REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021

As part of preparing to write this year's review, the equivalent for 2020 was read and it was immediately quite sobering to be reminded of how low morale was after the first year of Covid with the associated lockdowns, staff redundancies and loss of output for the C&W department. Whilst it is true that Covid is still very much with us, and I hesitate to give the subject too much "air time", what is quite clear is that 2021 has been much improved over 2020! More restoration time has been available and output has correspondingly risen. It's true that it will take years to return to previous levels, however given the circumstances we have done well in 2021.

January dawned with four staff taken off the furlough scheme but volunteers still at home. The latter part of the previous year had seen work reduced to outside contracts only, however the management team decided in the New Year to return to domestic based restoration work. Three projects were being progressed: the contract overhaul of the second bogie for Thompson E1866, the Gold overhaul of Mk1 BCK E21224 and winter examinations of running stock to allow for sets to be available to run throughout 2021.

In February the Thompson bogie overhaul project was completed with E1866 being handed back to the Joint Heritage Coach Fund. This coincided with a return of their volunteers who set to mainly continuing the interior restoration of the vehicle. Mk1 E21224 was moved into the staging area for exterior completion and painting.

March saw the completion of the painting of E21224, although this was not to be the end as much interior completion would be required. A new project was also started in the form of overhauling the Southern Railway Brakevan at Holt, which was set up inside a scaffold tent to allow two teams to operate, one at Holt and one at Weybourne, to allow more volunteers to return to the railway without exceeding the social distancing limits imposed at Weybourne.

April saw trains start running again which provided a boost as well as a return of the running repairs to stock which was merrily being destroyed by the traveling public once again! In the workshop E21224 was having its guards area fitted out and E1866 was being sanded down for eventual repainting. At Holt, the SR brakevan continued to display more wood rot and some sign-writing was added to the container in the freight set, a loose end which never got done during the vehicle's restoration and had been on the "to do" list for many years.

In May we stepped up a gear and introduced another two projects. Mk1 TSO E4641, which had badly faded paintwork and damage following a chemical accident whilst being cleaned, was brought in and given a quick repaint and varnish. A privately owned Box Van, the restoration of which had stalled at the 95% mark due to the owner's ill health, was brought in for volunteers to complete the last of the jobs and make it suitable for introducing back into service in the freight train. Lots of other smaller repairs were also being undertaken during this time to the Mark 1 service fleet.

June was a consolidation month, with all the existing projects such as Thompson E1866, Mark 1 E21224, the Box Van and SR Brakevan all progressing nicely. The Class 31 diesel also entered the shed in order to be repainted.

July saw the railway's first major enthusiast event held following Covid, the Mixed Traction Gala. The opportunity was taken to launch two vehicles at the event following major overhauls, the Class 31 and the box van. This would prove to be a highlight for the year with an air of optimism and warmer weather.

In August E21224 had been completed up to a point where it could carry passengers, although it was by no means finished with many interior items still missing. It was needed for certain trains during the high summer so was temporarily put into traffic. The departure of this and the Class 31 from the shed allowed half of the workshop to be emptied for a major tidy up and a floor repaint, which was overdue by about 10 years!

By September the tent had been removed from the SR brakevan at Holt but the restoration, although well advanced, had not quite been completed. After a brief spell outside, it was arranged for the vehicle to be shunted under the awning at Holt museum to be finished off. Mark 1 E21224 had also returned to Weybourne for lots of snagging and minor jobs to be attended to, whilst sister BCK vehicle E21103 was brought into the workshops and quickly dismantled externally for a Silver bodywork overhaul.

In October the infamous conveyor belt project was launched: an audacious "Covid kick-back" scheme to undertake emergency water ingress and interior repairs and apply paint and varnish externally to 13 vehicles before the summer of 2022:

• The Suburban 4 set
• Two Mark 1 TSO vehicles and a CCT from the main maroon service set
• Two Mark 1 dining coaches
• The Quad-Art set

In this first month, CCT E94464 and suburban E43041 had been completed. We also returned the first class seating to DMU car M56352, which had been removed in the 1990's by BR, and of course the Gold/Silver overhauls quietly continued on E1866, E21103 and the SR brakevan.

