March News Part 3

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

Further work on the doors this week, with more repairs, more varnishing and more painting. The guards doors are looking more "corporate image" these days and are all one colour on the outside facing frames.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

This vehicle has now left the shed and has had fairly successful air brake and steam heat tests. Just one steam heater is now weeping steam on a gasket which will hopefully be nipped up next week. The air brakes all function as expected and the coach has ceremoniously traversed the yard up and down in air brake mode with the Class 08! Again we found one small leak to attend to on the reservoir side. The coach has also received an annual C examination and has been returned to traffic (again) for use on vacuum brakes for the steam gala next weekend.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Progress continues to be made on most fronts. The final outstanding door, the landward guards inward door, is now almost complete and is now hung complete with weather strips, final adjustments being all that remains.

The paint preparation on the landward side also continues well and is almost complete.

The wheelset from the Sheringham end bogie has been painted up to gloss and is now ready to refit back into the bogie.

On the interior, varnishing of the side corridor has been completed, and the focus is now on the two vestibules, which are the final areas of varnished wood on the interior.

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236 (BRONZE)

Work on the eighth conveyor belt vehicle has continued apace. This week, the exterior has received its final coat of varnish and is now externally almost complete. Just as well as it is due in service for the steam gala next weekend.

The small section of removed gutter was returned to place and sealed.

Before the varnish was added the end lettering was changed from white to ochre.

The varnish is how hardening before the windows can be scraped and cleaned. For some reason there is more ingrained brake dust and dirt in the glass on this vehicle than most others. We will rectify this if we have time. The interior is not the focus of the current works, however an unsightly ripped off patch on one of the tables has been filled in with blue paint to tidy its appearance.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (BRONZE)

This vehicle is now confirmed as the ninth conveyor belt coach and will be entering the shed shortly for the usual external treatment. In preparation for this, the lower half of the vehicle has been washed and rubbed down ready for a coat of maroon.

Inside the vehicle, the current works have continued, with the Holt end saloon window surrounds and seat edges re-varnished as required. In the more advanced Sheringham end, reupholstered seating is starting to be refitted, with several side cards and armrests being the first items to be refitted. A single seat back has been fitted to one end which is giving a taster for what the interior will look like.

British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707

The Oyster brakevan has sneaked into the workshop for one week for a partial repaint and re-varnish to smarten it up for the steam gala. This has been completed very quickly, with the sun bleached south end and the skyward facing surfaces given a coat of Gulf Red gloss followed by a rub down and varnish over the entire vehicle.

Also undertaken has been the plugging of a few holes in the roof which was then given a coat of grey roof paint.

London Transport 1955 20 Ton Ballast Hopper HW426

We are pleased to reveal that a small group of volunteers have offered to form a temporary team to restore one of our departmental wagons to a level where it can also be used in the demonstration goods train. The subject is the railway's remaining London Transport ballast hopper which in recent years has only operated on a handful of occasions in the closed season to spread ballast during major renewals.

The proposed works include freeing off the mechanical equipment so that it is ready to operate smoothly for a planned renewal project next winter. Some electrical and air braking pipework will be removed to free up space to fit a new "through" vacuum pipe to allow it to be used in the demonstration freight set when not being used for renewals. This will see the vehicle used and enjoyed more often than previously which is no bad thing. Finally, the chassis and hopper will receive a cosmetic restoration and repaint into a period livery.

All being well the project will be progressing one day a week and will hopefully progress nicely throughout this summer. The vehicle will be primarily worked on outside as an "extra" to the existing restoration programme. So far, the doors have been opened (they are stiff but still just about move!) and a few dregs of ballast and weeds cleared out of the hopper, leaving the wagon ready for restoration work to start "proper".

British Railways 1953 20 Ton Lowmac DB904093

Another wagon, ongoing for a few weeks now, but yet to feature in this blog is the GWR designed "lowmac" wagon which is in departmental use carrying the flail tractor. Its sole use is to trim the lineside vegetation during the closed season.

