Category: Updates

Work continues on M730562 despite the rain.
As Nick was alone Saturday he spent the time cleaning the inside of the van and filling over the screws.

Sunday was business as usual with Ross and myself joining Nick. With the wet weather, there was no chance of starting the external repaint of the vehicle. So attention turned to the inside.  I sanded the filler applied by Nick.  There were a few remaining activities on the outside of the van and during breaks in the wet Nick and Ross carried these out,  mainly one final bolt for a handrail and a few missing screws.

Attention then turned to second coats of Cream and Bauxite.

Nick also manufactured and fitted a new seat base for the East side as the original was removed for previous work and was too fragile to refit.

We also made some BR style door signs there use we shall reveal in the next update.

Finally, we have made some positive steps towards Identifying the LMS van that has recently joined the collection.  Our thanks go to Phil Hetherington and John Hall for their efforts so far and we have reached a likely identification.

The story so far sees a number of 500XXX vans being condemned at Barassie of these one makes it too Inverkeithing infact of all 1000 Derby built D1891 diagramed vans only one makes it to this location.   Inverkeithing is on the Rosyth Branch so is the nearest BR location identified by a 4 digit depot code to the Naval Dockyard at Rosyth the location our vehicle was purchased from.  This single-vehicle was 500954, a number of other avenues are being looked into which hopefully will take this likely identification to a positive.

Matthew 7:25
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

A bible quote I think aptly describes today.

Another weekend, another update from QWW. This weekend sees us continue work on M730562, which seems to be becoming a bit of a saga!

Following last weeks stripping of side planks, we have taken delivery of the new, replacement side planks from Harlow Brother’s Timber merchants. We took them a sample of an existing board taken from the side of the van, and they have cut the boards to size, machined the edges to have the rebates and bevels, and finally pressure treated the board to tanalise them. The only thing left for us to do was cut them to length and fit them to the van!

Saturday saw all the side planks fitted, and the long bottom hand rail refitted to the East/Dock side of the van.

On Sunday, Nick and I refitted the rest of the handrails to the vehicle, and fitted new capping wood to the ends of the planks, adjacent to each access doorway. We believe the the capping wood isn’t an LMS original, and was added later by BR. We opted to replace it with some hardwood, as these support the vertical hand rails used by the guard to access the vehicle from ground level. Meanwhile, Matt was carrying out shunting demonstrations at Mountsorrel’s running weekend. There he formed a train using the wagons we have based up there, and the Midland Brake.

Thanks for reading!

 

Work continues on M730562, the replacement wood has been ordered and is due in the week,  in preparation Nick and Jake have been removing the life-expired planks.

Unfortunately, one of the bolts on the west side was located behind the boarding beside the internal locker.  So my first task was to cut and manufacture an access hatch as this will be a reoccurring issue.

Once complete my attention was turned to the seat backs for the Guard.  I removed the old layers of upholstery.  This exposed the frame which required some repair and reinforcing.

Both the east and west side were repaired and trial fitted

Of interest are the layers of upholstery removed,  unfortunately, none dating back as far as the LMS.  How do we know?  The first layer above the base horsehair is clearly marked with its manufacturer this, of course, being British Railways.  Successive layers having the British Rail Double Arrow logo on the reverse.

Sunday continued with Nick and Jake removing life expired planks as well as re-securing all of the internal planking which has detached from the floor due to worn fasteners.

Ross and I started to upholster the Guards seats continuing the work I began Saturday,  Foam and vinyl was cut to size. The vinyl matches that applied to the vehicle during BR usage. The vinyl was sewn into a box shape to fit over the foam backing and stapled into position.

Once the seat backs were completed a base for each seat was created and foam and vinyl covers again manufactured and sewn. The seat backs were trial fitted but not fitted fully.

The seats were then also trial fitted although again not fully fitted,  this will be done once all internal and external work is complete.  The vinyl will be affixed to the seat base hence its baggy appearance.  As a trial, we began planning the side cushioning for the seat sides.

