Author: rloades109

Hello everyone. After the excitement of the gala last week with goods trains running around, this one has been a bit more sedate on the train front, but just as productive for us.

We’re continuing with the Palvan, and made a start this week by removing the interior boarding on the south end of the van, so that we could start removing the side sheets on the west side.

Now that all bolts could be accessed, the team made quick work of cutting the nuts in half with the grinder and then splitting the remaining portions so that the bolts could be removed. Some bolts had to be split using a chisel due to a lack of grinder access.

Once the side panels had been removed, the team split into two. One side focusing on cleaning down the metalwork and priming it while the other half fitted the side sheets that had been cut last week.

With the east side looking quite smart with the side back in, the finishing touches were added including the chalkboard and the door restraining hook, which had been missing when we’d got the van.

Nick and I started cutting the boards for the East side, after first checking the measurements on the removed panels. The 3 boards were cut in quick succession, with Nick able to prime them to get them ready for next week.

Dave and I started to have a look at a patch of rotten plywood on the south east corner of the van. As we’d have had to remove some of the interior framework we opted to perform a patch repair, cutting out the old board as best we could and then making a new patch to fit in.

As we had to slide the pieces in, this had to be made in 3 sections that slotted together. As we did this, we discovered how the woodwork of the van was initially built. The hardwood framing was built in the carpenter’s shop at Wolverton complete with cladding panels screwed to the frame, and then the entire assembly bolted into the uprights of the van. As such, we’d have had to have stripped down all the interior frame to have replaced the plywood, so this is something for us to bear in mind with this van in the future!

Nick cleaned and primed some of the metalwork while Dave and I cut the bits of board out, and then the 3 of us fettled them to get the 3 pieces to fit in the whole nicely. The pieces were then slathered with both wood primer and PVA with a few woodscrews for good measure!

With the patch finished, there was just enough time to have a cuppa before heading home. Next week we’ll get the East side in the van, and probably get some sealant around all the edges. The next step is the doors, which will have to come off one by one to make sure we get them sorted as best we can. Thank you for reading and see you next week!

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s update. We’ve focused on the Palvan this week, with the main push to get the roof boards on. Firstly, thank you for all your comments on the Palvan. We are aware of their mainline reputation and as such, the van will have a load and we are planning a wheelset swap as the profile on the current wheelsets would fail a fitness to run exam.

Nick went early to Harlow Brothers in Long Whatton to collect the four sheets of 10ft by 5ft plywood we use for the roof. Originally this would have been one big sheet of plywood, but somehow we struggle to find a source for those so make do with joining sheets together.

While Thomas Oliver and I cut the boards to the right sizes, Nick and the rest of the gang changed another buffer on the north end of the Palvan. The other buffer was found to be very soft, to the point of compressing when buffering up to the tool van.

With the sheets cut, we started to get them onto the roof, starting with the north end. The first sheet took quite some lining up, and we had to accept a squiffy side over hang to get the sheet square with the end of the van. Thankfully we can deal with this before the roof sheet is fitted.

The first sheet was bolted down, and a joining strip fixed to the loose end to aid in fitting the 2nd sheet. Dan and Tom painted the first sheet in an aluminium roof paint we’ve had kicking around for ages. The second sheet was fitted in short order and was bolted down in the failing daylight.

The last 2 sheets were bolted down on Sunday morning, and got a coat of paint. The last sheet needed some trimming due to the issues we’d had getting the first sheet lined up.

We then unfurled a lorry curtain and set Tom and Dan to removing the straps from the curtain. This was while I worked on trimming the board edges to remove the worst of the stepping between each board.

Once the strapping was removed, we cut a 20ft section from the curtain and got it onto the roof. There wasn’t time to fix it down, so we’ve used 3 ratchet straps to hold the roof sheet down while we get to fixing it.

Last job of the day was a tidy job, which involved 2 trips to the skip with Danny. Next week should be more of the same with either the roof sheet being fixed down, or a start made on stripping the side sheets out for replacement.