November saw the conveyor belt continue with suburban W46139 bringing the total up to three. An added bonus was Southern Railway CCT S1439S, which was privately owned and also being worked on privately, which emerged from the Loco shed following a few months of exterior repairs and a partial repaint. Dining train FO M3116 also made a brief visit to the workshop to have some asbestos lagging removed by contractors to allow steam heat repairs to be undertaken allowing the vehicle to return to use on winter services (having been confined to summer only for the past year or two). Class 37 D6732 also followed in the Class 31's footsteps by coming into the shed for its own repaint. This time however it was to be done by contractors Heritage Painting as there was too much stress on the home resources to undertake in house given the amount of refreshes going on with other vehicles.

Finally, December saw Mark 1 E21224 dispatched to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for the fitting of its Network Rail approved toilet to allow it to operate on the mainline after 2023. Upon its return we officially classed its major four year Gold overhaul completed, so it can finally take a break from the pages of this Blog! The conveyor belt continued with suburbans E48001 and E43357 being refreshed bringing the total up to five, which was just in time to stay on target (we aimed to have five completed by 2022) in the overall scheme.

The current occupants of the shed are: Thompson E1866 (ongoing Gold overhaul), Mark 1 BCK E21103 (Silver overhaul to be completed 2022), Suburban E43357 (complete awaiting dispatch) and Class 37 D6732 (repaint to be completed 2022). Of course the SR Brakevan is also at Holt and reportedly only has a few more days work ahead before it too is completed, with the aim of relaunching it at the Spring Steam Gala.

In 2021 we completed the major overhauls of two vehicles, with a further eight receiving repaints and many more having minor intermediate repairs. This is a good output for a still depleted department. Looking ahead into 2022, the first half of the year will see a continuation of the quick refreshes that have dominated the latter half of 2021, before hopefully we can return to some more thorough overhaul work again later in the year. 2021 has been a much better result than 2020, so we hope to build further on this and do even better next year!

COMPLETION SPECIAL: Mark 1 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

After a much protracted overhaul, with no clear start or end dates, E21224 now officially enters full service, following its return from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it was having its last major component fitted: the control emission toilet.

E21224 is a relative newcomer to the NNR's fleet, rather than an old favourite which has done countless journeys between Sheringham and Holt. Its role on the railway has been debated and changed throughout the overhaul, and even now we are unsure as to exactly how it will eventually settle within the fleet - more of which later. E21224 is an almost identical twin to E21103 (it is actually a slightly younger sister) and has an identical interior layout, the most varied of any Mark 1 on the railway. E21224 is an entire train in one coach: boasting first (2) and second (3) class compartments with an adjacent toilet (originally two but only one has been restored), guards compartment and luggage/parcel space. It follows the well known standard Mark 1 design, our front line carriage design on the NNR which are expected to run up to 60 mile diagrams on a daily basis for most of the year. Almost every visitor to the NNR will have traveled in a coach of this type.

Our previous champion, Tourist Second Open E4641, which is regarded as the most thoroughly overhauled Mark 1 in the railway's history, now has a companion in which to hold the title of "best coach" jointly. Both E4641 & E21224 were overhauled during a "golden age" (around 2015-2020) of possible investment which sadly has been tempered, at least temporarily, by Covid-19.

