We hope all readers have a good festive period wherever you are. This is the last normal update for the blog this year but don’t forget the annual review of the year which will land before New Year!
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866 (GOLD)
Window fitting has continued, with the two new oval windows (closest the accessible entrance) now glazed, quickly following the main passenger windows that had been similarly treated. Some further lower brass sections have also been fitted internally.
London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)
All of the seat backs for the vehicle have now been completed down in the upholstery shop. There remains around half a dozen seat bases to recover before they declare the main seat units themselves finished, which will leave just ancillary components such as side cards and armrests to consider.
Following a break, work on the coach itself in Derbyshire has restarted with sanding back of side paneling completed both internally and externally in preparation for further painting.
Saloon wiring and lighting work has also progressed.
London North Eastern Railway 1929 4 Wheel Pigeon Van 6843 (BRONZE)
The bodywork on this vehicle has now started in earnest. The first of the two major issues being rectified is the splitting of around a dozen teak body panels, the majority of which are located in the upper half of the vehicle, which is interesting as splitting always seemed more prevalent in the larger lower panels on our other Gresley stock.
Surrounding beading has been carefully removed to access these panels which are now out and on the bench. This was easier said than done as the vehicle was restored 20 years ago with a lot of glue and brown mastic sealant, so it was a real challenge separating the parts to gain access without causing a lot of damage. Luckily, this has been achieved with a surprisingly good success rate, with all original beading being suitable to put back on. Of the panels themselves, most of these have now been glued back together and reinforced on the rear faces where appropriate. Two were too far split to repair and have been replaced with sections of Teak panel reclaimed from buffet car 9118. The repairs had disturbed the varnish so the panels have been sanded back to bare wood and are currently being built back up with the requisite layers of varnish.
The second major issue is the breakdown of varnish in lots of little tedious places dotted all around the vehicle. This is as a result of the vehicle being outside too long between revarnishing. Water damage and staining has occurred, some of which is irreversible but much can be improved via bleaching before we revarnish. In preparation for this, a fair amount of beading and sections of panels that have suffered this breakdown have been sanded back and stabilized prior to bleaching.
British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)
We are now taking a break with work on the exterior, following an excellent run on this long term project over the summer and autumn, in order to progress this winter’s workload, but limited work on the interior is still set to continue.
The ceiling has now been fitted to the side corridor adjacent to the guards compartment, which is the last major fixture in this small area. It is now being trimmed and the light fitting and electric conduit fitted back onto the ceiling panel. All previously hardboard material, adored by BR, is being replaced with the stronger plywood equivalent. There has also been further prep and sanding work to the bulkhead wall twixt guards compartment and kitchen.
Work has also restarted on building the First Open style toilet compartment, or store cupboard for us. The main support timber which also forms the Holt end vestibule wall, has been modified at the ends into a better arrangement and now fitted. We now have a completed “raft” of supporting hardwood timbers in the floor, which forms the foundations on which to build back up with our bulkhead walls.
British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open E3868 (SILVER)
This vehicle is seeing a high level of attention at the moment, as it is important that it does not run late and miss its return to service date for the railway’s 50th anniversary celebrations next year. The exterior element of the overhaul is progressing well, with a strong start to the first quarter of the coach (the Holt end landward side). With all failed paint that had reacted in the sun now mechanically removed along this first section, two weeks have been spent identifying unstable areas and welding or filling as required, though the coach’s overall excellent condition means there has been much more filling than welding, and as a result, progress has been swift. This prep work has also included ensuring the window frame units, which are staying in place, are secure and any small areas attended to. A small section of gutter at the very end of the coach required removing to access two small corrosion holes which have been caught early and welded back up before reassembly. This quarter is now complete from a preparation point of view.
Exterior works have now moved on to the Holt end and the Holt/Seaward quarter of the vehicle. The doorway on this corner has some surface corrosion around the weather strip, so this has been removed and the areas beneath cleaned up. On the end, bad corrosion on the end steps is being tackled in-situ, with the sides of the steps cut off and the main bodies cleaned up. The side pieces of the steps are being replaced with new examples which have now been cut out ready to weld back on.
Also on the exterior, a separate team have succeeded in removing all eight of the lower panes of glass in the Holt end of the vehicle, although more work is needed inside on the window frames removing fixing screws which are stuck in place.
We started the task of fitting an in-built battery charger in order to match similar TSO Mark 1’s in the fleet that had been fitted this year, but quickly discovered that this vehicle has had its battery boxes significantly modified at the rear. We therefore made the decision to unbolt the entire battery box arrangement from the vehicle, which we plan to swap with a set of standard boxes that are currently out of use one of our static coaches.
On the interior of the vehicle, the preparation work on the ceiling at the Holt end is now complete and awaits painting. The walls are also in a similar state: all rubbed back ready for a top-up coat of varnish in the new year.
British Railways 1957 Metro Cammell Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory E79263 (SILVER)
Work to freshen up the passenger vestibules and rear wall adjacent to the toilet, which are painted rather than Formica paneled, has been undertaken. They have been rubbed down and repainted with a single coat. The rear vestibule required a new piece of wood adjacent to the door machining as the old one was in a poor and snapped state. The new piece was fitted and primed before being top coated with the rest of the vestibule.
These vestibules are painted in a sage green to match the original Formica as closely as possible because when BR refurbished the vehicle 40-50 years ago, the original sage Formica in the vestibules was removed and replaced with bright orange panels. In preservation, with the cost of new Formica being prohibitively expensive during the original restoration, the later orange Formica was painted over instead, to approximate the original look and feel of the interior decor. Feedback over the years has told us that the end result in the flesh has always been considered very good, and certainly better than it sounds when put into text. The main reason to repaint now was purely because the original paint, whilst doing very well, had become stained and dirty in several areas, understandably in such a high traffic area and after being in service at the NNR for so long.
British Railways 1951 16 Ton Ballast Plough Brakevan DB993707 (BRONZE)
Rubbing down has continued on the troublesome seaward side where all the varnish and paint had destabilized. Pleasingly, the hard bit has now been finished with all of this side now stripped, sanded, filled, sanded again and built up as far as undercoat.
The most dramatic change however has been the recovering of the roof. The new cover was stretched over the old and pinned down around the perimeter, with the repainted side and end trims refitted securing the cover.
Current progress is back on sanding the easier sides ready for repainting. The two ends and half of the landward side have all been rubbed down, and is proving much easier than the seaward side.
The two ends have now joined the sea side in reaching undercoat, with just the landward side left to complete repairs, filling and painting on.
On the interior, the stove has been cleaned out thoroughly, much needed after it had been left in an appalling condition by some members of the railway’s group of goods guards and other brake van users – we wonder who you are?!? Also cleaned have been the cream side walls, which in contrast had become dirty through more natural causes.
The two verandas have almost had all of the internal walls rubbed back gently, in readiness for a single gloss coat refresh, which is all that is needed as they have survived far better than the exterior surfaces. The ceilings are in the process of being rubbed down for a repaint as well.
British Railways 1954 13 Ton Pipe Open B740918 (BRONZE)
Still awaiting the arrival of its new hood cover.
Maintenance
A number of minor steam heat repairs have been undertaken to keep the Norfolk Lights and Santa sets in heated running condition. In the workshop, the restoration of three oil tail lamps has been completed to a fine standard, and these have now been released back into the wild.
