Gold Projects Progress

This weekend is the Showcase event which features regular shed tours at Weybourne Works including the carriage shed. Do come and see in person what we have been doing if you can!

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

Work has continued slowly on some door adjustments but many resources have been directed elsewhere recently.

London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)

Work is progressing well at Lee Sharpe's workshop, the coach has been stripped back with all the rotten wood and woodworm affected areas removed. The scale at the end between the underframe and body has been removed, all the corner brackets on the frame have been removed and a start has been made fitting new corner brackets.

Around half of the frame work has been de nailed sanded and painted in Aluminium wood primer.

The three lower roof boards have been removed both sides to allow new stainless steel tie bars to be fitted replacing the rusted originals. One corridor end face plate removed, the hand brake column removed, plus the guards cupboard removed plus all doors removed.

This restoration is being funded by the late Keith Porter’s legacy, but at present it looks like the estimated cost of the restoration is going to exceed the allocated £75,000, so any donations towards the restoration would be greatly appreciated by donating to the Joint Heritage Coach Fund.

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

The all important asbestos contractors are booked in on Monday morning in order to make a start. As part of this, the former passenger compartment end of the coach and the guards compartment have been cleared of all loose items so that they can do their work and dispose of any contaminated materials.

More good news is the arrival of the replacement steelwork required to repair the coach ends and all the doorways. These are now set aside for when we can deploy a suitable contractor to do the works.

John Howard continues to chip away at the battery boxes. Now that the landward side is complete, the seaward side has seen further stripping for both metalwork and woodwork replacement and repairs to start in earnest.

British Railways 1958 Brake Corridor Second M35148 (SILVER)

Much interior work has continued on the vehicle. All of the compartments have had their ceilings repainted which completes this task.

Two of the four have also been completed in terms of re-varnishing. The remaining two are in the process of having the window glass and surrounding woodwork refitted before these can then have final varnish.

Inside the guards compartment, the walls have been prepped and are being repainted. The corridor opposite the compartment, which had water damage below the window, has been replanked. 

The accessible saloon now has the sliding door at the end and associated cover panel refitted. The covers for the uplights have been varnished but are awaiting the LED light conversion before final fitting. This saloon is now the most advanced and will most likely be the first main area completed fully. 

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

Work on the body has restarted on a limited basis with repairs to one of the seaward side passenger doorways progressed.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

The underframe is now ready for gloss black, which will hopefully be applied before winter sets in.

British Railways (LMS Design) 1949 20 Ton Brakevan B950133

The second coat of bauxite paint has been applied but the running boards and remainder of the chassis are still to complete. The van will temporarily be in sue for Showcase weekend before being returned for finishing off. Nevertheless the vehicle is certainly now on the home straight!

British Railways 1962 12 Ton Box Van B783071 (Maintenance)

Not a restoration, but over the summer a project to repair and renew the doors on one side of one of the box vans used for storage has been ongoing. Much wood repair was required but it is now completed and coated in "good enough" brown! The same group have now moved onto similar van B755094.

Maintenance

The control switch box to improve the changeover from generator power to shore supply on RBR E1969 is now being constructed and is coming together nicely. Hopefully it will be installed in the vehicle before too long.

The project to repair the door 

Workshop

A set of ramps which have been generously donated by Greater Anglia have arrived recently. There will be more official publicity concerning them and their impact on the railway soon, but for now they get an honourable mention here. They will most likely be deployed on brake coaches in the months ahead.