September News Part 3

Due to more time away (again?!?) the blog is a day early this week - just to confuse people...

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

The vehicle, which is all but finished, has had the interior sealed off to stop anyone getting in and spoiling the final finish, and the exterior is also ready for service. This week, one job has been adjusting the springing as the weight distribution of the body was not equal on all of the six wheels. This has proved a pretty troublesome task, and two days of adjustments have been made but the team are still not fully satisfied with the results. The vehicle is due to be pulled out of the shed and moved next door to the locomotive department for more adjustments, as they are better equipped than we are for such work due to the requirements to weigh steam engines etc and set their springs.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The shanks of the buffers have had some of the pitting filled which was later sanded and painted in primer.

Close by, the corners of the original chassis have been further slashed by the resident metalwork creature ready to be welded to the new steel outer C sections which are to be fitted soon. From underneath the chassis, some time has been spent on assembling the vacuum pipe, which is quite a simple affair but has a few curves, joints and brackets to contend with. Finally, the "W irons" have progressed as the keep plates have been fitted to the bottoms with new bolts.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

Work has concentrated solely on the exterior doors this week as most priorities have been elsewhere. We are at the stage now where five (out of a total of six) doors have been fully stripped back of old paint back to aluminium. Four of these have also been painted in primer and they already look very good. Once primed they have been set aside as we don't want to apply any more coats of paint until the doors have been fitted to the coach and adjusted.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

With the asbestos men gone, work has resumed (well, it never really got started before) on the bodywork concentrating on the Sheringham (3rd class) end. The floor of the extreme end compartment has been pulled out so that all the bodyside pillars and floor supports can be renewed. They all need to be done in this area as there isn't a single one intact! Repairs to the end of the coach just below the roofline have been completed with the remaining replacement panel work being fitted and welded up. At the bottom of the same end of the coach, all the panelwork has been cut away and the rotted end crash pillars also removed for replacement next week. Needle gunning of remaining steelwork and general cleaning up of the area is currently in progress before the new material starts to go into the frame.

Whilst all this has been going on, metal work on the doors for the vehicle (reskinning etc) has continued.

The first of the interior components has also been restored: the light shades out of the compartments have been cleaned back to original condition by volunteer David and look resplendent.

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

The metal heat deflectors described last week have been fitted to the vehicle and the heaters were fitted immediately on top of them. Dan is now in the process of connecting up the heater controls to the heaters so that passengers will be able to control the heating in their own compartment. Most have gone in OK but some of the control tubes have snapped so have been requiring repairs.

The new door cards and garnish rails are now being fitted rapidly to the vehicle - about two thirds are in situ along the landward side with as many as three people at once working on this task. They are to be varnished after they have been adjusted and fitted as each requires a lot of work before each individual door accepts them.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

No update this week.

Stations

Another related development is the restoration and repainting of one of Sheringham station's vintage bicycles, and very nice it looks too!

September News Part 2

Due to your author being off from work – the blog is a late, truncated, and imageless affair this week, do not fear however the blog has not been privatised and hopefully it will return to full strength as soon as possible...

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

The step boards, complete with triangular sections on the backs (pictured last week), have now all been completed. The vacuum system has also been confirmed as fully armed and operational so the vehicle really is on the brink of entering traffic. Exciting times!

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The buffers mentioned last week have been fitted firmly and the various ancillaries that go with them pinned in position and checked successfully. These internally “modern” buffers with a heritage exterior are quite an impressive way of doing things effectively whilst keeping the Edwardian charm...

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

All of the exterior glass has been cleaned ready for refitting, and the landward side window frames are all now fitted properly and the countersunk heads filled smooth.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

The week has seen dramatic progress on the asbestos stripping of the vehicle, which as one would expect from professional contractors has been completed quickly with seemingly little fuss. The coach’s plastic “cocoon” has been used to full effect and the interior flooring and toilets all stripped of the lethal material which was stopping us from sinking our teeth into the body reconstruction. Meanwhile, work on the doors has continued off the vehicle, with two particularly poor examples having an entire lower-half replacement with new steel. Finally, some limited work on the interuior components has been able to be started already despite the coach being so earl in its restoration. Approximately half of the polished aluminium heater control switches (from the compartments) have been cleaned up to their former 1950’s glory.