It has already been mentioned that E21224 is an addition rather than an overhaul of an existing worn out member of the fleet. For many years the NNR ran two sets of corridor Mark 1 stock on the majority of its day-to-day services, known as A set and B set. The railway also had two corridor brakes of similar design (E21103 & W35148) and a third brake was available in the form of Suburban E43357. Now, back in earlier days when the NNR was mixing its suburban vehicles in with its corridor Mark 1's, availability was not a problem as E43357 could easily step in whenever either of the two corridor brakes had an issue or required works. However, as time went on an important change altered the equilibrium. This change was that the suburbans slowly became more dilapidated in condition and were gradually removed from the main running sets. They were later fully restored but subsequently ran separately as their own dedicated set, making brake E43357 less usable for the two main corridor sets. General growth of the railway meant there became plenty of special event work in any case that would require three sets in operation rather than the previous two. Still with us? To allow for overhauls, repaints and maintenance work, is is optimum to have four Mark 1 brake coaches available if there is a requirement for three to be in service. This was the rationale behind E21224's acquisition.

As long ago as 2011, E21224 had been withdrawn from mainline charter train work and was lying at Southall depot (near London). As it fitted our criteria, after a viewing, a deal was undertaken resulting in it coming to the NNR in 2012. It was thought that after localised steel repairs and a repaint, it would be suitable for use on the NNR. However due to commitments overhauling the dining train and suburban coaches, it would be another six years before E21224 reached the front of the queue. It spent the majority of this time inside the sheds at Bridge Road, invisible to casual followers and visitors to the railway.

In March 2017 a gap in the overhaul schedule allowed E21224 to enter the works. The original assessment of the coach (which had to be done cosmetically i.e. no stripping or disturbance of components) was sadly surpassed by the corrosion found beneath. In some cases rather shockingly for a coach which had been mainline registered and passed to run at high speeds, major structural issues were found with the end framework and the flooring in particular. The overhaul was quickly upgraded from a Bronze to a Silver. The interior was stripped out and was found to be of poor quality, with much original hardwood replaced by cheap softwood, stained and varnished, much of which didn't survive removal. At the same time, it was decided to put the coach "back on the mainline" to replace the quickly failing dining train Kitchen Car. Regulations for mainline running in the intervening years had increased, so a second review concluded that for E21224 to fulfill its potential, only a Gold overhaul would do. What followed was a long and full restoration (which doesn't need repeating here in detail as this Blog has covered it from start to finish) over a four year period. The coach could have been completed much sooner, however the heavier overhauls always have to be paused to deal with more pressing and immediate threats to the fleet, plus there was a year lost to Covid, so readers can appreciate that E21224's overhaul, whilst four years in total duration, was probably closer to two years "full time" work.

Before looking at E21224's service life on the mainline, we hinted earlier about the coach's change of purpose. When obtained in 2011, it was to be restored in BR maroon as a "standard service brake" identical to E21103 & W35148, to be swapped with the latter two equally. During the overhaul, the NNR started running dining trains to Cromer, so it was agreed that E21224 would be mainline registered to be the brake on the dining set on Cromer days. The Dual brake feature of E21224 could also be useful here in the future, if vacuum brakes are ever banned on the mainline. Later, this role was reinforced with the maroon livery being switched to Crimson & Cream, so that E21224 could be truly dual purpose (similar to E4641) and run in both service sets and on the dining train as required. This decision was made after the future of the Kitchen Car (M81033) started to be considered due to the latter's poor condition, suggesting that E21224 might have to spend more time in the dining set than originally envisaged. So, it can be seen that the coach could be used for several purposes, at various times and with various importance depending on the (un)availability of other members of the fleet. We are all therefore now interested to see how E21224 is to be used moving forwards, it will doubtlessly ease several situations that could have been a real problem had E21224 not been restored.

E21224 was of course designed for much longer distance travel. Its first owner was, of course, British Railways, who from 1951 embarked on an enormous production run of Mark 1 vehicles which would last for over 20 years. E21224, as already mentioned, was of the BCK type, the first of which E21000 was introduced in 1954. E21224 was the 225th of the 276 eventually produced, delivered in May 1959 in lined Maroon livery. It is believed the coach was built on the then standard "BR1" 90mph bogie and had steam heating and vacuum braking. It was to lead an anonymous life working within both long and short distance trains both within the Eastern region and beyond, such was the versatility of the Mark 1 fleet in general. It would work on the Eastern its entire commercial life, and was once of the many coaches that was apportioned to the short lived "North Eastern" sector between 1965-1968.

