News and Updates

This weekend the team have supported the Road Rail Steam weekend welcoming visitors into Test Car 2 in the goods shed dock. We’ve also made a little more progress with the A-type container.

Nick and Oliver worked on the container, fitting some more bolts through the metalwork including a door hold-back loop and making & fitting bottom door strips.

They also salvaged a corner bumpstop from an another scrap container end panel, grinding off the rivets and bolting into place to replace the missing one on the A-type container.

Over the weekend Barry, Ross, Richard, Tom and myself welcomed visitors into Test Car 2.

For this weekend the organisers had placed us in the good shed dock which meant we had access to the new power supply recently installed on the dock. This allowed us to run the air compressor in the Test Car so that we could operate the air brakes on our Steel High test wagon, replicating the way the brakes were operated during slip-brake testing when it was carried out by British Rail.

There were many superb exhibits on display and operating in the yard during the weekend, including the 9F 92214 and D123 hauling a goods train.

Instead of trying to wind us up, this weekend Oliver decided instead to try and wind up a traction engine !

We look forward to opening up the Test Car again next weekend for the GCR’s Spring Diesel Gala; we will be open to visitors all weekend (27-28 April 2024) in the yard at Quorn outside the Marquee.

Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us for this weekend’s work from Quorn. This week, we’ve given the Palvan a rest while we concentrate on getting A1610B stable and usable after its relocation.

We moved the container to use as storage on the dock for some of our access equipment. The container was felt to be too far gone at the moment for use being lifted and put on a wagon in a train, but could be shored up for use as a period appropriate shed.

Nick and I started by fitting the door flap which didn’t get finished last week. We then continued at the corner started last week and finished off drilling and putting bolts in.

We looked at the the corrugated end sides and found most of the bolts had gone, or were trying to tie together rotten wood. We cut some ply to replace the unhappy interior and exterior cladding and cut new supporting wood where requires.

The middle framework supporting the floor ended up not being attached to the rest of the container, so we replaces the bolts on both of these, and added new spreader plates on the outside to support the wood which is getting a bit on the fragile side.

Dave joined us on Sunday, where we concentrated on the wood across the back, and tying the end back to the sides of the container, which also supports the floor. We started by removing more floorboards, where I found some where to use more of our wood hardener.

Dave and I selected one of the last few bits of loco shed roof to act as the bottom support for the end, which was denailed and then cut down. Before fitting this we Dave and Nick cleared the way under the container.

We fixed one end to the corrugated end. Dave and Nick leveled the container using jacks and crowbars. The other end of the plank got fixed to the metalwork.

I started cutting a piece to graft into the side rail on the other side which had long disappeared having suffered from a prolonged water leak in that corner. I also manufactured two plates to sandwich and support the graft.

After this was bolted in, Nick and Dave added 2 large L shaped brackets between the sides and the end to fully tie them together. We moved to the other final corner to finish its repair. Nick and Dave added a right angled plate.

With all the lower framework shored up, Nick started to put the floor back down.

There’s still about a mornings work left to do on the container, putting more bolts in and such like. At some point the door flap could probably do we being remade, but that was definitely a job for another day! As nice as these containers are, you can really see why Freightliner and ISO type containers quickly became adopted!

Next week, we’ll have the Test Car open in the yard at the Road Rail so do come and see us! Depending on who we have with us we may also have the sales stand up and running, or more work on the container will take place.

Hello and welcome to the first April update from the team at Quorn. Again the focus has been on progressing the Palvan, and we’ve also paid some attention to the dilapidated A type container rescued from the Loco shed last year.

During the week Tom and Oliver helped remove the axlebox keep plates from the Palvan in readiness for the wheelset change.

The six restored Brute trolleys were given a good clean up in readiness for going into store in the Palvan.

On Saturday the Palvan was positioned in the yard ready for the wheelset change; Richard and myself taking measurements of bumpstop gaps and buffer heights.

The trusty Volvo L70 loader was used and the replacement wheelsets were soon under the Palvan.

With the new wheelsets in place Ross, Richard, Ernie, Nick and myself set about removing the axlebox oil pans to clean out, check the oil pads & journals and replenish with new oil. The axlebox keep plates were also re-fitted, and Charlie helped out oiling all the brake rigging.

Some of the axlebox retaining bolts needed the threads clearing with a die nut and old rusted split pins punching or drilling out. We were very surprised to find both oil pads missing from one of the wheelsets considering that the wheelsets had been removed from an operational wagon (at another railway).

The journals were checked and the cleaned boxes filled with new oil. Three new oil pads and one cleaned re-usable pad were soaked in new oil and refitted.

