Author: rloades109

Hello everyone, and welcome to our 2nd Bank Holiday update. In this 3 day weekend, we’ve been maintaining the van train in between the showers. During the week, Nick went to Coalville to pick up some donations to go into the theatrical vans.

Dave started Saturday by completing the signwriting on the Plate, taking care of the final D plate. Now this wagon is finished we’re looking at what will be next, which is likely to be the Pipe wagon.

The team of Nick, Mark, Tom, Oliver and Dan started sorting out some ladders for each van in the train while also locating the roof sheet required for B852838 which we’ve decided is the next to get a next roff covering. It was found while doing this that door of the doors were stiff to open, so they went along the train oiling the door hinges and mechanisms to ensure that the doors don’t seize up.

Having finished the Plate, Dave assisted with the sorting, but also fitted a door pull handle to an sticky internal swing door in the Yellow Coach.

Nick and I were on site on Sunday, and we put up the scaffold towers to look at the failed roof covering on P18422. It was noticed when the Test Car was last open that the roof felt had opened up. We had some roofing felt in-store, despite preferring sheets these days. We stuck the flap back down with felt adhesive, then overlayed 3 panels of roof felt with copious amount of adhesive to stick the panels down, and then to seal the joins. Pictures show the before and after taken from the scaffold tower.

After the roof was done and the adhesive setting, we looked at some lose body planking and a trim strip on the end of the east side siding door.

Mark and Dan joined Nick and I today, but due to the weather this ended up being a sorting and tidying day. I did manage to investigate Kiki’s wobbly tiller. I think a nylon bush is required to take out any play, so will have to measure up for this. Nick and I took Danny for a skip trip to end the day.

That’s the end of activities this week. Next week, weather dependent, we’ll be looking at the roof on B852838, wish us luck with the weather! Thanks for reading.

Hello and welcome to the first May Bank Holiday update from us! This week, we’ve been fixing some arising work on the Dogfish, which was picked up after their annual exams.

On Saturday, the team started by identifying 5 spare buffers from our stash to replace those identified as failed on the wagons. Nick, Mark and I worked on the buffers, using the oxy/propane to heat the nuts up prior to removal.

Thomas, Dan and Tom started the process of oiling the wagons, starting with the doors, their oil pots and then moving onto the oiling the brake rigging and handbrake mechanisms. Their size was an advantage here!

While the hot spanner was out, we also tightened up some brake safety loops the had become loose.

Thomas, Nick, David and I were on site on Sunday, and I started with a bit of signwriting!

The south end of DB986166 was reported as having no brake safety loops. Nick, David and Thomas found some and fitted them to the wagon to make this complete.

Having finished the D plate I was signwriting, I started to take a look at the Generator again, draining some of the fuel tank to check the contents, and replacing the engine fuel filter and bleeding the fuel system up to the injector pump. I also replaced the rocker cover gasket.

Monday was more work on the Dogfish, taking a closer look at some of the stiffer doors and further oiling them up as best as access permisses. Oh to have a pit! Thankfully some of the doors freed off an amount which should help when they come to be used in the near future.

I think that covers this weekend. 5 buffers have been changed, 21 doors have been maintained, one D plate painted and 3 safety loops fitted. 5 of the Dogfish have now re-entered traffic to jon DB993412, with the 6th one awaiting replacement wheelsets. Next week, weather dependent we’ll be looking at some box van roofs, and there is still one D plate to signwrite. Thanks for reading!

Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn! This week has been has seen the signwriting on the Plate wagon ,E212315, nearly finished and the 2 TTAs, 1802 and 1919, got washed and an initial survey of the vacuum pipe routing.

As we are opening Test Car 2 up for both a visit in the week and at the Diesel Gala, Dave spent the day freshening up the interior, making it ready for visitors. The flies that have made TC2 home over the winter have also been evicted!

