A small update this week, due to Great War Great Central Event, and the slow winding up of the Southern Brake van.
The event that we have been building up to for months has now taken place. For the centenary of the Armitice, Jack Shaw has been preparing this event based around the First World War, to commemorate those who lost their lives. For the event, as you’ve read here, our Warflat and Weltrol have been stripped and re-painted into a livery appropriate for the period. Most of this work was done by Matt, with a little bit of help along the way from others. Thank you Matt for all the work you put into these vehicles. They look great, and you should be very proud of your efforts. Both Matt and I dressed up as WW1 Royal Engineers for the event to staff the footplate of ‘ROD 1912’ (O4 63601) and talk to people as they come aboard the locomotive.
Nick and Jake have completed a small amount of work this weekend on the Southern Brake (S56010) Both, armed with a paint brush, put the finishing touches to some of the interior details, which leaves the upholstery to finish and an outer lower step-board to change. Last week I said that the stove would be lit for the first time in the van, but this will now take place next week. We still also have to make a chimney cowl and seal around the chimney to prevent water leaking in. I have cut out the leatherette for the seats, and this now needs sewing up and stapling to the cushions.
Work at Quorn Wagon & Wagon continues on the SR brake (S56010), and preparation work carries on for Great War, Great Central with Matt working on the ‘re-branding’ of the O4.
Saturday saw Jake painting the veranda ceilings in white gloss to match the BR and the LMS brake (B954268 and M730562), whilst Nick and I dealt with a misbehaving heater and extension cable in the mess coach. After Tea, Nick and I cut out the seating boards ready for upholstering. Matt spent the day cutting letters out of magnetic sheet for the Great War, Great Central event, once they had been cut out, he painted them in gloss white.
Back to the brake van on Sunday with Nick, Jake and I put a 2nd coat of white on both veranda ceilings, the ‘so called’ one coat paint had failed us! Turns out the verandas aren’t really meant for 3, which resulted in much hilarity. Surprisingly, neither of the three of us got covered in any white paint. Once the mandatory tea had been consumed, Nick and Matt went to a local farm to retrieve an eBay purchase: a brake van stove, base and stove pipe! We have been planning to refit a stove in the SR brake since its rebuild started. the stove is something that has been missing for some time, and got so far as having the base plate in. The eBay purchase finishes of the puzzle.
The stove was first de-scaled internally and externally, with some grinding taking place on the flue outlet so that the pipe would fit over. The stove was then fitted in the van, and using a highly accurate piece of wood, we began marking out the hole for the stove pipe for exit the roof of the van.
Drawing round the piece of wood, and then joining the diagonal corners and the resulting square gave us a x to aim for. Matt then drilled through the roof in the middle of the x to transfer the mark from inside to outside of the van.
Using the casting that holds the pipe, a circle was drawn around the drilled hole which was then cut out using a jigsaw.
Having now descending from the van, Nick and Matt then cut a similar hole in some insulation material and a steel sheet to protect the roof boards from the heat of the stove pipe.
The assembly was then taken to the roof and clamped into position to allow through bolt holes to be drilled to fix the casting, insulation and steel sheet to the roof. This was then sealed with mastic. The stove pipe we received with the stove was too small for the casting on the roof, and the cast iron stove pipe we had in store was too short to be able to be used. We decided to use a section of the cast iron pipe as a sleeve for the smaller steel stove pipe. We positioned the cast stove pipe so we could mark it for cutting. Having cut that down and putting it in position, Matt then carefully threaded the steel flue tube through the cast pipe and up onto the roof. to finish the job, Matt came up on the roof with the angle grinder (and some lights) to trim the pipe down to match the length of the cast pipe.
The finished result below. Alas we couldn’t light the stove this weekend, as it had got too late, but at some point next weekend the stove will have a ceremonial first lighting.
Whilst Nick and Matt worked on the stove fitting, I spent some time with my sewing machine building up a seat for the west side ducket. This was a pain to fit back into the ducket, so I am looking to review the assembly method so see if I can make it fit easier. It is at least comfortable and looks good.
Thanks for reading, and join us again for next week’s update.
This weekend work has continued on the Southern Region brake van (S56010), and the Warflat (WGF 8127).
