Start Again

 

Happy New Year to all of our readers! As we enter 2023 we thought it would be of interest to share this table of the overall NNR carriage fleet as of 1/1/23, hopefully this may help some visualise where the various coaches fit into the general rakes that are usually formed and used around the railway.

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

Volunteers have been thin on the ground so soon after Christmas so progress has been limited,. However a new project for the new year has been the construction or modification of a door which will be separating the guard/luggage areas from the newly created vestibule (formerly luggage area) which will house the double doors enabling wheelchair access into the main saloon. The door must be fairly wide so is being created from parts of two doors glued together.

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

The tedious job of window frame cleaning and re-drilling and tapping continues in an identical fashion to that in 2022! The door rebuilds are much the same but have a different feel as we have now moved on frok the aluminium doors and into the steel/wood doors. The latter are much more involved and will take longer to get through. Door number five, the inward opening guards door, had been stripped last year. This week, all those stripped parts have been cleaned and repainted, with some requiring more repair work than others. The steel outer skin itself received several welding repairs, including a new bottom, and has been stripped back to bare metal to check for pin-holes. Welding completed, it was painted inside and out to protect it for the next lease of life. The wooden frame, also with new bottom, had received repairs to its splits before also being painted.

Towards the end of the week, much of the reassembly took place with skin and frame being reunited, followed by all the strengthening ribs and mechanism for the drop-light window. It was hoped to get it finished but there wasn't quite enough time, and the door handle and rear facing planked wood will have to be restored and refitted next week.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Work to clean up the removed landward side windows, with all of the Sheringham end half now cleaned down ready for repainting. On the coach itself, the window apertures on the seaward side are now almost ready for the window frames to be put back into the coach. On the landward side, the last remaining quarter (Holt end) is now having its turn to be corrosion treated round the windows, sanded and filled.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

This vehicle is still waiting for the remaining emergency equipment items to be fitted into place, but it is very close to completion otherwise.

Norfolk Lights Express

The NLE season is now over and staff were involved in the setting down operation, mainly removing the main generators from CCT 94464, which can now return to its role as bike and buggy carrier for the 2023 season.

Workshop

Last year we were busy replacing temporarily wired carriage battery chargers with proper leads that would withstand trauma and weather better. The programme had to be halted during the Santa Special season as every charger was needed in use during weekends. Now that less chargers are needed we have gathered the strays and have been fitting the remaining upgraded cables. This unseen job is essential for future running trains after dark and has taken one person a good length of time to undertake properly. All part of the maintenance offering to try and keep things running smoothly!