Category: Updates

  • 14/06/20 – Unable to Container the excitement

    No, you didn’t imagine last week’s update; we are really back, and this weekend carried on with the standard social distancing regulations in force. Thanks to the sunnier, hotter weather Matt has been able to make a start on undertaking the fibreglass repairs to his container. Our staggered approach to having the team back has seen Dave return this weekend. Dave, Matt and Jake made a start on the container by removing previous, failed repair patches and scalloping the edges of the damage out to get a good edge for the adhesion of the new repairs.

    With the old repairs and damage prepared, Matt then went round with expanding foam to fill up the big holes. I’d struck up the Test Car’s Generator and compressor at this point to build air to blow down the dust from the container to continue with the repairs. By the time the air had built up and the container blown down, the sun had got quite hot. Matt had the idea of dragging out the £50 gazebo he’d bought for Madge and using it as a cover/sun shade to use while working on the container. With suitable leg extensions fitted, the gazebo was erected over the container.

    By this point it was lunch time, so we’d stopped for lunch. Matt got out the fibreglassing kit, and started smoothing off the expanding foam and applying resin and matting to the areas that required it. This was then followed by Isopon P40 to bridge smaller holes, and fill repairs to surface level.

    The process so far, Old repairs removed,  voids filled with expanding foam and tided.  Fibreglass matting bonded with resin applied over the foam.

    Sunday with Nick, Matt, Dave and Jake on site continuing on Matts Container. Jake and Nick looked at opening the locking bar on the North set of side doors.  This was to allow Matt to make a repair to the door behind the bar.

    Dave went around fitting the plates manufactured for the corner strapping to return them to the correct profile.  Although the North East corner was deemed not to require them.

    Once fitted Dave moved to the roof to remove the redundant stacking plates and remains of screws which had corroded severely, as per Nicks Container these will not be replaced. Matt continued filling all the previously prepared areas.

    After lunch Matt manufactured a repair plate for the door, Red Oxided and with Jakes help fitted.20200614_163259

    Whilst in a manufacturing mood Matt also created the blanking plate for the disconnected loaded cylinder on the Iron Ore Tippler and also closed the vacuum hoses into a loop so to reduce the possibility of the redundant hoses deteriorating.

    Dave began the long task of sanding the container and this will require filling and sanding until the desired finish is reached,  so a few weekends of filling and sanding expected.

    To complete the process above, Filler applied and sanded

    A good chunk of work done on the container.  To finish the afternoon a visit from EE Type One D8098 dropping of a few coaches, including our very own BG

  • 07/06/20 – We are back

    07/06/20 – We are back

    Monday I spend time on site with the GCRs H&S Co-ordinator finalising our specific Risk Assessment and ordering PPE for a safe, controlled return for the rest of the team Saturday. I also gained permission to carry out a number of tasks whilst there.

    So Monday sees the completion of the Iron Ore Tippler, Axel ends painted yellow, levers and lamp irons painted white and underframe details completed. All that remains is the internal bitumen.

    Under coat was also applied to the Air Braked High for the Air Braked Network circle as well as the HMLE stickers.

    Final bit of activity was to check over Madge, I gave her a run as well as trying her new trailer. All worked well.

    On to Wednesday and as usual the weather had other ideas. First job I drilled out the blobs of weld which filled in the holes for the chalkboard brackets and assisted by my wife Michelle we fitted four brackets, this allowed me to measure up for the new boards which I cut and primed.

    With the weather continuing to be disruptive I sign wrote the sole bar details, 280364:

    281882:

    Thursday and a little better weather and more signwriting. This time the main lettering on 280364 as well as painting the ABN circle yellow.

    The main lettering was also applied to 281882.

    The chalkboards for 280364 were also undercoated and as the sun came out a quick look over the 3 almost completed wagons, still a few finishing touches remain.

    Friday afternoon I popped in and applied the ABN initials to the Air Braked Network circle on 280364 and painted areas of the data panel in preparation for dates to be applied.

    Top coat was applied to the BR style chalkboards and I also manufactured and primed a pair of LNER chalkboards.

    With a phased return of personnel, Nick joined me Saturday spending his time tidying a number of areas as well as assisting me fit the completed chalkboards to 280364.

    Paint was applied to the nut heads and I moved on to manufacturing LNER style chalkboard brackets.

    With a break in the weather I applied details to 280364s data panel and drilled holes for 281882s chalkboard brackets, these would originally have been welded but this is a facility we do not have due to power constraints. Red Oxide and Gloss was applied to the freshly drilled holes.