Lets take a look back at the last 12 months. Despite some appalling weather during 2023 we have still completed quite a few restorations, the team has grown too. We had a well supported Open Weekend during which Test Car 2 made it’s first demonstration test train runs in preservation. The team also played a big part in the organising and re-enacting during the award winning Railways at Work Gala Event. Both events featuring the display and operation of many of our fleet of restored goods wagons.

During the GCRs 50th Anniversary Event, we were proud to see 34 of our restored wagons being used in the 9F hauled 50 wagon demonstration goods train.

We’ve had a few new arrivals during 2023; four tank wagons, 1802, 1919, 3777 & A6090; an A type container, and George (our 3rd Brush Electric Pony). We’ve also had one departure as well being the Warflat, 8127.

Restorations completed during 2023 were: Tank 3711, Plate Wagon E212315, Pipe Wagon B740654, Coal Hopper B425356, Electric Pony Tug Kiki, Tank A6090 and Tank 3777.

Other work has included making a start on the preparation for repaint of the GUV M94052, and clearing out Palvan B781908 ready to start restoration.

Repairs have been carried out on Test Car 2, Brake Van B954268, ShocVan B852838, Van B777171 and Edward the Hydrovane Compressor Trailer.

We opened up Test Car 2 to visitors on a number of occasions, including the Diesel Gala, our Open Weekend, the 50th Celebrations and for a Nottingham Trent University students day.

Ross and myself took a trip up to see the Barrow Hill Engine Shed Society and spent a very enjoyable evening talking to a group of 25 society members about our wagon restoration work at Quorn and also Test Car 2.
We released updated versions of both our Pocket Stockbook and also the Test Car 2 booklet.

Thank you Dave for compiling the end of year review! Onto the what’s happened this week then, and unsuprisingly it was more work on 3777. The Tank Train has been running betwixtmas, which was a welcome sight!

On Tuesday I popped to Rothley to carry on signwriting, this time applying the number to the tank four times. I also marked out and masked the Commuted Charge symbol and the Yellow star for Nick to apply white undercoat to. Nick also fitted the vacuum release chord.

The ‘Fast Traffic’ stars were applied on Wednesday, along with the first coat of yellow on the CC and Yellow star.

On Thursday Dave came down to signwrite the ‘Esso Petroleum Company Limited’ wording on the East Side of the barrell. I had set myself a side project of making a portable speaker box to play music through for which I collected the speakers and identified a box for.

On Saturday Dan, Dave and I finished off the solebar signwriting and the Commuted Charge Symbols. The was one slight hitch with the vacuum release chord start, so this got painted out to be re-applied. Nick, Mark and Charlie went to Quorn to tidy up the Mess coach, ready for us to reutrn to it.

The tank was pulled outside on Sunday so we could wash off the dust generated by the DMU Group, after which it went back inside the shed. Dave re-applied the vacuum relase star, just a touch to the left of where it was. Dave and I finished off by applying yet another coat of black gloss to the upward facing parts of the solebar to remove marks of where we’d all been leaning to do the signwriting.

Afterwards, the three of us headed to Quorn, put the remaining stuff away from Rothley, and then pumped the tyres up on the Volvo.

That leaves the only thing to sort out for 3777 to be the Esso plates which I have a plan for, but you shall have to wait to see what I do. That wraps up this update, and indeed this year. Thanks for all your support over the year, and hope you have a good evening. See you next year!

Hello all, and welcome to this week’s update. This week, both tanks are in the shed slowly getting to the stage that its just signwriting to progress. We’ve also updated our stocklist this week, which should be more refelctive of our fleet.

Tom and Barry popped in on Thursday to paint some of the details on 3777. Between them, they painted the yellow on the axle box end caps and main res pipe couplings; the white gloss on the handbrake ends, lamp brackets and air brake cocks; and then the red on the vacuum swanneck and the air brake pipe coupling.

Dave sorted out the templates for 3777 in the week as well, taking a fair while to piece together.

One of the last mechanical jobs on 3777 was the vacuum brake cylinder overhaul. Nick, Barry and I tackled it, finding a cylinder that was in good condition internally and went back together without any issues.

