January News Part 4

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

More progress on ongoing projects such as the varnished end doors.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Varnishing of the compartments has continued with compartment three joining the previous two to receive its spruce up. The opportunity has been taken to give the interior a good hoover out to stop too much spoiling.

The vehicle is now fully glazed again, as the final panes of glass were secured into place on the guards end windows. The second of the two new window frames were also fitted to the wheelchair saloon, finishing this end.

The Holt end corridor connection now has its springs fitted to the top to secure the faceplate and the rubber weather shield fitted over the top as a hood. This end is now complete apart from the two lighting jumper cables.

The bogie overhaul has now slowed due to the requirement to undertake C exams on the operational coaches at Sheringham. Some more painting of the side frames has progressed however.

Bodyside paint preparation is now in full swing with the lower half of the seaward side receiving the sanding and filling treatment.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372 (BRONZE)

The sixth vehicle in the conveyor belt is now substantially complete, with the lining on the seaward side being applied and closely followed by a coat of varnish all the way round. Unfortunately the low temperaturtes prevented us from scraping down the paint off the window glass, so the coach has stayed in the shed to allow a further week of paint hardening, after which we will attempt to scrape the windows again. In the meantime, some finishing touches such as refitting the brass grab handles and painting round the corridor connections has taken place.

British Railways 1960 Restaurant Buffet (Refurbished) E1969 (BRONZE)

The seventh conveyor belt coach, which has been loitering outside the shed, has now been moved into the staging area and will be the next major focus for a few weeks. Mercifully, it is in much better condition than M4372 which slowed us down by around a week.

British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236 (BRONZE)

The eighth conveyor belt coach has been moved up from Sheringham early, partly due to the track works which are going to be separating the railway during the early part of February, but also because we will hopefully be able to start this one before the previous vehicle is completed, now that the Class 37 has exited (see below). It is currently outside the shed where it will remain until M4372 is complete.

British Railways 1962 Tourist Second Open M4958 (REPAIRS)

This coach has now been moved up from Sheringham and is in the yard to aid in the reupholstering process. All of the seating has now been removed from the framework allowing a good hoover out from under the seats, a task which is rarely able to be done. It may receive a few other odds and sods whilst it is up here, although this will be labour dependent. M4958 will miss the start of the season, but it is hoped it will be completed in time for the busier months!

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

Now completed, this loco has been returned outside and back to its owner. It looks superb in the daylight and Heritage Painting have done an excellent job.

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

The upper regions of the cabin interior are now receiving cream top coat, after prepping was completed.

A number of minor jobs have also been undertaken including cleaning the vent covers, not an easy task. It is beginning to look very smart inside.

Maintenance

Whilst out on winter works duties, one of the windows on the Permanent Way "TRAMM" became removed. These are perspex windows and it survived intact meaning it was a relatively straightforward task to come out and return it into place, back in its rubbers, making the cab whole and watertight again.

Down at Sheringham, C examinations are in full swing with the main passenger "A set" being the focus of attention at present. A four coach formation (plus buggy carrier) has been formed for next month's half term week now that all of the end examinations to the couplings and gangways have been completed. The remaining tasks will be undertaken next week.

January News Part 3

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

More progress on bits and pieces mainly associated with the doors. The first of the door lock mechanisms are starting to be fitted, to the luggage area door on the landward side.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

Re-varnishing of the compartments has continued, with a second (compartment 4) joining the first which was completed last week.

The remaining three compartments have had their internal wooden window surrounds fitted making the compartments "whole" again. 

On the exterior of the vehicle, the Holt end rubber bellows have been fitted to the corridor connection and secured to the end of the coach. This end is now close to completion with only some minor parts now left to fit.

The bogie overhaul continues, with the leaf springs and associated hangars now removed and in the process of cleaning. The outer bogie side frames have been cleaned back and have received rust-inhibitor.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372 (BRONZE)

The sixth of the conveyor belt coaches is now back on track following delays caused by unexpected corrosion. The affected areas around the windows have been built up through undercoat to bring them up to the same stage as the rest of the coach. This allowed gloss paint, both cream and crimson, to be applied to the relevant areas along both sides of the coach, bringing the luster back to the vehicle's appearance. The damaged lining has also been reapplied on the landward side, with the seaward side to follow next week.

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

This week has seen a focus on finishing touches now that the loco is nearly complete. The headcode boxes have been secured shut and the winding handles for them polished or painted as appropriate and fitted back in place. Some overhead warning signage has been refitted to the nose ends, and the four worksplates are now back in place on the bodysides.

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

This week further undercoat has been applied in the cabin in places where it had not taken very well.

Both ends of the cabin floor were cleaned out and rust inhibitor applied. Timber to fill a void found in this area, has been sourced and primed ready for fitting next week.

