Multiple Completions

With two weeks having passed since the last update, more than usual has been achieved, notably the boxing up of two major projects and the commencement of two more. Out with the old and in with the new as they say!

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

Modest progress on existing works. Further progress has been made on cleaning and painting the handrails for the guards door, which being LNER pattern are an unusual T shape. The gangway ends have continued to see adjustments to the bottom tread plates with the right angles and heights to avoid trip hazards eventually being set successfully.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

At the last update we were half way though the complex process of bogie extraction and tyre turning. The second pair of bodies were lifted successfully, the first one traditionally and the second was just raised a few feet at one end to release the intermediate bogie closest to the shed doors. The bogie furthest in was not required as it was the accommodation bogie which didn't require turning.

With the two remaining bogies extracted we repeated the craning (pictured last time) and these went to Leeds via road transport for an overnight stint on their state of the art wheel lathe. Bang on time they returned the following day and were craned back onto rails. We'd like to thank both of our neighbours the Engineering department and the Loco Running Shed, both of whom have been excellent in providing equipment, manpower and tolerance of us taking over more of the yard than we usually do. It was a case of everyone working together to get the job done smoothly.

Returning to the coaches, reassembly then followed which was a reverse of the disassembly. It was certainly a great feeling knowing the mechanical condition of the wheelsets should now set the vehicles up for a good life ahead. Before finishing the set completely we just have a few final tweaks to make to the vehicles, specifically in line with the M&GN Society's wishes for the set's formation in the longer term, which may for some be slightly controversial. More of that in the next update as it is still being finalised over the next few days.

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

Work on the landward side battery box continues and the front doors are now pretty much complete following extensive work and painting up to gloss black. The same volunteer has now started on tidying up the box itself which needs wood letting in on the two sides where weather and battery acid has taken its toll.

Corridor end components continue to be improved, with the recently welded gangway end "hoops" being cleaned up back to bare metal and painted in several coats up to black gloss.

Limited stripping of the underframe away from the areas containing asbestos has carried on, with more items removed from the bufferbeams.

A full set of wooden glass gripping bars have been made for the four small windows which will be reinstated in the guards and luggage areas. These are time consuming, some new, some repaired and all dry fitted to the frames and put into store to await window refitting.

Reconstruction of door #7 continues steadily with the luggage door locking bar being fitted and the full height wooden back panel now in place.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Once returned to the staging area the remainder of the lining in the upper parts of the bodysides was quickly completed. A few other minor cosmetic tasks such as repainting the gutters, returning brass grab handles back into place and cleaning/snagging were also undertaken. At the same time, a coat of varnish was applied to the whole exterior including the ends giving the vehicle that final shine.

It was then shunted out of the shed and a few days later tripped back to Weybourne where it was brake tested and given the final parts of the annual exam which ticketed it for passenger service again. 3116 was quickly marshaled back into the dining set and was star of the show at this weeks special train commemorating the awarding of the Queens Award for Voluntary Services (delayed from last year) to the NNR. We understand the day was enjoyed by all and a great success, with diners travelling the line in 3116.

With no finer launch back into service to speak of, 3116 now returns to its normal duties in the dining train, its Silver overhaul completed in just under five months.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

The highest mileage single vehicle to ever run on the NNR, 35148, had been looking increasingly tired and was being attacked badly by corrosion in recent years. Like many other popular and essential vehicles, it was squeezed longer than desirable as we had sister brake 21103 in the works (the latter being withdrawn over the Covid pandemic) and 35148 couldn't be spared. With 21103 now bedded down nicely in service, 35148 has been able to enter the workshops for its much deserved Silver overhaul to start.

The initial focus has been the landward side, Sheringham end corner working anti-clockwise. This encompasses the wheelchair accessible saloon and the two windows on that side. The first has been removed and has revealed a lot of surface corrosion under the frame. The second window is proving harder to remove and the fight for this will continue next week.

Early days yet for this overhaul but the first spade has entered the ground!

British Railways 1957 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory E56062 (SILVER)

The second of the proposed railcar refresh programme vehicles is M&GN Society owned trailer car 56062. This requires much more work than the hired powercar 51188 which required little more than a repaint. This week it has entered the shed for a Silver body overhaul to be started.

Progress has so far been rapid, as it often is during the flurry of dismantling prevalent at the start of a big project. The interior has seen many volunteers descend on it removing the seating and lower paneling from the drivers side of the vehicle.

This has allowed access to remove the corroded window bottoms from the front and rear passenger saloon windows (middle saloon still to start), which has revealed reasonable condition framework but very poor outer skin. We have replacement sections on order but in the meantime stripping continues.

The first passenger doorway has also been started, as this was out of alignment and struggling to shut properly. It was found corrosion inside the door pillars, buried deep, was causing swelling and pushing the wooden door jambs inwards reducing the size of the door frame by over 10mm. It has had to be stripped down and the metal attended to to bring it back to a correct shape. This work is understandably still ongoing as the scope in this areas has spiraled somewhat!

Whilst welding has been started, others have been very busy taking each of the removed windows and cleaning up the aluminium surrounds, which will ensure a quality finish when reassembly eventually takes place, though at this stage that seems a very long way away!

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Following several complications, the retaining straps for the fire extinguishers and wheelchair ramp have finally made it into position.

