exciting new offering for 2019, the Norfolk Lights Express (NLE). For an organisation that trades primarily on the glory of the past, it is not very often that we plunge into a completely new event which is significantly different to anything we are used to providing. Following the success of the first trains run at the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway last year, the NNR has joined several other railways in trying this rather spectacular after dark display of steam, lights and moving displays down the line.
For us, this has meant a good amount of effort working alongside other departments to aid the set up for the event. Covered Carriage Truck (CCT) E94464 (restored and completed in February 2018) was provided as the generator van to power the lighting throughout the train. It currently contains two 30KVA generators secured in position with exhaust extensions running to the outside of the vehicle.
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| Monkey & Goliath! |
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| Looks ike the exhaust extension won! |
The two generators were very large and had to be loaded end-on through the doors originally designed to allow cars to drive into the CCT. This personally pleased me immensely as last year during the restoration I pushed the suggestion/decision to restore the end doors to working condition, as they were very dilapidated and stuck shut previously, having not been used for decades. At the time a few people questioned if it was worth having these doors as a working feature given they are not used at all for regular operations.
When the generators were being selected and it became obvious they wouldn't fit in the side doors it was great to be able to have the extra flexibility of such a large opening door available! This goes to show that provided it doesn't cost too much in extra resources, having previously defunct features working can be an asset in the future if a vehicle's function changes.
As well as setting the generator van up, staff were also made available to assist in the physical attachment of the rope lighting to the other five bogie carriages that form the NLE set (incidentally, this set is also the Santa Special set). The lighting is quite sympathetically attached, with a series of clamps, nets and wires supporting the lighting in a way that doesn't harm the coaching stock. As well as the lighting on the roofs and sides of the coaches themselves, there are spotlight style units under the floors which shine outwards and form part of the light display that passengers who ride the train will see. These are controlled by complex software making the train far more than a few glow sticks running up and down! After several days the train was ready for testing, which was completed just in time for the big launch on Wednesday. We were very fortunate to gain lots of useful publicity from various media sources, including ITV and the BBC amongst others. All publicity is good publicity and fingers crossed the trains all run well throughout November & December.
Given the NLE/Santa train's debut, earlier than normal this year, the usual round of steam heat testing and repairs has been undertaken earlier in the month. This has involved some welding in situ of pipes down at Sheringham, plus the more mundane checking and replacement of seals within the various valves that form the system. Luckily not too much work has been required and the set appears to now be steaming well with warm coaches being provided.
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| Welding up a holed pipe under 4236 |
Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129
Meanwhile back in the workshop, the project to re-site M&GN 129 on its proper 6-wheeled underframe has progressed rapidly. The body of the vehicle has been unbolted from its 4-wheel underframe and lifted on jacks about a foot or so upwards revealing the underframe below. This has allowed detailed measurements to be taken of the hole spacings in the chassis which can be translated onto the new one and drilled next week. Also being removed from the old chassis are the swan neck end vacuum pipes and the footboards and their brackets, the latter are being modified as they need to be a slightly different shape before sitting on the new underframe.
Before the body was lifted, the woodworking teams took the opportunity to start keying up the outside to ready it for a re-varnish whilst it is in here. Some re-securing of exterior beading is also being done as these had popped away slightly from the paneling, which is a fairly common ailment for these designs of vehicles.
On the 6-wheel chassis, the finishing works not completed last time it was in are being tackled before the body is moved onto it. A few years outside without protection had not benefited the steelwork, so the whole chassis has been repainted in black gloss to bring a shine back to it. One thing which wasn't done last time was painting the main "solebar" in brown to represent a wooden chassis, this simple change has actually completely changed the overall look of the underframe and makes it look like a different creature altogether!
From a mechanical perspective, the six springs have been cleaned down and re-oiled, whilst the axleboxes have been emptied out and their oil replaced as water had contaminated them.
The axleboxes, like the underframe, have also been repainted.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)
With the project to modify 129 getting into its stride, the Thompson project has gone slightly down in the priorities list. However work has not stopped altogether, and new brass corners have arrived for the sliding top lights and have been fitted into the frames "on the bench". Other smaller items have also been progressed, with the mesh guards steam heat protector being one of the items now completed.
London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (REPAIR)
The Gresley Buffet car has been back in the yard for a week or two to have a few maintenance tasks attended to following a season in use on Cream Tea trains and other duties. The main task was the replacement of the generator which was fitted several years ago after it had failed towards the end of the season (the failure of the generator being the main catalyst for bringing it in). A generator with a modest increase in output has been selected as in service the existing generator has been found to be right at the limit for what is being asked of it. Also swapped was the tea urn which has been replaced with a less power hungry one, again to try and move away from power overloading! Finally, a report that the 110V lighting system in the coach wasn't working has been rectified and tested to be working OK again. The vehicle has now been returned to the operating department has it still has one or two more duties before (hopefully) being stored back undercover for the worst of the winter.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)
Work has continued, with the focus being on the interior reconstruction. At the Holt end of the vehicle, the toilet door has been rehung into position loosely and now requires a bit of easing at the bottom and the door lock mechanisms fitting to it. The second of the two outstanding doors which are intended for the Holt end of the vehicle, has had its restored door skin re-secured to its wooden frame.
The stripping of the woodwork for the two end doors is also progressing well with some really nice wood-grain and veneers being revealed.
