Getting Ready for Lights Express

It's been a busy week progressing restoration projects and getting things ready for the Norfolk Lights Express.

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

One extra day of vacuum leak testing has been undertaken this week, with the system hooked up to the compressed air supply to try and detect the all important leak.

British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)

It has all been about the recently removed window frames, with the majority of attending volunteers put onto the task, which is fairly long and tedious so it makes sense to not dump it onto one single person. All eight of the large saloon window frames have had all of their aluminium trim stripped off and quarter-light glass removed. The sliding lights are now also separated and boxed ready for further restoration. Seven out of eight frames have also had the main glass securing screws heated up with a torch and extracted from the frame. The steel screws into aluminium combination has created dissimilar metal corrosion so we were really fortunate that 95% of them extracted successfully with heat.

With most of the frames stripped down fully, a start has been made on cleaning back the frames to bare aluminium, something we do on most Gold restorations.

British Railways 1956 Gangwayed Brake (Kitchen) M81033

A control box to house the remote start electronics has been repurposed from elsewhere and is now prepared on the bench ready for fitting to the new generator soon.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Not quite as much progress as hoped however resources were needed elsewhere. The gloss painting is spreading and the landward (drivers) side of the vehicle is now painted. More glossing is planned next week.

Inside, the water damaged supporting woodwork in the ceiling has had replacements machined and let in as a repair. New beading has also been produced ready for when it's been paneled out again.

Norfolk Lights Express Preparations: TSO M4843 & CCT E94464

As part of this year's Norfolk Lights Express train, there was a requirement to move the generator van (CCT) from the Sheringham end to the Holt end of the train, as the lighting control equipment wouldn't fit inside E21103's accessible brake area leaving sufficient room for any visitors in wheelchairs. This hasn't been a problem before as we have previously always used (now withdrawn) BSK W35148 which has a larger accessible brake area.

The revised arrangement required the use of TSO M4843's redundant toilets which are now store cupboards. The coach was moved to Weybourne where a removable hatch has been cut into the cupboard floor, which will be where the cables are routed. Whilst in works, the opportunity was taken to repair two door faults on the vehicle, refix a door grab handle which had come loose, and finish the vehicle's latest A exam which included vacuum testing.

With M4843 complete and ready to receive the lighting cables and control equipment (by contractors next week), CCT E94464 was next for modifications. A corresponding hatch was cut into one corner to match that on M4843, to take the incoming control cables.

Two "ports" were then let into the floor which were subsequently connected to two flexible exhaust pipes bolted to the underframe.

The above modifications will allow us to end the practice of temporarily rigging up exhausts onto the generators each year we run Norfolk Lights Express trains. The previous years have used special rules exemptions with the CCT's end loading doors secured in a half open position, to allow the control cables and exhaust pipes to pass through and wrap round either to the adjacent coach (also through a door secured slightly ajar) or down to the chassis. Whilst the previous method did the job and was agreed as safe, it was also time consuming to set up and messy from a rules and regulations point of view. So the semi-permanent modifications this year will turn the installation of the generators, wiring and exhausts from a one day job to closer to one hour, also ending the practice of running with doors not fully shut, so better all round.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Cleaning and painting of the underframe continues steadily. The first of the damaged wooden planks on the body has also been cut back ready to receive a repair block. These wood work splices are very much in the tradition of BR wagons, which would often be patched here and there during overhauls!

Maintenance

A steam test was undertaken on the Norfolk Lights Express set to ascertain what repairs are needed this year. Most coaches performed well, but newly refurbished BCK E21103 had a severe leak in the pipework under the centre of the vehicle. This has been removed, repaired and refitted curing the leak.

A Bogie Bolster wagon which hasn't moved for something in the region of six or seven years was given a look over, as the boiler which is stored on top of it was required elsewhere in the yard for an inspection. The axleboxes were checked and the wagon moved with no problems!

Three of the removed vacuum cylinders are still being prepared to act as on-the shelf spares for next season. They haven't been overhauled yet but the exteriors have been chipped back ready for a much needed repaint.

Workshop

The lifting stands mentioned last week have progressed with two coats of yellow gloss applied. They look excellent and have now been returned outside.

A set of wheel chocks have also been painted from primer into a first coat of yellow. These will receive a second coat next week all being well. 

M51188 Starts in Earnest

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

This week has seen existing projects progress with no major milestones reached. Fooboards in particular have continued with a mixture of new ones being machined and second hand ones reused.

