Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3 (BRONZE)
Now that Pigeon Van 6843 is complete, work has started on the second candidate in our vintage train refresh project, the Midland & Great Northern Picnic Saloon, which has been in service for ten years now. The landward side paintwork has become distressed which much of the lining breaking down as well, so cosmetically it was probably the most poorly member of the vintage train in service last year when the decision was made to give the set some attention. To facilitate the works, a temporary tent has been erected adjacent to the museum at Holt so that the wagon group based there can undertake the works without affecting capacity at Weybourne.
Now that the tent is complete work has started on No3. A set of steps have been utilised to enable safer access to the vehicle in its untraditional location. A start has been made on preparing No3 for its repairs and partial repaint. The bodysides have been washed and rubbing down the landward side is currently in progress.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)
A much needed spring clean has occupied the restoration team for over a week to tidy up the areas around the coach in the workshop and inside the main passenger saloon to make further interior reassembly easier.
Other work has included the creation, fitting and varnishing of small lighting surround boxes to accommodate the saloon-style side lighting that sits level with the tops of the windows.
London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)
No progress to report.
British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)
Work to build up the store cupboard at the Holt end, disguised to look like a toilet compartment, continues steadily with lots of measuring and trial fitting of wall sections etc.
British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open E3868 (SILVER)
3868 has been one of two vehicles that has recently seen the most focus in the workshops at Weybourne, as we try to move it along quickly to rejoin the operating fleet for the main season. At the Holt end, all of the window glass has been refitted with new sealant, making great use of the newly repaired and revarnished window glass clamping wood. With glass back in, the focus has now shifted to the larger hardwood window surround woodwork that finishes off the area internally. These have now all been repaired, sanded and bleached and are currently being built up with layers of varnish.
Preparation for repainting is now progressing well at the Sheringham end of the vehicle, with the landward side completed this week. As we are running out of time, the windows are now not coming out of the Sheringham end, this being done next year instead.
Corrosion around the doorway nearest the Sheringham end has been dealt with, new metal welded in and door pillar reassembled.
The underframe areas are also progressing well, with the battery boxes now refitted after rebuilding and the underframe repainting now 50% complete.
British Railways 1958 Metro Cammell Railcar Driving Motor Brake Second M51192 (BRONZE)
The replacement for Pigeon Van 6843 in the workshop is the National Railway Museum's DMU powercar which is now mechanically ready for a return to service and requires the cosmetic work to match. Much like 3868 it has been a major focus over the past two weeks since it arrived so that it can be completed swiftly for the main season. The cab front was in particularly poor order so has had several areas of new metal welded in round the front windows, this has required windscreens to be removed, one of which is also being repaired before refitting. Perished rubbers letting water in on the remaining winsdscreens have also been replaced and even more sources of water ingress around the windscreen wiper motors tackled. The cab front has now been filled and prepped ready for repainting.
The bodysides are not in 100% health but are only getting a simple refresh for now. We have chipped off the worst of the corrosion around the windows and treated and patch painted the corroded areas that were revealed. The remaining distressed paintwork, now almost nine years old, has been keyed back and varnished which has brought back the shine remarkably. In just a few days the exterior has already been significantly improved.
All of the aluminum window frames have been thoroughly cleaned inside and out to reverse the effects of seven years in storage, and these now also look much more presentable and ready for service again. Moving onto the inside, the cab has already received a repaint by the Loco Dept. so requires minimal attention other than finishing off refitting a few items such as blinds and fire extinguisher brackets which were removed to allow repainting. The plan is to tackle the passenger saloons in due course but the main focus so far has been a refurbishment of the guards van which was by some margin the poorest area of the interior. The ceiling panels had been patched many many times and looked a mess so the ceiling has been removed for replacement. Whilst all of the panels require renewal, the beading was in excellent order so was carefully removed and repainted for reuse on the new panels.
The walls of the compartment have had a deep sand down to smoothen them and get them ready for repainting. The sliding door between the guards compartment and passenger saloons was in a very bad way having been mounted too low and not straight many years ago. This has caused very unusual wear with it "eating" into the wall as it scrapes along and the runner wheels at the bottom destroying the lower areas of the door. The door has been removed and dismantled, with the top runner being raised up, the bottom runner being straightened and the lower part of the door carefully salvaged and bent back into original shape so that it can all go again (much nicer) once reassembled.
British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918 (BRONZE)
Still awaiting the arrival of the replacement tarpaulin "hood".
Maintenance
Annual examinations continue with the assistance of the Operating Department at Sheringham. A side project has also been completed, with Corridor Second 25189 having a steam test to determine how many radiators do not work and how many holes there are in the pipework below the vehicle. This is necessary as the vehicle has not steam heated for many years and it has been decided later this year to return the coach to the winter pool of vehicles for use in the Norfolk Lights trains. The coach will be entering the workshops later in the year for the main works to be undertaken.