With the new wheelsets fitted the Palvan was taken for a trundle up and down the yards to ensure the suspension was settled. Measurements of the bumpstop gaps and buffer heights were taken again, comparing well to those taken before the wheelset change. All buffer heights were between 40³/₄” and 41¹/₄“, the prescribed limits being 37″ min. and 42” max.

The six Brute trolleys were loaded into the Palvan with the Volvo, fitting neatly into the space inside. These will be secured before the van goes into traffic to prevent any movement or damage to the Brutes.

To round off Saturday the dilapidated A type container that was rescued from the Loco shed last in June year was carefully moved from beside the mess coach to it’s new home on the dock. The area on the dock was cleared and some strategically placed timbers were laid out for the container to sit on. A ratchet strap was used to hold the container together and secure it to the Volvo for movement.

Sunday began with the decision to move Edward the Hydrovane compressor trailer from the back of the pick-up truck onto the BEV stillage; this will make it more movable and accessible, and also free-up the pick-up for other duties. Kiki was woken up to provide a lift for the stillage, however she needed a hydraulic oil top-up to get the lift to work.

Making the most of the morning sunshine, we gave the site a good tidy up.

Edward was then started up to provide air as Tom, Mark and myself got to work scraping and needle gunning the framework and underframe of the west side of the Palvan.

Dan tackled the cleaning up of two replacement handbrake wheels for Catfish wagon DB983393.

Nick, Ross, Oliver and Richard took a look at the A type container we had moved on Saturday. The hinges of the lower door section were freed off, and the outer edge of the floor secured to a new baton. Some adjustment was necessary with Nick’s favourite hammer and the grinder needed to remove the old corner rotted plate.

A new steel corner plate was cut and bent to shape by Ross, then fitted in place by Tom and Dan to replace the rotted one.

The bolts we had didn’t have enough thread length, so Oliver (with Nick’s help) used a die-nut to cut a longer thread length for the plate attachment bolts.

Andy and Harry popped in for a while to continue with sanding and priming of another area of the GUV bodyside.

By the end of the afternoon the west side of the underframe and suspension of the Palvan was progressing well towards readiness for paint.

To finish a pic of one of the goods train workings this weekend; behind Peak D123 at Quorn. Thanks for reading, join us again next week, all the best, Dave

Hello and welcome, you’re joining us for a bumper Easter special! As with previous updates the Palvan has been our focus, but I’m pleased to say the end now feels in sight!

The last door was fitted to the van on Friday following a week to let the glue cure. The diagonal bracing and hinges had sealant applied to the back before the door was drilled and bolted to the van.

With only one door and too many people to get round it, some carried on with scraping the Catfish wagons.

The final few bits were done to complete the door, including drilling the hole for the bottom door bolt and then fitting it.

Saturday saw the team prepare the roof for the roof covering to be finally attached. some of the wood required fettling so the end hoops sit on the van correctly. The roof sheet was drilling using the hoop as a guide. This was then bolted down. Oliver and Dan spent some time removing the reflective stickers from the sheet’s previous life.

Ernie and Richard made a start on removing and refurbishing the vacuum cylinder, removing the release valve and lowering the cylinder before dismantling and cleaning it out. Oliver made a fantastic job of cleaning up the piston rod.

Some time was spent finding some new nuts for the gaiter studs which had to be removed forcefully to replace the gaiter. The cylinder was re-assembled and left to be re-fitted another day.

With the ends of the roof only requiring a trim, the sides had the focus on Sunday. Between Richard, Nick and myself we got the door’s top frame mounted back in the van on both sides meaning the doors now finally latch. Due to the doors being rebuilt, they’ve required some alteration in the height to get them to fully close. Along the fixed sides we’ve used staples as we have always done.

The vacuum cylinder was refitted on Monday, along with a refurbished release valve from stock and and new branch pipe. The vacuum rig was wheeled out and the overhauled system tested. A full vacuum test shall follow, that this will be after the wheelsets have been swapped and the brakes adjusted.

Speaking of wheelsets, these were picked up in the week as well so are sat on site waiting to be fitted. Thanks to our friends at Kenway Construction who loaned us their lorry for this.

Nick finished off by touching in some of the undercoat on the doors and trimming some of the longer bolts.

This weekend it feels like the van has come on leaps and bounds, we’ve now finished the doors and the roof. This leaves us the wheelsets and the painting to complete to get the van into the train. Join us next week to see which bit we make a start on!

Hello everyone! This week has been another one focused on the Palvan, where we’ve completed the rebuild of the final door and started to sort out the wheelsets required to allow it to run.