Banger (of building department fame) deserves thanks for the loan of lights, tools etc to the Holt wagon outpost, along with Dave King for allowing access to the warmth of the museum during breaks at this inclement time of year!

January News Part 2

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

Progress this week has been a continuation of previous with the doors continuing the give trouble. It will be some time before these are brought to an satisfactory standard!

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

This coach has moved on very well this week with several areas bearing fruit. The re-varnish of the interior has started in earnest (made possible by the recent re-glazing) with the first section to be finished being compartment number 5, which is a second class one nearest the Holt end of the coach. As already mentioned in previous updates, the coach's interior was already in good condition, so the re-varnish will not involve any stripping, only a top-up coat (or two) to return the shine. All of the tables (used for cream teas) have been removed from the compartments as they are no longer needed.

To keep ahead with the re-varnishing, the remainder of the compartment window glass was also fitted earlier in the week, finishing a task started last week. The same volunteer responsible for these has now moved onto the two former toilet windows (now store cupboards) which are in progress.

With the main glass fitted, the separate upper sliding lights have also been refitted to all five compartments which means they can now be fully sealed from the outside world again. These had been cleaned in advance.

Two compartments have also had their varnished window surround woodwork refitted. Once again, the plan is for the remainder to follow next week.

A start has also been made on refurnishing the wheelchair saloon (the former luggage area), with some missing supporting noggins being produced from timber and painted ready to fit around the refitted windows.

The outside of the vehicle is also progressing. On the Holt end, the vacuum passenger communication apparatus and linkages have all been refitted to the corridor end and the only remaining item still to fit at this end is the rubber bellows for the connection. After this, the Sheringham end will receive similar treatment.

The two passenger doors on the landward side have now been completed. One of the final items to add was the surrounding wooden paneling and draught excluders. We are currently awaiting the delivery of some more replacement door jambs before we move onto more doors.

Whilst we wait, some of the replaced steel in the doorways is being protected with paint ready to receive the new wood.

Finally, the bogie overhaul continues to progress with more painting of the second section up to gloss, plus the cleaning and repainting of axle boxes and brake gear from that end of the bogie ready to refit.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372 (BRONZE)

The sixth of the conveyor belt coaches now has a completed roof. The areas where the old paint had failed and been chipped off were suitably treated and a coat of roof paint applied just to those areas to build depth. We then applied the usual top-up coat to the whole roof, which will see it good for the foreseeable future.

The bodysides have seen the most attention. The loose rust, once chipped away, has been rust treated before a small round of filler was applied and sanded back smooth. These areas have been patch painted in primer and work will continue next week. The areas not affected have just been lightly rubbed back ready for one coat of gloss to be applied to the whole coach once repairs are complete. Small cracks have been filled with mastic sealant to slow down water ingress until the coach's next overhaul. The four areas where the rust had progressed as far as holes were chopped out and new welded in, followed by the usual sanding and filling. M4372 has required the most preparation of all the conveyor belt coaches so far.

Spare hours whilst paints and sealants have been drying has been spent repainting the end doors brown.

The existing sign writing on the ends, as part of our current livery policy, has seen the white lettering over-coated with ochre.

No interior work is planned or required on this vehicle,. however the opportunity was taken to remove all of the tinsel from the luggage racking, left over from the Christmas diners!

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

Heritage Painting have now completed their work on this loco. The final tasks involved completing the yellow panel on the Sheringham nose end, then varnishing the same end. This was followed by intensive painting of the red bufferbeams and all of the various coloured pipes and sockets etc in the vicinity.

Finishing touches involved refitting all of the removed window glass, polishing the external brass work and fitting the new overhead line warning signs.

The only outstanding task remaining is the fitting of the worksplates to the cab bodysides and refitting the internal panels which were removed for access. This is planned to be done by staff next week.

Everybody agrees how good the finish is on the loco!

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

The undercoating of the cabin interior has been completed.

January News Part 1

A happy New Year to all of our readers. Over the Covid pandemic, we unfortunately lost 50% of our readership, so as we go into 2022 I'd like to ask if anyone can share any links anywhere for this page https://nnrailway.blogspot.com/ in the direction of anyone you think may be interested, then we can try and encourage readership to return to normal levels. I hope those that remain continue to enjoy the updates, as that's certainly the feedback I get from those I talk to in person.

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

The team working on this coach have had various commitments in other areas of life so a return from the Christmas break has been slow as a result. However one hardy soul has been in this week making adjustments to the fit of the double doors in the luggage compartment, which are always a challenging fit on any vehicle.