London North Eastern Railway Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

The four wheelsets are now finished in black gloss and are now awaiting tyre turning.

British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)

Stripping has continued with all of the woodwork surrounding the doorways now removed, except one floor section which unfortunately extends under a sheet of asbestos insulation, which we understandably cannot disturb until the coach receives its planned asbestos strip by contractors.

With the doorways essentially prepared for steelwork repairs, the final tasks stripping the Holt end vestibule have been achieved. This involved removing all of the floor supports and floor panel itself, exposing the top of the underframe.

If this were not enough, we have continued stripping out the guards compartment. The guards seat has been removed and, somewhat drastically, part of the walls have been removed including the emergency equipment cupboard. This is because for the coach's new role as a kitchen we have to widen the corridor past the guards compartment, involving re-siting parts of the wall and losing the cupboard. It does mean that, temporarily at least, there appears to be two doorways into the compartment from the corridor!

Inside the luggage/kitchen area, the final ceiling panels are now removed, which pretty much concludes the strip down of this area. In a fairly short space of time, we have almost reduced the remains of the "top half" of this vehicle as low as it is going to get, before starting the much more complicated task of actually restoring the components and then building it back up again.

British Railways 1956 Gangwayed Brake (Kitchen) M81033

With generator installed, some of the missing features are in the process of being reinstated. This week has seen progress of transferring the remote start function from the old to new generators.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The 16th and final conveyor belt vehicle has now been fully rubbed down ready for the repainting works. In addition to this, all of the exterior aluminium window frames have also had steam smuts removed restoring some form of a shine. Localised corrosion has been chipped back, treated, filled, sanded and patch painted up to gloss.

With exterior repairs completed, it was time to repaint, starting from the top. Two leaking roof vent patches were resealed, following which a coat of roof paint was applied to the roof.

This done, just towards the end of the week, the upper bodyside/roof strip was given its green gloss, giving a hint of what the rest of the vehicle will look like in due course.

Inside the guards van, the damaged ceiling panels (from the roof leak) have been cut back neatly ready for new panels and beading to go back in their place.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Cleaning and repainting work has recommenced with some of the rust inhibited areas now sporting red primer.

British Railways 1953 20 Ton Lowmac TDB904093

This vehicle will take a break from these notes now, as winter is slowly setting in and it has been recalled by the Permanent Way department for it to fulfill its duties cutting back vegetation along the line-side for the closed season. It will likely be finished off next Spring when things start to warm up again.

Maintenance

A examinations continue, and this week we welcome our newest employee Chris Wells, who joins the team as Dan Broughton's replacement, primarily tasked with the running maintenance and examination of the coaching stock fleet.

TSO M4843 has been removed from the running set and brought to Weybourne, for modifications to its flooring to allow electrical control cables to pass up through the floors, in support of the imminent Norfolk Lights Express trains.

Workshop

Several workshop projects have popped up this week. The first is the destruction of a large wheeled trolley from Sheringham station, which needs major surgery and component replacement.

Another project is giving some of the carriage and bogie stands some attention, as part of an ongoing programme of improvements following an internal H&S inspection recently. So far, around half of the stands have been chipped back and primed in (grey) primer. The intention is for them to emerge in highly visible yellow, replacing the inconsistent and dirty colour schemes they were previously in.

Finally, a small improvement for some of our tiniest visitors! The C&W shed has long been a haven for small birds, who sometimes nest in the shed itself, or nearby. A small army of Sparrows in particular visit regularly at tea breaks as they have learned where to supplement their usual diet in the station public picnic area! An off-site volunteer recently donated a home made bird box so this has been immediately fixed to a nearby building. We hope to see a resident or two next season.

New Arrival CCT 94338

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

Despite several days of attention there are still elusive leaks on the vacuum system, but it will now likely be next year before it is looked at further.

London North Eastern Railway Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

The four wheelsets mentioned last week have progressed with all the chipping down now completed and all brought up to undercoat stage.

British Railways 1961 Brake First Open M14021 (GOLD)

Stripping work has continued. The seaward side has had all of its doors removed, which means the coach is now fully door-less. Only two window frames remain to be stripped from the seaward side.

With the doors off, many of them have had the wooden jambs removed to assess the steel doorway which lies beneath. Pleasingly, apart from one or two near the Holt end, most of the doorway uprights are in good condition save for the bottom six inches. This will mean partial replacements can be undertaken rather than full length, saving much £££.