Half Way There

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

Work continues to complete and improve existing projects. The ceiling at the toilet end of the vehicle has been improved and a cover fitted over the extractor fan. A correct LNER handle has also been fitted to the new extra wide sliding door into the saloon.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The Quads have reached the half way point in the complex operation of lifting them and extracting bogies for tyre turning. They have been a major focus for us with most of our resources being put in this direction. This week, we resolved the electrical issue which had plagued the borrowed Loco Department lifting jacks and once these were working again a straightforward lift of 48861 was undertaken.

With the bodies in the air we then rolled the three bogies out into the yard, with the added complication that the bogie at the back (under the guards compartment) fouled the bottom of the battery boxes by about half an inch as the loco jacks do not lift as high as the carriage ones. We had to manually jack the bogie off the rails and slew it six inches to one side and roll it along the concrete floor clear of the battery boxes before repeating the process to put it back on rails!

Whilst outside the opportunity was taken to clean the oil off the brown painted wheels as the increased access is seldom available when the bogies are in their normal positions.

With all three bogies outside the next step was lifting them onto a flat-bed road trailer using the M&GN Society crane "Horace". Again this was done successfully and quickly and they were soon off on their way to Freightliner at Leeds. The move was undertaken by Box Worx in Woodbridge and was all done on time with no timekeeping worries.

Once at Freightliner their professional team then stepped in to turn the six wheelsets over a night shift back to the correct profile we required. One bogie has wheelsets close to the end of the tyre's life so the team were particularly helpful in carefully agreeing the cut and finished size in order to allow those wheels to have one more stint of service life and also correctly match the tyres on adjacent bogies further down the set.

Lunchtime the next day saw the bogies returned from the county of the Quad-set's birth back to their retirement home, Norfolk. Horace was in action again to unload, only this time in a snow/sleet blizzard! It was much less pleasant than the loading but we were lucky in that it was to be the following day before the aggressive winds came. The bogies were pushed uphill back in the shed, with the cold conditions becoming an incentive to push hard and get them inside quicker!

Following further slewing across concrete the three bogies were positioned back where they came from under the coach and the bogies of 48861 & '62 lowed back down. Plenty of re-greasing was done on surfaces we can't normally get to. This was officially the half way point for the project.

With the two bodies back down and harsh conditions outside, it was decided to reconnect the brake gear and vacuum hoses then adjust the brakes up correctly before shunting the vehicles outside. 

A shunt of the yard followed and 48861 & '62 were stabled outside with '63 & '64 coming in. These are the longer vehicles of the four so the jacks were all re-positioned ready to lift in the revised positions. The carriage jacks under '64 were leveled and weight gently taken ready to lift but we ran out of week to do the same on the loco jacks under '63.

Next week should see a similar story unfold as we repeat the process for the second pair of vehicles. As readers can imagine its been very busy!

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

The vehicle had to be moved outside so that its space could be taken by 3116, itself evicted from the staging by the Quad-Arts. No progress on 14021's overhaul was possible whilst outside but it has now reentered the shed following 3116's return to the staging.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Lettering and lining has continued with all the lower lining and letters now completed, including all of the data on the end of the vehicle.

Because the section of Quad-Arts inside the shed only had buffers at the Holt end, DMU 51228 was required to haul them in and out of the shed for the duration of the tyre turning. This meant the DMU was trapped inside the staging for a few days and is also the main reason 3116 was evicted onto the other side of the shed.

 

Whilst outside of the staging a large team descended on the underframe areas for a cosmetic upgrade. A coat of gloss black was applied to all visible areas of the outer underframe, battery boxes and bogies. Details such as springs and electrical sockets were also picked out in red.

The second pair of Quad coaches have buffers at the Sheringham end, meaning they could be moved into the shed conventionally allowing 3116 to be returned to the staging. This will allow the top lining to be completed next week after which varnishing will start.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

Similar to 14021, no progress due to resources being directed towards the Quads.

Quad Set Splitting

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

The extractor fan has now been fitted to the toilet with the associated timing circuits tested successfully. Also completed in a revised step arrangement at the Sheringham (brake) end corridor connection, taking into account the height modifications made last week.

London North Eastern Railway 1924 Quad Articulated Set 74

The Quad set has now dominated our attention fully! The first practical move was to transport the spare articulated bogie from the sheds at Bridge Road using a towing arm to bring it down the line to Weybourne.

This was then positioned close by and the middle coach raised off its neighbor using hydraulic jacks allowing the Holt two coaches to be drawn away and into the shed, with the spare bogie being rolled under the Sheringham pair to essentially create two "twin sets".

With the Holt pair moved into the shed, 48862 was lifted using our own C&W jacks whilst 48861 (the brake coach) remains on the ground as we encountered problems getting the Loco jacks (which we borrowed) to work.

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

The window surrounds pictured last week have had a second round of filler and paint and are now complete to the stage we want them at before they are fitted.

Work to rebuild the landward side battery box lid continues.

The areas of bodyside which had been stripped back to bare metal have had a coat of primer to offer protection as 14021 had to be moved outside for a week to allow passage for the Quads.

British Railways 1962 First Open M3116 (SILVER)

Exterior painting is now completed with the ends being painted black early this week. This in turn allowed the corridor connection rain hoods to be fixed permanently.

Whilst work has focused on the Quads, Brian the sign-writer has been keeping 3116 going and has been applying lining and lettering to the main bodysides. Each side is at a different stage with the various colours and coats, but about half of the task has been completed.

British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51188

The straps for the fire extinguishers and ramp have now been sewn so can be refitted soon. The vehicle briefly had to go into partial service for an Operations training day but we still aim to complete the guards area before the main season in April.