A Sneaky Revarnish

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

A milestone has been reached this week with the completion of the sliding top-light fitting. For the first time the vehicle now has eight units fitted and functioning (it only had six when built as a corridor vehicle). Hopefully it will not be too long now before the main glazing can be undertaken.

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

The original wheelsets from 16631 have been returned to Weybourne from Wirksworth and at least two axles are sadly too damaged for any form of operational re-use. The remaining two axles will be stored as spares for the BTO and future vehicles in the proposed LNER set such as the Thompson brake, TTO & TK. The lorry that brought the wheelsets also returned a bent corridor connection faceplate (which was swapped for a spare from a donor vehicle) and picked up the four tyre turned axles from our two spare bogies which we restored some time ago. Finally, four replacement leaf springs, also from the spare bogies, were dispatched again to replace expired examples found on 16631 during the contract overhaul works.

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

Work to the guards area continues. The corroded outer skin on the seaward side has been removed allowing the surviving floor woodwork to be stabilised and the remaining framework is now accessible to be chopped out for replacement.

The areas of chassis temporarily revealed with the floor missing has been built up with protective layers of paint to set it up for the next 50 years. The corrugated floor which lies beneath has also been removed and had paint applied.

New plywood for the resized bulkheads and flooring has now arrived and is being laminated together where appropriate.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224 (REPAIR)

Our next project now that Gresley Buffet 9128 has been returned to service is a brief visit of old friend 21224 for repairs. This was caused by the new retention toilet pipework bursting out of the roof requiring the coach to be brought inside and under the harness lines for repair. This has now been completed and will be tested in due course.

Whilst the vehicle is with us we experimented with a new cleaner which our colleagues at the Great Central Railway had been using with success. This has lifted much of the filth that had accumulated in the cream sections of the bodywork.

After cleaning, the vehicle has been re-varnished all round despite not being due for such attention. It as completed quickly however and has given it a real boost and shine back.

A host of other, smaller, tasks have also been completed on the vehicle. As part of our battery charging improvement scheme, an in built charger is in the process of being installed in the guards compartment. We have also repaired the first aid kit holder, seaward side guards door and are in the process of replacing a stained window on the landward side guards door. Damaged window signage has also been replaced and various other items cleaned.

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

Underframe painting continues with the bufferbeam in a second coat of red gloss and the underframe now all in black gloss except the seaward side of the leading bogie which is just lingering in undercoat.

Meanwhile inside the cab, some more of the walls have been maroon undercoated. The window rubber replacement for the bodyside windows edges ever closer to completion.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

No progress to report.

British Railways (GWR Design) 1958 "Fruit D" W92097W (SILVER)

All woodwork is now completed, but plenty of painting is still to complete if the weather allows!

The Sheringham end has been painted and the Holt end is ready for a second gloss coat.

Much de-rusting and priming of all the ironwork, a nice sitting down job, has also been undertaken.

Gresley Buffet Returned to Traffic

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

Window fitting has continued along the landward side with the aim of working towards the fully glazed milestone. There is just one window now outstanding for the top sliding lights.

Further adjustments have also been made to the two main passenger doors.

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

Contract works continue at LS Engineering. Back at Weybourne, a set of four leaf springs have been removed from our two spare Electric Multiple Unit Gresley design bogies for intended reuse on 16631. This was because the originals were found to be in too poor a condition to reuse. We have also received unfortunate news that the journals on the wheelsets of 16631 are in a scrap condition, rendering all the wheels useless. This damage sadly occurred during the coach's many years in storage. The good news is that we have prepared a set of four axles (taken from the spare EMU bogies) ready to go under 16631. The bad news is that the four coming out of 16631 which were going to be returned to our pool and used on one (or both) of the remaining two unrestored Gresley vehicles in our set, are now no longer able to fulfill that role, so we are back to having no spares so will keep our fingers crossed that the wheels under the two future coaches are in good enough order to go forward with! The above is all part of the rich tapestry of restoring 90 year old vehicles of course!

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (BRONZE)

Star of the show for this update is of course the Gresley Buffet car, which has been returned to traffic after just 47 days in the workshop. Considering the amount of work completed on the vehicle, this quick turnaround is a credit to the team who have worked so hard to undertake the tasks so desperately needed on the vehicle and minimise the time that the operating and catering departments had to suffer without the use of it.

The final two weeks of the vehicle being with us saw us complete the varnishing on the landward side and gloss paint to two vehicle ends. The two corridor end doors received several coats of varnish to build them back up to the expected finish. The interior was deep cleaned in advance of the coach being handed back to Sheringham, in order to give it a head start as its return to service was expected to be quick.

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

The focus continues to be on the guards compartment structural restoration. Several major floor bearers have now been machined from new hardwood, painted and dry fitted to ensure a good fit. More plywood flooring has been cut back to either remove rotten material or access rotten steel supports beneath the wood floor.

Work to the bulkhead walls has progressed, with two walls cut down by a few inches in order to widen the side corridor to the maximum it can be for trays of food to pass through easily. The removal of a seemingly small amount of material has actually made a massive difference to the passageway. Replacement material for both the bulkheads (where they are damaged or missing) and the removed flooring is now on order, as part of our plan to get a secure floor down for us to stand on and conduct the remainder of the restoration in this area.

