Author: rloades109

  • 23/03/25 – Visions of Abbey Lane…

    23/03/25 – Visions of Abbey Lane…

    Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s update from Quorn. With the south yard looking a little bit like Abbey Lane sidings with amount of Esso tank wagons around, the gang have pressed on with preparations on both 3606 and 3621.

    Ernie removed the last two splash guard plates from 3621, which opened up the area around the wheels for cleaning down and hoovering. Nick set about straightening these with his most favourite tool to get them flat after the rust build up had bowed them at each end. Two of them require a weld repair due to corrosion.

    Harry, Charlie and new starter Dan continued the laborious job of cleaning and de-scaling the end pockets and the chassis of the Esso tank. While they did this, Ernie and I removed the heating coil end plug from the wagon to clean out the threads and refit it.

    Nick and I moved onto re-assembling the vacuum cylinder ready for re-fitting to 3606, which involved removing the nuts from the studs and re-fitting the studs into the dome.

    The chassis preparation was continued on Sunday by Tom, Mark, Oliver, Harry, Charlie, Nick, Bradley and Ernie, with the weather thankfully a little drier than yesterday. It appears at some point Charlie got a little distracted by a spot on the Fish van body…

    Dan, Mark and Charlie also managed to get some areas of both chassis primed or gloss coated

    With the weather starting to look up, we’ll soon be moving onto surface preparation of the barrel on both 3621 and 3606, which means paint isn’t too far away. Now just the small matter of getting some more Esso plates…

    The weekend of the 5th & 6th April is the railway’s Reunification Gala weekend, where we’ll have the Test Car open to visitors after a shunt around this week to allow opening up easier. If you plan on coming down, do pop in and visit us. Thanks for reading, and see you next weekend!

  • 16/03/25 – The Big Reveal…

    16/03/25 – The Big Reveal…

    Hello every one and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week we are finally able to reveal what we’ve been teasing for a little while, what is actually happening to CEGB 48521. The tank train also had the wash and brush up finished, and a work continued generally on the tanks we have in at the moment. Onto the reveal then…

    With thanks to our friends at the National Wagon Preservation Group, we were tipped off about a frame less tank barrel at a transport yard near Retford. The barrel arrived on Monday 9th March, and was dropped into place on the CEGB 48521 that’s just arrived from Foxfield. After a bit of careful nudging, the outlet flange was able to be bolted up to the discharge pipe of the chassis, locating the tank in the correct place. Despite being one barrel from Hurst Nelson and the chassis from Charles Roberts, the two fitted together well and await some parts to be made, and the barrel to be welded to the chassis. One of the pictures is courtesy of Jamie Swanson who kindly dropped in to assist.

    Further thanks to Chris at NWPG, we now know the identity of both the chassis and the rest of the identity of the barrel. When the barrel is painted, it will continue to carry 3606 and the tank will used this identity going forward. The chassis used to carry 3797, so we shall make a small nod to its history in some way. It was found that there were no records for 3606 beyond 1975, so the barrel has been without wheels for at least 50 years!

    We’ve now taken delivery of 6 hardwood door ‘noggins’ (top door frames) for the vans, which will help us finish the work on the 4 currently at Rothley. These will be stored until the vans make their way back to Quorn.

    Dave and I concentrated on washing 3606 in the yard, making it a bit more respectable. We used some new chemicals which worked very well at getting the decades of built up grime off the tank. The paint has held up quite well considering it is likely to be is only coat!

    While we did this, Nick, Ernie, Harry and Charlie fitted buffers to the north end of 3621 and dismantled a vacuum cylinder, getting it ready to fit to 3606.

    A small shunt round in the morning moved 3606 into the dock, this was done by hand to reduce the risk of the barrel shifting at this early stage. Nick and Ernie made a start freeing the UIC screw couplings fitted to 3606.

    Harry and new recruit Brad used the needle gun, hammer and chisels to descale the pockets adjacent to the buffers on 3621. We’ve not quite worked out why they’ve been designed as they are has they are quite the trap for water and other rubbish! Ernie also got stuck in on the action, removing two of the splash guards from 3621 and starting to chip away at the scale. Dan applied some primer to 3606, in one of the areas not got to before the barrel was fitted.

    Oliver, Tom, Charlie, Mark and I concentrated on the west side of the tanks, running down each one with and cleaning all the grime off them. The new snowfoam from Jennychem worked very well at loosening the accumulated dirt, so it was a very worthwhile purchase!