We do not hold detailed records for E21224's movements and modifications during its working life, however it is known that the original 90mph bogies were exchanged for the lightweight higher speed "B4" design which included better riding qualities and lower maintenance components allowing E21224 to work at 100mph, in common with 32 other BCK's. As the diesel and electric era took hold, air braking was added to the vacuum to increase versatility, although as time went on the vacuum system would be used less and less. Meanwhile the steam heating was removed and replaced with electric, it not being felt necessary to keep the old system. In the latter 1960's the maroon livery was changed to the new standard Blue & Grey.

In common with many Mark 1's, the introduction of Mark 3 coaches in the 1970's and several stock cascades led to E21224's withdrawal from passenger service in November 1983. It was however reclassified as a departmental vehicle, numbered KDB977580 in September 1988 for use as a Signal & Telegraph staff and tool van. Renumbering was a notoriously loose affair in those times, so it is not known if the coach was stored between 83 and 88 or whether it was being used by S&T under its old number. Officially it was withdrawn again in September 1992, this time for real, and was dispatched to Gwent Demolition for disposal.

1994

KDB977580's potential (dual brakes and B4 bogies) must have been seen as the following year it was purchased for preservation and moved to Crewe for further storage. It would be 1996 before restoration started, which was contracted out to the ill fated "Lancastrian Carriage & Wagon", who returned to coach to mainline status, with 21224 number reinstated (minus regional prefix). Records show that the mechanical overhaul to achieve this was undertaken in 1997. It was repainted in a brighter blue & cream under the brand "Regency Rail", exclusively intended for charter work under the VSOE empire. Confusingly photographs show 21224 running in October 1997 although records show the vehicle as returning to the mainline in April 2000.

1997

Despite the investment, it appears 21224's second mainline career proved limited, with relatively few photographs showing the vehicle operating in charter trains. Records suggest it was removed from use in 2004 although we are unsure as to the reliability of that date. Eventually the coach was converted into a support coach, reportedly intended to operate with steam locomotive 70000 "Britannia", and painted in chocolate & cream livery.

2001

This plan appears to have failed although 21224 did work some trains in its new colours. It latterly spent periods stored at Meldon Quarry (Devon) and Tyseley depot before settling at Southall in 2009. Of course in 2011, the story became an NNR one.

2011

Needless to say we are all very pleased with the end results. After 15 years out of the spotlight hopefully E21224 will now be settled again and enjoyed by passengers regularly into the future.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)

No progress to report.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

A very boring week, the only work being a continuation of that already started. The corridor connection woodwork continues to be fitted on the Holt end and the first two doors and door jambs continue to be fitted to the landward side.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Third E43357

The fifth of the conveyor belt coaches has now been pretty much completed in time for Christmas, meaning the conveyor belt schedule is running on time. The crimson paint was rubbed down, washed and given a varnish coat this week, after the final removed door was refitted.

The opportunity has been taken to replace the 1970's era signage on the vehicle's end with the correct 1950's version, an error which has taken until now to rectify. The wording and position has been taken from research and photographs of similar vehicles which were stablemates of E43357 during its Kings Cross working days.

Finishing touches included the usual unmasking of handles etc and painting of bolt heads on the grab handles. We also managed to undertake a few improvements to the guards interior which had been left messy by the emergency equipment. We have fixed some spring clips to the wall so that the fire beaters now have a proper home, and the wheelchair ramp is now also fixed to the wall properly.

We also noticed guards had arranged for loose chairs to be placed in the vehicle. We assumed this was to provide comfort for ticket inspectors, friends joining them for the journey, or passengers accompanying wheelchair bound passengers, but the chairs didn't look very "railway". We have therefore compromised and fitted a BR DMU seat in their place, which has the double advantage of being both a BR item and also more padded than the wooden chairs that it replaces!

