Author: rloades109

21/09/25 – Twin black tanks

Hello everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week, we’ve finally been able to get some paint on both 3606 and 3621 which marks a big step forward in their restoration, especially given the recent abrupt end to the summer.

While Dave and I got the equipment assembled and ready, Ernie, Daniel, James and Nick completed some final preparation work on the tanks.

Our new paint pot is an upgrade, we now have capacity for 10litres of paint up from 2, which means a lot less time spent mixing and filling up the tank! Dave and I used 12 litres of grey primer/undercoat over both 3606 and 3621. We had to spent a little bit of time avoiding/ drying up after small showers during the day, but we were able to get both tanks into undercoat, save for the portion of the under fame below the dock.

While Dave, Nick and I got the tanks painted, Charlie and Ernie made a start welding up the splash guards for 3854. Nick assisted with bending up a new end for one of the pieces.

For Dave and I, Sunday was pretty much a rinse and repeat of Satruday, only this time with black gloss paint, rather than grey! Nick and Oliver assisted with some spot drying of the tank barrel and underframe. We’ve opted to try some skip and container paint on these as an experiment. Tom got some undercoat on the underframe on the parts of the tanks below the dock, and he was willing to have a go with the spray gun.

Nick and Oliver ended up going to Swithland to look at 80307, which was noticed to have had a window blank fallen inside the vehicle. This has been fitted since it arrived, and had fallen out in the wind. The piece was refitted, and sealed back to the door for the time being.

Charlie and Ernie carried on with the weldeing until the generator ran out of petrol, after which Charlie and Oliver started to repair the steps up to the tool van.

Tom finished up the tank; by taking the spray gun below the dock again and spraying up the underframe. A second coat is required for both tanks, but we’re glad we’ve got them both started!

That wraps up this weekend’s work, We’ll have to sort out a second coat for the tanks at some point soon, and then its on with the signwritng. Plus we’ll have to sort out the Esso plates! I’m not sure what the plan is for next week, we are very dependent on the weather at the moment, so join us next week and see what we end up doing! Thanks for reading, Ross

21 September 2025
31/08/25 – Still airless…

Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. This weekend, although the Esso tanks are awaiting paint, we’ve been concentrating on a bit of maintenance and continuing to repair the poorly compressor.

Nick and Charlie started off by tightening up an axlebox bolt on B780282. This was found to have rotated round and out of its slot, resulting in the box hanging open. this was checked and tightened up again.

We’ve received some new air line fittings and sander backing pads so Charlie took the lead in fitting these where required. The air manifold got its full compliment of XF fittings back again, and the smaller diameter air hoses had their ends renewed.

Ernie continued his assault on the splash plates on 3854, removing the two on the other side of the tank.

Nick and James started the favourite job that comes with these tanks, cleaning, chipping and scraping out the end pockets. This job was continued by Nick and Oliver on Sunday, later join by Mark, Tom and Dan, getting the pockets to a stage that they can be tackled by the needleguns.

Mark and Tom did the last bit of preparation on 3606, getting the last sections on the west side cleaned off.

Charlie, Dan and I started to re-assemble the cooling system on the compressor, fitting a new water pump and fan belt. We filled up the coolant system to check for leaks, fitted the new air filter and then moved onto the fuel system. I then removed the fuel injection pump to start to re-seal it. Once I’d broken into the fuel system, I renewed the fuel filter and cleaned out the filter bowl.

Nick, Charlie, Eireni and I went to the BBQ for GCR Staff and Volunteers at Ruddington, where we saw the O gauge Esso Tank fleet made by Rob which we were suitably impressed by!

Thanks for reading! Join us again next week where we’ll hopefully have Edward up and running again to continue with the prep and paint work across the Esso Tanks.

31 August 2025
25/8/25 – Bare barrels, a poorly Edward and a finished TTB

Hello all, and thanks for reading this week’s update from Quorn. This weekend, its been a case of getting 1919 ready for release to traffic and pushing on with the Esso (3606, 3621 and 3854) tanks to get them ready for paint.

3621 and 3606 got a last bit of sanding and preparation to remove what has been revealed through the coat of primer. A bit of make do and mend came into play with the sanding disc not sticking to the backing pads. We’ll have to get some more on order!