    That wraps up what has been a quite exciting week! We’ve now got a lot of cleaning down and preparation to do to get the tanks ready, but they are going to look fantastic! Join us again next weekend for another installment, thanks for reading!

  • 09/03/25 – Tanks and Track

    09/03/25 – Tanks and Track

    Hello all, and welcome to another weekend’s update from us lot at Quorn. We’ve got a lot of plates spinning at the moment, with lots and lots of tank work going on. We’ve also had a go at track work this week, laying an extension to make ourselves more room for project vehicles.

    We’ve continued the push on the tank wagon chassis, CEGB 48521, with Dave, Harry and Ernie making good progress on needling gunning and scraping the scale, corrosion and old paint from the chassis.

    Nick, Charlie, Dan, Mark and I sorted out the siding extension, first the vehicles were moved down clear of the joint to the buffer stop. after then the materials were laid out and the buffer stop moved back to make the room for an extra 30ft of rail to be let in.

    The primer came out to treat the cleaned down chassis areas, with quick progress being made. A kit of vacuum cylinder parts was retrieved from the van train in the down lie-by, which we’ll revisit later.

    With the sleepers laid out and the rails dropped in the chairs, it was time to fit the fish plates and key the rails into the chairs. With a bit of packing done, the vehicles were rolled back down the buffer stop and tidying up around the site and moving the steps back into position.

    More needle gunning occurred on Sunday, with more areas receiving the prep, prime and then some satin black top coat.

    Now the track has been extended, the attention then turned to the tanks in the yard, giving them a wash. The east side of the rake was tackled, with the west side still to do. The before and after on the yellow Shell Lubricating Oils tank was startling!

    While the tank washing took place, Charlie busied himself cleaning and servicing our spare BEV parts.

    An unserviceable vacuum cylinder was dropped into one position of the chassis, firstly the dome then the cylinder. This cylinder will never be used, so a supporting strap will be manufactured to ensure the cylinder does not rotate in its trunions. The last job of the day was to push the chassis down into the yard.

    Next weekend, some of the teasers and work we are doing will start to make a little more sense. With good enough weather, we will continue down the west side of the tank train prior to its departure on the 25th March.

  • 23/02/25 – Less green, more gleam!

    23/02/25 – Less green, more gleam!

    Hello all, and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week we’ve been getting ready to wash the tank train by testing out our new pressure washer and some chemicals on the newly arrived 3621. The pipe run on 1919 was also finished off after the last two brackets were manufactured.

    To start off with, I started to assemble the pressure washer which went together a treat. While I did this Ernie laid out the brackets in the positions they required welding into, which I then cracked on with. Nick and Harry started to strip off the extraneous rubber pipes from under 3621 and then fitted a temporary branch-pipe to enable us to check the cylinder that was installed last week is working satisfactorily.

    With the vacuum system check complete (a formal test will be conducted before the tank is put into traffic), Charlie and Harry set to work on 3621, rinsing and washing the tank with some snowfoam and TFR.

    The north end buffers on 3621 are non-functional, so Nick and Ernie started to remove them by heating up the nuts, though ran out of gas after the first two. After getting more gas, they continued getting these off on Sunday morning, after which the buffers were removed and the wagon shunted down.

    A scaffold tower was set up to allow safe access to the top portion of the tank for cleaning by Oliver, Dan and myself, which continued throughout the day.

    Tom and Mark set up the needle gun and removed the 5 layers of paint from the north headstock of the GUV, and a portion of the west side solebar. This was followed with a bit of primer, which also made its way to the fish van body.

    I spent a portion of time measuring up the side tank supports on 3621, as a bit of an exercise in 3D modelling. After looking over both 1802 and 1919, the handbrakes on both wagons had the potential to cause injury due to the proximity of the end of the lever to the suspension links. One wagon require the pins to be removed and rotated to give adequate clearance, while the other had a piece of the lever cut off and dressed, all ably done by Ernie.

    That wraps up this week’s happenings at Quorn. With 1802 and 1919 now waiting their turn in the paint queue, we’ll move using the time to clean the tank train next week to get them looking nice before the train gets moved away to Swithland. Join us next week to see how we get on!

  • 09/02/24 – Happy birthday, Tom!

    09/02/24 – Happy birthday, Tom!

    Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. We’ve finished the through pipe on 1802 which is now fully fitted but not yet tested. This just leaves the same pipe to make on 1919, which we’ve made a good start on.

    Firstly, we wish Tom a happy 18th birthday!. Tom’s family very kindly sent along some lovely cakes last week (which I should have mentioned, sorry!).

