November News Part 1

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The latest arrival for attention by the Joint Heritage Coach Fund is Midland & Great Northern 129. This represents the final piece in the vintage train (phase 6). Regular visitors will be familiar with 129, it was the first coach in the vintage train project to be restored and initially ran with the Quad Art set because there was no other vintage coaches for it to form a train with! Since then it has been a regular performer in the vintage train but has never been mechanically satisfactory. As it was the first coach to be restored by the team, it was (historically incorrectly) placed on a 4-wheel wagon underframe, rather than the 6 wheel passenger underframe the body was originally carried on. The 4-wheel option was a more manageable option at the time but as the years went on and fresh experience was gained with the creation of the 6-wheel underframe on M&GN Picnic Saloon No3, plans were formed to create a replacement chassis for 129, to be fitted once all the other vintage coaches were completed. The rough and uncomfortable ride 129 has always had added a further incentive to this plan! Long running readers of the Blog will remember a few years ago a lot of work was already undertaken on this project, a 6-wheel chassis was created/modified and then stored at Holt ready for resources to become available to finish the work and undertake the swap.

With Great Eastern 853's completion, the time is now right to finish the task, to get 129 back to historically accurate format, with the (hoped) added bonus that its rough riding characteristics are cured. This week 129 has been split from the Vintage Train and moved into the shed at Weybourne with the "new" underframe. Next week work will begin. There will first be a period of preparation works as both the body and underframe need attention before they're ready to be swapped over.

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

The last of the donor parts from Gangwayed Brake 70621 were removed this week. Thanks to the swift services of the Operations Department 70621 was almost immediately tripped back to Bridge Road sheds for continued storage.

Returning to E1866E itself, the corridor connections transferred from 70621 (which from this point onward we will refer to as E1866E's own) have had the rivets drilled out releasing the canvas bellows to be removed for measuring as a pattern for replacements. The project mentioned last week to create a mesh cage for the guards steam heater has continued, whilst a new task has also started: modification of the tops of the brass sliding windows to put a curved corner back onto them. This is part of the back-conversion of this vehicle to how it was, as it arrived with right angle cornered windows.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

The compartment interior paneling refits continue, with Compartment 2 now completed.

Smaller jobs continue to progress, including some repair pieces which are being let in to the woodwork which sits either side of the main bodyside windows. The door "boots" for the luggage area which sit at the bottom of the opening doors, have been cleaned back and repainted prior to fitting.

Removed sections of guttering are also being cleaned up ready for refitting. The drain tubes, now all fitted to the compartments, are also being fitted to the windows along the corridor side.

Some more guards van planking has been added on the landward side adjacent to the inward opening guards door. This was to aid alignment of both the window surrounds and door hinges, both of which are still to be fitted.

One 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.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

This coach has been moved to a more accessible location within the shed to allow easier access for future welding to the stripped down Sheringham end.

The woodwork for the toilets has received another coat.

British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)

The last ceiling, compartment 6's, has been fitted this week with surrounding beading also fitted. The side walls have been painted in a first coat of white gloss, and now all that remains is to second coat the entire ceiling in position, which should complete the task.

Compartment re-varnishing continues with two compartments receiving further coats this week to bring them up to the same stage as many of the others.

The remaining woodwork which was removed from the compartments when the windows were stripped out has been rubbed down the bare wood ready to receive fresh varnish so that they match the rest of the compartments when they are refitted.

The vehicle has now been moved into the staging so that bodywork preparation on the upper sections can progress. This has started at the Sheringham end on the landward side and will no doubt soon spread!

Towards the end of the week, the first of the eight removed windows was refitted back into place, and the internal woodwork screwed back into place.

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236 (REPAIR)

With the bearing issue last week sorted the following reassembly work was fairly swift, with the new wheelset put in place and both bogies returned to the vehicle. The ride height was then reset followed by work to the brakes in order to accept the wheelset changes. This done, the vehicle was returned to Sheringham where it is now back in service. It will form one of the coaches used in the Norfolk Train of Lights and Santa Special set.

Workshop

The latest platform trolley sent in from Holt has been dismantled and good progress is being made on cleaning up the metalwork.