24 June 2021

June News Part 2

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

Work on the end capping pieces, mentioned last week, has continued with all four being brought up to gloss paint ready for refitting. Indeed, two of them were fitted to the Sheringham (brake) end of the vehicle and the surrounding areas given a coat of gloss black.



Elsewhere on the coach, some more thorough work is in progress beneath the floor of the guards area, as the various linkages and equipment for the handbrake protection valve are trialed and fitted into place. For now this will be an ongoing project.



British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Achieved in a previous update but missed out due to forgetfulness was the installation and testing of the compartment reading lamps. These have taken some time as the originals were all missing and a set needed making up out of a number of spares which were in poor condition. It is a treat to see them finished and working ready for passengers to use!



In readiness for the final interior refit, new table brackets have been fabricated from scratch to screw to the walls just under the windows. These will, in time, support the edges of the brand new table tops which have yet to be built for the coach.

This week the lino laying contractors were able to make a start, which is great news given the lack of lino has been responsible for holding this particular vehicle back. The coach has been sealed and the relevant screeding laid and approximately half of the lino is now down. 



British Railways 1960 Brush Type 2 D5631

Since the last update quite a lot has been completed. The rubbed down bodysides have all been given their top coat of green gloss before being gently rubbed down again ready for final varnishing. This completed, the waist height bodyside white line and half yellow panels on the cab ends were masked up, and so far these have been undercoated and given one coat of gloss. White and yellow are both poor colours for depth of colour, so more coats will be required for sure! At the request of the loco's owners, we now can't post photographs until it is completed.

Elsewhere on the loco, a few smaller items, such as painting a number of the window bars from inside the engine room, have also been progressed.


British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B784254 (GOLD)

The box van ha leapt forwards and is now on the home straight towards the end of its overhaul. With the final areas of the underframe painted in gloss black, the vehicle was ready to be lowered back down onto its wheels. To facilitate this, the four axleboxes were cleaned out with the steam-cleaner to remove the grit-blasting contaminants before being married up to the brand new oil pads. They were then returned onto the suitably cleaned axles and the body lowered back down onto them.



With the underframe now back together some brake adjustments were completed and a brake test successfully undertaken. Another job off the list was removing the temporary short buffers off the Sheringham end and replacing them with the correct pattern long type so that the van is fit to be hauled on the line outside of the yard.



After the final finishing touches were made, such as painting the lamp irons and the handles of the handbrake levers white, we have now completed the underframe/mechanicals of the van.

This left the interior space as the only outstanding item. The ceiling has now been finished having received two coats of gloss white paint.



A few other repair panels which had been let into the walls were given a coat of brown in order to protect them from the elements.



The vehicle is now almost complete with only a few more miscellaneous items to finish, such as the refitting of a missing chain to secure one of the doors.

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

No progress to report.

Maintenance

With the dining train now in operation again, two sets of batteries were swapped from suburban coaches out of the main running set, which isn't currently operating after the hours of darkness. These were installed into two of the dining coaches so hopefully we have a fully lit dining set once again.

Our designated spare open coach, M4958, has been swapped into the second set, to replace E3868 which has had to be removed for a more detailed inspection as it ha suffered wheel flats. 

Miscellaneous

The "billy seat" introduced last week has been rubbed down and primed ready to receive more coats.

We have also received another donated platform trolley, of Ipswich pedigree, which we are thankful for. The original lettering has been carefully noted before the trolley was stripped down for refurbishment. It is currently being painted (blue).


2 comments:

  1. Tongue in cheek comment re paint Norwich on side of sack barrow!
    good work as always

    ReplyDelete