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

The long-awaited brand new door cards and garnish rails arrived during the week but the former have not come as expected in appearance, possibly due to an error in manufacture. However the production/modification of the wooden edging strips below the door cards can cure the issue. This latter task is now currently in hand and a test door has been fitted with the edging strip/door card/garnish rail combination to test all the theories... Also progressing are some metal heat deflectors which we have decided to produce and fit to the floors below the heaters. These are made from steel and are being painted silver on one side to hopefully encourage heat up through the seats into the passengers rather than down through the floor and into oblivion!

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

No update this week, although that certainly doesn’t mean there has been no progress!

September News Part 1

The blog returns after a week off due to holidays.

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

Work has continued to focus on the step boards which have all now been fitted to the vehicle. There is a triangular section at the back of the lower boards to prevent feet slipping and these have now also been fitted, although they are only in primer so require more painting in situ. The main boards will also be repainted again and several imperfections and joints have been filled to provide a smooth board from end-to-end. A session painting them all black again will no doubt be conducted soon. The fitting of the boards has once again changed the general appearance of the vehicle.

Boards fitted showing the triangular section

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The buffer shanks have been receiving attention this week. The stronger buffers from the donor PMV chassis are to be retained, so the Great Northern era shanks have had the centres bored out slightly to accept the larger PMV buffers. This was after a new buffer compression tool was fabricated to enable everything to be dismantled safely. Suitably modified, the shanks have been bolted to the ends of the chassis and the buffers test fitted successfully.

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

The job of stripping down the paint on the doors (described in August News Part 4) and on the side of the carriage continues steadily. The latter is getting close to completion: both sides of the coach and the Sheringham end are now fully stripped and coated in a fresh layer of metal primer. Only one end to go Dan!

The upper section of the carriage having been stripped of paint and primed

A further four of the exterior window frames have now been installed completing the landward side. We are now in the process of filling the countersunk rivets over with filler to give these windows a seamless finish.

On the interior, some curved wooden supporting noggins have now been installed in the Sheringham end saloon kicking off the interior reconstruction.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

The asbestos contractors are on site once again to clear the remaining material out of this carriage. They have so far made a start on sealing the vehicle so they can do their extraction safely. All work on the body of the coach has been suspended for the duration of this work.

E43041 being sealed for asbestos removal

The asbestos hasn’t stopped the door metalwork repairs however, and several more of them have been stripped back to bare metal so they can be assessed and welded. Once this has been completed, each door has been painted in primer on the outside and floor paint on the inside. The wooden frames have also been protected.

Refurbishment of the doors for E43041

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

The roof has received its second (and final) coat of paint this week.

Roger Ison painting the roof

On the interior, the window frames mentioned last time have been glossed which allowed further wooden trim to be installed all around the windows. Upholstery could then be fitted with the “side cards” and armrests being pinned into position first. The seat backs themselves are now in the process of being fitted.

Wood interior progress and seating starting to be fitted

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

The seaward side toilet is on the home straight with the toilet pan and sink now installed complete with fittings, pipework and taps. The various shelves and handles in the toilet are now being screwed into the wall panelling to complete this area.

Sink fitted

Mirror, towel rack and litter bin fitted

Workshop

The workshop has recently gained a hooter to help announce the start of tea breaks and the end of the day. A true example of cooperation, the whistle was turned on a lathe off-site by an M&GN Society volunteer and then installed into the compressed air system in the shed by an NNR volunteer. It now makes a very suitable noise when the specially designed pull chord is operated!

August News Part 5

We start with the celebration of 15,000 views of the blog to date. It will be interesting to see how many views there are in January when the blog can celebrate its first birthday!

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

The emperor of all stepboards continues to progress with the top example on the seaward side now fitted to the vehicle. The remaining boards have now been painted in gloss black as well.