It has been looking rather careworn of late, so the Youth Development Club have been busy chipping off all of the loose paint and have now progressed to the application of anti-rust primer along one side and one end. It is looking better already! It will continue to be progressed at their monthly meetings.

Maintenance

Gresley Buffet car E9128E has entered the shed for some repairs before the steam gala. It requires two failed vacuum cylinders to be repaired and a sheet of glass replaced, which gained a crack some time ago. Both cylinders have been removed and are in the process of being repaired and repainted ready to refit. The old window has also been removed with the new glass having arrived ready to refit shortly.

March News Part 2

We start with a note to record the sad passing of Wendy Anderson earlier today. Wendy was a long running figure within Carriage & Wagon preservation on a national level, being involved in multiple railways (including the NNR) and even supplied replacement parts to the movement. She was very friendly, a character, and will be much missed. RIP Wendy.

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

The Thompson coach continues to progress steadily. Varnishing work continues on several doors and the toilet door has now joined the party. This one needed less work than the corridor end doors and is already looking good having had some varnish reapplied.

The through control lighting cables have also been tested with the coach now able to have its lights put on (or off) by an adjacent coach. The coach also "sends" the correct signal when the guards van lighting controller is operated. Also on the electrical front, the dynamo has been proven to be operational, and has been spun in reverse, effectively turning it onto a motor which is a novelty.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

Jobs are now being crossed off the list for this vehicle, which is scheduled to be completed in time for the Steam Gala in two weeks time. The damaged air braking pipework has now been repaired meaning we have a complete air brake system again which can be tested when we can get a dual braked shunting loco to it. Various brackets on the underframe of the coach, associated with the new toilet installation, have been painted up to black gloss. Inside the vehicle, the four repaired steam heating elements have been bolted back into place and connected up, and again are now awaiting testing. Finally, the lino flooring has been cleaned, hoovered and a coat of lino seal applied. We wish we'd have done this when the lino was newly fitted in hindsight!

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Door fitting has continued to be the main focus. We have made excellent headway and now nine out of ten doors have been successfully fitted! This has been a long running task and the final door, the landward side guards inward opening door, is now also well on its way to making up a full set. With most of the doors complete, a great start has been made on the landward side bodyside sanding and filling work. This side is less disturbed and more straightforward than the seaward side, and this shows as a large area has been prepared very quickly.

The bogie overhaul continues and all brakegear and springs are now all cleaned down and painted up to gloss black to await fitting. The wheelsets are now all that remain to be completed before we can reassemble the bogie. The outstanding wheelset (the other is already painted and currently in the lathe) has been cleaned back to bare metal and will be painted shortly.

The interior has slowed but has not been forgotten. Varnishing work has continued with the current focus remaining on the side corridor.

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236 (BRONZE)

The eighth conveyor belt coach took a back seat for a week but is now back in business. This week has seen the roof repainted, the two end doors painted from cream to brown and all the bodysides given a coat of maroon. This is the first vehicle on the railway to receive Craftmaster's version of BR maroon. The lining was taped over and then quickly revealed after the maroon was applied. This vehicle is also due back into traffic in time for the Steam Gala.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (BRONZE)

Work on cleaning and re-varnishing the interior woodwork, reupholstering the seats, and repainting the seat ends continues.

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

No clear pictures are available until the vehicle is shunted out of the museum awning, however the Holt based restoration team have declared that the vehicle's overhaul is finished and it's available for service once more! The brakevan will debut in two weeks time at the Steam Gala.

March News Part 1

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

Work continues to centre around the doors, particularly the double luggage area ones. These have required more work than envisaged but the second set is now over the hill with more minor fettling now required. As each set has approached completion, various painting has been undertaken on all the disturbed edges and areas.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (GOLD)

This "boomerang" vehicle has been returned to Weybourne yet again for more of the loose ends to be tied up to ready it for full service in the 2022 season (and beyond!). It has just been moved inside the shed, and is due to have the air brakes repaired and commissioned, the repaired steam heaters refitted and retested and some unfinished brackets from the new Control Emission Toilet painted up.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Good progress has continued on the seaward side of the vehicle. Four out of the five doors from this side have now been re-hung with the final example still being finished off. This has allowed the sanding and filling to be progressed along this side which is now also almost complete, with only minor areas to attend to around the final door mentioned above.

