Author: Dave Bower

Hi all, welcome to a Railways at Work weekend update. Whilst some of the team supported the event, the rest continued with work on two of the tank wagons; and at Rothley the C&W department team have progressed repairs to the Lowfit and also the Steel High.

At Rothley the repair work on the wagon end sections of Steel High B724570 was well advanced. Thanks again to Jamie, Pat, Kyle, Rob, Noah and Steve.

Also the C&W team had welded new metal into the dragbox of the Lowfit B452718, (thanks to Pat for the photos)

On Friday preparations for the Railways at Work weekend involved getting the barrels and Brute Trolleys out of the van train at Quorn.

Over the weekend Mark, Tom, Ernie and Oliver continued to progress cleaning down and applying red-oxide primer to tank 3621.

Oliver had a birthday celebration; and of course there was cake involved….

Tank 3606 also received attention with some primer and undercoat applied to underframe areas.

The Railways at work is always an enjoyable weekend; here’s a selection of our pics.

and the Railways at Work team.

Thanks for reading, join us again next week, all the best, Dave

Hello and welcome to another bumper update from the team at Quorn. We have a new arrival, 22T capacity Esso petroleum tank 3854, built by the Cambrian Wagon & Engineering Company in 1958. The tank arrived on the 22 July from Llangollen, whilst Grampus wagon DB985884 departed on the same day being transferred up to the GCR(N) at Ruddington on loan.

Tank 3854 joins the others of this design we have in the fleet, with six of this type now at the GCR. The plan is to restore this along with 3606 and 3621 to match the three already completed 3436, 3711 and 3777.

On the 24 July our friends at Lauda Fabrications made a start welding the tank barrel of 3606 onto the underframe, the north end seams on both sides were completed.

Lauda Fabrications also brought along the the supports that they had fabricated up for us using the drawings that Ross had produced. Ernie set to work trial fitting these around the wagon to sort out which of the 4 supports fitted best in which location. The mounting holes were then marked up ready for Lauda to drill out.

The 26th July was a busy day with a few tasks on the new tank 3854, including replacing a missing handbrake pin, fitting lamp irons, grinding off the odd tubes that had been welded to the side of the ladders, and giving the tank barrel and underframe a good pressure wash.

The painted up 3d printed Owners plates were fitted to tank 1919.

Work on tank 3621 continued with barrel, scraping, sanding and red oxide primer application where necessary on any areas of bare metal.

Some progress was made with the tank side logos and commuted charge signage on tank 1919.

The south end tank mounting was welded up on the 28th July and the drilled out supports returned from Lauda ready for painting and fitting. The step ladder mounting brackets that Ernie had made up were also welded into place.

Dan painted the air brake valves and pipe connectors on tank 1919; and also applied some gloss Bauxite to the planks on Brake Van B954268 that had been previously undercoated.

In the week after his wedding Ross was busy back at work looking after the Hydroflex train at the Greatest Gathering weekend in Derby.

The fabricated tank supports were primed and undercoated before having some black gloss applied to the undersides on the 2 August.

The ladder mounting brackets and barrel welds on tank 3606 were cleaned up and red oxide primer applied, and the tank barrel support pads got some black gloss.

Further work was done on the tank barrel logos on 1919 including the green on the BP logo on the east side getting a second coat, and the commuted charge signage completed.

Suitable bolts were chosen and the tank supports on 3606 were trial fitted one by one, ensuring alignment and packing where necessary to give even contact in each case with the tank barrel.

Once all were aligned then they were bolted down securely.

Sunday 3rd August I continued with the west side BP logo on tank 1919.

Some more sanding and cleaning up on tank 3621 was progressed.

Ernie ground off two extra pipes that had been welded to tank 3606, then cut out two blanking plates that will be welded to cover the resultant holes.

I marked out and applied the running number to the north end of tank 1919.

An inspection of the van train that was stabled in the Down siding at Quorn revealed a damaged roof felt letting in water on the Southern Brake Van S56010. A new piece of felt was cut, sealant applied and stapled in position across the affected area of the roof. This should keep it water tight until a full roof covering replacement can be affected.