The final task was the replacement of the Starter motor in Nicks van, this is vital as this is the vehicle required to collect the wood for next weekends tasks.

This weekend we haven’t managed to achieve much, mainly due to the heat. On Saturday, Matt made a visit to the Mountsorrel Heritage Centre at Bond Lane, to assist in the signwriting of their Midland Brake van. It looks marvellous and awaits a few final details before it is release to traffic

At Quorn, Nick and I were working on the Midland Brake’s successor, the LMS brake M730562. Initially, we started on the west side (where it was shady) where we replaced the stepboard that runs the length of the body of the van. we had sourced a quite twisted bit of wood that had the right dimensions. This was trimmed, and clamped into place, ready for drilling. The board was drilled and then the underside was painted in black bitumen paint. The plank was then bolted into place and again coated in black bitumen paint on the top side. the next step for this board is the kickplate backing.

As the sun moved around and the day got hotter, we moved round to the dockside. There, we began to remove the handrails and capping wood from the dock side of the brake van, in preparation for some planks to be replaced. We are currently sourcing the replacement wood for this, for which we had the remove a plank. This took a surprising amount of disassembly, both inside and out, including the stove side seat base.

On Sunday, Nick and I effected a repair to the South-west step board, used by the guard for access. The metal plate that supports the end of the axlebox cover flap had rotted, so the step board had to be removed in order to replace the plate. I coated the replacement plate in red oxide before it was refitted. Whilst this occured, Matt started signwriting the van’s number above the ducket seat on the side of the van that is fitted with the seats/storage benches.

Matt mainly concentrated on the interior of the vehicle, removing a redundant batten of timber, and making a cover plate for the bit of capping that was displaced. We think the batten of timber was part of a lamp filling table, which would have had a zinc top. We removed it because it interrupted the demarcation line between the cream and the bauxite, and had no purpose. Matt also touched in some areas of the cream paint that had been bled into with the removal of the masking tape used when painting the bauxite.

We finish the update on an announcement. We have recently acquired an LMS van, from the David Clarke Railway Trust. M500604 (was M501438) is in use a nut and bolt store for the Windcutter Group, a purpose it will still continue to serve. we plan to re-clad the van to that the van can be released to traffic. The van is also still holding the interior of the packing van, B854782, so we are loath to start working on it whilst these items are held under cover.

Thanks for reading!

This update includes work carried out during the week as I popped in after my Early shift to carry out some tasks on M730562.  Monday I applied a coat of primer to the bare woodwork on the East side and red oxide to areas of bare metal.

Wednesday I was back to apply a coat of white to the ceiling

On to the weekend and the next colour to apply was the deep cream, as per B954268 we are applying the British Transport Commision scheme for brake vans of white, cream and bauxite.

With the ongoing heatwave the cream was ready for masking Sunday, the first coat of 3ft 6in high bauxite was applied as well as the vacuum gauge which had been removed for painting.  A second coat of bauxite will be required but we shall give it a week for the first to harden off.

The final task this weekend was the application of Gloss white and detailing of the Handbrake wheel.

Nick and Jake carried out a number of tasks and drew up plans for the purchase and replacement of parts of the exterior cladding.
Ross was away with his work at the IMechE Railway Challenge 2018.
His team of first-year graduates from SNC-Lavalin came 2nd out of 10. The competition was to design and build a locomotive to compete in a few dynamic tests and challenges. Dynamic challenges included Traction, regenerative braking and energy storage.

 

One brake van in but two out, B954268 has returned to traffic and pressed straight into service by bringing the Van train from Swithland to Quorn and doesn’t it make the yard look like a working yard.

B954546 has left longterm storage at Quorn and has become a Volunteer project for those that volunteer within Carriage and Wagon at Rothley, this is a positive step forward for this vehicles return to traffic.

