May News Part 2

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

Progress continues steadily on the areas already in progress. The ever advancing guards double doors have had further adjustments and are now up to black undercoat, with several coats being applied inside also.

At the opposite end of the vehicle, the toilet area continues to progress with the door now fitted. The varnished corridor end doors also have had further work and many more coats of varnish.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

Conveyor belt coaches 10 to 13, or the Quad Art set as it's more normally known, has progressed well, with the seaward side varnishing now completed.

Also done at the same time were the two ends.

The landward side remains in patch varnish as we have had to build up five layers where the sun had damaged vulnerable areas. This tedious process has thankfully just been completed and we are now ready to varnish the whole side which will complete this work.

A start has now been made on some cosmetic subsidiary tasks including a coat of paint on the footboards.

We are hoping that tyre turning of the set will start after the Jubilee Weekend and accordingly we have arranged for the former museum coach (Thompson BG) to come to Weybourne form Holt to have two of its axles also turned at the same time, which in due course will be substituted into the Quads to replace two odd wheelsets that it has been running with for some time.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Shortly after the last update the coach was lowered back onto its two bogies which we have now finished with. This work has been supported by a clean down and repaint into gloss black of all the visible underframe sections, which has really smartened up its appearance. The bulk of this work is complete with both sides finished and both bufferbeams at the end of the coach cleaned down and in undercoat.

The guards door handrails have been test fitted to ensure they still fit after the steelwork and woodwork had been renewed, this being seen as a good idea before much more paint was applied.

On the interior, the troublesome door cards have continued and are now all in place with final varnishing to complete. The two store cupboards are now also complete apart from final Formica cleaning. They have been trimmed out, painted where required, the lighting installed and revised locking arrangements fitted to make it easier for cleaners and staff to access.

In the wheelchair accessible saloon, all of the woodwork is now fitted meaning a start can be made soon on final rubbing down and repainting. Of note has been the refitting of the corridor end walls and sliding door with associated cover panels. There are now few parts still to physically refit to E21103.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (BRONZE)

Upholstery continues. It is now reaching the stage where a final audit will be made and the last spare cushions from stores selected to become the final "new" seats to form a set for the vehicle.

London Transport 1955 20 Ton Ballast Hopper HW426

The hopper project has progressed well now that outside work has recommenced on it. Several securing brackets have been fitted to the vacuum through pipe which are in turn welded to the chassis meaning the pipe is now fully secure. The flexible vacuum pipes (or "bags") have also been fitted onto the ends bringing this aspect of the project to a close.

Under-frame cleaning continues and has now progressed to some of the inside sections of the frames, although not a great deal more of this is likely to be attempted as it is a law of diminishing returns now that most of the visible sections are done. As each section is completed, rust inhibiting grey primer is applied.

For the rest of the wagon it has been a case of paint paint paint. As previously reported the outside of the hopper tub itself and the solebars have been primed before the vehicle left the shed, since then the outside of the running gear and under frame equipment has also been so treated. This has allowed the undercoat stage to commence, with the tub now in a coat of red undercoat and the seaward side solebar sporting black undercoat. It is starting to look smart and the eventual colour scheme is beginning to emerge.

British Railways 1953 20 Ton Loriot DB904093

No progress to report.

Hurst Nelson 1944 4 Wheel Petroleum Tank 5304

Final preparations for the tank repaint have been concluded following a few days of dusting, cleaning, applying rust inhibitor and wood hardener to relevent areas. The timber saddles at each end have cleaned up and subsequently filled ready for painting. 

Then the primer came out and quickly both the tank barrel and solebars were completed. Priming the tank with a roller was a time saver.

Maintenance

A exams have continued with the Suburban set being next in line. One of the coaches failed its passenger communication test, which became a problem as it was booked in service that day for a school charter with 300-odd children and no substitute coaches available. The pass-comms were fixed during the day in time for the return charter!

Additional door locking has also been fitted to the toilets on two dining train coaches, to allow them to be locked out of service for the Sheringham-Cromer section of mainline dining trains.

Workshop

A few items that have passed through the workshop for use elsewhere on the railway include the replacement Kelling Heath Park station sign and two purple headboards for use over the Jubilee Weekend!