Now that Matt has finished his repaint of the Caledonian Weltrol, he has now turned his efforts towards titillating the Warflat. This vehicle is to be used in the upcoming Great Central Great War event, where it shall be on display loaded with a replica WW1 tank. Matt has scraped and cleaned down both sides of the wagon, and applied undercoat to them.
Unfortunately, a number of factors have prevented us from applying top coat the the SR brake van, mainly the weather. However Matt has continued in his crusade of detailing the interior of the van, completing the painting on the vacuum setter, the stove surround and making a mount for a shorting bar which we had in storage. Matt also refitted the vacuum gauge which had been polished previously. Some minor paint blisters have also been dealt with.
Nick, Jake and I have all been crewing the Travelling Post Office train this weekend. I may/may not have dropped a bag prematurely, and Jake has begun his training into become a fully fledged member of the TPO crew.
At Quorn Wagon and Wagon this weekend, we have been continuing our efforts on the Southern brake van, S56010. Matt has also continued painting the Caledonian Weltrol, M300356, in readiness the the Great Central Great War event.
Saturday saw us receive the new framing for the north end veranda. The carpenter had replicated as much of the features of the beams as he could with them away from the van. This left Nick and I to do a little bit of fettling on site to make the pieces fit in the steel frame of the van.
The new cladding planks ordered for the van ended up being too thick for most places around the van (aside from the doors), including for the ends. On this end, I had to rebate each new plank for the post for sit in, so that the planks wouldn’t bow outwards. the rebates can be seen in the picture above. I had to further rebate the end of each plank to accommodate the door hinge timber, which sits in the corner upright.
Before assembly, the rebated areas were painted with wood primer. Jake then went round the van and painted any bare external timbers with wood primer, in readiness for undercoating. The south end veranda top beam also got treated with some filler, and then multiple coats of wood primer. Matt also cut and fitted some filler pieces to the top of the door hinge timber to fill on for a piece that had to be removed in construction
At the south end, the west side door was remove from the van, and some remedial work took place on the door hinge timber. Rust had built up behind the steel corner post, which subsequently closed up the door way, making the door stick. Once back together, the door had an even gap all the way down the shut side, and opened much better.
Jake, still having the primer and a paintbrush in his hand, painted the bare areas of the north end veranda internally and externally. Matt took this opportunity to finish off the Weltrol. During the course of the weekend, Matt also did the signwriting on the replica wagon plates for the Southern brake.
Matt and I primed the interior of the van, in preparation for the interior repaint which Matt is undertaking during the week, after his early shifts. There is still some scraping to do on the body sides and the south end veranda, then we shall be painting it!
A small, wordy update this week, as Nick and I have been playing postman! TPO drops hasn’t stopped play though, as we had the before the first drop on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday saw the top capping wood on the north end removed to be made new. This bit of wood had become quite delicate, due to the covering wood that had been put over it. this covering wood trapped the rot and allowed water to sit in there and make things worse.
On Sunday, we transformed the North end veranda into a lovely open air patio! We have taken the decision to make the frame work of the North end veranda wall fresh. The access doors had to come off, end then all the bolts fixing the planks to the steel uprights. The bottom bit of the frame was entirely rotten (but has been recovered as a pattern) and the mortice joints had rotten so the posts simple came away in my hand. With the end framework and cladding out, we chipped the rust away from the steel. this was pushing the wood work towards the body of the van, closing up the doorways which made the doors bind.
Whilst Nick and I were dismantling the north end, Jake made some good progress at cleaning the drainage channels on the south end veranda. the only thing left to do at the south end is to paint red oxide in the channel.
Whilst all this was going on, Matt was concentrating on the interior. After fitting the interior cladding last week, the time has come to fit capping quadrant the the edge of all joints. this is the only van to do this on, as it is an original design choice by the SR. Matt has nearly finished the capping, with 3 long bits to put down the uprights.
Next week we go on tour (for one day only) and work continues on the SR brake! Thanks for reading!
A bumper update from Quorn Wagon &Wagon this week, as we’ve had an impromptu work week. Matt and I took some days off work, and we all made the most of the bank holiday weekend.