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

Heritage Painting had another good week with further repairs and preparation to the Sheringham end nose and final gloss on the Holt end one. At the same end the half yellow panel is also being applied and is one coat of yellow short of completion.

The numbers have now also been added.

Workshop

The upholstering of seating destined for TSO M4958 continues in the vibrant "boomerang" moquette, with a dozen seat backs and bases now in evidence. The coach itself is likely to be withdrawn in January to allow the rest of the seating to be removed for re-upholstery.

December News Part 2

Due to illness unfortunately we skipped a week but are back in the saddle now. Progress is slightly slowed as people understandably start to wind down on the approach to Christmas, with the added consideration of several volunteers taking another break from volunteering following the latest government guidance. However two weeks' news in one update means we still have a respectable output to show.

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)

No progress to report.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

We have been informed that the new toilet has now been fitted and we await the coach's return with interest. It was fitted extremely quickly so the team up there must be well versed in the process following the number of North Yorkshire Moors Mark 1's which have been similarly treated this year. What was nice is that we received compliments from their team as to how nice the coach was restored. The underframe stripping and repainting in particular must have made E21224 a much more pleasant coach to work underneath than some other examples.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

A full set of doors have now been repaired, with all of them that required new steel welding in around the bottoms, windows and hinges completed. They are now stacked up awaiting refitting to the vehicle.

On that same note, we now have two staff engaged in the door refitting. This has started on the landward side with the two passenger doors being the first to be tackled. We find these very time consuming with many dry fits and trail runs during the process. They are first hung loosely onto re-sited hinges, which have back plates welded onto the new framework (recently replaced in many cases). Once they are square and swinging in and out of the aperture nicely, the second stage is to fit the wooden door jambs into the steelwork, with much chopping of wood and trail/error to achieve the correct fit. All of the door catches, locks etc also have to be let into the wood at this point. The lock and catch mechanism is then fitted and finely adjusted. This done, the door is removed yet again for the two corner weather strips/caps to be fitted on the door edges. Only then, after all the aforementioned parts have been painted on their rears and sealed in to protect from water ingress, can the final assembly and fit occur. This door fitting will very likely dominate the effort on the exterior of the coach for some time.

Also on the exterior, the Holt end corridor connection end woodwork is being refitted now that the steelwork has been cleaned and painted. These have all suffered problems one way or another so have taken several days to get on, however it is close to being completed which will allow the rubber bellows to follow soon.

The bogie overhaul has slowed but continues, with cleaned down areas being brought up through the painting stages.

The glass for the two replacement wheelchair saloon windows arrived, so was fitted into the frames on the new rubbers. This was not without difficulty and it was certainly the right decision to fit these on the bench rather than on the vehicle. The two windows are now complete and can be refitted at the next available opportunity.

Most of the internal window woodwork is currently off site receiving varnishing, but those windows which have painted interiors are still being repaired with various primers and undercoats being applied.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

The fourth of the conveyor belt coaches was completed immediately after the last update and is now outside awaiting dispatch to the sheds up at Holt.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Third E43357

The fifth of the conveyor belt coaches has arrived from Sheringham for the same treatment as numbers two, three and four. In a well rodden path to regular visitors, E43357 actually came as a surprise as we new this once had not received as thorough an overhaul as the other three suburbans during their major restorations, so we were expected more serious corrosion to be setting in on this one. However generally this proved not to be the case, which was a bonus. The "usual treatment" completed so far:

• Washed of steam grime
• Out of date passenger signage removed
• Roof repainted
• Window bottoms resealed
• Grab handles removed from the outside
• Bodysides rubbed down, washed and painted in a coat of crimson paint
• Landward side windows scraped of excess paint

Given the vehicle was slightly worse off than some of the other suburbans in some areas, we have also done one or two jobs which so far have been only to this vehicle. This included the removal of two doors which went to the "door hospital" for new sections to be welded in, as the corrosion was too great to patch or ignore. Given E21103's doors were being treated at the same time so all of the equipment was set up and ready, this happened very swiftly and the doors were soon patch painted and returned. One of them has been refitted with the second still to do.