British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224

We were so busy on the lead up to Christmas that nobody from the department had chance to get down to Sheringham to inspect the new toilet. A quick opportunity for a look was arranged this week and it does appear to be all there! There is some finishing off to do, some minor damage caused by the road transportation and the outstanding steam heat repairs that we hadn't finished before the coach left for Yorkshire. For these reasons, when things are calmer, the vehicle will have to be returned to Weybourne for finishing off. I don't think the coach is needed in traffic for some time, so it may be that the coach returns when it is a bit warmer again and we can work on it outside in comfort.

British Railways 1956 Brake Corridor Composite E21103 (SILVER)

The two passenger doors on the landward side continue to progress, they are now both hung for the final time and work has transferred to the "trimmings" such as cutting in the dovetails and refitting draught excluder strips and the surrounding trim and paneling that was removed for the welding repairs.

Very visual progress on the windows has been made, with two sheets of glass (out of five) fitted into the compartment frames. These required much adjustment of the wooden securing bars on the insides, but now look most presentable!

Additionally, an already glazed frame (of a different design to those on the rest of the coach) was also fitted back into the wheelchair saloon, also on the seaward side.

The bogie overhaul continues to progress, with the second third of the frames being stripped down, primed and undercoated during the Christmas period. Lots of the brakegear has been prepared for refitting as well.

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Suburban Brake Third E43357

The fifth of the conveyor belt coaches was quickly finished off after Christmas. Any last remains of paint were scraped off the windows and finally the footboards and bump stops were treated to a coat of paint. The vehicle was then removed from the shed and will be returned to Bridge Road shortly. This of course means that the whole Suburban 4 set has now been refreshed/repainted over the autumn/winter, so look out for them in April when they make their return to service!

British Railways 1955 Mark 1 Second Open M4372

The sixth of the conveyor belt coaches has now entered the shed for its turn on the merry-go-round. It is part of the dining train. This vehicle was last in with us between February and April 2018 where failed cream paintwork and unstable windows were scraped back followed by a full repaint. This was done in preference to the treatment to dining train stablemate RBR E1969 which had all its windows removed to treat the premature corrosion below. Sadly the approach on M4372 has not lasted and the paintwork has faded with the window corrosion steadily getting worse.

Alas we do not have the time to remove the windows to treat the corrosion, so we will improve it cosmetically until we have more time to deal with the root of the problem. The first jobs were to give the coach a good wash down, and we then went around all of the windows and door edge strips scraping off the bubbled paintwork and surface corrosion. 

There are also several areas of failed filler which we have scraped off as far as a solid base.

Preparations for the repainting are simultaneously progressing. So far the grab handles have been removed from the doors (nice and easy to get off as they were only relatively recently disturbed) and most of the landward side has been lightly sanded to provide a key for the paint.

The roof area is also worse than the previous coaches dealt with in the program, with much flaking on the sun side. The unstable areas have been removed and any rust locally treated. The gutters have also been cleared of detritus, mainly from the trees when the coach has been standing at Sheringham and Holt.

British Railways 1961 English Electric Type 3 D6732

The loco was moved out of the shed in order to swap E43357 and M4372, so an opportunity to see it outside was available before being shunted back in for the contractors to return next week.

British Railways (SR Design) 1948 25 Ton Brakevan 55167 (SILVER)

This week the inside of the cabin has been undercoated, but the white requires a second coat.

The group have a lovely, borrowed, little heater for inside keeping them going on the cold days!

One brave man has been derusting the platform on both ends and applying rust inhibitor.

Workshop

As the Norfolk Lights Express is now completed, CCT E94464 was tripped to Weybourne to have the generators removed. The rope lighting has also been removed from all six of the vehicles involved returning them to their original appearance.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021

As part of preparing to write this year's review, the equivalent for 2020 was read and it was immediately quite sobering to be reminded of how low morale was after the first year of Covid with the associated lockdowns, staff redundancies and loss of output for the C&W department. Whilst it is true that Covid is still very much with us, and I hesitate to give the subject too much "air time", what is quite clear is that 2021 has been much improved over 2020! More restoration time has been available and output has correspondingly risen. It's true that it will take years to return to previous levels, however given the circumstances we have done well in 2021.

January dawned with four staff taken off the furlough scheme but volunteers still at home. The latter part of the previous year had seen work reduced to outside contracts only, however the management team decided in the New Year to return to domestic based restoration work. Three projects were being progressed: the contract overhaul of the second bogie for Thompson E1866, the Gold overhaul of Mk1 BCK E21224 and winter examinations of running stock to allow for sets to be available to run throughout 2021.

In February the Thompson bogie overhaul project was completed with E1866 being handed back to the Joint Heritage Coach Fund. This coincided with a return of their volunteers who set to mainly continuing the interior restoration of the vehicle. Mk1 E21224 was moved into the staging area for exterior completion and painting.