We took the opportunity with many hands to remove 1919 from the dock and collected together the three Esso tanks on the dock road, after which I removed the OLE warning flashes from all three.

A quick before and after with 1802 and 1919

1919 sat on the middle road where Dave touched in some of the black paint and prepared the logos for a coat of varnish. Ernie and Harry replaced the hand rail into the coach after several of the team had received splinters from the last one.

Dave sign wrote the OLE flashes onto 1919, and then applied a coat of varnish over the Shell and BP logos to ensure their longevity. The sanding continued, though the compressor seemed to be struggling and nearly stalling. The fuel pump has developed a serious leak, so it is time for some long overdue TLC for Edward.

I concentrated on welding the blanks to 3606 to cover over where pipes had been installed for its static use. Nick and Ernie looked at removing a tray that had been installed to 3854 and Ernie tidied up the weld remnants.

Dave and I undertook the final inspection of 1919, checking it before output and completing our form ready to hand over to Jamie. I checked the flange gauge against the calibration specification, and found it to be spot on. With help from Tom and Dan, we undertook a test of both the air braking system and the vacuum through pipe. The through pipe was satisfactory, however the air brake system appear to not be working which requires further investigation.

The team undertook another shunt to release both 3606 and 3854 to turn them on the turntable. This allows us easy access to both vacuum cylinders, the former to refit and the later to remove and overhaul.

Edward was stripped and drained down, with some other issues found including a failed water pump bearing and the silencer no longer being connected to the exhaust. Charlie and Dan gave everything a few coats of heavy duty degreaser and washed it off, making it a lot easier to trace any further leaks.

With 3606 been turned, Nick decided to refit the overhauled vacuum cylinder with assistance from Oliver and James.

Mark, Tom and James concentrated on the last bits of old paint and tar on 3606, which is now ready for primer.

Edward has become top priority now as we need him for compressed air, but we’ll keep moving with the tanks and get them painted. Come sand see how we get on next week. Thanks again for reading!

25 August 2025
10/08/25 – Large Logos, Lugs and a little bit of welding

Hello everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. Now that I’ve come back from the frivolities of my wedding and from staffing HydroFLEX at the Greatest Gathering, I’ll give you a run down of what has happened for us this week.

At Rothley, good progress had been made by the C&W team on both the Lowfit with its previously poorly dragbox and the shock absorbing High Goods with its rotten corrugated end being replaced for some spare good material. Additionally, the Lowfit chassis has received more black paint and the chassis for the Palshocvan body had been needle gunned and primed, getting it ready for the body to go on. Thanks to Jamie, Pat, Kyle, Rob, Noah and Steve, we’re looking forward to having these back and getting them in traffic.

The week prior, the tank train had applicable vehicles receive a bearing exam and all vehicles had their brake rigging oiled.

On to this weekend then, and after my time away its nice to see the amount of progress that has been made. Before the trains started running, Charlie (with Nick as lookout) mowed the grass between Road 1 in the South Yard and the running line.

Dave got started on the east side Shell logo, getting it chalked up and completed in the morning.

Ernie and I got the Esso plate jig out and welded the plate brackets back on to 3621. We started on the west side, and the jig made the work really easy, though the height from the ground did add a complication. I modified the jig to allow a bit of access to the bottom ring from the top which made the east side lugs even easier. the west have been fulled welded, and then received a dose of wire brushing by Nick and painted with a coat of primer by James. I ran out of 3.2mm electrodes before finishing the west side, but we can catch that at a later date.

Dave got the west side Shell logo on 1919 and touch up the green on the BP logo. This is among the last jobs on this tank, though we will be varnishing each of the logos on this tank. That leaves us to complete our paperwork before handing it over to Jamie for its acceptance FTR. I measured the flange height and thicknesses, which were showing a nearly brand new P5 profile. Dave applied a wheel 1 arrow to the tank to assist us in future inspections.

3621 had its lid securing turnbuckles freed off and oiled courtesy of Charlie and Ernie, plus an extra pipe stub in the filler neck was removed and blanked and Nick got the scaffolding down to 3606 to scrape the the tar residue from around the filler neck and around the top of the barrel. This needs a bit more scraping and a bit of degreaser before we can paint it. I went round 3606 with the big ratchet to make sure that all the side support bolts were tight. I’ll be adding a blob of weld to each exterior bolt to ensure that they don’t come undone.

