December News Part 2

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

Final painting preparations on the new 6 wheel underframe have continued, with the touched in areas of rust affected metal now returned to wood effect brown. Whilst the paintbrushes were out, the lettering on the axle-boxes (reclaimed from Great Northern Railway No 46) was picked out in white, as were the edges of the wheels themselves.

The ends of the vehicle are now receiving minor works. The cosmetic gas pipe, never finished when the vehicle was first restored, is being completed. Lamp irons have been moved from the old underframe and will now be fixed to the body, similar to GER 853. Holes are being drilled in the underframe to bolt on the brackets which stop the body from sliding forwards and backwards should the mounting bolts fail. Most of the end steps have been removed and are being repainted whilst the opportunity is there.

Some interior work is progressing on the compartments. Preparations are being made for the blue striping to be applied to the walls, this Great Northern Railway feature was discovered on the original coach, but again there wasn't time to apply it during the original restoration, so the plan is to correct this. The ceilings have also been cleaned as they had suffered the same mold that had struck the Quad Art set inside Bridge Road sheds.

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

No progress to report.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Reassembly of the interior continues. More work to compartment 3 has been done, and a start has been made on the side corridor alongside the compartments. The first task is an inventory of all the supporting timbers which hold the panel-work in place. This is now in the process of being bolted back into place where it had been removed for metalwork repairs. Any missing items at the end of this process will be remade from new and then fitted.

Resources have become available to complete the flooring project, which needed finishing off as the Holt end vestibule is still without a floor, despite the rest of the vehicle being done. The large timber which spreads across the corridor end, and which will later support the plywood floor, has been cut and is being fettled ready for final positioning.

Refitting of the doors around the guards/luggage van areas continues to progress. The guards inward opening door on the landward side now has its outer aluminium strips fitted so is close to completion.

The components for the two Holt end doors that were painted last week are now being refitted to the frames, slowly working towards the day they can be re-hung onto the vehicle!

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

The Sheringham end welding repairs continue with some lower end framework being welded below the windows and at the bottom of the vehicle around the toilet areas.

A tentative start has been made on the door overhauls for the vehicle, this will be a long job with a full set of six aluminium doors being selected to form a set for this vehicle. Two of these are from E21224, rogues that were discarded as we wanted a full set of steel doors on E21224 rather than a mix of types. E4521 had three aluminium doors already on it which it will keep. The sixth door has been found in the stores and is a damaged example but it is hoped it can be repaired during the rebuild. Regular readers may have already seen this "sixth door": a blue and grey example which recently had a trip out on M4843 for a week whilst one of its own doors was repaired! The first door has been partly dismantled and some of the components shot blasted and primed, improving their appearance greatly. The door casting itself is currently being stripped back to bare metal.

British Railways 1957 Corridor Second W25189 (BRONZE)

The finishing work to the two corridor ends has now been completed and signed off, so the exterior is now fully in the hands of the painters. So far the landward side and Sheringham end has been primed.

On the roof, the vents are now fully sealed and only the remaining old paint requires chipping off the outer surfaces. This is about 1/3rd done.

Internally, the vestibule ceiling repainting is now complete, meaning the vehicle;'s ceilings have now been repainted throughout the whole vehicle. Varnishing along the corridor is progressing very well, with half of the vehicle already done.

British Railways 1958 Covered Carriage Truck M94125 (REPAIR)

The turned wheelset, destined for the Holt end of the vehicle, is now repainted in gloss black, and the axleboxes have been returned to it. The axle is now ready to be refitted, hopefully next week.

Workshop

In a frenzy of reassembly, the kit-form platform trolley has emerged once again and was quickly undercoated and glossed in a day shortly after reassembly form a kit of metal parts. I am told that the woodwork has been completely replaced, so this trolley is almost a new build! Unsurprising given they often live outdoors in all weathers.