March saw the completion of the painting of E21224, although this was not to be the end as much interior completion would be required. A new project was also started in the form of overhauling the Southern Railway Brakevan at Holt, which was set up inside a scaffold tent to allow two teams to operate, one at Holt and one at Weybourne, to allow more volunteers to return to the railway without exceeding the social distancing limits imposed at Weybourne.

April saw trains start running again which provided a boost as well as a return of the running repairs to stock which was merrily being destroyed by the traveling public once again! In the workshop E21224 was having its guards area fitted out and E1866 was being sanded down for eventual repainting. At Holt, the SR brakevan continued to display more wood rot and some sign-writing was added to the container in the freight set, a loose end which never got done during the vehicle's restoration and had been on the "to do" list for many years.

In May we stepped up a gear and introduced another two projects. Mk1 TSO E4641, which had badly faded paintwork and damage following a chemical accident whilst being cleaned, was brought in and given a quick repaint and varnish. A privately owned Box Van, the restoration of which had stalled at the 95% mark due to the owner's ill health, was brought in for volunteers to complete the last of the jobs and make it suitable for introducing back into service in the freight train. Lots of other smaller repairs were also being undertaken during this time to the Mark 1 service fleet.

June was a consolidation month, with all the existing projects such as Thompson E1866, Mark 1 E21224, the Box Van and SR Brakevan all progressing nicely. The Class 31 diesel also entered the shed in order to be repainted.

July saw the railway's first major enthusiast event held following Covid, the Mixed Traction Gala. The opportunity was taken to launch two vehicles at the event following major overhauls, the Class 31 and the box van. This would prove to be a highlight for the year with an air of optimism and warmer weather.

In August E21224 had been completed up to a point where it could carry passengers, although it was by no means finished with many interior items still missing. It was needed for certain trains during the high summer so was temporarily put into traffic. The departure of this and the Class 31 from the shed allowed half of the workshop to be emptied for a major tidy up and a floor repaint, which was overdue by about 10 years!

By September the tent had been removed from the SR brakevan at Holt but the restoration, although well advanced, had not quite been completed. After a brief spell outside, it was arranged for the vehicle to be shunted under the awning at Holt museum to be finished off. Mark 1 E21224 had also returned to Weybourne for lots of snagging and minor jobs to be attended to, whilst sister BCK vehicle E21103 was brought into the workshops and quickly dismantled externally for a Silver bodywork overhaul.

In October the infamous conveyor belt project was launched: an audacious "Covid kick-back" scheme to undertake emergency water ingress and interior repairs and apply paint and varnish externally to 13 vehicles before the summer of 2022:

• The Suburban 4 set
• Two Mark 1 TSO vehicles and a CCT from the main maroon service set
• Two Mark 1 dining coaches
• The Quad-Art set

In this first month, CCT E94464 and suburban E43041 had been completed. We also returned the first class seating to DMU car M56352, which had been removed in the 1990's by BR, and of course the Gold/Silver overhauls quietly continued on E1866, E21103 and the SR brakevan.

November saw the conveyor belt continue with suburban W46139 bringing the total up to three. An added bonus was Southern Railway CCT S1439S, which was privately owned and also being worked on privately, which emerged from the Loco shed following a few months of exterior repairs and a partial repaint. Dining train FO M3116 also made a brief visit to the workshop to have some asbestos lagging removed by contractors to allow steam heat repairs to be undertaken allowing the vehicle to return to use on winter services (having been confined to summer only for the past year or two). Class 37 D6732 also followed in the Class 31's footsteps by coming into the shed for its own repaint. This time however it was to be done by contractors Heritage Painting as there was too much stress on the home resources to undertake in house given the amount of refreshes going on with other vehicles.

Finally, December saw Mark 1 E21224 dispatched to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for the fitting of its Network Rail approved toilet to allow it to operate on the mainline after 2023. Upon its return we officially classed its major four year Gold overhaul completed, so it can finally take a break from the pages of this Blog! The conveyor belt continued with suburbans E48001 and E43357 being refreshed bringing the total up to five, which was just in time to stay on target (we aimed to have five completed by 2022) in the overall scheme.

The current occupants of the shed are: Thompson E1866 (ongoing Gold overhaul), Mark 1 BCK E21103 (Silver overhaul to be completed 2022), Suburban E43357 (complete awaiting dispatch) and Class 37 D6732 (repaint to be completed 2022). Of course the SR Brakevan is also at Holt and reportedly only has a few more days work ahead before it too is completed, with the aim of relaunching it at the Spring Steam Gala.

In 2021 we completed the major overhauls of two vehicles, with a further eight receiving repaints and many more having minor intermediate repairs. This is a good output for a still depleted department. Looking ahead into 2022, the first half of the year will see a continuation of the quick refreshes that have dominated the latter half of 2021, before hopefully we can return to some more thorough overhaul work again later in the year. 2021 has been a much better result than 2020, so we hope to build further on this and do even better next year!