Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
The underframe is now really starting to look like it's going places. The remaining outer edges have all been cleaned and the whole perimeter is now in primer.
The end strengthening plates mentioned last week are still in the hands of our (barely) tame Axeman. He has been plug welding them to the top of the underframe and later in the week was also building up some more areas of the underframe which had wasted slighted with new metal.
However his concentration was tested after the arrival of a new gas cutting torch of an unusually long length. I've never seen a man's eyes light up so fast. Who knows what
Moving onto the body, the large section of replacement timber across the landward luggage doors has now been fettled and completed. A large amount of smaller replacement works has also been done at gutter height around the whole body, where old nails (holding previous canvas roof coverings) had caused damage and weakness to the wood.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
A quiet update this week, very much "more of the same". The main progress has been further sanding down of interior woodwork trim and panelling. Unglamorous but essential. The bodywork is currently on hold as the welder's skills have been required for E4236.
British Railways 1956 Tourist Second Open E4236
Dramatic progress on the two coach ends, which are probably the worst sections of the overhaul work this time around. Both corridors have been dismantled and lifted off the vehicle, and are now lying disgraced in the yard outside. This has allowed proper access to the bits that get trapped behind the corridor bellows and then corrode.
All rotten paneling has been chopped away from around the connections and along the bottoms of the end (another rot hotspot). Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was deterioration present in all 8 of the structurally critical end pillars so we have had no option really but to fully repair them. This has meant that this week has been spent replacing the lower sections of all 8 of these pillars. The Sheringham end is now done with the Holt end well underway.
Elsewhere on the exterior, rotten door edges are being cut away and those that are staying in place are having new holes tapped to take the door hinges when we refit the doors.
Most of the windows which were removed to allow repairs to the body have now been stripped of their old paint, and are having the internal woodwork (which holds the glass in place) sorted out. We don't have time for a full overhaul of these so they will be painted again to smarten their appearance. The process of refitting the sliding windows which were removed and cleaned has now also started, so it is good to see that items are now going into the coach rather than being stripped off!
British Railways 1957 Corridor Second E25189
This coach, one of the least used Mark 1's on the railway, recently failed a routine exam as the couplings were becoming too worn. It has been moved into the shed for a week for this to be rectified. Over a coupe of days, the offending couplings have been removed and replaced with two spares which are in tolerance. A few other minor mechanical gremlins were also attended to.
Whilst inside, an area of paint which had peeled off was masked up and patch painted as a temporary measure until the coach can be brought in for a full repaint.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352
No progress to report.
Royal Navy 4 Wheel Flat 269
No progress to report.
Hurst Nelson 1944 Fuel Oil Tanker 5304
The vacuum pipe mentioned last week has now been fully finished in its new paint, complete with vacuum hoses. It can hopefully now be fitted at Holt to the tank wagon later this year.
Workshop
The mezzanine continues to be loaded. There has been a concentration this week on moving all of the vacuum braking equipment and steam heat spares.
No comments:
Post a Comment