A slightly update this week that is a little light on photos, as I have been incapacitated for several days following side effects of the Covid vaccine. Service is expected to resume next week!
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)
This week has again mainly seen a continuation of existing tasks described in previous updates. The vacuum cylinder which had a hole in it, discovered a while ago, has had a patch welded on, which hopefully makes it vacuum tight now. Given the cylinder sits mainly out of sight there was no need to let in a flush plate.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)
The only progress on the vehicle has been an initial assembly of the sink and pedestal arrangement along with its taps and pipework. Nothing as yet has been able to be fixed down or in place as certain design elements had not been confirmed, however this should be able to progress shortly.
British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)
Removal work has continued to be the focus, and we have now reached the point where both corridor ends are fully stripped and therefore suitable for the welding repairs to begin. Not too far behind are the doorways, which are being progressively stripped down as volunteer resources allow. These continue to throw up surprises, with an initially "worse than thought" condition seemingly apparent, leading to us considering whether to do all of the doorways as a matter of course. However further strip downs are subsequently revealing better than expected metal behind, despite the wooden door jambs in front being fairly rough... The best theory is that during the coach's previous NNR major overhaul, random doorways were tackled rather than all of them, and that the original wooden door jambs may have been reused to save cost, so we are now encountering a mix of (reasonable) 20 year old and (rotten) 60 year old metal, both hiding below similar looking wood. We just need an X-ray machine now to tell which is which!
Our admirable team currently employed exclusively on cleaning and repainting, have moved on from the window frames and are now tackling all of the removed material from the corridor ends so they are presentable and ready to refit when the time comes.
These involve both wooden and metal elements with the latter having received some welding repairs to make them good again. The wood, where rotten, is currently "paused" while we await our woodworking saws to be put back into commission following some repairs and operating changes. Around 3/4 of the metalwork from the Holt end corridor, which was tackled first so is therefore the most advanced, has now been painted up to gloss black.
The last of the window glass removed from the coach has been fully cleaned up and is ready to be refitted into the frames, once the latter have been returned to the coach body-sides. Also cleaned up have been the aluminium trim that surrounds the sliding lights, on all five of the compartment window frames which have been removed from the coach. These often unseen cleaning tasks will ensure the coach's windows look presentable and open/shut effectively in the years ahead.
British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)
The brakevan up at Holt, has now been shunted under the awning outside the museum there, so workers now have the added element of interacting with an interested public as they work! Some LED lighting has been added under the awning to make it more suitable for restoration and particularly repainting work.
Following extended preparations, the first door has been fitted.
Two hays have been spent cleaning the associated furniture, removing the old paint and rust etc.
Prior to the move undercover again, the rust from the underframe was removed and coated with rust inhibitor, ready for undercoat.
Workshop
Again, it is a case of "more of the same" - the bench mentioned in previous weeks has received further painting and edges closer to reassembly. "The Earl Haig" headboard is receiving final finishing and is halfway to having some poppy signs added to it. Finally, the damaged casting from Wissington is now completed and is completely covered in filler, with extra angles added to various parts to ensure is slides in and out of the sand properly when it is used as a pattern for the new one. This all had to be very precise and it took much longer to achieve than first envisaged. Seeing it all in white, it is hard to believe there's metal below!
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