    With the holes drilled I applied Red Oxide and Gloss to the brackets and undercoat to the chalkboards.

    The phased return continued Sunday with Ross and Jake on site, the rest of the gang will be contacted this coming week about the way forward.

    My first job was to apply the top coat to the chalkboards and brackets, followed by painting the adjustment indicators and brake pin on 280364, as pers 1970s spec.

    This completes 280364, having applied a 1970s livery she will not be joining the mixed freight rake but retained with the Test Car as a test vehicle for demonstrations and Test Car open days.

    Nick and Jake made repairs to the roof of 783082, this had been observed to be moving during a photocharter. The nuts holding the edge of the roof had worked loose as well as the lath on the edge having rotted, this was replaced, the roof edge bolted down and any rips in the sealed. The rest of the roof was given a look over to ensure secure.

    Ross replaced the compressor motor on the test car which has seized before the lockdown.

    Once complete Ross fired up the test car and tested the compressor, charging the main reservoir and operating parts of the air system.

    https://videopress.com/v/ETcdwQAx?preloadContent=metadata

    With the chalkboards now dry and Ross inside the wagon they were fitted to 281882 and another coat of paint applied for good measure.

    This was followed by my final task of applying branding to 281882. When I started working with Nick I asked if I could apply something to one of his vehicles appropriate to myself. He agreed and 281882 was chosen to be the one a number of years ago, this had been used for transporting bottled gas in its former BR life. Living close to Lincoln the nearest rail connected yard to my home would have been the Gasworks in Bracebridge. It was on the Lincoln to Grantham line which was closed in 1965 but the line to the works was retained until it and the Gasworks was closed in 1970 with the discovery of North Sea Gas.

    That also sees 281882 complete and once the final touches are completed to the internal faces of the Tippler arrangements will be made with the GCR for our next projects.

    Having been with us for over a year and being pushed back due to other vehicles it is good to finaly complete these three.

  • 22/03/20 – Patience pays off

    22/03/20 – Patience pays off

    With the current situation facing the world, and with the Test Car quite restrictive in the space, we decided to limit the numbers of the group on-site. Four is our decided maximum with all having to be key holders. We also limited one person per vehicle and they were separated to allow the minimum 2m social distance. The GCR was unfortunately closed and we shared the yard with a small number of the S&T department working around the box.

    Every time we entered the vehicle it was disinfected, focussing on the high touch areas such as tabletops and doors.

    With the good weather and the 3 wagons that have been waiting for over 10 months, out came the paint,  with the Air braked High, Vacuum High and Iron Ore Tippler each receiving Gloss applied by Ross and Jake.

    I also applied Gloss to the Scarab flat trailer, namely BS381C 540 or more commonly know as BR Crimson

    The rest of the team also painted the headstocks with bitumastic paint

    I applied gloss black to the back of the trailer headboard and fixed the round plate to the rear of the trailer and began signwriting, first the 20mph limit. Then chalking up the rest.

    As the light faded, one side and part of the head end was complete.

    Returning on Sunday and the restrictions remaining in force Jake sprayed the underframes in Bitumin. Nick followed up with a brush reaching the areas missed by the gun.

    I completed the Signwriting on the trailer and a few other areas were touched up thus completing the aesthetic overhaul. There are a few mechanical areas still requiring attention, namely the hand brake.

    With work continuing on the underframes of the 3 wagons. I moved on to the Tippler applying the templates and chalking up. We also took the opportunity to recreate an image that was an inspiration to me when  I started signwriting.20200322_12182990483522_593832817882970_3781537087140921344_n

    So at the end of the weekend, we have the large majority of the Iron Ore tippler complete, just a few remaining details, and the two highs in Bauxite and underframes complete.

    We continue to keep our ear to the ground regards the pandemic and we shall see what happens next weekend.

  • 15/03/20 – Spray it and hope it sticks…

    Before we move into the weekend’s activities, I’ll touch on some progress Matt has made with the flat bed Scammel trailer. The main C channel has been painted in Crimson, in readiness for the floor to be fitted. The load securing hooks have been painted in black, this had waited until the main top coat had been completed. The floorboards also got delivered.

    My job started by cleaning the tyres and rubber mudguards on the trailer. While I was doing this Matt and Dave removed the rubber floor fitted for its duties as a farm trailer. Once cleaned, I applied some products to the tyres and mudguards to give them a bit of shine. This done I surveyed and re-assembled the spray gun and pressure pot ready for the first use this year. We had to use the small green compressor to spray due to the compressor in the Test Car still being broken.  Eddie, Harry and James continued to paint the interior of the 2 Steel Highs with bitumenous paint. Jake and I waited for a gap in the weather and started spraying the 3 wagons; 2 Highs and the Tippler. By the end of the day all three wagons were in undercoat, ready for gloss.