    First action on the tanks was to remove the pipework as fitted to 1802 to use as a template for the pipe on the 1919. While the pipe was in I measured up to make the last pipe bracket. We also got the heat gun out and adjusted the two dummy brackets fitted to 1802.

    With the heat gun out, we shunted the Lowfit on to the end of the tanks to sort the last remaining bent corner on the west door.

    Ernie and Nick started looking at the bits of pipe we have in stock to match them up to the pipe from 1802, then the pipe cutting and threading continued, with new recruit Harry having a go on the pipe threader.

    I welded up the pipe bracket, getting it ready for fitting. The team got the pipes fitted back into position, while the 6 pipe brackets were fitted with locking nuts. Some hardwood packers have been fitted in some positions to minimise the stress to the pipework.

    Some of the pipe remnants seems quite hard, so required annealing with the heat gun before being manipulated for 1919.

    The Baldwin lads (with some interjection by Charlie) started a secret project on the dock with some scrap wood. Dan was caught having a sit down… Tom and Mark did some touching up on the undercoat north end of the GUV. Dave and Ernie had a brief break by fixing one of Nick’s lamps.

    Last thing to do was christen 1802 and fit some vacuum bags. Next week this will be leak tested alongside the air brakes, and the pipe work on 1919 should be very close to being finished. we’ll then get organised for the TEA, maybe with a brief interlude to play with a recently delivered new toy! Join us then and see how we get on!

  • 02/02/24 – Finally, a blow through!

    02/02/24 – Finally, a blow through!

    Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week we’ve finished fabricating a through pipe for one of the two TTA tanks, plus we’ve made more progress on painting the GUV.

    Dave and Ernie made a start making the set piece of pipe for the south end, first trying a recovered piece of pipe with a set, but then found that two 45degree elbows would work. With the set pipe made, it was onto cutting a section of straight pipe to fix to the centre section. Plenty of threading action for the three of us!

    Nick, Charlie and James tidied up the bit of yard behind the signal box, and also adjusted the door to the grounded fish van. Dave drilled one of the trollies to mount a large vice as some of the piped were too short to hold and thread in the pipe vice.

    The straight piece of pipe over the south axle was measured, cut then fitted. Even Charlie had a go on the pipe threader…

    Nick started on Sunday painting the south end of the GUV into black gloss, as befitting a brush painted carriage. Ernie and I started to fabricate the last section of pipe, a straight section across the front of the air brake equipment.

    Mark and Oliver took over the black gloss, while Tom worked on the north end of the GUV and primed the metal work. Dan started work on tidying the A type Container, applying primer and scraping the side.

    Nick and Ernie started adjusting some dummy brackets to fit to the now through piped tank, one required a bit of heating, straightening and re-twisting. While they did that, I measured up to alter a pipe bracket for the tank.

    That about wraps up this weekend’s activities on TTA number one, unfortunately we’ll have to repeat it all again on TTA number two. On the plus side, we’ll be well practiced at pipe work! Join us next week to see what we’ve got up to. Thanks for reading.

  • 26/01/25 – Winter Gala Pipe Wrangling

    26/01/25 – Winter Gala Pipe Wrangling

    Hello everyone, and welcome to the update from the Winter Gala. We’ve been progressing in our little yard while watching the freights whizz up and down the line.

    The team set up a handrail and platform at the north end of the GUV to continue the repaint. After this was ready, Mark and Oliver started to undercoat the south end of the GUV.

    Ernie, Dan and I carried on with the through pipe on the TTA, finding a helpfully shaped bit of pipe to sort out the north end of the pipe run. It required a bit of fettling and trimming to suit.

    Mark and Oliver continued with the temporary north end scaffold, adding a rope barrier and a shelf to sit their paint bucket on. They then used the temporary scaffold to scrape and prime the wood on the north end of the GUV, but rain stopped play for any other painting just after lunch on Sunday.

    Ernie, Dave and I measured up to alter the pipework bracket, cutting bending and then welding up the bracket. Dave altered the bracket for the headstock with Nick and Ernie unbending then re-bending an existing bracket to make it suit.

    Nick and Charlie started stripping down the other pipework to make them less of a trip hazard and to ready them for use on either the other TTA or for the TEA.

    The pipe was set back underneath in its new brackets and measured against the next piece along. both was cut to suit and threaded for the two pieces to be married together.

    In the fading light the pipe was hung back underneath ready for the next bit to be measure for and made, but that’s a job for next week! This leaves two pipe lengths still measure, cut then bend. Oh and then we’ll have to repeat it all again for the second tank! Join us then and see how we get on.

