Sides, Sacks and Doors

Welcome to another update from the team at Quorn; this week we continue with the work on the van train, enjoy the Quorn Swapmeet, and fill some more sacks ready for the Railways at Work Gala.

Saturday saw Nick, Ross and myself on site in the morning; although cold it was bright and dry so we gathered tools and equipment making our way down the yard.

Whilst I progressed with the signwriting on the replaced side panel of  B779978, Nick and Ross continued where they had left off last week and completed the fitting of the new side panel on Vanwide  B784409. Sealant being applied between the panel faces and the steelwork of the wagon before bolting it into place.

Once B784409s new panel was in place, I marked out and applied the black for the data panel in readiness for signwriting tomorrow.

Matt joined us in the afternoon, bringing with him some newly acquired sacks, which we promptly set about filling with old clothing, underlay and cardboard.

These will greatly increase our collection of sacks that will be used in re-enactment events and goods loading demonstrations at future galas.

Make a note in your diaries for the upcoming ‘Railways at Work’ Gala, 19-20 March 2022, more details here:- Railways at Work 2022

Our attention then turned to B763305 for which we had made new doors a few weeks ago. With the scaffolding in place we set about removing the old hinge nuts and bolts, most of which put up quite a fight to being removed, therefore needing some extra persuasion from the grinder.

We left a couple of bolts in place on each door to hold them until tomorrow when we’d have time to complete the removal and replacement.

Sunday morning felt quite a bit warmer; we started the day browsing the Quorn Swapmeet that had set-up in the yard early.

As the sun came out Nick, Ross and Richard got started on the removal of the doors from B763305.

I continued with the signwriting on the new side panel of B784409, fitting the pre-prepared template, and chalking up ready for signwriting.

Once complete I joined Nick, Ross, Jake and Richard progressing the fitting of the new doors on B763305. After a trial and checking the locking bar position some routing was required to inset the P-brackets so the doors would catch and lock into place smoothly.

After reconfirming the door-fit, holes were drilled and the hinges were bolted into place.

The P-brackets for the locking bar and lock plates were then primed and fitted onto the doors.

Nick also attended to trimming and neatening up the sealant around the edges of the newly fitted panels.

With the side panels on B779978 and B784409 complete, and the new doors fitted to B763305, we look forward to next weekend preparing for the another batch of van train work; the new side panel on B854782 still needs signwriting, and B777171 needs some side panel attention; so until next week, thanks for reading & all the best.