London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)
Progress this week has included machining of woodwork for the remaining guards area toplights. A second woodwork task has been the completion of the new footboard installations. Lastly, an ex Mark 3 sleeper toilet effluent tank has been extracted from store, having been removed off sleeping car 10525 almost 30 years ago. It has had various ports removed, blanked off or modified as required, and is currently being waved under the coach to start to assess the mounting arrangements that will be required.
British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)
An unexciting week which has seen more progress on cleaning the removed window frames. The first one has now been fully cleaned back to bare aluminium with several others now in a part completed state.
British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (Silver)
Our next overhaul project has now arrived and has been brought into the shed, M3116 being the next vehicle (following E21103) to have a Silver level overhaul. Being a dining car much in demand by the commercial side of the railway, it will be prioritised over the winter so that it does not miss too much of next season. Dining train substitute TSO E4641 will cover for M3116 until the latter is completed.
Although agreed that the coach was cosmetically desperately in need of an intermediate body overhaul, the initial assessment of the vehicle has recorded good news, the later design of window frame has saved the coach and the extent of the corrosion is not as bad as we had feared. The ends and doorways are also in much better condition than most we encounter.
One area that has degraded however is the lower (red) section of the landward side, which has been damaged after a well meaning volunteer applied inappropriate varnish around five years ago. This varnish was attacked by UV light in an unusual way and broke down, also splitting the layers of paint below. In conclusion, the whole section is now unstable and requires stripping off completely back to bare metal to start again. The good news is that the rest of the coach wasn't coated in the varnish so is OK, and more good news is that the steelwork below is not corroded, so following the stripping of the lower half we can proceed as normal. So far, around half of the coach has been stripped and some filling has also occurred. Whilst we have the coach in, we are also doing our test to weld up and stabilize the now-failing British Rail repair "skirt" to the bottom six inches. There will be lots more of this work in the weeks to come.
British Railways 1956 Gangwayed Brake (Kitchen) M81033
The electric box of wizardry controlling the new generator has continued to be built up in the workshop ready for fitting.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188
Speed of progress has picked up again on this project, the 16th and final Conveyor Belt vehicle. The gloss painting has now been completed, with the corridor end, seaward side and cab end all being treated this week. We are currently in the process of flatting it off again in preparation for varnish.
On the interior, the ceiling repair has continued, with replacement paneling being cut, painted and fitted into place, followed by the replacement beading. It is now complete again and now just requires further coats of paint.
Norfolk Lights Express Preparations: SO M4372, TSO M4843, BCK E21103 & CCT E94464
Another week has seen further NLE preparations occupying all departments around the railway. Early in the week saw the two main generators loaded into CCT E94464 followed by the fitting of the newly designed exhausts. This was followed by E94464 & TSO M4843 being tripped back to Sheringham where they formed the final vehicles in the main NLE set. All of the cabling was then routed through the new floor hatches between the two vehicles successfully.
Other works have been assisting the contract company in building speaker mounting boards for the in coach sound systems, and changing the seat numbering above the seats on BCK E21103 and SO M4372 to reflect the NLE and Santa Special pre booking ticket system now in use.
British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918
Progress on chassis cleaning and painting continues but is becoming hampered by the increasingly poor weather. Inside the shed, a replacement vacuum cylinder has been needle gunned and will eventually be fitted to the wagon.
Maintenance
During the pre-NLE works trains, a problem was reported with the brakes on the SR brakevan. This was investigated and the brakegear was found to be partly sticking on one axle. The problem was unable to be fully eliminated but dismantling, easing, lubricating and reassembling got the system working correctly again.
Following steam testing of the two sets of coaches in use this winter, a leak was found under Gresley Buffet E9128E. This was in an awkward place above one of the bogies and was coming out of where an old radiator had once been blanked off. A new blank was fashioned and drilled/tapped into place and we will await the result next week.
A spare vacuum cylinder has also been overhauled ready for next season, this will give us a quicker changeover time when the next one on a running coach fails.
Workshop
The wheel chocks have now been completed having been brought up with two coats of gloss yellow.
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