We also decided to apply a coat of black paint to the ends, which we didn't do on the others, in order to cover the 1970's "Kings Cross suburban" signage which was applied to this vehicle in error. A new 1950's style template is currently being produced so we hope to put something more period on the end if the template arrives in time before the vehicle leaves us.

Internally, all was generally good, but there was an attack of mold in the guards van, particularly around the ceiling, so this was attended to by a hardy soul who scrubbed away above his head! There was also a "problem compartment" which had a missing armrest, some loose paneling and a sheared off nut which holds the brass grab handle onto the outside. Half of the compartment was stripped, along with some trim, to instigate all of the repairs before being quickly reassembled, so one wouldn't know we'd been there now. Whilst the opportunity was available a full "armrest audit" was also  undertaken with tightening up and refixing of panels where required.

We have a few days left before the end of the year where we will focus on getting the vehicle varnished. We hope to have E43357 substantially completed before New Year as the ambitious conveyor belt schedule aimed to have the first five vehicles completed by then. However we may just need a day or two in early January to complete any final window scraping and refitting of handles etc. Nevertheless we are on track to "be where we want to be" (as they say) for the start of the 2022 season.

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

Heritage Painting continue to impress with their speed and quality of finish. The main bodysides of the loco have progressed well through all of the stages of preparation and painting with gloss now in evidence. Even the British Railways roundels are now in place.

The nose ends are slightly behind with one end still being prepared whilst the other is in the first gloss coats. The loco is starting to look rather nice indeed.

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

The last two weeks has seen a focus on painting as the brakevan gets ever closer to completion. The interior of the cabin has received several coats of primer/undercoat, including the ceiling.

Outside the running boards are now in gloss top coat.

Filling around doors, gates and verandas has also continued with a new sealant being trialed successfully around the bottoms of the verandas.

December News Part 1

London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)

Another steady week with all of the ongoing projects progressing in their own ways. Doors have been a focus with the corridor end ones receiving more coats of varnish, further trimming of the sliding ventilators from the passenger doors and the second guards door being painted brown internally.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

The vehicle was loaded this week and is now in North Yorkshire for the fitting of its toilet apparatus.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Pleasingly the milestone has been reached this week of all of the welding works being completed on the vehicle. The contractor engaged in repairing all of the doorways has completed his work which now means it's back up to us to get all of the doors rehung. Said doors have had many new bottoms welded in where originals had rotted and/or been plated over.

Some unexpected welding on the corridor ends has also been undertaken in areas which became holed during cleaning works.

The bogie overhaul continues to progress with the first third of the bogie being cleaned with a start made on applying primer. The brakegear "bits" from that end are also now cleaned.

On the interior, the wooden bars which hold the glass in place inside the two store cupboards has been gathered, rubbed down and primed.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

The fourth of the conveyor belt repaints has progressed really well this week. Bodyside painting was completed which allowed another rub down and wash to take place before a coat of varnish was applied.

This left several "trimmings" including replacing several window catches which were missing and refitting the grab handles. In addition to this various clean up tasks such as scraping stray paint off the windows and unmasking various details have also been undertaken.

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

With contractors Heritage Painting in it is unsurprising that the loco has progressed swiftly! The roof was one of the first areas to be tackled being rubbed down and coated in primer. Also prepped were the bogies and underframe details such as fuel tanks etc which have also been undercoated and glossed.

With top and bottom progressing, the middle was not to be left out with the seaward side of the loco's bodyside being prepped and partially filled, which will be continued next week.

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

This week the team have had another finishing session, little nooks and crannies to fill, touch  up etc...

Cabin sanding, stripping and finally cleaning up has continued, and the area is now ready to be washed down with white spirit in preparation for painting.