The interior continues to be stripped, and all of the side planking is now removed from the former luggage area. The first item has also received varnish, a sliding door which has been on the bench being stripped, repaired and finally varnished first coat.

British Railways 1956 Gangwayed Brake (Kitchen) M81033

The 15th member of the Conveyor Belt refresh programme has seen good progress following a belty of fine weather. Shunted into platform 2, the final cream and black paint has been applied to the landward side and ends respectively, bringing to a close its cosmetic refresh.

Attention has now turned to solving the generator issues which have blighted the vehicle in recent months. The replacement generator has finally arrived so two days were spent fitting it into the vehicle, and making numerous modifications to cater for the differences between the old and new installations.

We now have a working unit once again. A few more modifications are needed, such as returning the system to twin gas bottle rather than single and re-introducing the remote start feature, but we are certainly getting there.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The 16th Conveyor Belt vehicle has had a modest start made on its refresh. The upper sections of bodywork have been rubbed back ready for a coat of gloss, whilst the grubby aluminium window frames on the landward side have also been cleaned.

British Railways 1960 Covered Carriage Truck 94338

This week has seen a new arrival at the railway, CCT 94338. This 4-wheel van is identical to our existing two CCT's (M94125 & E94464) and has been acquired to replace M94125 which is in very poor condition. A slot has been made for the vehicle earlier in the year for remedial work and repaint to allow it to enter service, however sadly delays in getting it to us meant it missed the slot, so it will now be stored for a time until we can fit it in.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

No progress to report.

British Railways 1953 20 Ton Lowmac TDB904093

No progress to report.

Maintenance

As suggested last week, the task this week was to fit two replacement vacuum cylinders to TSO M4958 to help cure its vacuum leaks. This was successfully done and the vehicle has now been returned to service.

Elsewhere at Sheringham, "A" examinations have rolled around again, keeping several people busy in the process. This will ticket all of the coaches in use over the winter season.

Workshop

The space available in the workshop has been taken advantage of, with a large tidy up being undertaken before we set to properly on our winter projects.

E21103 Completed (Again!)

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

Progress has continued steadily, the largest interior item to be returned to place being the toilet ceiling.

Some smaller items are also being built up with varnish applied.

Mechanically, work has continued on the vacuum system, which has now all been connected up as one system. Following a test, it has been found that something is leaking somewhere, so various items are now being blanked off to try and isolate the area in which the problem lies. Being a brake vehicle there are several extra components and more pipework to test than a standard coach.

Elsewhere on the exterior, the now modified footboards have been fitted to the vehicle and painted in gloss.

London North Eastern Railway Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

Four wheelsets have arrived on the railway, becoming the first major components of this vehicle to actually land on NNR metals. They are in better condition than the wheelsets currently under the coach, and will leave us to meet up with the rest of the coach in Derbyshire in due course. First however they are getting some TLC, having been in storage for a very long time. The wheels are currently in the process of being chipped back to stable metal and primer paint applied, transforming their appearance markedly. The axleboxes have been removed and the bearings inspected. They have been found to be not the best in the world, but luckily we have caught most of them just in time and following some remedial work and swapping out of one, a serviceable set can be formed for the coach.

British Railways 1961 Brake First Open M14021 (GOLD)

The corridor end steelwork stripping has continued to be the main focus. With the Sheringham end stripped, no time was lost in moving to the Holt end, which has proved to be in worse condition, with some gutter height corrosion having traveled along the tops of the adjacent doorways and in towards the former toilet. Sections of gutter have been accordingly released from the bodysides in these areas to allow access for new steel in due course to replace the affected sections.

The vestibule floor will have to be removed from this area in due course. The remaining components, such as woodwork panels on the ends, sliding door etc have all been removed now to access the framework for cleaning and repairs.

Other stripping out work on the exterior has included both doors and windows, with the landward side now devoid of all of these items.

The consequence of course is now the vehicle looks even sadder than before, resembling little more than a stripped out shell! We plan to follow up next week and strip out the remaining doors and windows from the seaward side.

Component removal has been a matching theme on the interior as well. Half of the ceiling in the luggage area has been removed now along with the associated lighting and trunking in the ceiling.

The guards desk has also been removed from the guards compartment, primarily to access the window for removal.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Despite our excitement that the vehicle had been launched into traffic, it was not to last long as it was soon giving vacuum problems along with several other coaches in the same rake of coaches (more of which later). Following tests E21103 was found to be leaking vacuum at greater rates than we had detected during its Fitness to run exam. As a consequence the engine was unable to overcome the combined leaks of the naughty coaches (including E21103) and a train had to be cancelled.

