Tag: 3606

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 everyone, and welcome to another update from Quorn. Now that I’ve come back from the frivolities of my wedding and from staffing HydroFLEX at the Greatest Gathering, I’ll give you a run down of what has happened for us this week.

At Rothley, good progress had been made by the C&W team on both the Lowfit with its previously poorly dragbox and the shock absorbing High Goods with its rotten corrugated end being replaced for some spare good material. Additionally, the Lowfit chassis has received more black paint and the chassis for the Palshocvan body had been needle gunned and primed, getting it ready for the body to go on. Thanks to Jamie, Pat, Kyle, Rob, Noah and Steve, we’re looking forward to having these back and getting them in traffic.

The week prior, the tank train had applicable vehicles receive a bearing exam and all vehicles had their brake rigging oiled.

On to this weekend then, and after my time away its nice to see the amount of progress that has been made. Before the trains started running, Charlie (with Nick as lookout) mowed the grass between Road 1 in the South Yard and the running line.

Dave got started on the east side Shell logo, getting it chalked up and completed in the morning.

Ernie and I got the Esso plate jig out and welded the plate brackets back on to 3621. We started on the west side, and the jig made the work really easy, though the height from the ground did add a complication. I modified the jig to allow a bit of access to the bottom ring from the top which made the east side lugs even easier. the west have been fulled welded, and then received a dose of wire brushing by Nick and painted with a coat of primer by James. I ran out of 3.2mm electrodes before finishing the west side, but we can catch that at a later date.

Dave got the west side Shell logo on 1919 and touch up the green on the BP logo. This is among the last jobs on this tank, though we will be varnishing each of the logos on this tank. That leaves us to complete our paperwork before handing it over to Jamie for its acceptance FTR. I measured the flange height and thicknesses, which were showing a nearly brand new P5 profile. Dave applied a wheel 1 arrow to the tank to assist us in future inspections.

3621 had its lid securing turnbuckles freed off and oiled courtesy of Charlie and Ernie, plus an extra pipe stub in the filler neck was removed and blanked and Nick got the scaffolding down to 3606 to scrape the the tar residue from around the filler neck and around the top of the barrel. This needs a bit more scraping and a bit of degreaser before we can paint it. I went round 3606 with the big ratchet to make sure that all the side support bolts were tight. I’ll be adding a blob of weld to each exterior bolt to ensure that they don’t come undone.

Ernie used an angle grinder to clean up the support remnants on 3606. Nick, Charlie and James took the washer tin over to 3854 to put new washers in the brake system where they were missing.

Lastly, Charlie and James gave the BEVs a clean and a charge before Railway at Work next weekend. Do come down to the railway next weekend to experience the sights, sounds and atmosphere of a by-gone era, showing how goods and passengers were moved around the network. We’ll be there helping to tell the story. Join us then!

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

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s update. This week, we’ve followed up the undercoat on 1919 with a gloss coat and continued the re-assembly of 3606.

1919 first then, although windy, Saturday was a perfect day for painting with it being dry and warm out so came the spray kit. With eight litres of thinned down paint, I applied a solid first coat to the tank barrel and sole bar all round, with the west side underframe getting a look in too.

Charlie cleaned up our spare direction switch for the Brush Pony trucks, and also cleaned up the top of the underframe on the Lowfit, making good work of the whole frame and applying some red oxide primer.

With the paint drying on 1919, our attention turned to 3606. We’ve had a sample bend section supplied to check which was close, but required some alteration to fit, which was carried out between Nick, Ernie and I. Some bends were altered and a section of material let in to extend the front section. this can now go back to the supplier so that they can make the full foot wide support pieces for this tank.

The heating coil pipe on 3606 was also completed, with Nick and Ernie having to recover one of the cutting rings from the compression fitting being used to complete the work. The bent sections where fitted together, then I welded them to the bosses on the tank, as would have originally been done.

That wraps up this week; next week maybe another coat on the 1919, or it could be something else. Lets see what the week and the weather hold for us. Thank for reading

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

As we move into June, we get the spraying equipment out to give tank 1919 its undercoat.

