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.