A happy New Year to all of our readers. Over the Covid pandemic, we unfortunately lost 50% of our readership, so as we go into 2022 I'd like to ask if anyone can share any links anywhere for this page https://nnrailway.blogspot.com/ in the direction of anyone you think may be interested, then we can try and encourage readership to return to normal levels. I hope those that remain continue to enjoy the updates, as that's certainly the feedback I get from those I talk to in person.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)
The team working on this coach have had various commitments in other areas of life so a return from the Christmas break has been slow as a result. However one hardy soul has been in this week making adjustments to the fit of the double doors in the luggage compartment, which are always a challenging fit on any vehicle.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
We were so busy on the lead up to Christmas that nobody from the department had chance to get down to Sheringham to inspect the new toilet. A quick opportunity for a look was arranged this week and it does appear to be all there! There is some finishing off to do, some minor damage caused by the road transportation and the outstanding steam heat repairs that we hadn't finished before the coach left for Yorkshire. For these reasons, when things are calmer, the vehicle will have to be returned to Weybourne for finishing off. I don't think the coach is needed in traffic for some time, so it may be that the coach returns when it is a bit warmer again and we can work on it outside in comfort.
British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)
The two passenger doors on the landward side continue to progress, they are now both hung for the final time and work has transferred to the "trimmings" such as cutting in the dovetails and refitting draught excluder strips and the surrounding trim and paneling that was removed for the welding repairs.
Very visual progress on the windows has been made, with two sheets of glass (out of five) fitted into the compartment frames. These required much adjustment of the wooden securing bars on the insides, but now look most presentable!
Additionally, an already glazed frame (of a different design to those on the rest of the coach) was also fitted back into the wheelchair saloon, also on the seaward side.
The bogie overhaul continues to progress, with the second third of the frames being stripped down, primed and undercoated during the Christmas period. Lots of the brakegear has been prepared for refitting as well.
British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Third E43357
The fifth of the conveyor belt coaches was quickly finished off after Christmas. Any last remains of paint were scraped off the windows and finally the footboards and bump stops were treated to a coat of paint. The vehicle was then removed from the shed and will be returned to Bridge Road shortly. This of course means that the whole Suburban 4 set has now been refreshed/repainted over the autumn/winter, so look out for them in April when they make their return to service!
British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372
The sixth of the conveyor belt coaches has now entered the shed for its turn on the merry-go-round. It is part of the dining train. This vehicle was last in with us between February and April 2018 where failed cream paintwork and unstable windows were scraped back followed by a full repaint. This was done in preference to the treatment to dining train stablemate RBR E1969 which had all its windows removed to treat the premature corrosion below. Sadly the approach on M4372 has not lasted and the paintwork has faded with the window corrosion steadily getting worse.
Alas we do not have the time to remove the windows to treat the corrosion, so we will improve it cosmetically until we have more time to deal with the root of the problem. The first jobs were to give the coach a good wash down, and we then went around all of the windows and door edge strips scraping off the bubbled paintwork and surface corrosion.
There are also several areas of failed filler which we have scraped off as far as a solid base.
Preparations for the repainting are simultaneously progressing. So far the grab handles have been removed from the doors (nice and easy to get off as they were only relatively recently disturbed) and most of the landward side has been lightly sanded to provide a key for the paint.
The roof area is also worse than the previous coaches dealt with in the program, with much flaking on the sun side. The unstable areas have been removed and any rust locally treated. The gutters have also been cleared of detritus, mainly from the trees when the coach has been standing at Sheringham and Holt.
British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732
The loco was moved out of the shed in order to swap E43357 and M4372, so an opportunity to see it outside was available before being shunted back in for the contractors to return next week.
British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)
This week the inside of the cabin has been undercoated, but the white requires a second coat.
The group have a lovely, borrowed, little heater for inside keeping them going on the cold days!
One brave man has been derusting the platform on both ends and applying rust inhibitor.
Workshop
As the Norfolk Lights Express is now completed, CCT E94464 was tripped to Weybourne to have the generators removed. The rope lighting has also been removed from all six of the vehicles involved returning them to their original appearance.
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