Nick started by picking out the white details on the plate wagon, these being the handbrake ends and vacuum pipe swan necks. He then joined Mark, Oliver, Dan and I in washing the 2 TTA wagons.

Dave, now finished in the Test Car, continued the signwriting on the Plate, writing the tare weight on the east side and chalking out the wheelbase on the solebar for me.

As menitioned previously, I was in the main yard with Mark, Dan and Oliver washing the tanks. These look a bit better having had judicious application of Traffic Film Remover, agitation with a brush and being rinsed with the pressure washer. There is still a fair amount of bedded in brake dust to remove, so suggestions welcome for that!

It was just Nick and I onsite on Sunday, so I first spent some time on the Plate, signwriting the wheelbase which Dave had kindly chalked for me. Nick used the time to talk Rothley’s BEV back to the shed.

I also took a look at the air outlet on the Hydrovane. After the needle guns had become full of condensation, I have put a water trap between the outlet and the hose connection to better control this.

Thanks for reading. We’ll have the Test Car open on both Saturday and Sunday next week, so do pop down and see us if you are visiting!

Hello everyone, welcome to another QWW update. This week, we’ve continued work on the LNER Plate wagon, E212315.

The paint on the Plate is quite cracked and crazed, which means we’re having to strip it back to bare metal before we repaint it. To that end, Nick and I decided that we should make a start looking at the air equipment and making sure it was all working, including 3 needle guns.

We’d managed to get the generator in the Test Car going to use the coach’s compressor, but the engine didn’t really sound too happy, though it started and ran the compressor. Two out of the three needle guns we’ve got worked so we made a start on the east side of the wagon, you know, just to test them. By the end of the day, we’d completed three quarters of the west side doors.

Sunday saw more of the gang here, Nick and I were joined by Mark, Tom, Dan and Oliver. Sunday was a trying day on the equipment front. The genset in the Test Car would not start, so we had to try the Hydrovane. The battery I put on it ended up being flat, so we got the charger/jump pack out which promptly decided it would let some of its magic smoke escape.

Thankfully, we found another battery and the Hydrovane sprang into life after around a 3 year slumber. It did spring an air leak later in the day, but this was patched with a piece of rubber and some jubilee clips as a temporary repair.

Finally, we got back to needle gunning the wagon. We concentrated on the West side today due to the very much reduced train movements while the bridge job is still underway. Everyone got both doors stripped down, plus 3/4 of the west side solebar, and then moved around to the head stock and the final 2 panels Nick and I left yesterday.

In anticipation of a couple of pending arrivals, I made sure the pressure washer is still functioning after its winter in the shed, which thankfully it did. All being well, we just have 2 TTAs arrived next week that need a wash!

That about covers this week, join next week to see if we’ve been cleaned some new tank wagons, or continued with the Plate! Thanks for reading.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s update! This week has seen further progress on the Plate, E212315. Starting with last week’s floor, which had just been laid loosely down in the wagon.

The floor was left sat on top of rivets from the underframe, something which isn’t uncommon on wagons. These usually need a relief making in the floor timber to allow the board to sit down fully. Nick, using his favourite tool, made impressions of the rivet heads in the underneath of the plank.

Mark then lifted the plank out and rolled it over, after which I set about it with the big drill and a Forstner bit to make the relief.

Dan was kept on his toes, cleaning up the cuttings and sawdust behind us prior to putting the plank back down to check for if any other drilling was required.

After the planks were fully seated, we moved on to the capping strips, laid down each edge of the wagon. The floor was drilled from underneath, and the strip positioned above. The strip was then bolted to the kerb rail, and thus the floor secured.

Sunday saw Michael join us to help with scraping the Plate, getting it ready for paint.

Nick and I concentrated on cracked welds around the bottom of the doors. At some point in its life, the doors on the wagon had metal strips stitch welded to them. Some of these have since had rust build up between the strip and the door angle iron, resulting in the welds cracking, or even one strip having broken clean off the wagon!