On Sunday, it was signwriting day for Dave and I on A6090. Dave started with one of the big Esso logos, while I did some some more solebar writing. Once done, I moved onto the other Esso logo while Dave painted the number and Esso address.

Mark and Tom painted the final section of underframe around the re-fitted vacuum cylinder, both into undercaot then gloss. Tom also started scraping and cleaning both ends, before applying some paint.

Tom oiled up the brake rigging on both tanks. Nick and Oliver finished the vacuum system by connecting the flexible hose to the train pipe.

Dan picked out the the builders plate on 3777, picked out the SKF lettering on the bearing end caps and then painted the release chord stars on both solebars. He was even caught painting with a cat on his lap!

That about wraps up this week, we’ve still got a fair way to go on the signwriting but we’ve made a good dent in A6090. Join us again next week to see what we get up to.

Hello all, and welcome to another update. We are still continuing our push on the tanks, with this week picking up where we left off with 3777. Tom and Mark both popped in during the week to paint some more of the difficult areas, and then carried on with both headstocks and both solebars!

I treated us to a new spray gun, and made good use of it on Saturday. I spent some time getting the equipment set up and talking Barry through the set up. Dave put together the templates for A6090 so that we can make a start on the signwriting. Barry and I got to the stage of mixing the paint.

Nick, Oliver and Dan ended up going to Loughborough to respond to report of a droplight not working, worthwhile as there wasn’t a lot that could be done while the wagon was being painted.

Barry very ably assisted me while I was spraying the tank, moving steps, carrying the pressure pot and making sure that I didn’t get tangled up in my own hoses. Dave avoided us and started to paint the W irons and underframe on the opposite side to where I was spraying.

Dave also tweaked the south end air brake hose as this had been fitted 180 degrees out, and also made a start on picking out some of the plates on A6090.

Sunday was a little more sedate with Nick and I on site. I concentrated on some of the signwriting on A6090, while Nick used the portable lamps and touched in any area of underframe that had been missed or needed a second coat.

That’s where we wrap up this week’s update, we’ve made excellent progress on 3777, and A6090 is on the finishing straight with sginwriting having been started. Join us next week, where I’m sure more signwriting will be done!

Hello everyone. After the quick turnaround last weekend on A6090, this weekend we’ve made a start on 3777.

Some mid-week work to cover first though where Tom popped to Rothley in the week to finish the details on A6090 including touching in the black paint and the white paint for the handrbake ends and the vacuum swannecks.

First on the weekend list is an initial scrape down with everyone getting stuck in.

Dave and I escaped for a little while outside to A6090 to measure up for the signwriting templates.

One of the wooden air brake pipe supports was found to be rotten, so a new block was made and fitted, though with only me able to get in and drill the new mounting holes.

One label clip and block was retrieved from Quorn and fitted

Dave and I took a side and an end each to sand with the rotary sanders to smooth off the surface ready for undercoating.

The main event on Sunday was of course the undercoating of the tank, keeping me busy all day.

Not wanting to be left out, Mark and Tom each grabbed a brush and got stuck in with the boxes behind each headstock and then the south end.

The tank is sat in undercoat, curing in the safe confines of the shed. I’ll leave you with a wintry, festive picture taken by Tom. Join us again next weekend and see how we get on with 3777.

Hello everyone, this week with the weather being as cold as it is we’ve followed the tanks to Rothely to continue progress. A6090 is the first one out of the two in the queue.

A little bit of cleaning down was done on the underframe by the four of us until after tea when the black gloss came out for the first coat.

Most of the rest of the day for me was applying the paint, while Nick, Dan and Oliver supported.

On Sunday, Nick and I continued starting by finishing the east side underframe, and then a second coat all over the tank.

By half past two, we’d finished the second coat and cleaned everything up so decide to head to Quorn to remove some more things from the Palvan.