     

    Jack, Matt and Dave constructed a Headboard for the trailer, and then started fitting the floor… until it was found that the planks wouldn’t fit without taking out the mesh. This had hoped to be able to stay in for rigidity, but not all things go to plan!

    With the mess out of the way, the floor fitting began. Matt marked each plank and Dave cut them. Soon the floor was all down and the trailer board fitted.

    On Sunday, with the weather set back to wet, Matt started by completing some signwriting for the WHSmiths kiosk at Loughborough. In a gap in the weather I changed the front wheel on my car following a slow puncture (which was getting faster!) and blew up all the tyres, and then did the same on other members of the QWW fleet.  Completed, I set about the compressor to remove the electric motor for replacement. Matt started fabricating a supporting strut for the trailers headboard which was a tad wobbly. These got an angle fitted to the back of them for stiffness and then primed. Matt then cut out and primed a disc for the 20mph warning on the trailer.

    I assisted Nick with drilling drain holes in the Iron Ore Tippler’s floor. These are so placed to drain the water while trying not the drip on any brake rigging.

    To finish off, I fitted the trailer’s number plate holder and Jack and Matt refitted the rubber mudguards and primed the wood on the headboard. Once the primer had dried, Matt also put the 20mph disc into gloss black.

    Thanks for reading, and all being well we’ll be back next week, hopefully with, a repair compressor and 3 wagons in bauxite gloss (weather and health being well!)

  • 08/03/20 – Tar and Bitumen

    This update begins on Friday, with Dave and I visiting the Mountsorrel Railway to complete their tar tank in preparation for Goods Galore. The west side was chalked up, lettering outlined and then filled.  The tank end numbers were also added completing the vehicle.

    IMG-20200306-WA0005

    Saturday back at Quorn and the “plan” was to undercoat the LNER highs, Vacuum and Air as well as Tippler.  Unfortunately, they were not ready for paint, prep was completed and bare metal spot primed.

    With the reasonable weather, confidence was high until the compressor on the test car decided it didn’t want to work.  A compressor motor fault, whilst Ross diagnosed the fault Jack, and I with the help of Andrew Devine from the station prepped the Scammell flat for paint.

    During the prep the original identification number was discovered 086256 02 and the main C section was red oxided

    On to Sunday and the forecast not looking too good. Ross and I joined by Eireni applied bitumastic paint to the chassis, wheels, and coupling of the Scammell trailer.

    I took a risk and decided to undercoat the main C sections of the trailer and luckily it paid off as it had dried sufficiently before the rain came down.  The mudguards were also removed to allow painting and in preparation for cleaning next weekend.

    The tailboard also received undercoat.20200307_124542

    Nick and Eddie applied Bitumastic paint inside of the air-braked high and the vacuum-high was prepared and one side treated the same.

    That completes this weekend’s update, and we continue to await better weather to progress the rail wagons.

  • 01/03/20 – Flats, Feeds and Filming Fun.

    Welcome to another update from Quorn (yes, actually Quorn!). Saturday had the full team bar James in attendance, though I arrived late and I had to collect some electrical supplies. The main objective of the day was to move the trailers about using the dolly that came with the flat trailer. Once a battery was changed on the Volvo, it started straight up and we were able to pick up the dolly and reverse it to the box trailer. An issue with the coupler height on the Volvo led us to making a solution that fixed to the forks. This made positioning the dolly easier with improved visibility but the 3 pivots in the consist made for some tricky maneuvering! The box trailer was moved into the yard and the flat trailer has been turned around.

    I undertook the repairs to the Test Car electrical system. You may remember some months ago that the contactor for the Generator feed would not hold closed. We don’t have any reference to the design of the electrical switchgear which makes fault finding the system difficult. I’d not been able to find the fault, so we’d opted to change out the changeover system to a simple changeover switch. Thank to a colleague of Dave’s, Syd, we have a suitable switch which I have fitted and successfully tested. With some new switching arrangements we can now changeover the supply to the Coach. The compressor was struck up and we tested a newly acquired tyre blower.

    Eddie and Harry continued prepping the Steel Highs and Tippler for paint. These are getting tantalisingly near, and only await slightly warmer weather.