The ceiling from the Holt end vestibule has been removed so that the water tank above it can be inspected and tested. Whilst out, the ceiling has been rubbed down and repainted in white undercoat.
Along the side corridor, the window water drains have now all been fitted making an end to this task, there is now nothing stopping the varnished wooden side paneling and window surround woodwork from being fitted back into place. Before this can be done however, we must first finish the reassembly of the compartments, on the other side of the vehicle. This is progressing well with compartment 3 (of 5) well underway now.
The repaired window side pieces are now completed and have been re-varnished so that they can be refitted to both the corridor and compartment windows.
Down towards the Sheringham (guards) end of the coach, the guards inward opening door on the landward side is now opening and shutting nicely, and has had its door lock overhauled for use on the door. More work is required to fully fit this and its catch, however the door is now looking complete at a first glance! Both sets of double doors in the luggage area are now being worked on, although none of them are fully finished yet, however there is a lot of work in the doors so hopefully they will all come together at a similar time.
Progress on fitting wall planking to the luggage area has progressed well, with practically all of it now attached permanently to the landward side of this area.
Also fitted to this side are the two windows and associated surrounding woodwork, and the end panel that joins onto the planking that sits adjacent to the corridor connection.
Other smaller tasks have involved the cleaning up of the passenger communication apparatus pipe which joins the valve on the end of the coach down to the main vacuum pipe. This can be painted back up in due course.
British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)
Welding has started in earnest to the Sheringham end, which had rotted very badly! The four crash pillars have all been cut away at the bottom, a new plate welded in below them to the underframe itself.
Four new repair sections have been welded into place joining the old pillers to the new plate, fully returning the structural integrity to this part of the vehicle. That is one brief sentence, describing rather a lot of work!
On the Sheringham end bufferbeam, wasted areas of steel have been built back up with weld and ground flat again.
Elsewhere on the coach, the second of the two toilet window frames is now fully cleaned back to metal and has been primed on the inside, it currently awaits further layers of paint. The toilet woodwork has now had its penultimate coat of varnish, and awaits the final treatment after several weeks being worked on.
The first of the aluminium doors intended for re-use on this coach, is in the process of being stripped down for full repainting and servicing to get everything working properly again. The external paint is all being stripped off them as part of this process.
British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)
The last ceiling, in compartment 6, has had its final coat of white gloss, meaning all 8 compartments have had ceiling repaints.
This has allowed the "ceiling team" to move on to the remaining areas of the carriage. So far, the side corridor along the compartments has been rubbed down, repaired and repainted, leaving just the three vestibules left to give the same treatment.
Compartment re-varnishing is now focusing on compartment 6. Due to the ceiling work, this compartment lagged behind the others so now needs varnishing up through the layers. It has been rubbed down is is now receiving the all important gloss varnish.
All of the window surround woodwork that belongs to the windows which were removed are on the bench receiving layers of new varnish so that they match the rest of the compartments they are due to be returned to. These are progressing well with only a coat or two of varnish left to apply.
On the outside of the vehicle, a push to get things towards the finish line has led to all eight of the removed windows being refitted into position, which has allowed final filling and sanding around them to be undertaken.
The landward side of the coach is now complete and ready for painting, with the seaward side not far behind.
The two ends of the vehicle, which always end up in a rougher condition than the sides, are now having similar attention with some more repairs being undertaken to make good previous repairs plus corrosion issues which have accumulated. The water filler pipe which had to be removed to allow end repairs is now back on and in position, whilst the three areas of corrosion found on the roof have also been repaired.
On the subject of the roof, scraping back to bare metal to allow a full repaint is progressing well, with both sides now completed. The gutters are now also in progress, with the final part after that being the central section of the roof.
British Railways 1958 Covered Carriage Truck M94125 (REPAIR)
This bike carrying van had to be withdrawn from service towards the end of the main running season after it suffered wheel flats. It had to sit in a queue behind E4236 which was also having similar attention, but a desire to have a spare vehicle in case E94464 failed during the NLE trains brought M94125 back to the top of the queue. The 4-wheeled vehicle was first lifted up using the crane and one of its wheelsets removed.
This wheelset has now been on the wheel lathe and turned back to the correct profile. Whilst the axle has been out the axleboxes have been removed, fully cleaned out and repainted.
The wheelset, which was also cleaned down and repainted whilst access was available to it, is now waiting reassembly before M94125 is lifted up again for the good one to be refitted and the second set to be extracted for turning.
British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)
This vehicle has been moved back indoors, this time into the loco shed, where its final stages of restoration have been able to progress. The vacuum cylinder has been refitted to the underframe, and several of the sliding door handles and escutcheons have also been refitted. Sign writing has been fully applied to both sides of the vehicle, showing the vehicle's weight, carrying capacity, number etc.
Workshop
The dismantled platform trolley has basically required its timber completely renewing from scratch. The ironwork has all been removed, cleaned up and painted up as far as undercoat, whilst the new body slowly takes shape out of new timber, the latter currently looks like a bedstead leaning up alongside the wall of the woodworking area!
Finally one last essential task has completed our particularly busy couple of weeks. The essential task of "winterising" the coaches not in everyday use over the winter period. This has involved draining down all of the toilet tanks and pipework etc so that the frosts don't cause any damage to the pipework or ceramics. The GWR observation car and the suburban sets are among some of the vehicles treated.