Attention is now turning to the landward side again, which has three doors left to fit. A start has been made on hanging two of the three outstanding doors.

The bogie overhaul continues to progress slowly, with the final two leaf springs and hangars having been removed from the seaward side. These are now being cleaned up and painted ready for refitting.

On the interior, the guards van has been tidied up and the wooden window surround woodwork refitted to the window aperture. The whole compartment has also been lighted sanded back ready to receive a repaint. Due to its overall good condition, not much more is required in this area so hopefully it can be completed soon.

British Railways 1960 Restaurant Buffet (Refurbished) E1969 (BRONZE)

The seventh conveyor belt coach continued to be a major focus. Since the last update, the landward side had its gloss applied, along with the two corridor end doors, before the whole vehicle was rubbed down again and a coat of varnish applied.

A few days of finishing touches then followed, which included painting of the footboards and lamp irons, refitting of handrails and cleaning the glass. It was then shunted out of the shed and the under-floor generator was given a service. The coach has now been returned to Sheringham and back into traffic.

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236 (BRONZE)

The eighth conveyor belt coach has replaced E1969 in the staging area for its turn. Unfortunately we found unexpected corrosion in the two top corners at the Sheringham end. What at first seemed like a few cracks turned out to be large expanses of fibreglass which had been applied by the vehicle's previous owners.

Once the gutter had been removed and the corner chopped out, further holes in the structure below was discovered. This work exceeds what has been allowed for in the conveyor belt programme but interim repairs were undertaken and the area boxed up again with new metal in an attempt to save this corner of the coach until it can have its turn for a Silver or Gold level overhaul. Hopefully it will hold the water back for the time being.

With the metalwork out of the way, the remainder of the vehicle has had patch areas of filler applied, again as a temporary measure, and patch primed which brings the coach up to the same level as the previous conveyor belt vehicles, ready for painting. The undamaged areas of the bodysides are now all rubbed down ready.

Towards the end of this week, work on the two ends included a coat of black gloss to seal in the various repairs.

The two end doors have also been rubbed down and undercoated ready for their new brown paint.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (BRONZE)

Following a meeting, M4958's repairs, previously limited to just re-upholstery, have now been upgraded to Bronze overhaul level, meaning the vehicle will receive a conveyor belt repaint although the exact slot it will occupy remains to be seen. It may be coach number nine or ten but we shall see. For the time being however we shall remain focused on the interior works. The painting of the crumbling paint on the hidden sections of the seating has now been completed and these all carry a fetching pink scheme now.

The floors under the seats have also been painted in green floor paint to help seal them and reduce the dust levels.

Two of the upgrades we were not originally planning for but have ended up doing are the re-varnishing of the saloon interior woodwork (which isn't much more than the window surrounds on this vehicle as it contains a lot of Formica) and repainting of the seat ends. The latter are being changed from white to grey as it will match the seating better and may stay cleaner.

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

Good progress has continued the last few weeks. On the exterior, the hand rails have been given two coats of white gloss, the small running board has been fitted at the Sheringham end and the lamp brackets have been fitted to both ends and the top part painted white. Windows have been scraped of excess paint and the roof has been finished with the painting of vents and flue bracket.

One of the final tasks has been the sign writing of the SR branding (smaller than before) and the all important vehicle number.

Inside the vehicle, the brake handle and lap fittings have been painted white, the pieces of quadrant over the duckets have been fitted and painted cream, the internal vent covers have been fitted and painted, the the stove flue has been fitted using heat resistant stove door rope where it passes through the roof, the seats have been cleaned and refitted and the edges of the floor have been painted black.

All that remains is to clean up the floor, prove that the flue doesn't leak and clean the whole exterior ready for display.

Maintenance

There is still a major focus on completing C examinations ready for the new season. With almost everything out for the Steam Gala event in April time is running out and it will be back-to-back exams until then.