    On Sunday Matt, Jack, Dave and I donned our reenacting clothes, with a guest appearance from some friends of Matt and Jack, Jed and his wife. We’d dressed in 1950’s period uniforms and clothes, and used them along with Madge and the Van train to shoot some footage which is to be used in the advertisement video for the upcoming Goods Galore gala. Keep your eyes on the Railway’s social media for this video.

    QW 6128 E

    With the flat trailer now the other way round, Dave, Matt and I attended to a large dent in the trailer with a large sledgehammer.  We got the worst of it out, and Matt and Dave fitted a new corner cap, as per the other side.

    I took the opportunity to look over the ‘Wagon under Test’ lamp used when carrying out a slip test. I took the internal boards out to find the internal accelerometer and been removed and not in the most reversible manner. As I don’t know enough about the lamp, I’ve opted to remove the internals and replace it with a microcontroller and accelerometer that I can program to replicate the functionality. of the lamp. Eddie and Harry continued prepping the wagons, focusing on the internal surfaces of 280364. The interior of the wagons will be painted in bitumen paint.

    Before
    After

    Thanks for reading. Most of what we are doing recently is very weather dependant, so I can’t really predict what we’ll be doing. There’s plenty to do, so do join us and see what we get up to!

  • 23/02/20 – Road trailer antics

    This weekend we return to Quorn our focus being the Scammell Flatbed trailer. Before that, however, we had a trip to Loughborough on other business which gave opportunity to see the WH Smith signs previously signwritten.

    Also further Goods Galore preparations with 10 more hessian sacks, these branded BOCM20200222_085024

    The main task was to remove the dolly from the trailer.  It appears to have been quite some time since the two were separated.  The coupling arrangement is slightly different from the Scarabs with hooks over the guide wheels as opposed to a ratchet under the coupling.20200222_122250

    Covers were removed and the cams that hold the securing hooks were found to be seized, a mixture of penetrant, hammers, and crowbars as well as cleaning out the old grease resulted in the hooks releasing there hold.

    We also fitted a mudguard,  although the main wheels are not the originals fitting the guard has improved the appearance.

    With the dolly removed the trailer is starting to look much better. The coupler lowered without a problem.  In the long term, the springs will need replacing.

    On to Sunday and with the cams and locks on the dolly cleaned up the air piston was removed and an actuating lever fitted.  This allows manual decoupling of the dolly becoming a useful item for moving the trailers without having to always use the Scarab.

    [wpvideo 7ZyJ4BVf]

    Next item on the agenda removal of the extended headstock. The box section bolted through the mainframe was first cut on the inner faces, followed by the outer then finally the top from a position of safety on the trailer. Under its own weight, it then lowered and with a little further persuasion, fell to the ground.

    The bolts holding the rest of the box section was then removed and the form of the trailer admired.  The second mudguard was also fitted.

    The rubber matting on the deck was then cut down and fitted under the U section of the trailer sides. Measurements have been taken for a wooden deck and a quote will be sought this coming week.

    The end of the trailer was squared off and straightened up.  A suitable piece of timber cut to length, profiled and test fitted.

    The pseudo carpenter happy with his work.20200223_163806

    Once the fit was confirmed a layer of wood primer was applied.

    Harry and Eddie continued to prep the Iron Ore Tippler for paint,  but the weather is, of course, preventing painting at this time.

    The final image, one of the happy trailer owners.IMG-20200223-WA0000

  • 16/02/20 – Dennis the Menace

    Hello All, hope you all haven’t been blown/washed away by Storm Dennis! This weekend has concentrated again on the Yellow Coach, though Dave, Matt and Jack had a day at Quorn on Sunday sorting some bits out for Madge and Goods Galore, but first some news from last week. In our haste to leave the Heritage Railway Association Awards to avoid the wrath of Storm Ciara, we had not picked up our runners up prize for the Communications Award. David Morgan very kindly dropped it off at Loughborough for us to pick up.

    Coms

    Nick, Jake, Matt and I were in attendance Saturday, slowly making headway with the coach. Jake and I tried to pull some more wires through for the bedroom but unfortunately failed due to the amount of elbows in the run. Nick did some small jobs until he went to drop his van to be looked at. Matt cut out and primed a headboard for the Fish and Chip specials. Having failed with the wire pulling I gave up and replaced the board at the back of the mess room heaters. All of the vertical heaters on the coach seem to have suffered a bit of heat damage behind them, so the opportunity has been taken to repair some of the damage and stop it happening in the future. Once finished with the headboard, Matt made some standoffs for the junction boxes I’d fitted underneath the coach.