That about wraps up over 2-weeks work for the team, I’ll leave you with pics of the four tank wagons, all progressed a little bit further.

Cheers of now, Dave

Hello and welcome to this weeks update from Quorn as tank 1919 gets its original 1966 as-built identity back.

The top coat of gloss had applied really well last week, therefore we were able to make a start with the lettering on 1919. Over the last few weeks the templates have been prepared and printed. These were carefully cut to size and assembled as necessary.

Working on the west side of 1919. the positions of the templates for the tank barrel and solebar lettering were marked onto the wagon, then templates chalked and attached in place.

The chalk was transferred to the wagon by tracing the lettering.

I then set to work painting the lettering, starting with the running number; thereby giving the wagon back its original 1966 identity of 1919.

Whilst I was busy with the signwriting, Ross and Nick removed one of the ladders from tank 3621 that will be used as a template to produce the two new ladders required for tank 3606.

Ernie cleaned up the ladder mounting brackets on 3606 in readiness for fitting the new ladders.

A stuck buffer on the Iron Ore Hopper wagon B439708 was attended to.

Mark, Tom, Oliver , Charlie, Dan and Daniel oiled and tested the operating wheels and brakes on the Dogfish and Herring engineers wagons.

After a short break out of the sunshine, they continued, oiling and testing the handbrakes on the mixed freight and van train.

I continued with the tank side lettering, using our gazebo for a bit of shelter from the sun.

Whilst Dan applied some white undercoat to the axlebox covers.

The solebar lettering for Wheelbase, Load and Tare weights were next.

On the east side of the wagon Dan, Ernie and myself marked out the positions for the two Shell/BP logos. The templates were positioned and the outlines chalked onto the wagon, then tape applied to the outline.

The logo areas were keyed with a scotch bright pad then undercoat applied; light grey to the left hand box and white to the right one.

The axlebox covers were given a coat of yellow by Ernie whilst I picked out the west side builders plate and foot valve instruction plate.

Thanks for reading, join us again next week for the GCRs Rail200 event where we’ll have the Test Car open to visitors on the Saturday 5th July.

All the best, Dave

Welcome to this weeks update from the team at Quorn. We continue to progress work on the three tank wagons 1919, 3606 & 3621; and we help out RVP replacing the TPO equipment.

Tom, Oliver and Nick helped the RVP team.

It’s unusual to find spindle type buffers stuck compressed, however one was noted on Grampus 985884; this was dealt with swiftly by Nick.

The tank barrel on 1919 was keyed with scotch-bright pads ready for its second coat of gloss black.

Some of the underframe areas on tank 1919 that were not accessible with the spray gun, including the new vacuum pipe and the buffers were hand painted in gloss black.

The outer section of the heating coil pipe on 3606 was adjusted slightly to get it level; then the whole pipe was wire brushed and treated to a coat of red-oxide primer.

The new (but slightly over length) buffer mounting bolts and lamp bracket bolts on tank 3621 were trimmed to length and given a coat red oxide primer.

The spray equipment was prepared, a couple of the spray gun air pipe joints re-sealed. The gloss black paint was mixed then measured out for thinning.

Once the thinned paint was mixed thoroughly it was checked for the correct consistency then was filtered into the spray gun pot.

We tackled the two ends of the tank 1919 first, followed by the east side.

The west side was completed in the afternoon.

Further scraping and red-oxide priming was carried out on tank 3621.

Thanks for reading, the next steps for tank 1919 will be detailing, signwriting including the logo application; once we’ve finalised the templates.

As for tank 3621 there is still much to scrape and prime on the underframe, then there’s the tank barrel to sand as well as the Esso logo plate brackets to weld into place.

Join us again next week, all the best, Dave

This week the team at Quorn work on the Esso Tank Wagons 3606 & 3621, and Lowfit B452718, helped by a group of Young Rail Professionals (YRP).

It was also a great pleasure to welcome members of the Salisbury and South Wilts Railway Society who were visiting the GCR.

On Saturday Mark, Oliver, Tom, Daniel and Charlie got stuck in to some scraping, wire brushing, sanding and needle gunning on Tanks 3606 and 3621.

