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.
This weekend, work continues on B954268. Following last week where Nick, Matt and Jake completed the rest of external work, which only left the underframe to be painted. A few areas were left to be scraped and then blown down, ready for the application of the paint.
Matt sanded down and hoovered the interior of the van to give it a key before he started glossing the top half with cream colour. Whilst Matt was painting the interior of the van cream, the underframe and step boards of the west side were painted in black bituminous paint. Nick followed along, picking out any areas that couldn’t be reached with the spray gun. The headstocks were then painted using brushes, as using the spray gun would result in overspray on the soft, bauxite gloss. The interior surfaces of the windows were masked off whilst Matt was painting the large panels.
The van was pushed out of the dock so that the East side underframe and step boards could be cleaned, blown down and painted. Once the black paint was away, the roller bearing end caps were picked out in yellow.
When the van was painted into gloss, the verandahs were spray painted internally. Whilst we had made every effort to mask where we could, the only place that wasn’t, and thus caught the overspray was the ceiling. Saturday Matt repainted this surface white.
Report continued by Matt
Sunday continued with me (Matt) initially signwriting, this was in the form of the “D” Plates Vacuum release chord stars and the Running number within the van.
Nick added a further coat of paint to the axle end covers and a red coat to the Vacuum pipe swan necks. The OLE warning panels he also added to the East side. Myself and Nick also took a look at the Brake rigging. We made a few adjustments and Nick lubricated it all.
I continued with the internal repaint masking off for the bauxite areas to be raised up to window level, the actual BR specification called for the lower bauxite area to be 3ft 6in high this, however, would result in the demarcation line being 1/4 the way up the window level and it was common practice for the demarcation to be lowered to window level which in my opinion looks a lot smarter, as can be seen below. I also popped in Monday after work to apply Black to the Brake standard and Stove surrounds.
Last item, My signwriting box has had an appropriate paint and signwriting applied just so I don’t forget who I am and what I do.
Still a few finishing touches to apply including the Stove surround in black gloss.
This weekend saw us working away on B854782, preparing for its visit to the loco shed to have some remedial work to the corrugated ends. Matt has also removed the branding posters pasted onto the vans for the photo charter and gala, and touched in the paint where it had become detached.
Last week we scraped the underframe on B854782 down in preparation for painting. As the welding work is predominantly occurring on the ends, we took the opportunity to paint the underframe, aside from the headstocks.
The item we have been calling the tax disk holder has been painted in black and reassembled onto the van. This details the non-standard, experimental centre shock system fitted to a batch of these vans. Once fitted the screw heads were touched in the same black paint as the cast ring.
As we were working below solebar level, we also performed an axle box exam. A while ago, we came into a TOPS wagon codes book, so we chalked the cripple code for this van on the doors. CG denotes a green card (defected but able to run at design speed), D denotes defect due to damage, and the C denotes Bodywork.
Next week, we hope that this vehicle is in the engine shed being nursed back to health, and that B954268 is in a position to enable us to give it some due attention.
This weekend we have continued working on the Fish Van. We are also a man down this weekend, as Matt has become a member of the Royal Flying Corps for a photo charter. This hasn’t impeded progress, however, there are fewer photos. The below picture shows how we left the vehicle at the end of last weekend.
Saturday started off with us sanding the south two panels in the picture above, along with the south end. Following this, the undercoat was cracked out to get the van finished off in undercoat. I cleaned the gun out and started thinning the gloss down in order to start spraying the East side and North end, whilst the new undercoat was drying.
As with last weekend, this also included the headstocks. This is just after the headstock had been painted into gloss. The details such as the drawhook, vacuum swan neck and buffer heads were painted later one once the Ice Blue paint had hardened off.
As the paint is only for the fish van, we tried to put as many coats of paint to use the paint up. By the end of Saturday, the Eastside had 2 coats of gloss and both ends and headstocks had been painted. To finish the day we scraped the underframe on the West side as it is accessible. Before we started painting on Sunday morning, we blew down the debris following scraping the underframe, then painted the 2nd coat of gloss on the Westside. We shuffled the vans down so we could get to the East Side to scrape and paint it.
Once the underframe was painted the bufferheads and swan necks got painted, along with the lamp brackets and handbrake lever ends.
As the wheelsets are close to the end of the van, we painted up the brake cross shafts in black and refitted the couplings.
Next steps for this vehicle are the signwriting, unfortunately, no blue spot as the vehicle doesn’t have roller bearing wheelset. This will then be ready for traffic.
Following on from Matt’s report last week, B850498 has now been completed. The roof has been touched up following last Sunday’s rain. Here are 2 photos of it in “ex-works” condition. This vehicle has now been put into the van train, thus having its debut at Good Galore! (not bad for a grounded body!)
On to this weekend, which saw us preparing the Fish van for its new colour scheme, whilst the Spring Diesel Gala was taking place. The aluminium body sides and ironwork was sanded, scraped and wire brushed in order to remove old flaky paint and to return the surface of the aluminium to a stable state, suitable for painting over. Areas where the ironwork was pitted was treated with red oxide primer. Some minor repairs to the bottom door runners were also enacted. These had dropped below the bottom of the door so weren’t supporting the door, making them hard to open.
The results of the sanding can be seen in the below pictures, the leftmost picture showing the various items that have been sign written onto the panel, not limited to; BR double arrows from its time in BR blue as an SPV, a Blue Spot from its time as an Insul-Fish and yellow from its time attached to a ballast cleaner as the tool van.
Today, with the weather being changeable, we opted to start painting the van into its undercoat. It was nice to spray something other than Bauxite or Bauxite undercoat!
The eagle-eyed among you with notice that we have painted the headstocks and buffers in the body colour. this is an unusual, yet prototypical detail that is rarely seen in the preservation of these vehicles. Unfortunately, the rain started so the paint had to go away. Next weekend, it is hoped we can finish painting the west side and the south end. In other news:
The Swithland Wagon Group have finished their restoration of our tank wagon, A6581. Tommy Lees, Keith Lloyd and David Wood have done a fantastic job with this wagon, and it looks great on the front road at Swithland Sidings. I for one am looking forward to seeing it and A6071 in the trains at Good Galore!
Photo by Tommy Lees
Lastly, we took delivery and put into store a rather exciting item! Hopefully, more shall be announced in the fullness of time.
