Category: Updates

This week has been full of activity for us. It all began on Monday with a Timeline Events / EMRPS photochater using the vans with visiting Warship D832 “Onslaught”

The 10th and 11th November sees the GCR commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War. As part of this, the GCR is assembling a train of appropriate vehicles of either age or type. The first from our collection to see attention for this commemorative train is M300356, this vehicle, a Well Trolley (Weltrol) was built in 1913 by the Caledonian Railway and is being returned to CR livery.

Tuesday – Friday saw the vehicle’s coating of Bitumin removed, this was quite a labour intensive task, Ross and I were helped by Jack Shaw (Great War event organiser) and Andrew Devine (Quorn & Woodhouse station foreman) We managed to completely stip the sides of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the rain stopped play Friday and we only managed to Red Oxide the East side.

Glimmers of the vehicles past life became visible as the layers of paint were removed. Visible in the image below, flecks of Brick Red paint, the CR wagon livery we shall be applying. Also visible the thick layer of bitumen that had to be removed.

Saturday and a visit to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway after an invite to view the Carriage and Wagon Works at Winchcombe. It’s always nice to see how other establishments operate and to build a relationship that is mutually beneficial for all. In fact, this visit saw us deliver a BR Brakevan brake cross shaft needed for the refitment of the vacuum brake system to a vehicle on the GWSR. Our thanks go to Richard Stone and the other members of the GWSR C&W team for your time, patience and hospitality.

It was also nice to see GWSR’s latest wagon project, a BR built china clay wagon.

We also got to see Thomas the Tank Engine and a few of his friends

Back to the grind on Sunday and S56010. I completed the interior trim and turned my attention to the main cabin doors.  Over the life of the vehicle these have become worn so much so that the door is essentially planing the floor.   The top hinges were removed and moved up to attain the correct clearance at the bottom.

Jake and Nick continued removing rust from the veranda ends and red oxiding when back to solid metal.

Ross installed a new lock to increase the security of the vehicle.

Final job for the weekend was the Red Oxiding of the west side of 300356 and first gloss on the East side and buffer beams.  The red brick does seem very close to Bauxite although there is a slightly deeper red tinge.

A small, wordy update this week, as Nick and I have been playing postman! TPO drops hasn’t stopped play though, as we had the before the first drop on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday saw the top capping wood on the north end removed to be made new. This bit of wood had become quite delicate, due to the covering wood that had been put over it. this covering wood trapped the rot and allowed water to sit in there and make things worse.

On Sunday, we transformed the North end veranda into a lovely open air patio! We have taken the decision to make the frame work of the North end veranda wall fresh. The access doors had to come off, end then all the bolts fixing the planks to the steel uprights. The bottom bit of the frame was entirely rotten (but has been recovered as a pattern) and the mortice joints had rotten so the posts simple came away in my hand. With the end framework and cladding out, we chipped the rust away from the steel. this was pushing the wood work towards the body of the van, closing up the doorways which made the doors bind.

Whilst Nick and I were dismantling the north end, Jake made some good progress at cleaning the drainage channels on the south end veranda. the only thing left to do at the south end is to paint red oxide in the channel.

Whilst all this was going on, Matt was concentrating on the interior. After fitting the interior cladding last week, the time has come to fit capping quadrant the the edge of all joints. this is the only van to do this on, as it is an original design choice by the SR. Matt has nearly finished the capping, with 3 long bits to put down the uprights.

Next week we go on tour (for one day only) and work continues on the SR brake! Thanks for reading!

This weekend work continues on S56010, during the week a new nogging was manufactured which was the final piece required to complete the west side.  This was trial fitted adjusted and the final side planks fitted.

Once the planks were installed the internal plywood liner was fitted.

It has been decided that the vehicle’s incomplete air brake system will be removed fully. This began with the removal of the Main Reservoir gauge pipe and the Brake Valve exhaust pipe when the west site was dismantled.  The main train pipe branch which fed the brake valve was removed and the hole plugged with a large coach bolt. With the pipes which entered the vehicle removed the sole bar Main Reservoir and Main Train pipes were then removed.

The supporting brackets on the solebar were removed and the remaining welds ground flush.

Once removed the areas of bare metal were red oxided.

Whilst the air system was being removed the veranda doors and the corner noggings that include the door latches saw attention.  All Noggings were removed and areas of built-up plate rust removed.  A number of door repairs were also carried out most notably the South East Veranda door which Ross is particularly proud of, work included a lot of fine woodwork to get the door to fit up and close effortlessly.

Back inside I began manufacturing and fitting finishing trim around the edges of the plywood lining.

The Stove base plate was also red oxided, black glossed and the stove base fitted as well as the steel lining which surrounds the stove and protects the wooden walls of the van.
This vehicle has been without a stove since its arrival on the GCR and Guards will be happy to know this is being reinstated as part of this refurbishment.