The Young Railway Professionals team worked on the Lowfit underframe, again with scrapers, wire brushes and a needle gun.

Ernie, Ross, Dan and myself set to work making 16 steel brackets that will be used to mount the Esso plates on tank 3621. After measuring up the existing brackets on tank 3606, some steel plate strip was cut into lengths and the holes drilled.

The first plate was marked for the bend position, heated and bent to shape. This was then checked against the existing brackets.

The remaining 15 cut and drilled plates were then marked, heated and bent to shape.

The blanked off heating coil bungs on tank 3606 were cut to get the bungs out with a view to making a replacement section of pipework.

Red Oxide was applied to some of the cleaned up areas on tank 3606.

Sunday saw Harry, Charlie and myself continuing with cleaning up areas on 3606 and 3621 followed by more red oxide primer.

All in all another busy weekend with progress on the Esso tanks.

Join us again next week as we continue with the tanks, all the best, Dave

Hello and welcome to a bumper update from the team at Quorn; reporting on two weeks work on the TTA Tank 1919. It was also great to see the mixed goods running again for the popular Goods Experience event.

Last week progress was made with the headstocks and sanding the tank barrel. The remains of the last stubborn sticker adhesive took a bit of removing.

Two discarded picnic benches were recovered from Rothley and given some tlc. These will be put to good use by the team at Quorn.

A donated vice was attached to the heavy framed workbench.

This weekend started with a snapped brake release chord on the Dogfish in the mixed goods, which was given a temporary repair before Witherslack Hall arrived to take charge of the Goods Experience event train. The release chord will be fully replaced in due course.

Work then continued on tank 1919, sanding, wire brushing, scraping and needle gunning the solebars.

Followed by a coat of red-oxide primer; and a bit of much needed tlc for some paint brushes.

With the needle gun out an opportunity was taken to clean up some of the Lowfit underframe.

Monday and we were treated to a couple of customary Bank Holiday showers, however there were sufficient dry spells to continue with solebar and underframe scaping, wire brushing, sanding and red-oxide painting more areas on tank 1919.

A bit of tree pruning was necessary to get a couple of overhanging branches clear of the tanks; of course firstly making absolutely sure there were no nesting birds.

One of the theatrical prop bicycles was repaired using parts obtained from a local car boot sale. Some of the rod type brake linkage needed a bit of re-shaping to fit and operate smoothly.

Tank 1919 is progressing much closer to being ready for undercoat painting, lets hope the weather is kind to us next week !

Join us again next week when Quorn Station Yard will be busy with the 1940s Weekend, for full details see the GCR website here – https://tickets.gcrailway.co.uk/events/103217

All the best, Dave

Hello all, welcome to our news from Quorn. A busy week with various activities, making progress with two vans, a vac cylinder, a sticky release valve, some general housekeeping and also Madge.

It was also great to see some of our wagons out running in the mixed goods for the first of the Goods Experience Day events; and we wished Charlie a Happy Birthday for next Tuesday, with cake of course.

During the week Nick and Tom dealt with a sticky release valve that had been reported on Conflat B505313. The valve was replaced with an overhauled one from our stock. The faulty valve will be subsequently overhauled and put back into stock.

The roofs of two of the four vans that had their roof sheets replaced over the Christmas period were painted by Dan, Harry and Nick. P18422 and B779978. The other two will be dealt with when we have got some more paint.

Ernie finished of cleaning up the previously assembled vacuum cylinder, then gave it a coat of re-oxide primer. By the afternoon the red oxide had dried allowing a coat of black gloss.

After tidying up the garage, Jack, Charlie and myself got stuck into some needle gun work on the cab floor framework of Madge, taking it back to bare metal. After cleaning down, this was followed by a coat red-oxide primer.

We also applied some black to the previously primed rear hubs and brake drums. The inner faces of the rear wheels were painted too.

Ernie spent some time sharing his many years of experience, teaching Harry and Charlie the art of chisel and drill bit grinding. Both of them getting quite a bit of practice as we have very many blunt drill bits and somewhat used chisels.

The tidying up continued throughout the weekend; we also had some very kind donations of tools, a vice, storage racks and two sturdy workbenches from Richard, thank you.