All the doors had some welding attention, but the west side required much more with the north door having both strips broken off and reattached.

Michael made an excellent job of the east side underframe, which is now ready for paint. Both sides still need the doors needle gunning before the body can be painted however, which might be a job for next week…

That brings us to a close this weekend, thanks for reading!

Hello, you join us again for a weekend update. I write this from a hotel room in Poland due to having to travel for work today. The railway is currently cut into 3 bits with the bridge renovations starting in earnest this week. The engineers fleet is seeing lots of use over the next month, this weekend was the Grampus and Rudd’s turns, removing the spolied from the bridge decks.

In the week, Nick has been to look at some wheelsets for the Coal Hopper and one of the Dogfish which has failed its annual exam on both wheelsets. 3 have been selected for our use, so we await their arrival to progress both wagons.

Its been a quiet weekend and Nick and I have used it to have a bit of a tidy up and a sort out around yard now that we are back at Quorn. I concentrated on tidying up the Yellow Coach, checking all the power tools, while Nick concentrated on tidying the general yard area and Charlie cleaned and hoovered the workbenches in the GUV. This culminated in a Volvo bucket going to the skip.

Due to a last minute move of the Plate wagon into the main car park, Nick, Dan and Tom continued project tidy up. They made good progress on sorting out sweeping out and wiping down surfaces in the Yellow Coach, sorting out the tools in the tool van and carrying on the general yard tidying.

That about covers it for this week, a bit photo light and a bit wagon work light, but sometimes to have just have a weekend sorting out. Join us again next week, we’re we’ll be stripping the old floor out of the Plate wagon.

Hello everyone, weclome to this week’s update. This week, we’ve been concentrating on finishing the hopper but did find our way back to Quorn briefly to work on one of the Rudds.

I started this weekend by making a start on the West side signwriting on the Coal Hopper, chalking up and taping the boxes for the Data panel and the Number panel.

Thomas’s job for the day was to carefully apply white gloss to the hand rails, while Oliver and Dan applied white gloss to the corner steps, door trip levers, handbrake lever end and the swan necks.

At this point, we left for Quorn to look at one of the Rudds, DB972608. This had an annual exam in the week which found one wheelset below the minimum flange thickness. Thankfully we had a spare sat at Quorn and in an hour and a half, we had the failed wheelset dropped, removed and replaced. To finish the job, the underkeep/tie bars were straightened and re-attached.

We returned to Rothley so that I could continue the signwriting, this time the east side solebar details, and so that Thomas could finish the handrails on the North End of the wagon.

Dave joined us on Sunday, meaning he and I could finish the signwriting on the West side. Dave started with the number panel.

I took the ‘House Coal Concentration’ legend. This side has a special nod to Brian Hallett, who sadly passed away recently. Brian applied the legend on this wagon’s last repaint, and having completed the signwriting was found to have painted one ‘N’ in concentration backwards. Brian corrected the mistake, but as a little nod, I thought I’d replicate it this time in memorial. Rest in Peace Brian.

Dave had finished the D plate on the solebar as I finished the legend. Dave started some touching in with the bauxite gloss, while I painted the Wheelbase on the solebar.

What was Nick doing all this time, I hear you ask? Nick had the black gloss out, painting areas of 3711 which looked patchy now it was in the daylight. He then moved on to do the same with the hopper.

That about wraps up this update, and with it our time at Rothley. Its been very handy and has allowed us to complete 2 tanks and the hopper, bar its wheelset swap (though hopefully more news on that next week!). Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you next time!

Welcome to another one of our updates. We are still at Rothley, completing work on the Coal Hopper, B425356. Before I get stuck ino that, some other news from the week. The Bogie Bolster D has left Quorn yard to rejoin the Mixed Freight train and the Van train has been moved from Quorn Yard temporarily so that the engineer’s vehicles can be pushed into the main yard for the impending bridge renovations.