On Saturday the final parts of the underframe were scraped and needle gunned.

A few areas had some red-oxide primer applied, which dried quickly in the sunshine.

During the week a replacement for a missing 4″ tank top cap was created by 3d printing, this was sealed to the adaptor and will be fitted to the tank in due course.

Whilst the 1940s weekend was getting into full swing in the yard, we got the BBQ equipment out to celebrate Ross’s birthday, as a much enjoyed change to a birthday cake. The salvaged and repaired picnic tables being put to good use.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ross ! Thanks for the BBQ 🙂

After lunch Edward the compressor was topped up with diesel and we got prepared to start applying the undercoat. The spray gun was set-up, the paint was mixed and thinned; once we had the right consistency this was poured through a filter into the paint sprayer can.

Over the next few hours Ross and myself sprayed the tank barrel, with a little help from Dan and Harry who also tried their hand with the spray gun.

Once the barrel was covered, we continued with the west side underframe.

On Sunday the last few areas of the east side suspension were given a coat of red-oxide, which thanks to the sunshine dried quite quickly.

The headstocks, buffers and east side solebar were hand brushed with undercoat. These areas were not easy to get to with the spray gun due to the wagon being in the dock. The ladders were also undercoated.

Another lorry curtain side sheet obtained from a lorry breakers was prepared ready to be used for van roof coverings. After cleaning and removal of the shackles and straps the sheet was measured up; luckily it’s just big enough to be able to get two 12T van roof coverings out of. Once Charlie had cut the sheets they were folded and stored.

My attention turned to making a jig that will help us with positioning of the Esso logo plates on tank 3621. Unfortunately the Esso plate brackets were removed at some point in the tanks life. The jig will allow us to position the brackets correctly for welding into place. Having tank 3606 alongside with brackets still in-tact made creating the jig much easier. Two ply sheets were clamped to the two upper and lower sets of brackets on 3606.

The ply were cut to shape to allow access to the brackets for welding. Holes were then drilled and the ply was bolted to the brackets.

Timber was then used to create a frame down to the solebar for positioning vertically, and a separate timber up against the handbrake rack to position longitudinally. Frame parts were then made to join the upper and lower ply sections together. Once I was happy with the fit, all parts were drilled and bolted together.

The finished jig was then un-bolted from 3606s brackets.

Once we have made the new Esso plate brackets for 3621 these will then be bolted to the back of the jig, and the frame positioned onto 3621 so the brackets can be welded into the correct place.

So a very productive (and enjoyable) weekend for the team, join us again next week, all the best, Dave

Hello and welcome to a sunny weekend update from Quorn; we’ve continued with getting tank 1919 ready for paint and completed a small repair to part of the brake rigging on the Lowfit.

Lowfit wagon B452718 is due to go to Rothley at some point for underframe repairs, in the meantime we need to progress other jobs which include a repair to a broken part of the brake rigging. One of the twin operating arms has a fractured spacer and a missing spacer. To make the repair easier, on Saturday the arm was removed from the wagon.

The spacer attachment areas were cleaned up and a new spacer cut from a piece of tubing.

The arm assembly was then clamped together and welded up.

The rigging arm was then treated to a coat of red oxide primer, followed by a coat of gloss black.

Dan continued with his work on the A-Type container, cleaning up more of the metalwork and applying red-oxide primer.

The main focus for the weekend has been needle gunning, sanding and scraping of tank 1919 to progress closer to being able to apply paint.

Where bare metal was revealed, red oxide primer was applied and when dry the north end headstock panel had grey undercoat.

On Sunday the sanding and scraping continued on tank 1919, also a couple of areas on tanks 3621 and 3606 were attended to.

Again any bare metal areas on all 3 tanks were treated to some red oxide primer.

The repaired brake rigging arm was re-fitted to the Lowfit after straightening the locating pins.

The sticker glue residue was removed from the west side of tank 1919.

Next week with most of the team away, we’ll be taking a break from reporting any activity until we’re back for the Bank Holiday bumper weekend at the end of the month.

Cheers for now, Dave