Other works have included needle gunning the handbrake pedestal back to metal removing the 50 years of BR paint layers. It looks much "crisper" now and can return to it's original 1960's splendor in due course!

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

The cab end repainting has seen the bufferbeam first be primed and then receive a first coat of red gloss, which is really giving the front some colour now. The new front valance has also been painted gloss black. A start has been made on fabricating the cosmetic waist height jumper cable sockets which will eventually be fixed below the cab windows.

Also on the exterior, good progress is being made with the underframe repainting. The landward side is now complete with both bogies and all the "danglies" brought up to black gloss. The seaward side is slightly behind with around 3/4 in primer.

Window rubber replacement in the window frame units is steadily continuing. The cab interior project continues with the first areas of wall paneling starting to go into maroon undercoat.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

No progress to report.

British Railways (GWR Design) 1958 "Fruit D" W92097W (SILVER)

No progress to report.

Farewell Chassis

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

No progress to report.

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

Contract works continue at LS Engineering.

London North Eastern Railway 1937 Restaurant Buffet E9128E (BRONZE)

This continues to be the priority project in the works at Weybourne. The second coat of roof paint has been applied which was the final task for the roof. The destination boards have also been completed, with several coats of varnish applied, and have been hardening before we reinstate them on the roof.

The seaward side is now also nearly completed, having been rubbed down again and given a final coat of varnish. Only window cleaning is now required on this side.

The landward side is not too far behind and is steadily catching up with the seaward side. A large amount of effort has been put into the painting side, with the last few weeks seeing undercoat applied to the upper cream band and two coats of cream and red gloss being applied to the upper and lower sections respectively. This now means that painting is complete on this side, which is now hardening prior to varnish application next week.

The two coach ends have been brought up as far as black undercoat. The floor was found to be lifting around the Holt end corridor, so this was stripped down and corrosion removed before sticking the lino floor back down and refitting the brass tread plate. Surrounding platework has also been cleaned up and painted. Both gangway faceplates have been cleaned down of old grease and undercoated.

Inside the vehicle, the work to rationalise the coach's electrics has been completed and we have a simple 240V and 12V system now. Also fitted is a shore supply socket and changeover switchgear, so that the fridge can be run unattended overnight without the generator running.

Hopefully it will not be much longer before the coach is returned to traffic.

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

Some major restoration work to the interior has been restarted after a long period on the back burner. The guards compartment has been selected as a small self contained area we can make progress on. Firstly it was cleared out of accumulated rubbish, some of which was still lingering from its previous home. With the area empty, several items attached to the walls which we are not retaining were removed. The largest such item is the original "pie oven", which whilst being a nice and original feature, is being sacrificed so that the wall space it occupies can be utilised for other equipment. This has to be done as the guards compartment is being reduced in space slightly so it will have to have a cleverly designed layout to accommodate all the emergency and guards equipment.

With items removed, the sliding entrance door has been taken off its runner and the old lino removed from the floor, revealing the somewhat rotten plywood below. Both the plywood floor and support bearers that the bulkheads and sliding door sit on require partial replacement, so we will now start looking at these floor repairs so that we have a firm base upon which to rebuild. The floor in the adjacent side corridor has been fully removed to facilitate repairs, and to clean up the top of the chassis below which had been rusting and pushing the whole floor upwards.

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

Progress has slowed again whilst there is a big push on 9128, however things are still happening. The front end skirt has been filled smooth and given a coat of black primer to protect it.

Also at the front, the three cab windscreens and destination indicator glass have all received replacement rubbers and have been refitted to the vehicle, making the cab a sealed area once again.

The cab interior has moved into the repainting stage, with the ceiling now in gloss white.

Work on the battery boxes and replacing the rubber on the side windows also continues steadily. The window rubber replacement in particular is very time consuming but we are approaching the half way point thankfully.

British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918

With better weather now with us, another few sessions have been possible on the landward side of the vehicle, which has been filled in many areas and a coat of primer applied to the whole side. One or two planks have been left out as requiring more work, but the bulk of the side is now getting there.

British Railways (GWR Design) 1958 "Fruit D" W92097W (SILVER)

The Holt based team have now completed replacing timbers on the seaward side and additionally have  almost completed the Sheringham end.

The Holt end timbers have been replaced and this area is now ready for ironwork to be replaced. The buffer beams will be painted in due course.

The weather continues to be the biggest drawback. Space is limited under the museum awning, so a dry day is needed to push out and complete the landward side of the vehicle.

Brian has been beavering away with painting and has managed to get a first top coat on part of the landward side. Most of the seaward side is now primed and part undercoated.

A rough estimation, weather permitting, is that the vehicle may be completed in July all being well.

Disposals - B732930

A week or so ago, the discarded 4-wheeled chassis from M&GN 129 was tripped from Bridge Road sheds to Weybourne, where its vacuum cylinder was removed prior to the chassis being collected and transferred to a new home at the Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust in Aberdeen. We have struggled to find a future for this chassis that didn't involve the scrap man, so we are extremely pleased that it has been saved for use under another vintage carriage body north of the border. We wish the new owners all the best in their heritage endeavors.

For the record, the chassis was from BR Tube wagon B732930, made surplus to our requirements following the restoration of a more historically accurate 6 wheel chassis for M&GN 129 a few years ago.