Work on the LMS brake van, M730562, has finally been completed and was shunted out to the south end of the van train today (Bank Holiday Monday). On Wednesday Matt finished off the upholstery and a few little jobs inside. As the van was removed from the dock, Jake finished painting the east side underframe and the long running boards.
Now we have finished the LMS Brake, we have started the Southern Brake Van (S56010) with gusto! This is the 3rd concurrent brake van we have done this year, and we now appear to be settling into the swing of things when it comes to brake van sides and their rectification. The Southern brake has not been attended to for at least 10 years, and this has shown in the bodywork. The way the body is fashioned means there are a lot of areas for water to sit and cause rot and decay.
Thursday and Friday were spent stripping the rotten side planks of the brake, cleaning and chipping the steel T-section uprights that connect the floor to the roof and removing the expired upholstery. Once one bit was removed, often a few more bits cames along with it, leading to the phrase in the title! Matt found an original interior wall panel underneath another, where the livery applied was the cream and bauxite we have been using in the BR brake van, and the LMS brake van. Measuring the demarcation line shows it at 3ft 5.5inches, which is only 0.5inches less than what we have been using. Rain (read massive deluge) did also stop play for a while on Friday.
Saturday arrives, and so does our replacement wood! Our timber merchant, Harlow Brothers of Long Whatton, have sorted us out again, and have cut, machined and tanalised the planks needed for this van. Cut to length and rebated into the corner section, they fitted a treat and look great! We were also able to strip some of the body planks from a Southern PMV body being broken up behind the loco shed at Loughborough. These were cut down to replace any boards fitted next to the ducket.
Sunday saw the same action taking place on the dockside, with 6 body planks being replaced there, and some of the interior plywood cut and fitted. Monday saw little jobs being undertaken, including refitting all the veranda door tops, lower floor quadrant cutting and fitting, filling strips manufacture, and a door plank to replicate and fit (I’m proud of that one, but took no pictures during the manufacture!)
I finish with some night time shots of the Yellow Coach and that south yard. Both Matt and I, both living an hour away; both in Lincolnshire, made use of the bunkroom in the Yellow coach and stayed a few days at the railway. it’s not very often you see views like this, and I’m sure some of the passengers on the evening trains were surprised to see the lights still on.
Once we’d finished our daylight work, Matt and I tidied the mess area in the coach and used our limited upholstery skills to manufacture a new seat base for the mess area. One of the cushions was missing when Nick and I first started using the coach as a base for our wagon restoration activities (around 2012). At that time this didn’t matter as there was just Nick, myself and Alex (Nick’s son), and the occasional visitor Now, we find ourselves in need of some extra sitting space for a larger team, and our visitors. We can now seat 18 around the 2 tables!
We are happy with our progress, and are thinking about organizing a proper work week next year!
Welcome to another update from Quorn Wagon and Wagon. This weekend has seen the van train running, the station reverting back to 1968 and the LMS brake van painted into top coat. The BG (81382) has also been outshopped this week, and looks marvellous (well done to Jamie Swanson and Patrick Newborough, it looks excellent)!
The weekend has seen the LMS brake painted up into top coat (bauxite). On Saturday Morning, I began by sanding the dock side of the van, whilst Nick set up the scaffold tower, and scraped the West side of the van. Once the van was sanded, it got a quick blow down with the air line, in preparation for the application of the wood primer.
Some of the veranda wood had also been stripped of paint, so these got a quick spray of primer too. The primer was given some time to go off, and then the undercoat was applied all around, including the ends, and verandas.
Whilst I was spraying the undercoat, Nick found that he could peel the paint of the LMS box van (M500xxx) as the bitumen paint underneath the top coat was getting warm in the sun, so he spent a while doing that, and then in every other opportunity in the weekend.
On to Sunday, which saw the van having the top coat applied, including in the veranda. The verandas on the van are quite large, which make them easier to spray. The BR brake was a pain, due to only being the width of a person, so the air pipe and my clothing kept catching the wet paint.
After the top coat was applied, it was left to go off. The new planks got a second coat, then both the van sides got a second coat. Matt follow me around with a paint brush, picking up areas the spray gun couldn’t get into. He also painted an inspection hatch he’d made in the interior. In addition to this, he’d also manufactured a new wooden backing plate for the wagon label clip for the dock side of the van.
We have also cut out the interior seat side panels, which can be fitted next week.