Onto this wekend then! After last week’s effort in getting the hopper into Gloss, the effort continues now on the underframe and details. Thomas and Nick took care of the black gloss to the underframe, platforms under the hopper ends and tops of the inner and outer solebars.

With Dave at Doncaster with West Hill Wagon Works, I was the sole signwriter this week. I started by assemmbling the templates from the A4 pages. After this I chose to start with the post-1964 number box, moving onto the data panel.

Sunday saw us joined by Tom and Dan, who also finished off some of the black underframe painting. Once this was done Thomas, Tom and Dan moved onto the white undercoat. Thomas took care of the end handrails and made a superb job. Tom and Dan made a good job of the handbrake lever ends, the door trip levers and the vacuum swan-necks. Nick kept hold of his black gloss brush and completed any areas missed on the underframe, and where I had finished signwriting.

For me it was the large legend, ‘House Coal Concentration’. I assembled the template and then spent the day on that, feeling very crossed eyed by the end of it.

We’re now nearing the end of the work on the hopper, leaving that at Rothley for its axle repair for us to go back to Quorn for the Plate wagon. Next weekend will be more of the same on the hopper though, with the west side solebar signwriting to do and then the whole east side still to tackle. See you then!

Hello, and welcome to our update from the Winter Gala. From what we’ve seen its been quite a well attended one, and for us as seen the debut of 5209!

Both 3436 and 5209 rejoined the tank train, which then got formed as part of the mixed freight. 3711 also hasn’t stood still. The wheelset taken to Rothley last Sunday was taken into the shed and fitted on Monday (thank you to the Rothley lads!) Nick painted the bearing adapter in black on Saturday, and also undercoated the yellow end cap. Sadly, niether Dave and I could be there.

Sunday saw Nick and I there but Dave also popped in for an hour or so before going to other commitments. The main object of the day was to fit LED Batten lights in the garage, so that it can become more than a storage building. I must say it’s nice to actually be able to see in there for a change!

While Dan and I were sorting out the lights, Nick, Tom and Mark sorted out the wooden vehicle crossing which had been slowly crumbling. They’ve now made something a lot more stable which should stand up to the rigours of 3 wheel lorries, and vehicles moving across it at all angles.

I finished up looking at a few of our extension cables to investigate reported problems some breaks were found in the live in both cables so these will either be joined back together with the appropriate equipment or cut down to make shorter cables.

That’s where we’ll leave this week’s update, sorry for the lack of pictures! Next week we’ll pick up where we left off on the coal hopper, making start on the painting. There is also some work planned to kick off Madge’s repair so join us then to see where we get to!

Hello again,, we’re back for another weekend of tank action. The job list on 3711 is certainly now dwindling, leaving only a wheelset to change and the replacement of 2 buffers.

Dave and I started off with the last 2 jobs of signwriting, those being the Commuted Charge symbol for me and the OLE warning flashes for Dave.

I moved onto the north end axle, checking the roller bearings and purging them with grease using the very handy air powered grease pump.

With the greasing done and the OLE flashes finished, Dave looked for areas of signwriting to touch up and I fitted a new vacuum relase chord.

Sunday morning saw me at a very cold Quorn, prepping for 2 jobs. One being a bit of welding on Matt’s trailer, which was the reattachement of some angle irons for the brakes after being shortened. The other was moving the wheelset intended for the tank at Rothley. The latter involved encouraging the Test Car’s generator to start, to get air to pump up the loader’s tyre. The former was rather straight forward!

Nick ferried the wheelset to Rothley and unloaded it from his lorry, Tom painted the vacuum cylinder on the tank wagon whilst Oliver did some tidying. I joined later to have a look at the brake carriers on the tank to make sure they were fit for traffic. (The split pin was later opened out!)

Next weekend is the Winter Steam Gala, so expect to see the mixed freight out with the 3436 and making its debut will be 5209! See you next time!