A6090 now awaits signwriting, and we should be moving on to 3777 next week starting with a bit of prep work. Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

Hello all! This week, its been the railway’s Last Hurrah gala where alongisde the usual intensive service both the Vans and the Tank train have been running up and down the line. This also marks the Pipe’s first gala back in traffic, and it looked resplendant as one of the barriers for the tank train. Speaking of tanks, both 3777 and A6090 remain at Rothley awaiitng our arrival but we are very much looking forward to continuing these.

This week, the Ops team (thanks guys!) have delivered our next project after the tanks, Palvan B781908. With just me on site on Saturday, progress was limited but I was able to open the padlocks and free off the doors to get in. I got Danny positioned and started to off load some of the very damp surplus PPE and other items into the skip.

Barry and the Baldwins joined me on Sunday where we were able to make better progress. Danny and the team made 3 trips to the skip and the van is looking a lot tidier and the floor able to dry out a little bit.

As darkness descended, we got the painting stuff together ready to start a short stint at Rothley to progress the 2 tanks, starting with A6090 next week. Thanks for reading!

Hello everyone! This week at Quorn the team have been working on getting B954268 and B852838 ready for traffic at the Last Hurrah.

Saturday saw the team working on B954268, which is due back into traffic on the van train at the Last Hurrah gala next weekend. As detailed by C&W on their facebook page, the van has received its new wheelsets, had the brakes re-assembled and then a successful test run to Leicester North and back. upon inspection at Quorn the roof of the van was found to be leaking, so a temporary repair was fashioned to see the van through next weekend. The van is due to be withdrawn after the gala for restoration, and obviously a new roof.

Some of the bow girder safety loops were also adjusted on the van to remove restrictions on their travel when the handbrake was released. The smaller of our scaffold towers has also been dismantled and stored for winter.

With the tanks having made their way to Rothley, and rain falling from the sky on Sunday morning, Barry and I busied ourselves fitting the final two lights in the GUV, which is now all LED lit. The environment is much brighter and the lighting system draws a fair amount less power. Next step for this vehicle is to fit some new batteries.

For the afternoon Nick and I attended to the brake adjustment on B852838, which was found to be out of adjustment for its annual exam. All for push rods were adjusted by half a hole which removed the slack from the system.

That wraps up this week’s update, next weekend the Vans and the Mixed goods will be running at what is the last gala of the year for the railway. We should be getting B781908 up from Swithland to start on plus we’ve still got the tanks up at Rothley. Thanks for reading!

Hello everyone and welcome to another Quorn update. We thought it would have been a wash out, but we’ve managed to do quite a lot! The main event was the annual exam of the Van Train, ready for the Last Hurrah gala.

I’ll start with some good news though B954268 has now received is new wheelsets, fitted by the C&W department. The brakes have been re-assembled and adjusted and it’s had a test run with the Class 10. The van is due to run at the Last Hurrah before an external refurb in the new year. Sadly, years stood stationary not in use have not been kind to it.

Saturday was a wash out, so we ended up continuing to fit LED lights in the GUV. We got 2 fitted, so that leaves 2 left to do.

On Sunday, we got to the annual exam on the vans. Mostly small defects, but one suprising major one, fortunately all able to be fixed. Tom, Dan and Oliver got started on oiling the brake rigging, Mark on the screw couplings and Nick and myself inspecting.

On to the defects then: B852838 required a brake adjustment, B850498 had 3 loose bolts on the underkeep/tiebar, B786348 had a minor repair to the vacuum release cord, M730562 was booked with a loose veranda floor plank, B777728 also had some loose bridle bolts for which the hot spanner had to come out to tighten the bolts which were re-assembled with spring washers. B777171 ended up with the major defect, this being a cracked disc in the drawhook rubber arrangement.

Oliver and I tackled the veranda floor in the LMS Brake van while Nick, Mark and Tom tackled the broken drawgear disc, initially by searching for a spare disc then dismantling and re-fitting the spare disc. One of the cracks is quite old, but we think it happened as the disc had been mounted the wrong way round, increasing the stress on the disc beyond its limit.

Unfortunately we lost the light before adjusting the brakes on B852838, so this will be caught next week so that it can join the ball. Thanks for reading and join us next week to see what we do alongisde the brakes on B852838!