On to the one that came in and this is M730562, a new catchphrase from Nick accompanies this vehicle,  No longer are we to mind the lamp brackets, its the low door frame that will catch you out on this one. First task was the replacement of the step boards as these are required to access the vehicle. Nick, Ross and Jake began by removing all of the life-expired boards.

With the boards off the exposed metal work was red oxided.

Whilst this work was being carried out I began with the interior. The east side of the van (Although the west side until very recent) has been beaten by the weather and the interior had been adversely affected. Paint had begun peeling so out came the heat gun and the arduous task of stripping the side. Ross assisted with the task once the step-boards had been complete.

Nick and Jake also came into clean up the inside of the duckets that had also experienced a little weather beating. Once tidy red oxide was applied.

Once the East side wall was stripped the rest of the van internal was sanded to give a key for painting.  As we progressed around the van faults were repaired by Ross,  Loose veranda wall cladding,  loose locker door fixing, raised screw heads and loose door frame all rectified.  With the wall down to its initial LMS Crimson the 3′ 6″ demarcation line applied by BR can just be made out confirming the references we use.

With the Red oxide applied now dry new step boards were fitted, all but the West side middle board which requires new timber purchasing.  Measurements were also taken as we will be ordering a number of timbers to replace a few on the van sides.

Finally, we can announce the secret task that we have mentioned in two previous updates:
Update mention 1
Update mention 2

For the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice and the end of the War to end all Wars, the GCR will be remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice over the 10th and 11th November.  One of the items taking part is a full size replica of a WWI tank.  This is owned by Jack Shaw, GCR volunteer and friend of Quorn Wagon and Wagon.  We have been assisted over the last few weeks to rebuild the tank on site.  Including a little signwriting applied by me.

 

Not a huge update this week, as we have finished our revamp of B954268 and the large events in the yard recently mean that we don’t have something else we can get started on.

Matt has been popping in after his early shifts at work to complete some of the smaller details on the interior of the brake van. This includes the stove surround, handbrake stack/column and the handbrake wheel itself. This also includes the vehicles number signwritten above the ducket adjacent to the stove, and its allocation for which we chose Tinsley.

Onto this weekend, we have now finished the brake van. Matt painted a second coat on the external ceilings on the verandah. I dismantled the top of the vacuum setter to remove layers of hard, flaky paint before Matt applied a new coat of red to the top of the setter. Whilst this was taking place, Nick fitted the Overhead Line wires flashes to the West side of the van.

This culminates the work on this brake van, and it can now be released back to traffic. we are anticipating the arrival of the LMS brake van for a refresh.

 

This weekend, work continues on B954268. Following last week where Nick, Matt and Jake completed the rest of external work, which only left the underframe to be painted. A few areas were left to be scraped and then blown down, ready for the application of the paint.

Matt sanded down and hoovered the interior of the van to give it a key before he started glossing the top half with cream colour. Whilst Matt was painting the interior of the van cream, the underframe and step boards of the west side were painted in black bituminous paint. Nick followed along, picking out any areas that couldn’t be reached with the spray gun. The headstocks were then painted using brushes, as using the spray gun would result in overspray on the soft, bauxite gloss. The interior surfaces of the windows were masked off whilst Matt was painting the large panels.

 

The van was pushed out of the dock so that the East side underframe and step boards could be cleaned, blown down and painted. Once the black paint was away, the roller bearing end caps were picked out in yellow.

When the van was painted into gloss, the verandahs were spray painted internally. Whilst we had made every effort to mask where we could, the only place that wasn’t, and thus caught the overspray was the ceiling. Saturday Matt repainted this surface white.

 

Report continued by Matt

Sunday continued with me (Matt) initially signwriting, this was in the form of the “D” Plates Vacuum release chord stars and the Running number within the van.

 

Nick added a further coat of paint to the axle end covers and a red coat to the Vacuum pipe swan necks.  The OLE warning panels he also added to the East side.  Myself and Nick also took a look at the Brake rigging. We made a few adjustments and Nick lubricated it all.