Ernie used an angle grinder to clean up the support remnants on 3606. Nick, Charlie and James took the washer tin over to 3854 to put new washers in the brake system where they were missing.

Lastly, Charlie and James gave the BEVs a clean and a charge before Railway at Work next weekend. Do come down to the railway next weekend to experience the sights, sounds and atmosphere of a by-gone era, showing how goods and passengers were moved around the network. We’ll be there helping to tell the story. Join us then!

10 August 2025
20/07/25 – Making the most of the wet weather

Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. We’re eager to get 1919 finished, but this weekend the wet weather has diverted us to other things.

Dave popped in on Friday to get some more paint on 1919, concentrating on the yellow aspects, so the yellow Private Owner symbols and the BP on the east side of the barrel. He also got some red out and put a first coat on the air brake pipe cocks and pipe ends.

With the weather being as it was, we opted to do inside jobs. Dave started off picking out the letter on the Shell-Mex Ltd plates he’s 3D printed for 1919.

We’d recently picked up a few tyre profile gauges, which were well coat in surface rust and dirt, so Ernie very gently cleaned that up and applied a coat of oil to prevent them rusting again.

Once there was a gap in the weather, Ernie got the grinder out to prepare the ladder brackets he’d made and slotted during the week. These have now been chamfered ready to weld to the chassis.

Dave and I went into the Test Car and starting sorting though the test area, and removing some of the less period appropriate signage. This led to the scouring pads coming out and some of the more tired wood work got scraped and scuffed, and whatever fittings that could be removed where.

Ernie cleaned a few more gauges, and also checked through the oil cans, throwing away those that don’t work and filling up those that do.

I went into the Test Car and applied varnish to the slip end paneling, the desk drawers and to the toilet door and door frame which looked a whole lot better for a coat of varnish.

Nick put up more shelving up in the fish van, which has made the fish van much tidier and will allow us to sort out some of the our collected stuff into more suitable locations.

Using one of the new gauges, I measured the flange height and thicknesses on the two Esso tanks, plus two spares sat by the tool van.

Thanks for reading this week’s update. Next week there won’t be an update, so join us again in two weeks to find out what we’ve been up to.

20 July 2025
13/07/2025 – Bumper Summer Update

Welcome to two-weeks worth of summer news from the team at Quorn. We have carried out axlebox maintenance on much of the fleet, supported the Rail200 event and continued to progress the tank wagon restorations.

All wagons in the mixed goods rake and some in the van train were given their annual axlebox maintenance which involves checking for water ingress and removing any signs of water or emulsified oil, journal inspection, pad condition check, cleaning the pads, re-oiling the pads and topping up the reservoir with fresh oil. The axleboxes are then re-assembled with new split pins as necessary.

Tom, Oliver, Dan, Harry and Charlie all learning the process from Nick and doing much of the work on 35 wagons.

One of the spare corrugated wagon end sections was removed from it’s storage in B721587 and transported to Rothley where it will be used to affect repairs on the badly corroded end of Shock High Wagon B724570.

The brake gear on Brake Van B954268 was oiled up.

The bubbling paintwork on a few planks on the west side of Brake Van B954268 was sanded by Mark, Tom, Oliver & Dan, and the affected planks treated with undercoat.

I continued with the lettering on the west side of tank 1919.

Then applied the operational speed rating stars. The two stars for wagons, authorised to run at higher speeds, i.e. above 35 miles/h, but not allowed to run in passenger trains.

Charlie helped fit the wagon information display boards to the mixed good rake in Quorn Yard for the Rail200 weekend.

We also welcomed visitors including some good friends into the Test Car during the weekend.

During the week, some more axleboxes in the van train were attended to by Nick, Tom and Oliver.

Onto to Saturday where Nick Charlie and Daniel finished off the axle boxes on the van train while trying to stay in the shade

Dave and I continued the push on with the sign writing on 1919, with Dave getting a good start on marking out in the cooler temperatures. I made a start with the fast traffic stars.