Mark and Tom also sorted out and recovered quite a few paint brushes.

Madge’s rear wheels were re-fitted and some further needle gun and scraping was carried out inside Madge’s cab and also on some of the inner areas of the rear framework. This again was cleaned down and treated with red oxide primer.

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

– Road Rail Steam – Saturday 19, Sunday 20 and Monday 21 April 2025

– Spring Diesel Gala – Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Sunday 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.

Along with our popular Test Car 2 booklets, we also have a new booklet covering the history and use of another British Rail Test Coach, Test Car 1.
Both are available from a member of the team at Quorn, or when you visit the Test Car, only £5.

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, Dave

Hello and welcome to our weekly update from the team at Quorn.

This week we are pleased to announce a new arrival to our fleet and we are nearing completion of the vacuum through piping on both of the TTAs.

So here is our new arrival; 35T TSV Tank wagon number 3621, built in 1958 by Hurst Nelson in Wakefield for Esso, initially registered to BR Scottish Region (registration number 808). In the 1980s it was sold to the CEGB, renumbered 48527; then subsequently entered preservation in 1990. It has been acquired from the Foxfield Railway where it had been used as a water carrier; arriving at Quorn on 14 Feb 2025.

There is some work to do on the tank to get it operational, including freeing off the seized brakes, replacing the missing Vacuum brake cylinder and the faulty buffers; and removing the non original water pump and pipework.
The aim will then be to restore it back into its original Esso livery and for it to join the other Esso tanks in the train.

Saturday and with Nick, Ross, Ernie, Harry, Charlie and myself on-site, we concentrated on finishing off making and assembling the remaining sections of vacuum pipe for TTA tank 1919.

Once assembled the north and south end sections of vacuum pipe were threaded under the wagon and clamped into place.

This allowed us to then accurately measure the centre straight section of pipe, cut, thread and fit in place with the two temporary clamps. The final joint being an in-line coupler.

Although some of the clamps are still temporary and final more substantial ones made; with the completion of the pipes we got out the vacuum test rig to see if the two wagons would hold vacuum.
Before we connected the rig compressed air from Edward was blown through the new pipework on both wagons to ensure they were clear and free from any debris.

With the vacuum rig connected to both wagons the new pipework was checked for leakage using the standard vacuum test gauges, and stood up very well.
We then decided to do a full check of the air brake system on both wagons. Air from Edward was fed via the regulator, air valves and gauges on the test rig allowing us to control brakes on both wagons. The brakes operated as they should and using Test Car 2s air test gauge and stopwatch the application and release times of the air brakes were confirmed to be within specification.

We finished the day on Saturday taking a look at the seized brakes on tank 3621 in the yard. Initial findings were that the majority of the brake rigging is not seized, just very gunked up.

Sunday saw more hands on-site with Nick, Ross, Ernie, Charlie, Mark, Tom, Dan, Oliver, James and myself at Quorn.
It was great to be able to help Ernie celebrate his 82nd Birthday, and enjoy some cake too.

Happy Birthday Ernie !

Ernie and myself continued with vacuum pipe bracket manufacturing for tank 1919, cutting strips of steel plate then heating and bending to shape. Mounting bolt holes were then drilled.

Three new brackets were completed and fitted into place. The parts for the final two brackets were also made and are ready for welding up next week.

The rest of the team concentrated on tank 3621. Whilst the wagon was in the yard and easily accessible for the Volvo, the opportunity was taken to fit the vacuum brake cylinder that we had refurbished a few weeks ago ready. A replacement outer trunnion bracket was sourced and new nuts, washers & bolts.

The wagon was then moved down the yard to our working area; the water pump, filling pipe and associated fittings & valves were all removed.

More work was also done cleaning up and freeing off the brake rigging and couplings.

Ross had to attend to a damaged sill cover from his car, making a new end piece and repairing some of the broken clips; whilst Charlie re-wired a 110v transformer for Ross to check before it was tested.

That wraps up a busy weekend for the team; our new arrival looking very much at home stabled with the TTAs.

Join us again next week, all the best, Dave