 

I continued with the internal repaint masking off for the bauxite areas to be raised up to window level,  the actual BR specification called for the lower bauxite area to be 3ft 6in high this, however, would result in the demarcation line being 1/4 the way up the window level and it was common practice for the demarcation to be lowered to window level which in my opinion looks a lot smarter, as can be seen below.
I also popped in Monday after work to apply Black to the Brake standard and Stove surrounds.

 

Last item, My signwriting box has had an appropriate paint and signwriting applied just so I don’t forget who I am and what I do.

Still a few finishing touches to apply including the Stove surround in black gloss.

 

 

The GCR was plunged into war this weekend,  which included a bombing that resulted in one of our Grampus wagons being hit by an incendiary, thankfully the Auxiliary Fire Service reacted quickly and saved the wagon on two separate occasions.

Our attention remained on B954268 and applying the details.  Nick and Jake began with fitting the new temporary floor to the South end veranda,  I say Temporary as we are looking at a modification that will eliminate water traps and prolong the life of the floor.

Before final fitment, the floor was treated with creosote.

I took on my speciality of applying the signwriting as previously mentioned post-1964 livery. Data panel has the depot codes of 5683 Tinsley yard wagon repair siding, our adopted code and 5480 Newark,  the location the van was purchased from.

Nick and Jake moved on to the task of painting the handrails and began preparing the underframe for paint.

On to next weekend which will see the underframe and the inside receive attention.

A slightly delayed update this week.

B854782 has been moved from Quorn to the Loco shed at Loughborough for welding.

With the Shock van away our attention turns to B954268 which had started to look very work worn. With staging erected the task of sanding down the body began, being a brake van with verandas the amount of body work is quite substantial when compared to that  of a box van. Nick, Ross and Jake with sanders and scrappers in hand set to work.  Each time someone climbed onto the ballast ends Nick used his new catchphrase “Mind the lamp irons”, these are of cause set at head height when working on the extreme ends and can cause very nasty injuries if contacted with some force.  Fortunately thanks to the constant warnings no injuries occurred.

I went back to P18422, as a Ministry of Supply ordered vehicle this would have carried a registry plate and the position of this is clearly visible so using our “patented” anti theft plates I duly applied them.

Once complete I joined the main work on the brakevan and began cutting out areas of rot on the body sides,  as the majority of the boarding is solid we replaced only those areas that are affected,  as a reminder we do not restore vehicles at Quorn we repair them using modern materials and techniques. With such a large fleet and a small pool of manpower and resources it would be impractical for us to carry out full overhauls on every vehicle every time when a simple repair will add years to its service.

Once areas were repaired Masking was applied to all the windows in preparation for painting.

Half way through the weekend we had the vehicle body work sanded, masked for painting, body repairs carried out and wood primer applied to those areas requiring it.

As Ross applied the undercoat, Nick and Jake started assessment of the Southend veranda floor this has suffered badly from wood rot and the rotten boards were removed.

The vehicle will be finished in post 1964 livery and as such will require overhead line warning stickers and with the other works going on I took the opportunity to prepare them.  We have in stock OLE stickers and these I applied to stainless steel backing plates and drilled in preparation for fitment.

The hard work was of course broken up with the mandatory railway requirement of Tea, drunk from our new QWW mugs in the glorious sunshine of the bank holiday as we watched the trains go by,  If you was on the railway this weekend then this is the position you would likely have seen us in, Thank you to Andrew Morley, Quorn Signalman for the image of us enjoying the weather.

Final day and the final top coat to the body.  This includes the Ballast surrounds on each end of the vehicle,  Originally black was applied but as we are going for the later livery each works began to show a preference for whether these were indeed black or body colour, on this occasion the boss has decided body colour.

Finishing touches, inside and underframe are planned for this coming weekend as the rest of the railway goes back to the 1940s.