After reviewing the parts of the door, Richard and I concentrated on shaping a new corner post, which is the only complete post we’ve had to replace on this van. Nick had found us a suitable lump of wood, which got cut to length, and them cut to the correct profile. We then had to replicate the 4 mortises from the original post.

We managed to rescue one of the diagonal bracing pieces. This had split due to the bolts rusting and expanding. Dan clamped, doweled and primed this part so it is ready for fitment.

Nick, Mark, Oliver and Dan went to Ruddington to pick up some spares including four buffers, a vacuum cylinder and UIC screw couplings. The wheelsets will follow, but would have been a bit much for Nick’s Transit.

The door side post took most of the day, so on Sunday morning Nick and I started cutting the new horizontal parts of the door, where Richard took on cutting the remnants of the tenons. I cut the ply sheet for the back of the door to size.

Nick cut down some channel rod we’ve had in store to use to strengthen the bottoms of the doors currently fitted to the van. Richard showed Tom and Oliver how to mark and drill these using the pillar drill. These were fitted later on in the day.

The team assembled the door in the Palvan, which was then stood up to allow the timber for the bottom of the door to be measured and cut.

Much of the glue used in construction leaked out of the door, which Nick duly tidied up. The door will now sit and set for the week until it can be fitted next weekend. We’ll also, provided the weather is clear, finally sort out the roof sheet and re-fit the door top frames so the doors will actually latch into the van once again.

Thanks for reading, and join us next week to see how we get on.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s update. The Test Car has been opened this weekend, so thank you to everyone that has visited us or the stand. Before we opened up, we did a little bit of work on the Palvan.

Between us we lowered the door made last week into the frame and drilled 4 holes for the hinge bolts to get the door fixed to the van so that we could start setting up the steps for the Test Car.

Using the Volvo, we set out steps for the 9F, the Class 47 which were both on display and the Test Car. I also took Hector out for display

While Barry and I talked about the Test Car to everyone that visited, Nick and Ernie finished off the Palvan door drilling the doors and bolting the door on, with a bit of assistance from whoever went back up to the yard.

Team Baldwin did a stellar job on the stand over the two days of the weekend.

Barry, Richard and myself covered Test Car tours, we all enjoyed talking to people about the Test Car and telling the history and stories.

Sadly Dave was unable to join us due to being a bit under the weather, so we wish him all the best and hope he gets better soon!

Lastly, thank you again to everyone that visited us, its been a very good weekend and I know that the team enjoyed themselves. Join us again next week where we’ll be taking apart the last door of the Palvan for refurbishment.

Hello and welcome to another update from Quorn where we are making steady progress with the second pair of doors on Palvan B781908.

With Barry, Ross, Nick, Charlie and myself on-site Saturday, we go stuck into re-making some of framework of the door that was removed last week. The replacement bottom 5″ section was drilled out for the dowels and trial fitted together.

Plenty of glue was applied to the dowels and joining faces before the parts were clamped in place and left to set in the sun.

The joints on one end of the top cross member were also rotted, so this was cut back to good wood and replacement parts cut to re-make the joint.

The middle cross member was rotted on it’s outer face, so again this was cut back and new timber fitted. The frame was then trial assembled.

A door sheet was cut to size and along with the frame moved into the Palvan for assembly. Plenty of glue was applied and the frame assembled. Then more glue was applied and the door sheet strapped into place.

Once we were happy with the fit the door sheet was screwed into place and left to dry overnight.

An opportunity was taken to tidy up a bit and fit a new bolt to the shed door.

The frame work and door hinges on the Palvan were also treated to a bit more re-oxide in readiness for the door re-fitting.

Sunday was a somewhat wetter day, however with Mark, Dan, Oliver, Tom, Nick, Ross and myself on-site we managed to progress the re-built door working mainly inside the Palvan to keep dry.

Overnight the door had settled very slightly out of square, thankfully the glue had not fully gone off so some slight adjustment was possible. We then cut the new bottom plank for the door and this was clamped in place with glue and sealer for the main joints.

The door was propped up and the inner facing ply screwed to the new plank.

Replacement diagonals were cut to length then door was then turned so they could be trial fitted and outer face of the door coated in wood primer.

We did some tidying up and preparation work in Test Car 2, and also fitted the deceleration meter bracket to the steel high wagon ready for next weekend.

Making the most of the wet afternoon, we worked in the dry and did some more scraping of the rear framework on Madge.

That’s it for this week, apart from a reminder that next weekend (16-17 March) sees the GCR 125 – Anniversary Open Weekend

During the weekend we will have Test Car 2 open to visitors in Quorn & Woodhouse station yard. Why not pop in and say hello; take a look inside to find out how and why rail vehicles were tested by British Rail, meet the team who have restored and care for this unique piece of railway history.

