March News Part 1

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

All of the "3" symbols have now been applied to the doors (ten of them), which concludes the sign writing, and indeed all of the work above deck. The only task now that remains is the adjustment of the brake rigging, which is currently stopped awaiting the Engineering Department to assist us.

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

Another week of door rebuilds, with all twelve of them now in progress. Most appear to be stripped down now, with large chunks of rotten hardwood being pulled out of them ready for new bits to be spliced in.

The guards heater has also been test fitted in place inside the coach.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

This coach has remained the top priority with work on both the exterior and interior progressing. Starting with the outside, sanding and filling work has spread down the landward side with around 2/3rds now completed. It has had several skims and is now looking a lot whiter than it was two weeks ago!

Other fittings are being returned to the exterior alongside the filling work so that it can all come together for painting at some point. Three out of the four missing sections of gutter have now been returned to the vehicle. The end toilet filler pipes are being stripped back and cleaned up as these got missed out of the main paint stripping effort a few years ago. The Holt end corridor connection bellows, shock absorbers and "weather hood" have all been reassembled completing this connection at long last.

The Sheringham end connection has had the rubber bellows bolted back together, but the shocjk absorbers will have to wait as we have discovered there are missing parts up there that need machining.

We have started to undertake "snagging" work to all of the doors which have been hung, correcting small faults with them and finishing off lose ends. One of the largest tasks was to correct a stiff window in the landward guards door. This required the door to be removed from the coach and stripped down again so that some material could be removed from the wooden frame to ease the runners which the window slides in outwards to allow more room for the glass. Pleasingly this adjustment was successful and we now have a much smoother window.

Moving onto the interior, the missing beading for the compartments and toilet has now been fully varnished, having received several coats this week. This can hopefully be fitted in place this week.

Luggage rack netting has now been completed with all of the nets now fitted to the racks ready to refit. A series of missing brackets for the walls to accommodate the racks have also been remade ready for fitting. We are now sorting out the dome headed bolts which hold the racks in place, before they are fitted to the compartments themselves.

Along the side corridor, body filler has been put in over any gaps or cracks in the floor so that we have a smoother surface than at present on which to lay the new lino flooring.

The internal woodwork varnishing for the Holt vestibule doors has also been completed this week.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open E4521 (SILVER)

Steelwork to the Sheringham end continued this week, with the passenger communication apparatus mounting plates welded on, and the mechanical linkages and pipework test fitted in place.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (REPAIR)

Axle 1 (pictured last week) has received coats of black undercoat and gloss paint this week and is now ready for refitting. Axle 2 suffered problems in the wheel lathe with more material than expected having to be taken off. As wheels in the same bogie need to be of a similar size, Axle 1 may have to return to the lathe for more to be turned off. However other options involving swapping the positions of the four wheelsets around on the coach are being investigated to see if we can avoid taking any more material off Axle 1.

Meanwhile the wheel-less bogie currently on the floor in the shed is having all its bolts and pins in the brake-work removed for a quick inspection and thorough clean,. A full split pin renewal will also take place during this work. So far it all looks to be in good condition...

Maintenance

The vacuum cylinder pictured last week was fitted back onto W25189 during the week and tested successfully, so hopefully no more dramas for this coach. It was to be returned to Sheringham as part of a test working for one of the diesel shunters recently overhauled, however routine booked signalling maintenance that day meant that we couldn't exit the yard so the move was postponed. It is expected that W25189 will be returned to Sheringham next week.