Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853
Back at home, the body of 853 has received enough sanding and filling for certain areas to start emerging in resin and paint. This has included the two guards duckets which are now in grey primer. Additionally, at long last the large missing section of body panelling at the Sheringham end (which was a fireplace!) is in the process of being plugged up. A new panel has been cut and has been trial fitted.
The second of the two missing luggage doors has now reached an advanced stage of construction after being heavily modified from another example which came off a coach of a slightly different profile.
Meanwhile the chassis appears to be being used as a workbench and drying rack for various sections of timber which are being painted.
British Railways 1959 Brake Corridor Composite E21224
The five interior sliding compartment doors have now been fully rejuvenated and sanded, which has allowed them to join the cyclic "varnish system" which will see several coats applied to them over the coming weeks. So far two have been applied.
A start has also been made on stripping back to metal some of the ironmongery removed from the coach during the early stages of restoration. These have included a variety of odds and sods such as the long handrails for the guards compartment. As this is a Gold standard overhaul these are all being stripped fully so there will be no defects or old layers of chipped paint etc.
British Railways 1959 Tourist Second Open M4843
The roof section on the end, pictured last update, has progressed well with new skin now welded onto the repaired framework. The roof section has been renewed and all boxes in as well, a very complicated area with so many curves and angles of steel all meeting in the same spot.
The landward side bodyside has also come on with all of the remaining windows (and glass) fitted back into position. The coach is now fully glazed once more!
The toilet windows (of which several were cracked) are also back in position after replacements were refitted into place. We have taken the opportunity to blank off the vent in the window, as it can let water in, although the modification is buried inside so the exterior appearance is not compromised in any way. It has been possible to blank it over as this coach does not have working toilets, these areas being permanently locked out of use.
On the interior, the Holt end saloon has now been fully reassembled which almost completes that area. All that remains internally in this half of the coach is a quick rub down and top up coat of varnish on the interior panels to brighten them up and seal any gaps we have created whilst renewing some of the windows.
British Railways 1958 Class 101 Railcar Driving Trailer Second Lavatory M56352
More than half of the seat base cushions are now upholstered in the new, blue, material. As the vehicle is in service for the next two weekends, we are unable to dismantle the seats yet, but the "pop in/out" bases can be swapped at will. We will continue to do these until the vehicle can be withdrawn in December so that the seat backs can follow the bases.
British Railways 1960 Covered Carriage Truck E94464
The Holt end opening doors are now completed, painted and fitted.
The end of this large task has now allowed the Sheringham end doors to have the same treatment. The doors have been removed and are now being dismantled for repairs. The Sheringham end appears to be in better condition than the Holt end, which is good!
Work on cleaning up the outside edges of the underframe of all the years of brake dust, old paint and grease (so that we can give it a repaint to boost its appearance) continues, and welding repairs (halted some time ago) have recommenced on the seaward side, which means the exterior is now progressing alongside the underframe.
We have suffered bad news on the wheelsets, with one of them being so damaged it has not been possible to regain the correct tyre profile on the wheel lathe. A complication is that we have no spares of these. This means that one of the wheels is now in limbo whilst possible engineering solutions are investigated. The vehicle will not be able to return to service until these issues are resolved, however there is plenty of restoration work on the rest of the vehicle to be getting on with whilst a solution is found. In anticipation of refitting, the four axleboxes were cleaned up of old detritus and painted in primer.
The interior focus is currently on the ceiling. This was found to be too water damaged to retain so the old ceiling has been carefully dismantled of its fittings and electrical conduits, before the rest was pulled down and disposed of.
New ceiling panels have been cut and are currently being part painted before fitting into position.
British Railways 1958 GWR Designed "Fruit D" W92097
The repainting work described last time has now all been completed, and the vehicle is now ready to return to service.
Workshop
Other projects in the workshop have included a task to create folding and locking covers for some book stall trolleys which live up on the station here at Weybourne. The Axeman also has a pipe threading trolley in the workshop, which will be used to cut the threads on the new vacuum piping for 853. However it first needed wheels, after the old wheels collapsed under the weight of the machine!
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