On the interior, the lino flooring has received its sealant, essential for keeping it clean and in good condition. Underneath the coach, the hornguides have now been greased and the brake rigging is under test again.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The wooden packing pieces mentioned last week are all now fully bolted down which completes this task. Also complete is the drawgear assembly, which received its final components, the drawhooks themselves, this week.

The new steel C sections have also had the spring hangars all trial fitted, which took some time as all the holes had to receive a “NITMeC” (for the uninitiated that is a “Norfolk Imperial To Metric Conversion”!)

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

The paintwork sanding and door paint stripping described last week continues using the same victims, the first of the six exterior doors has now been completed and is in primer until it can be fitted to the coach.

All the glass for the exterior windows is also in the process of being cleaned and is now being kept in a safe place until the time comes for installation.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

A repair to the top edge of the roof on the Sheringham end has been progressing this week, and already the replacement panelling has been tack welded onto one side.

Also receiving metalwork are the doors, several of which have had new steel bottoms added to them by Jon and Nico. This job is particularly skilful as doors are one of the hardest parts of a carriage to weld because the original metal distorts so easily when a new piece is welded in.

Finally, the battery box covers for the coach have been stripped of their old bitumen paint and coated in primer.

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

Now that this coach is back in the staged area a push has been made on fitting out the interior, much of which has already been restored and has been in store awaiting fitting. In one week, the wooden veneered panelling has been fully fitted throughout the coach, and other wooden trim is now been trial fitted round the doorways. Trim which sits just below the ceiling is also being fitted apace.

A full set of draught excluders have also been fitted to all the doors. The wooden interior window frames are now in the process of being primed as unfortunately they weren’t in good enough condition to be varnished so will have to be painted brown instead.

Woodwork for the doors receiving final varnishing

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

The toilet progresses with the corner beading strips being fitted and painted. More varnishing of the window woodwork has also been completed.

COMPLETION SPECIAL: Class 101 Railcar E56062

Today saw the second half of the North Norfolk Railway’s Class 101 Railcar set, trailer car E56062, exit the workshops after bodywork and a repaint into BR green livery with speed whiskers. It will join powercar E51228 in service as a 2-car set once the latter has had its mechanical issues resolved.

E56062 started out life in May 1957 as a 2-car set for the Eastern Region of British Railways. It was to operate in 2-car formations for its entire service life and was soon put to work on secondary and rural routes replacing costly steam traction and coaching stock combinations. The vehicle was included in one of the earliest batches of the Class 101 design, part of an order for 40 railcars and as such is the forth oldest Class 101 vehicle preserved. Thirty years of uneventful service followed, during which the coach was repainted first into British Railways’ Blue colour scheme and later the more attractive Blue & Grey livery after it was refurbished internally. This refurbishment involved the removal of the original tungsten lighting, to be replaced with fluorescent tubes and the replacement of much of the Formica wall coverings with cream and orange panels (replacing the original blue and green). Despite this refurbishment, by the late 1980’s E56062, like many railcars of similar vintage, was in a poor state and up for replacement with modern stock. The story was not to end here however, for 54062 (as it had now been renumbered) was selected in 1992 as part of a fleet of 35 Class 101 sets which were to be refurbished again and kept into service long after the others were disposed of. This refurbishment was duly undertaken and 54062 became part of “101655”, lingering on in service until around 2000, being officially withdrawn in 2002.

E56062 as part of "101655"

Split from its partner (which was later scrapped), E56062 was sent to the Ministry of Defence site at Shoeburyness for storage before being purchased by the North Norfolk Railway in August 2003, who wanted a railcar historically accurate for the East Anglian region to replace a less-suitable suburban Class 117 set that had been operating services on the line during the late 1990’s. The NNR created a 2-car set with 56062 (from 101655) paired with powercar 51228 (from set 101681) and after bodywork repairs and repaint into blue, entered service in 2004.