Ernie carried on with preparing the ladder brackets on 3606, ready for them to be welded back together in preparation for two new ladders.

Both Charlie and Ernie finished the day applying undercoat to the storage container on the dock.

Dave and I started off Sunday by marking out the logo squares on the barrel on the West side of the tank, starting by measuring heights and central positions, then getting the template onto the wagon to trace its outline before applying masking tape.

This was followed by a quick scuff, readying the square for undercoating by Ernie.

While Ernie did this, Dave and I finished off the signwriting on the East side, with Dave finishing of the ‘repairs’ panel, and me the solebar lettering.

Ernie carried on with the white undercoat, undercoating the lamp brackets. Followed up with a dose of gloss black on the drawhooks, air pipe stowage brackets and steps.

I made a start on one of the end numbers, choosing the nice easy flat plate!

Dave painted all four logo squares in their respective colours; two white and two yellow. He also took the time to wipe off the chalk outline from the text with a damp cloth.

Nick used the gloss black to paint the discharge pipework and the replica Shell-Mex owner’s plates, ready to go on the wagon. The plates were drilled prior to being painted with the black paint.

Dave picked out the east side cast plates while Ernie floated around with the white gloss paint, painting the now dry lamp brackets, the foot valve levers and vacuum swan-necks.

Nick repaired an axlebox pad where the spring had failed, utilising a spring found on a life expired pad. This will re-enter stock after a bit of a soak.

That wraps up this update, thank you for reading. Next week will be more work on 1919, which is tantalisingly close to be completed, with one barrel number still to do plus the large Shell and BP logos. Join us then, in the hopefully cooler weather!

13 July 2025
15/06/25 – Another Black(ish) Tank

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s update. This week, we’ve followed up the undercoat on 1919 with a gloss coat and continued the re-assembly of 3606.

1919 first then, although windy, Saturday was a perfect day for painting with it being dry and warm out so came the spray kit. With eight litres of thinned down paint, I applied a solid first coat to the tank barrel and sole bar all round, with the west side underframe getting a look in too.

Charlie cleaned up our spare direction switch for the Brush Pony trucks, and also cleaned up the top of the underframe on the Lowfit, making good work of the whole frame and applying some red oxide primer.

With the paint drying on 1919, our attention turned to 3606. We’ve had a sample bend section supplied to check which was close, but required some alteration to fit, which was carried out between Nick, Ernie and I. Some bends were altered and a section of material let in to extend the front section. this can now go back to the supplier so that they can make the full foot wide support pieces for this tank.

The heating coil pipe on 3606 was also completed, with Nick and Ernie having to recover one of the cutting rings from the compression fitting being used to complete the work. The bent sections where fitted together, then I welded them to the bosses on the tank, as would have originally been done.

That wraps up this week; next week maybe another coat on the 1919, or it could be something else. Lets see what the week and the weather hold for us. Thank for reading

15 June 2025
05/05/25 – Tank Holiday Monday

Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. It’s been an action packed weekend, so we’ll jump right on in there.

Saturday started with Charlie applying a gloss coat to the last splash guard for 3621. this was left basking in the sun while we looked at B779978 and B780282 to replace their door top frames, now that they were back in the yard. One of the machined pieces of wood was taken up and the hole positions marked ready for drilling along with the recess for the locking bar. Part of our roof edge was removed between the doors to allow the new ‘noggin’ to fit properly. The pieces of wood were then taken up to the GUV for drilling on the pillar drill by Ernie with Harry and new recruit Jamie supporting, and I machined the recess with the morticer.

After the pieces of wood were machined, each of them got a coat of primer, undercoat and gloss to help them last for as long as possible. I am hopeful that they will out live maybe even me! Nick set up a new outside workbench on the end of the Fish van, which came in useful for priming the pieces of wood.

Mark and Oliver took a look at the steps up to the tool van, making some repairs to the first and second steps. They certainly feel a lot more solid to walk on now, and should save any accidents. Oliver himself performed the grand opening.

The rest of the gang set about removing the stickers from 1919 to get it ready for paint prep. It also got another wash due to the amount of green algae that had settled on it. We’ve put that down to the rough texture of the brake dust making a perfect surface to settle on.