Next weekend should see the van’s handrails picked out and the windows changed all round. These have been ordered (in glass effect perspex) and we await delivery.
Another weekend, another update from QWW. This weekend sees us continue work on M730562, which seems to be becoming a bit of a saga!
Following last weeks stripping of side planks, we have taken delivery of the new, replacement side planks from Harlow Brother’s Timber merchants. We took them a sample of an existing board taken from the side of the van, and they have cut the boards to size, machined the edges to have the rebates and bevels, and finally pressure treated the board to tanalise them. The only thing left for us to do was cut them to length and fit them to the van!
Saturday saw all the side planks fitted, and the long bottom hand rail refitted to the East/Dock side of the van.
On Sunday, Nick and I refitted the rest of the handrails to the vehicle, and fitted new capping wood to the ends of the planks, adjacent to each access doorway. We believe the the capping wood isn’t an LMS original, and was added later by BR. We opted to replace it with some hardwood, as these support the vertical hand rails used by the guard to access the vehicle from ground level. Meanwhile, Matt was carrying out shunting demonstrations at Mountsorrel’s running weekend. There he formed a train using the wagons we have based up there, and the Midland Brake.
This weekend we haven’t managed to achieve much, mainly due to the heat. On Saturday, Matt made a visit to the Mountsorrel Heritage Centre at Bond Lane, to assist in the signwriting of their Midland Brake van. It looks marvellous and awaits a few final details before it is release to traffic
At Quorn, Nick and I were working on the Midland Brake’s successor, the LMS brake M730562. Initially, we started on the west side (where it was shady) where we replaced the stepboard that runs the length of the body of the van. we had sourced a quite twisted bit of wood that had the right dimensions. This was trimmed, and clamped into place, ready for drilling. The board was drilled and then the underside was painted in black bitumen paint. The plank was then bolted into place and again coated in black bitumen paint on the top side. the next step for this board is the kickplate backing.
As the sun moved around and the day got hotter, we moved round to the dockside. There, we began to remove the handrails and capping wood from the dock side of the brake van, in preparation for some planks to be replaced. We are currently sourcing the replacement wood for this, for which we had the remove a plank. This took a surprising amount of disassembly, both inside and out, including the stove side seat base.
On Sunday, Nick and I effected a repair to the South-west step board, used by the guard for access. The metal plate that supports the end of the axlebox cover flap had rotted, so the step board had to be removed in order to replace the plate. I coated the replacement plate in red oxide before it was refitted. Whilst this occured, Matt started signwriting the van’s number above the ducket seat on the side of the van that is fitted with the seats/storage benches.
Matt mainly concentrated on the interior of the vehicle, removing a redundant batten of timber, and making a cover plate for the bit of capping that was displaced. We think the batten of timber was part of a lamp filling table, which would have had a zinc top. We removed it because it interrupted the demarcation line between the cream and the bauxite, and had no purpose. Matt also touched in some areas of the cream paint that had been bled into with the removal of the masking tape used when painting the bauxite.
We finish the update on an announcement. We have recently acquired an LMS van, from the David Clarke Railway Trust. M500604 (was M501438) is in use a nut and bolt store for the Windcutter Group, a purpose it will still continue to serve. we plan to re-clad the van to that the van can be released to traffic. The van is also still holding the interior of the packing van, B854782, so we are loath to start working on it whilst these items are held under cover.
Not a huge update this week, as we have finished our revamp of B954268 and the large events in the yard recently mean that we don’t have something else we can get started on.
Matt has been popping in after his early shifts at work to complete some of the smaller details on the interior of the brake van. This includes the stove surround, handbrake stack/column and the handbrake wheel itself. This also includes the vehicles number signwritten above the ducket adjacent to the stove, and its allocation for which we chose Tinsley.
Onto this weekend, we have now finished the brake van. Matt painted a second coat on the external ceilings on the verandah. I dismantled the top of the vacuum setter to remove layers of hard, flaky paint before Matt applied a new coat of red to the top of the setter. Whilst this was taking place, Nick fitted the Overhead Line wires flashes to the West side of the van.
This culminates the work on this brake van, and it can now be released back to traffic. we are anticipating the arrival of the LMS brake van for a refresh.