Finally, we had a visit from a gentleman that contacted the GCR soon after the Model Rail event.  Robert’s father was a Goods Guard in the 1950s, he was involved with the training of Windrush Generation Guards and unfortunately, this was disliked by the union.  It basically resulted in ill health and Robert lost his father when he was aged 12.  All that remains are memories and a single image.
Robert visited the GCR during the Model Rail event and noticed M730562 and instantly recognised it as the same type of vehicle in the image of his father. He was placed in contact with Nick and came to visit us over the weekend.  We presented M730562 in a condition that his father would instantly recognise, complete with Guard’s Journals, lamps, timesheet, rulebook and other items required to fulfil the role of a Guard.
The opportunity was also made available to recreate that image of his father.

Its moments like this that remind us why we restore and maintain these vehicles. We are sure Robert enjoyed his visit.  We certainly did and it was great to hear the memories he has of his Father, Thank you Sir.

LMS Brakevan M730562 has been putting up a fight since we started almost 2 months ago. The light, however, is at the end of the tunnel, it is also now entering the van.  The replacement Glass effect perspex arrived Monday and I took advantage of a week of earlies. Tuesday and Thursday I removed, cleaned the frames, fitted and sealed the glazing for the veranda ends.

On to the weekend and Nick continued the painting of the underframe.  Including the Westside steps and Eastside solebar.

The main task undertaken was the replacement of the Ducket glazing.  The frames were removed,  we originally thought this would be tricker on the westside as these were riveted, but thanks to once being employed by the RAF with a tour on an aircraft structural repair unit it didn’t take me long to whip out the 32 rivets.

Once removed the window mastic previously used was removed from the frames and Ducket, the bare metal areas were then red oxided before new mastic and the glazing was fitted to each frame.  These were then fitted to the Duckets and the mastic trimmed and shaped to the fill the gaps.  Finally, the Bauxite and Cream top coats were reapplied.

Top coats were also added to the Handbrake standard, Vacuum hose swan necks, steel stove surrounds and Vacuum brake valve.  The Vacuum gauge was polished and a 1940s style coat hanger was also fitted.

I also took a moment to apply the correct running number to the LMS box van and popped into Rothley to Carriage & Wagon to see how B954546 was progressing.

 

 

The weekend saw the GCR commemorate 50 years since the end of mainline timetabled steam and the final service 1T57 having been hauled by 70013 Oliver Cromwell.  I of cause commemorated in my own style dressed as a disgruntled employee of the London Midland Region, precisely 50 years to the day.

Saturday also saw Nick and Jake key and paint the handrails on M730562.

On to Sunday, I started with applying coats of white to the veranda ceilings,  With Nick and Jake turning their attention to the underframe first scraping down and applying bitumen.

Between coats of white and the spots of rain, I chalked and painted the signwriting to the West side of the vehicle and Nick refitted the Wagon Label clip to the East side removed for planks to be replaced.

Still a few more final details to apply including new windows but the end is now in sight.
Oh, and what of Ross you ask,  his view is slightly different to ours as he continues to enjoy the Sun in Greece.

Welcome to another update from Quorn Wagon and Wagon. This weekend has seen the van train running, the station reverting back to 1968 and the LMS brake van painted into top coat. The BG (81382) has also been outshopped this week, and looks marvellous (well done to Jamie Swanson and Patrick Newborough, it looks excellent)!

The weekend has seen the LMS brake painted up into top coat (bauxite). On Saturday Morning, I began by sanding the dock side of the van, whilst Nick set up the scaffold tower, and scraped the West side of the van. Once the van was sanded, it got a quick blow down with the air line, in preparation for the application of the wood primer.

Some of the veranda wood had also been stripped of paint, so these got a quick spray of primer too. The primer was given some time to go off, and then the undercoat was applied all around, including the ends, and verandas.

Whilst I was spraying the undercoat, Nick found that he could peel the paint of the LMS box van (M500xxx) as the bitumen paint underneath the top coat was getting warm in the sun, so he spent a while doing that, and then in every other opportunity in the weekend.

On to Sunday, which saw the van having the top coat applied, including in the veranda. The verandas on the van are quite large, which make them easier to spray. The BR brake was a pain, due to only being the width of a person, so the air pipe and my clothing kept catching the wet paint.

After the top coat was applied, it was left to go off. The new planks got a second coat, then both the van sides got a second coat. Matt follow me around with a paint brush, picking up areas the spray gun couldn’t get into. He also painted an inspection hatch he’d made in the interior. In addition to this, he’d also manufactured a new wooden backing plate for the wagon label clip for the dock side of the van.

We have also cut out the interior seat side panels, which can be fitted next week.

Next weekend should see the van’s handrails picked out and the windows changed all round. These have been ordered (in glass effect perspex) and we await delivery.

Thanks for reading!

 

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.