E56062 in 2008

After five years NNR service, E56062 was extensively restored over 2009/2010 with the 1980’s refurbishment features being removed and the interior and exterior returned to original “as built condition”. Repainted into green livery, 56062 re-entered service in June 2010 but was taken out of service in 2013 as its partner suffered mechanical failure. During 2014, the Carriage & Wagon department repainted the powercar in readiness for its return to traffic so in May 2015 E56062 was brought in to ensure it matched the (now shiny) powercar.

E56062 in 2010

This year has not seen the most thorough of overhauls, indeed the interior and underframe were still in excellent condition after the 2010 overhaul, so haven’t required any attention. The exterior was however letting the vehicle down slightly, so several patches have been welded into the sides and cab and the bodysides later prepped and fully repainted to ensure the vehicle shines again. When returned to service, E56062 will operate a huge number of the NNR’s services, so it is important for the railway’s image that it looks good externally.

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

The varnishing has now been completed on the vehicle! The last remains of the seaward side which needed attention plus the headstocks of the coach have been varnished this week, drawing this phase of the restoration to a close. Work has now been proceeding on the footboards for the vehicle, which are suitably Victorian looking (huge!). So far several have been cut to length and are currently being painted. Meanwhile the metal supports for the boards have been fitted to the seaward side of the coach, landward to follow shortly.

Footboards in primer

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The bell tolleth and herein lies the Axeman... That’s right, he’s back, and this time the goggles are better than ever. The original C sections which run the length of the donor underframe are being reduced to half size on the top section and being axed entirely on the bottom section. Elsewhere on the underframe, the wooden packers which sit on top are now in the process of being bolted down, and more drawgear has been assembled, although the actual coupling hooks are still to be fitted.

The top of the donor C section fast becoming history

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

Four of the window frames mentioned last week, have now been fitted to the Holt end landward side of the vehicle with new rivets.

A lot more old paintwork, mainly from the upper sections which weren’t replaced with new steel, has been sanded off by a long suffering Dan Broughton who has proceeded along the landward side and is currently tackling the Sheringham end. Also sanding have been the two Peters who have been cleaning up the six exterior doors ready for their eventual repainting.

On the interior, thoughts are turning to the reconstruction of the Sheringham end saloon, and much gathering of parts has been done to enable this work to start soon. The Sheringham end vestibule has already seen some wall and ceiling framework re-fixed into position. It’s nice that things are now going back onto this coach rather than being pulled off!

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

Work on the bodysides of this vehicle has had to stop due to the discovery of some more residual asbestos, which will take some time to be removed by the professionals. However work on the asbestos-free ends of the carriage has been done, with a fresh section pulled off the bottom revealing wasted structural sections which will require repair of course!

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

This coach has finally made it back inside the shed to be finished off, so expect more lengthy reports concerning this second member of the Suburban 4 Club in future weeks.

Lotsa doors!

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

I have been guilty of not fully reporting all the ongoing progress on this vehicle over the past few weeks, so there are several images to show off the good work being done to try and make up for it. On the interior passenger saloons, the Formica wall panelling has been fitted throughout a large proportion of the coach, making a huge visual difference as it covers up the cold steel bodysides.

 

More window woodwork has been fitted with many side pieces still in the process of having the layers built up. These parts really have depth to them and have a quality shine.

Several doors, located around the toilet vestibule area, are also in a similar state of having the varnish layers built up.

The seaward side toilet is also progressing well with the flooring being concentrated on this week – I may stand corrected but I “think” the lino floor covering had been permanently fitted by close of play.

Here we see a very professional man professionally cutting flooring

Said lino in position (bird's eye view)

The luggage netting is being restrung at a rate of “knots” (see what I did there?!?), Roger Ison deploying the usual dedication to the task. All but the odd one is now complete.

New Member

We were joined by this happy chap during Friday’s shunting. Do the drivers really have to wait that long before shunting finished projects out of the C&W shed???

August News Part 3

Midland Railway (later M&GN) 1886 6 Wheel Picnic Saloon 3

The varnishing on the seaward side of the carriage has now been completed, however a few parts have to be redone on the landward side, so there is still a little bit of varnishing still to complete.