We quickly removed E21103 from traffic and brought it up to Weybourne after it became apparent that it was not able to be fixed in the field at Sheringham. We found around eight leaks in total, some minor and others major. E21103 spent a week in the shed and ended up receiving five new flexible hoses, a replacement vacuum cylinder, replacement direct admission valve (next to the cylinder) and new seals in two other separate components. Eventually a leakage test was completed successfully and E21103 was transformed from one of the leakiest coaches to the tightest! We took the opportunity of painting the overhauled vacuum cylinder before it was fitted as this was more easily done in the test rig.

Whilst the vehicle was with us we also fitted a first aid kit holder into the guards van, which we ran out of time for previously as it hadn't been painted. The vehicle was returned to Sheringham just in time to be put back into the train in time for the Autumn Showcase weekend.

British Railways 1957 Tourist Second Open 4667

This project to create a seating area for Holt station has now been completed, bringing the conveyor belt project tally up to 14. Since the last update, the remaining repainting work has been completed, including a few brief touches such as footboards and lamp irons. This was followed by much cleaning of the windows, which had the usual paint on them but were also filthy inside and out following a few years in storage.

The coach was then extracted from the shed and tripped up to Holt where it has now been positioned in the goods yard to await its first custom next season.

British Railways 1956 Gangwayed Brake (Kitchen) M81033

The worst vehicle on the railway still operating had reached a stage where its exterior cosmetic condition was too embarrassing to tolerate for the next few years until 14021's overhaul has been completed. As an interim measure therefore, it was decided to refresh the vehicle and give it a coat of paint to see it through. M81033 has therefore unexpectedly become the 15th member of the conveyor belt project, and also the only one to be undertaken outside at Sheringham rather than in the shed at Holt.

The vehicle has been moved into different platforms on dry days for the work to be completed in stages. So far, the seaward side bodysides have been completed along with the lower sections of the landward side in red. The ends have also received a coat of black. The only sections remaining to complete now are the cream elements of the landward side which we can hopefully complete soon before the weather turns too nasty.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

With the conveyor belt project close to its conclusion, we are looking ahead to future projects as the conveyor was always designed as a Covid "bounce back" and wasn't sustainable long term. One of the current concerns is the poor cosmetic condition of the Class 101 DMU fleet so a programme to undertake bodywork and repaints for them is inevitable. There is a slight project overlap however as the best of the four affected vehicles, powercar M51188, has not declined to the point where it can't be quickly refreshed, unlike the other three. The first of the four DMU repaints therefore can be included as the final member of the conveyor belt project, to hopefully save it before it requires more major repairs.

Accordingly, M51188 has been withdrawn from service and brought inside for a quick repaint.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

Some limited areas have had some more rust inhibitor applied.

British Railways 1953 20 Ton Lowmac TDB904093

Progress has slowed but the wheels of the tractor have emerged in gloss white.

Maintenance

Returning to our vacuum problems mentioned in the E21103 section, the vehicle was in fact one of five vehicles that were found to be leaking vacuum at a greater rate than specification. Owing to time constraints we were not in a position to rectify them all before the Norfolk Lights Express season, so we decided to repair three of them, which should solve the issue as the remaining leaks should be overcome by the engine if we have eliminated 60% of the problem. The first was of course E21103, the second being Gresley Buffet E9128E. This was removed from the train at Weybourne and unlike E21103 had a much simpler diagnosis, with a quick change of two hoses curing the leaks. It has now been returned to service.

The third coach to tackle was TSO M4958. We changed all four flexible hoses which made a slight improvement but didn't cure the problem. More in depth testing at Weybourne revealed that both vacuum cylinders were the culprits. We have now overhauled two cylinders in preparation and hope to fit them next week.

A more positive development has been the completion of the final interior task on Gold overhaul E21224. Whilst the coach was formally finished and launched some time ago now, we always intended to fit high quality tables to the compartments but their construction was time consuming so we had to send the coach out without them.

However this week they were completed and have been fitted into the vehicle, blue in first class and red in second. They look excellent.

We hope longer term to produce more of them for eventual fitting to W35148 and E21103, both of which currently have mixed condition tables borrowed from other coaches in storage (which we will eventually restore).

Workshop

Other workshop activities have included a good tidy up, and repainting progress on the M&GN Society's road crane. Much like M81033, this is a race against time before the winter sets in.