    Sunday had Nick and I at Rothley, Nick bitumening the back side of the metal that has been welded in during the week, in Jamie’s lunch hours. I gave the heater board a lick of paint then reassembled the heaters with some 3/4″ spacers to introduce an air gap between the heater and the wall. I then made some supporting brackets for the conduit runs underneath the 2 bunk beds.

    Matt, Dave and Jack completed the following jobs at Quorn:

    • Fitted 1950s number plates to Madge
    • Completed the trailer poster boards by adding a black border to the grey box
    • Removable number plate fitting added to the trailer
    • 20mph sign sign written and affixed to the trailer.
    • Several sacks stuffed for Goods Galore, with 2 sacks left to fill.

  • 09/02/20 – HRA Annual Awards

    So I think it would be remiss not to start with the 2020 HRA Annual Awards dinner.  We were already aware we had been awarded the Mortons Media (Rail Express Magazine) Modern traction Award and that we had been nominated for two others.

    The meal and the event were excellent, although the portions were too small for Jake, people from all sectors of the Heritage Railway Community brought together to celebrate the achievements of the sector. We collected our first award and awaited our nominations. For the Morgan Award, we were against some really strong nominations and the look of shock on our faces when we were announced the winners really was telling. It really is humbling to have been awarded the Morgan Award for outstanding achievement in Preservation. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in the Communication award and our congratulations go to the LMS Patriot Company Ltd and their Warrior Magazine and of course all the other award winners in their respective categories.  

    Despite the awards, there is no rest for the wicked.  Saturday I completed Madges Covered Trailer adding the west and south sides signwriting as well as painting two grey posterboard areas.

    Sunday was quieter, I had a route refresher course so was out of action for the day,  with Nick and Ross at Rothley progressing “The Yellow Coach” with cabling being pulled into the conduits fitted last week. Also, the wooden door trims around the refitted luggage and first-class doors have been fitted as well as an area of the Guards compartment wall being repaired.

    Finally an image of the partially repaired end welded by Jamie last weekend. Still, however, a fair way to go.

  • 02/02/20 – And its all Yellow

    We have continued working on the Yellow Coach for a number of reasons, firstly we’d like it back at Quorn, and secondly we went off the weather forecast which said it would be raining and horrible for Saturday. Back to the Yellow Coach, and Saturday saw Jamie come in and finish up welding the southwesterly corner of the coach. This looks so much much better now than it did when it left Quorn.

    Nick spent the day removing rust from under the south end vestibule floor which was sitting 1/2″ higher than normal and assisting Jamie where required. He then started removing the vinyl wrap from his latest road acquisition.

    I spent the day playing with conduit again. Last time we worked on the coach, Matt and I managed to get all the sockets fitted, with conduit fitted to these and run through the floor. Today I fitted a short section of flexible conduit in the kitchen to substitute for a section in the kitchen cupboard. This time, with assistance from Jake, I extended the conduit to reach the main 240v trunking. Most conduits dropped through the floor required removing and trimming.img_20200201_0931563247906092254168903.jpg

    Matt fitted some of the flexible conduit I’d bought above the first class toilet door to run the wires for the thermostat. Once completed Matt used the unexpected good weather to begin signwriting Madge’s trailer, ready for a charter in April.

    Sunday saw me continue on the coach electrics. Dave assisted me withdrawing the coach’s existing heater wires. We disconnected all of the heaters by cutting the cables and then pulled the redundant wiring out of the trunking. I’m quite glad that we opened up the heaters and removed the wiring, as one of the heaters under one of the two bunks had some very distressed wiring.img_20200202_0933504080457362016131182.jpg

    Matt spent the morning at Quorn, de-postering the van train and continuing to signwrite Madge’s trailer. Dave joined Matt around lunchtime to do some little bits and bobs and look around a second Scammell trailer bought by the owning group.

    For once, I wasn’t happy with something I’d done. We’d run the conduit to the trunking, but for all but the kitchen socket, I hadn’t drilled them into the trunking, which gave me some leeway to change the conduit. To cut down on the wires running down the trunking. I’ve instead attached 2 junction boxes to the trunking to split down some of the wiring.

    Nick continued stripping the vinyl wrap from his van, assisted by Harry. Eddy continued his cleaning spree, starting on the insulation material above the mess room heaters and the corridor ceiling. It may not seem it, but Eddy is cleaning 30 years of muck and cigarette staining and it is making such a difference to the interior of the coach.img_20200202_1554533963632197219973101.jpg

    Next week will be a smallish update, but for very good reason. Its the Heritage Railway Association Awards and we are picking up our one award, and will find out if our two nominations turn into awards. Join us then, thanks for reading!