Great Northern Railway (later M&GN) 1887 6 Wheel Third 129

The large steel C sections that were recently brought indoors have now both been drilled with the myriad of holes that will accept all of the various spring hangars and axlebox "W irons". Being able to drill all of these holes in the right places first time really shows the skill of the engineers we have involved on this task. One of the C sections has also had bolts fitted thrugh the holes and the heads welded to the sections, creating studs (of a kind).

On the chassis itself, work has been focused on the drawgear equipment. The plates that go on the ends of the vehicle and hold the drawhook itself in place are now fitted onto the headstocks, and the central section of the continuous drawgear has been assembled complete with rubber springing in the centre. The wooden packers that help hold he body up have also been trial fitted to the top of the chassis.

Centre section of continuous drawgear with rubber springing

British Railways 1957 Mark 1 Tourist Second Open E4641

A major milestone has been reached with the vehicle this week: the completion of the metalwork repairs. This represents the single greatest aspect of the coach's overhaul, so is great to see it at this stage. Now that the metalwork repairs (which have to be done whilst almost no other work is underway) are behind us, more jobs on the rest of the vehicle have been progressed this week. Roger Williams, who has spent several weeks repairing the aluminium window frames (removed some months ago), has now started the process of refitting the frames to the carriage, wok so far has entailed preparing the fresh metal with undercoat in the areas that will be hidden when the frames themselves are fitted.

Meanwhile on the interior the large sections of floor which had been removed from the seaward side of the Sheringham half of the carriage, plus the floor from the Sheringham corridor end, have been fully replaced with new hardwood supports and plywood flooring. This is in readiness for the start of some of the interior components being refitted to the carriage.

Floor supports being installed

Floor completed in the Sheringham end saloon

Floor completed in the Sheringam end corridor area

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Composite Lavatory E43041

The interior stripping out mentioned last week is almost complete: all 8 compartments are now empty and only the third class corridor and toilet now remain to be treated. The doors have also progressed, all 13 have now been stripped down to their component parts, and several are now receiving metalwork repairs where they have rotted into the next world. The wood frames of the same doors are also being protected where required, as these doors progress we continue to get a better "feel" for how many can be cleaned up and reused, how many require metalwork repairs, and how many are corroded beyond repair. Some have rotten wooden frames with good (reusable) metal skins screwed onto them, whilst some others have great frames but severely wasted skins!

A door with a new bottom fitted

On the exterior, the landward side gutter is now removed from the carriage, following the seaward side which was done last week. The conclusion of the welding repairs on E4641 has meant attention is now able to turn to replacing the rot on E43041. A start has been made on the Sheringham end/seaward side of the vehicle, with one and a half compartments-worth of old panelwork removed to assess the framework. Unfortunately this coach is fantastically rotten, and is clearly the worst of the Suburban 4 project vehicles. A long journey now awaits us, so expect plenty of "metalwork repairs to E43041 continue this week" reports in future weeks (months?!?).

The first section of rotten framework revealed

British Railways 1954 Mark 1 Suburban Third W46139

All of the "fire breaks" (pictured last week) have now been painted, concluding this job. Seat reupholstery continues with more seat backs being re-trimmed this week, the number of bits required to retrim for this coach can now be counted on one hand.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Third Lavatory Open E48001

More luggage racks have had their washed strings repaired and refitted to the aluminium rack itself. This task is ongoing, as is the toilet plumbing and interior varnishing described in previous weeks.

British Railways 1957 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory E56062

The waist height bodyside line and underframe lettering have received a second coat, and the white vacuum "stars" have been applied to the underframe. The white stars were at such a height that a chair was required to paint them, so the solution that any self respecting individual would reach was found: a brown winged armchair! This concludes the repaint for this vehicle. Handrails have now been refitted and any damaged areas and odd nuts/bolts have been touched in to match the rest of the vehicle. E56062 will therefore be leaving us very soon.

Painting in style!

Ready to roll