REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2022

As is traditional, the final Blog post of the year looks back on what we have achieved these past 12 months. Whilst I will be told off if i say that "Covid has gone", it is fair to say that 2022 has been the first full year since the pandemic that we have been able to operate in the workshops without direct restrictions. It has therefore been business as usual with the minor caveat that we don't have as many people anymore. And what a year it has been! Prior to Covid we ranked each year based on the number of coaches that went through for overhaul work, however 2022 was very different as we dialed down the thoroughness and ramped up the speed! I am of course referring to the conveyor belt project which was designed to be a shot in the arm to quickly and dramatically improve the exterior of the coaching stock fleet. This it did extremely successfully with no less than 16 vehicles being refreshed in a year! We have now returned to a more normal pace of life.

The first month of the year was spent inside undertaking a bogie overhaul and interior refresh on BCK E21103, which would prove to be our main project for the year. Suburban brake E43357 was out-shopped as the sixth member of the conveyor belt project, resplendent in BR Crimson. Contractors Heritage Painting also completed the bodywork and repaint of the Class 37 locomotive.

In February we successfully registered two more coaches to run on the mainline between Sheringham and Cromer, these being TSO E4641 & BCK E21224, bringing the mainline fleet up to five vehicles. The sixth conveyor belt coach, dining car M4372, was turned out in Crimson & Cream. Heavy overhaul work to BCK E21224 & Thompson E1866E continued, the latter seeing a lot of door work undertaken.

In March BCK E21224 was back with us again for more teething issues with the brake system to be rectified, which was duly done with it returning to traffic in time for the Steam Gala. The seventh conveyor belt coach, RBR E1969, was completed. On the wagon front, Oyster ballast plough brake DB993707 sneaked in for a quick refresh before the gala and a more thorough restoration of ballast hopper HW426 commenced.

April was a busy month, with the completion of the restoration of SR brakevan 55167 (undertaken at Holt) being the highlight. The eighth conveyor belt vehicle, service TSO E4236, was also turned out. BCK E21103 was also progressing well, with bodywork and paint preparation completed along with the bogie overhaul work. Minor works were undertaken to the 7F steam loco (tender repaint), DMU trailer car (vacuum cylinder replacement) and Gresley Buffet car (window replacement).

May saw TSO M4958 go through as the ninth conveyor belt vehicle, however the month was dominated by the arrival of the Quad-Art set for its re-varnishing work.

June was a consolidation month (the only one in the year we think!) as all the time was needed to plough through the Quad-Art refresh, which means working on four coaches at once. The upholstery department finished their main project for the season, TSO M4958. The restoration of hopper HW426, tank wagon 5304 (at Holt), BCK E21103 & Thomspon E1866E all continued to progress and the M&GN Society finished off the month nicely by announcing their new acquisition, Gresley Brake E16631E.

In July the re-varnishing of the Quads were finished, representing coaches 10 to 13 in the conveyor belt. We also undertook trails with a new type of ground lathe which it was hoped could turn the wheels on the Quads. Finally another new coach, BFO(K) M14021 arrived at the railway for future restoration for the dining train.

August saw further completions, with two wagons, hopper HW426 and tank wagon 5304 both returning to service. The Quad Art set had a pair of wheelsets swapped out for a more suitable pair, which was very interesting as it was an intermediate bogie which needed accessing! The Gold restoration of BFO(K) M14021 was also started.

September saw all hands to the pump in a big effort to complete BCK E21103 in time for the 40's weekend. This was achieved just in time!

October was a further flurry of refreshes, with static seating coach 4667 prepared for use up at Holt, gaining a quick coat of SR Green and becoming conveyor 14 in the process. Also painted was dining train kitchen car M81033 (conveyor 15), the only one to be done out in the open at Sheringham! We also welcomed another new arrival, CCT 94338, from Embsay.

During November a lot of effort was put into preparing for the Norfolk Lights Express season. We also started to bodywork overhaul on dining train FO M3116 and completed the 16th, and final, conveyor belt refresh, DMU M51188.

By December the paint brushes were well and truly worn out! As the temperatures fell, we returned to our normal business of overhaul work, with BFO(K) M14021, Thompson E1866E and FO M3116 keeping us busy.

So there we have it, a very busy year indeed. It has been truly unique, with the railway never having painted so many vehicles in one calendar month before, so it will take a little adjustment for observers to get used to normal working again! Looking forwards to 2023, half of the shed will be locked in to the long running Gold overhauls of Mark 1 BFO(K) M14021 and Thompson E1866E. The other half will be slightly more changeable but we do have a stack of Silver level overhauls to catch up on. It is hoped to put FO M3116, BSK W35148 and one Class 101 DMU vehicle through, all for similar bodywork treatment. We will also see the return of the Quad-Art set one more time, in order to split and lift the entire set to have the wheelsets all turned. Another exciting year of progress awaits!