  • 12/01/25 – A very cold weekend!

    12/01/25 – A very cold weekend!

    Hello everyone, and welcome to another weekend update from Quorn. Saturday was a bit of a cold one, with the below 0 temperatures precluding any meaningful external work, though I did design a part for the cut off saw to accept the commercially available abrasive wheels. We laid some more carpet inside the cage area of the mess coach. At least the tank train looked very picturesque in the Down Lie-by!

    With my newly designed and 3d printed parts, I got the cut off saw working and ready to work. Dan and I used it to prepare some of the pipework found last week, cutting away the flame cut ends to square up them up.

    Mark, Tom and Nick did some more work on the south end of the GUV, re-fixing some of the hinge strapping back to the doors, and scrapping the iron and woodwork.

    Danny was uncovered and started for the first time this year to take some items to the vans in the yard. His sheet was unfolded and measured and found to be suitable for a van roof, so this was stripped of components and folded for storage.

    Lastly, we also assembled some pallet racking in the fish van to increase storage space.

    Thanks for reading, and join us next week where we should be starting to fit vacuum pipework to the TTAs.

  • 22/12/24 – New projects…

    22/12/24 – New projects…

    Hello, and welcome to another update from Quorn. Now that the Catfish have departed Quorn destined for the Mixed Freight set, we’ve received the two TTAs, and the TEA has been brought down from the top of the yard. We’ll be looking at vacuum through piping these over the coming weeks and months. We’ve also been preparing for a short spell at Rothley to give the roofs of four of the vans some attention.

    First off, the team set about locating our 21″ vacuum cylinder spares, which were spread across a few locations. During this, the yard area was tidied up to release a complete (but not very well cylinder) from inside the Volvo’s bucket.

    This cylinder was removed from 3711 when it arrived, for obvious reasons. Now we are restoring a handful of engineer’s vehicles, which usually all have a 21″ cylinder, we felt that we’d need to check the condition of all available parts, which includes that cylinder…

    With a lot of brute force and occasional ignorance but without heat (surprisingly), the cylinder was dismantled. It remains to be seen if this cylinder will resurrect, but we can only try. Plus it gives us a chance to try soda blasting it!

    Dave removed the cylinder head from the de greaser and gave it a rinse off with the pressure washer. This was left to dry out in the heated mess coach. We’ll begin to assess the rest of the parts as time and other projects allow.

    As the light was falling, Dave and I took a brief look at the through pipe route for the three green tanks, the two TTAs having a well defined route in a bit of a contrast to the TEA.

    All that leaves us to say is Merry Christmas from us. We’ll have another update for you before the New Year with a bit of a wrap up and to cover what we’ve done over the Christmas and New Year period, do join us then!

  • 01/12/24 – Wash and brush up

    01/12/24 – Wash and brush up

    Hello everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. We’ve been able to progress a few jobs this week, with mechanical work culminating on the Catfish, the GUV has had another coat of paint and the coaches have been cleaned.

    Continuing the progress on the GUV, the last few patches of GUV were cleared back to bare metal, then sanded and primed. Dan, Ernie and Tom concentrated on fixing the loose body side rubbing strips.

    Reflecting the fact that the Catfish are cosmetically finished, Nick got them ready for a vacuum test by fitting vacuum hoses. We had also made a start extracting two sheared bolts in the hopper door on DB983393, which need to be extracted to refit one of the door mounting saddles.

    I continued looking at the generator and replaced the starter solenoid and double checked the timing, hoping I’d find the cause of it not running, sadly at the end of Saturday this was not the case, but I put the battery on charge for the night.

    The rest of the team made good progress and got the west side of the GUV covered in undercoat, ready for a coat of maroon gloss when the weather allows.

    Sunday’s weather started on the wet side. Mark and Tom did the usual gutter clearing, after noticing the water running down the side of the two coaches. After the worst of the rain, the pressure washer was used to jet the gutters, after which the coaches were cleaned using a bit of snow foam. On the west side a look out was used to ensure the group were away from the running line.

    I did a little bit more on the generator and got it running, which is a huge step given were we were with it some time ago. There is some fettling to do with the idle speed and fine tuning of the timing before we can put this back into use.We are starting to look at some improvements to the generator like an electric lift pump and maybe an alternator instead of a dynamo.

    We’ve ended the weekend with two clean coaches, a running generator and the GUV in undercoat on the west side. We’ll see what the weather brings next week, but we should are looking at completing the mechanical work on the two Catfish and hand paperwork over the Carriage & Wagon to begin their acceptance. Thanks for reading!