You can also support us by visiting our stall beside the Test Coach to get your copy of the Test Car 2 booklet and our Quorn Wagon & Wagon Pocket Stockbook.

Good evening all and thank you for joining us on another update from Quorn. As has been the theme for the past few weeks, we’re focusing on the doors on the Palvan.

We started by removing the clamps from the door that had been assembled by the end of last weekend, which had sat with the copious amounts of glue curing all week. This was then lowered onto a temporary support on the floor and offered into the frame and to the hinges. All looked good, with the old holes lining up again where they were re-used. The front of the wooden frames were primed and the hinge offered back over with sealant applied.

The door was slowly drilled and bolted into place, Ernie then followed and painted the rest of the door into primer while we started on removing and dismantling the other door of the pair.

The other door wasn’t in as bad condition, and only 2 pieces needed to be remade, one horizontal member and one diagonal. While Nick cleaned down the hinges and Ernie applied red oxide primer, Barry and I made the horizontal member between us all we got the framework back together.

We opted to cut the ply sheet for the back of the door and then finish the door with the diagonal bracing as this isn’t jointed so could be put in later. We also cut the replacement door bottom, in the same fashion as last week which was glued, clamped and screwed together. The now fitted door had the excess length of the bolts removed.

The door was given the rather cold night to cure, until it was again lowered into position. I looked at the diagonal bracing that we removed and thought it wasn’t too far beyond hope, so applied some wet rot wood hardener to it. It may not last long, but it may outlast some of the other wood we’ve had to use; we shall see in time. Oliver helped me apply some glue to the bracing and it was fixed into position.

The same process was followed with this door, framework primed, sealant applied to the hinges, and then drill and bolt. Oliver can be seen greasing the shaft of the bolts prior to fitment,

Dan and Tom started priming the door while the lock staple was refitted. Tom and Oliver had to make 3 trips to the nut and bolt van to find the right length bolts! The undercoat then came out, starting with the door fitted yesterday.

Dan, Tom and Nick continued undercoating, managing to cover both doors.

For now, that is where we will leave these doors until we are ready to gloss them. Our attention now turns to the East side to continue the work there, so hopefully more of the same next week. Thank you for reading!

Hello everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week we’ve continued with the Palvan, making a start on the doors. We started on the dock side, and got cracking removing one of the two doors.

I went round the door and tried to undo any bolts that would with the impact gun (which is still one of the best tools I’ve ever bought!). Michael and Nick followed with the grinder to cut any bolts that had spun.

The door sort of crumbled off and was taken apart to its consituent parts. The top and 2nd horizontal members were salvageable along with the uprights, leaving everything else to be made new.

Before doing so, Barry and I retrieved our radial arm saw from the GUV and fixed it up ready to use. We dealt with a stuck motor and a non-functional start switch to get the machine fully functional. Its been invaluable to sorting out these doors because it makes it so easy to cut the tenons for the frame work.

Ernie cleaned up the hinges on the van and painted them in red oxide, making them ready to receive the door once remanufactured.

Nick, Charlie and Michael de-nailed some of the remaining planks from the loco shed roof to use as the bottom of the doors. These are the right deopth and thickness to use for a re-designed door bottom. We are having to do this as we have no pattern for the bottom of the door.

Barry and I managed to finish the day with the new horizontal members cut for the door, and dry fitted into the uprights. Dave and I started by measuirng and cutting the ply sheet for the back of the door. The frame was then glued together and the ply laid in and screwed down. The door was clamped together and then rolled over so the diagonal bracing could be cut and fitted.

Nick, Mark and the lads began by making a kit of parts for one of the Catfish, which has a cracked spring pocket on the top of the axle box. The lads had a small lesson from Nick on how the axle box is assembled, much easier without the axle there!

The diagonal bracing was cut and placed into the frame, with plenty of glue and 2 screws each just to hold them in place. Between the 3 of us we cut out the plank from the loco shed and made it into a pretty good door bottom, which we fixed to the bottom of the door with copious glue and screws.

The other half of the team replaced a foot step on each one of the Catfish, removing, cutting a new one and then treating them with preservative. Then the scrapers came out and they got to cleaning down more of the Catfish’s bodywork, getting them that one step closer to paint. Nick also finsihed off by undoing or cutting most of the bolts on the other door of the pair, getting it ready for next week.

Next week we’ll be continuing with the door, getting the finished one mounted and its partner off and rebuilt. Thanks for reading, and see you next weekend!