Great Eastern Railway 1899 4 Wheel Brake Third 853 (BRONZE)
The exterior of the vehicle has now been completed with final lettering and varnish applied. We are now on the home straight with polishing of the brass work and interior deep cleaning now the focus with the aim of finishing the coach and releasing it into traffic next month.
Great Eastern Railway 1897 6 Wheel Saloon Third 37 (BRONZE)
An improved passenger communication valve has been fitted to the centre vestibule, salvaged from a BR-era railcar, as that provided the right type of valve for the desired effect. This was duly piped into the vacuum system, painted red and tested successfully.
On the topic of testing, the entire carriage underwent a thorough C examination to check everything and start the coach on the railways maintenance system. After a few tweaks all was well and 37 was passed fit for traffic. It made its debut at the late May Bank Holiday and also starred at the Mixed Traction Gala a few weeks later. It has proved a popular addition to the vintage set already.
London North Eastern Railway 1950 Brake Corridor Third E1866E (GOLD)
The roof has continued to move forward with several coats of grey roof paint applied to the canvas and various items of roof furniture. Once the scaffolding has been reset the boards which cap the canvas around the edges will be fully fitted which will complete the roof.
The interior has been cleared out in the passenger saloon of much materials and tooling and the protective plastic layer over the ceiling and wall panels has been removed, giving a pretty good impression of how it will look once completed.
On the exterior of the vehicle, fabrication of modified steel door skins has resumed having been paused last Autumn.
London North Eastern Railway 1938 Brake Third Open E16631E (GOLD)
No progress to report.
London North Eastern Railway 1945 Gangwayed Brake E70621E (SILVER)
Interior restoration has done well with the Holt end half of the carriage now completed. This involved finishing the prep and painting the side walls in cream, along with more picking out of the wooden side window surrounds in brown gloss. The result is very nice indeed and will be finished off in the future after the insides of the doors are treated (held back until door repairs are resumed) and the floor. The latter has been left until last as there is little point having a shiny floor with so much work still remaining in and around the coach.
The small but impressive volunteer team undertaking these works have now diligently moved on to repeat the process in the Sheringham end of the vehicle, which is an even larger saloon given the “centre” guards compartment is actually offset.
London North Eastern Railway 1936 Tourist Third Open 13251
British Railways 1961 Brake First Open (Kitchen) M14021 (GOLD)
The final major component on the exterior body has now been put to bed, in the form of the two gangway connections. These have had probably the most comprehensive overhaul any gangway has had in the NNR’s history, with full extraction, cleaning up and repainting supported by mechanical overhaul and often replacement of the bolt, bushes and rubbers associated with the “buffing” mechanism. The end result is superb with full assembly taking place over a few weeks. As part of the overhaul brand new hardwood mounts have been painted and fitted to the end of the coach body to provide a good fixing for all of the hoops and bellows. Other than final painting, this brings to a close the work to the bodysides of the vehicle, a major milestone.
With “bodywork” phase completed, we can direct resources toward the next major area: the underframe and running gear. Other than needle gunning and priming the accessible outer edges and bufferbeams, along with repairs to the battery boxes, there has been no work at all on the underside, so there will be plenty to undertake here.
The coach has been moved from the staging area to the front part of the shed where lifting could occur. This done, the Sheringham end half of the underframe has been accessed and all surplus items not desired for the kitchen car conversion works removed. This has included the 24V system dynamo and several brackets and slings for items which were added in the days that the vehicle performed on the mainline as a support coach. This half is now ready for needle gunning and painting of all chassis members to protect them for the future.
Internally the work on fitting a replica FO style vestibule continues.
The upholstery department have also continued to progress with the seating, the most recent focus being batch producing some of the individual bottom cushions.
British Railways 1953 Tourist Second Open NN3868 (BRONZE)
3868 has moved forward markedly since the last update, with the Sheringham end saloon now completed internally! This has involved a huge amount of work, including fitting of the repaired and revarnished window surround woodwork, revarnishing of the remainder of the saloon wall panels and bulkheads and repainting of the ceilings to create a refreshed “shell” to then repopulate.
The next task has been transplanting a superior and improved steam heating system salvaged from TSO 4651 and fixing the pipework and additional under seat heaters in. All equipment has been tested internally, cleaned and repainted in heat proof silver as it has been installed.
With the steam heating connected, reinstallation of the restored varnished seat ends and seat framework was completed quickly. The seat ends have been steadily restored over the past few months and are so much better now in their original and lighter colour compared to the dark brown stained finish that went before!
Following the seat ends were the upholstered seat backs and varnish seat toppers along with repainting of the floor. Only seat bases and tables now remain to be fitted for this half of the coach to be finished.
The installation of the steam system to the (already restored 12 months ago) Holt end saloon is currently in progress, with the landward side now completed and the seaward side to follow.
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The outside of the vehicle, which till now has not seen any attention during this works visit, has been rubbed down ready for repainting.
Maintenance
The normal diet of examinations have been progressing well with both the Suburban and Quad sets currently receiving C exams, many doors indeed!