Dan took some time to apply primer to the bare metal work on the container, while Nick and Charlie refitted the freshly painted splash guard.

On Monday, Charlie, Nick, Jamie and I looked at fitting the four painted ‘noggins’ to the two vans. Thankfully all went on without major issues, which means these vans could run in traffic, albeit with a huge ASDA logo on each roof. We now simply await more roof paint for these vans to finalise the work.

Charlie and Jamie carried on washing 1919, concentrating on the end of the barrel and headstocks. This was however interrupted by reports of a sizable fire adjacent to the down lieby, next to the rest of the box vans. Between the station team and ourselves and a passing train the fire was got under control and the vans protected.

As I’m sure I’ve said before here, I think its time to go back to work for a rest! Next week we’re planning to start sanding some of the tanks for painting and I’m sure there will be a lot more besides that. Thanks for reading, and see you next time! Cheers, Ross

5 May 2025
21/04/25 – Easter’s Greetings!

Hello everyone, and welcome to this weekends update. The railway has hosted its Road Rail Steam event over this extended weekend, and as one of the attractions Test Car 2 has been open to the public, however, we have been able to continue progress on the two Esso tanks.

On Good Friday (though we prefer Goods Friday) both the vans and the mixed goods were out and about the railway which was a pleasant sight to see. Dave, Nick and I were on site to make the final preparations to opening the Test Car.

On Saturday, the main event was the Test Car opening, with Ernie and Dave mainly taking care of proceedings. Nick, Tom, Oliver and I took a look at repairing/and painting some of the splash guards from 3621 and 3606. Those from 3606 only needed a scrape and wire brush before receiving some primer. Nick, Tom and Oliver also applied primer to both chassis where these splash guards mount. Additionally the areas covered up by the tank supports also got a coat of primer.

Three of the four splash guards from 3621 need a more in depth repair, which I tackled. I cut out the rotten sections, then used a scribe to draw around the cut out on some new metal to make my new piece. After they were ground up, I welded them into place on the top and bottom face to complete the repairs on two of the three plates. I ran out of time for the third, so this will be done another day. Once completed and cooled, they joined the queue to be painted.

Dave and I covered Test Car proceedings on Sunday, with Ernie joining us again today, ably running the sales stand. Thanks to everyone who visited, and to those who donated or bought something from us, every bit of goes back into the wagon fleet and the continued restoration of Test Car 2.

The weather on Monday was a bit poor for wagon work, but the team set into refurbishing some vacuum release valves, and fitted another vice to the work bench in the GUV. At the end of the day the hose was coiled back up after being used to fill the reserves for Colin McAndrew, and other tidying up was done ready for next weekend, where the Test Car will be open again, this time for the Spring Diesel Gala.

Thanks for reading and join us again next week to see what else happens!

21 April 2025
06/04/25 – Reunification Weekend

Hello everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. This weekend has been the railway’s Re-unification Open Weekend, so we’ve welcomed visitors into the Test Car and around a small area of the yard. Nick and the team have also finished off de-scaling the last few pockets on both 3606 and 3621, and all bar two have been painted in black top coat.

Ernie, Dan and I welcomed visitors into the Test Car to explain and share its unique position in UK railway history. I also used some of the quiet periods to investigate some of the speedometers around the coach to see if they can be connected to the instrumentation in the coach as they were.

Harry, Dan and Nick continued the descaling, and continued priming the pockets and bays on the two Esso tank wagons. We’re now at the point where we’ve got the the last of these so we can now move to prepping the rest of the wagons.

On Sunday, Oliver, Tom, Mark, Charlie and Nick continued applying both primer and black paint to the wagons.

That wraps up this update, as a reminder the Test Car with be open for two more weekends in April:

– Road Rail Steam – 19-21 April 2025

– Spring Diesel Gala – 25-27 April 2025

Find us at the south end of the station yard at Quorn, through the gate just past the turntable.

Pop in and see us for a guided tour of this unique piece of railway history, and find our how & why British Rail tested goods wagons. Keep and eye out for our Donations Lamp outside the Test Car; your support is very much appreciated.

For more info about these events, and more, please see the GCRs website – https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/whats-on/

Thanks for reading! All the best, Ross

6 April 2025