Tag: 730562

20/10/24 – Keeping ourselves busy

Hi everyone, welcome to this weeks update from the team at Quorn. The weather has hampered our plans to get some paint on the Catfish; however we’ve kept ourselves busy.
Some stock positioning shunting too place whilst we continued with progress on the LMS brake van, some more items on the to-do-list and Test Car 2s generator.

During the week Tom, Dan and Nick continued with painting on the LMS Brake Van M730562 at Rothley, handrails, lamp brackets, swan necks and underframe were progressed. A new step board was also made and fitted.

The new paint arrived ready for the two Catfish wagons, however the inclement Saturday morning weather meant that wagons were too wet for us to apply any paint, so Oliver made sure it was stored away safe.

The old crank pulley oil seal was removed from the timing cover from Test Car 2s generator; the cover was then de-greased and pressure washed.

A new seal was then fitted using a suitably sized drift and our makeshift press with a final knock-into position with a hammer.

Hector’s cab parts were loaded onto one of the box vans for safe keeping and we sorted out some spare bolts in readiness for box van repairs before the Class 37, 37714 arrived to manage various shunt moves at Quorn for stock positioning.

Ross and myself continued with cleaning up the timing cover mating surfaces on Test Car 2s generator, and repairs to some of the generator wiring.

Richard resurrected some old skills in repairing and servicing two of Nick’s 1970s record players.

Ernie and Nick installed a lighting power supply cable across to the Fish Van on the dock; this will help us as the nights draw-in.

Mark, Tom, Oliver Dan and Nick managed to a bit of house keeping in the short spell between the Sunday morning rain and the lunchtime rain. The rotten sleepers were moved from the dock to the wood pile for the bonfire.

A general tidy up of the area on the dock and some gardening will help improve the access for vehicles to the dock.

Thanks for reading, join us again next week.

20 October 2024
13/10/24 – Ticking things off the list

Hello everyone, and thanks for joining us for another update from Quorn. The autumn weather is definitely settling in, so we’ve been ticking jobs off the back burner list. During the week, Dan finished the signwriting on the LMS brakevan, which now leaves some underframe painting to finish.

With rain predicted on Saturday, I started looking at re-assembling the genset in the Test Car. Naturally, I started by taking it apart more… To re-attach the fuel pump, I wanted to check the timing on the geartrain, so ended up draining the coolant from the system and removed the radiator and water pump to gain access to the timing case. As I was removing components, Charlie took them outside and cleaned them with the pressure washer.

Nick and Ernie took a look at the drawer in the kitchen on the coach, which has been broken for a few months. The drawer was re-assembled with additional L brackets to re-attach the front of the drawer. Back in the generator room, I found broken wires on the magnetic pickup and the dynamo, which may have contributed to the issues with the generator.

On Sunday,we started by moving the barrels from E281882 back into B765272 to put them back into covered storage after Railways At Work.

We then moved onto some light landscaping, to clear an access ramp to get Danny up onto the dock to help in clearing that up.

I went back into the Test Car and finished piping up the fuel system, which leaves just the control actuators and the cooling system left to re-assemble. I also repaired the intermediate cover which had some loose rivets.

The light landscaping turned into heavy landscaping to fill in some of the ramp way to make it less steep for Danny, who eventually made it onto the dock.

Dan and I went to test the air brakes on the TEA tank, however part way through the test, it was found that one bow girder was not moving when the brakes were applied. We stopped the test and sent Dan under to lubricate and tap the linkages to free them. This didn’t remedy the seizing this weekend, so we’ll look at it again another time.

Thanks for reading! we should be back on the Catfish next weekend, weather permitting, to apply the black paint. Joins us then!

13 October 2024
06/10/24 – Catfish, the steps and a Steam Gala

Good evening all, this week the gang have applied more paint to DB993560, the steps into the tool van have been repaired, and being the Autumn Steam Gala some train spotting may have taken place.

During the week, Dan has been down at Rothley making a good go at the sign writing on the LMS brakevan. He only has the number, region and tare weight left to apply on the east side.

At the weekend the gang applied red oxide to the W irons, the north end headstock and platform. This also extended to the insides of the frames and the underside of the wagon.

Mark and Dan applied white undercoat to the hand rails and hand wheels, getting them ready for gloss.

Last week, somebody (at the moment remaining nameless..) managed to crack one of the steps on the main steps up to the tool van. The rotten boards were removed with replacements cut and strengthening battens added to other steps. The team also secured the loose handrail.

Lastly, being the Autumn Steam Gala the vans and the tanks have been out on the line which is always a pleasant sight to see.

Thank you for reading and see you next week where we might even get to applying some gloss to the Catfish(es?).

6 October 2024
27/08/2018 – It came off in my hands (honest)!

A bumper update from Quorn Wagon &Wagon this week, as we’ve had an impromptu work week. Matt and I took some days off work, and we all made the most of the bank holiday weekend.

Work on the LMS brake van, M730562, has finally been completed and was shunted out to the south end of the van train today (Bank Holiday Monday). On Wednesday Matt finished off the upholstery and a few little jobs inside. As the van was removed from the dock, Jake finished painting the east side underframe and the long running boards.

Now we have finished the LMS Brake, we have started the Southern Brake Van (S56010) with gusto! This is the 3rd concurrent brake van we have done this year, and we now appear to be settling into the swing of things when it comes to brake van sides and their rectification. The Southern brake has not been attended to for at least 10 years, and this has shown in the bodywork. The way the body is fashioned means there are a lot of areas for water to sit and cause rot and decay.

Thursday and Friday were spent stripping the rotten side planks of the brake, cleaning and chipping the steel T-section uprights that connect the floor to the roof and removing the expired upholstery. Once one bit was removed, often a few more bits cames along with it, leading to the phrase in the title! Matt found an original interior wall panel underneath another, where the livery applied was the cream and bauxite we have been using in the BR brake van, and the LMS brake van. Measuring the demarcation line shows it at 3ft 5.5inches, which is only 0.5inches less than what we have been using. Rain (read massive deluge) did also stop play for a while on Friday.

Saturday arrives, and so does our replacement wood! Our timber merchant, Harlow Brothers of Long Whatton, have sorted us out again, and have cut, machined and tanalised the planks needed for this van. Cut to length and rebated into the corner section, they fitted a treat and look great! We were also able to strip some of the body planks from a Southern PMV body being broken up behind the loco shed at Loughborough. These were cut down to replace any boards fitted next to the ducket.

Sunday saw the same action taking place on the dockside, with 6 body planks being replaced there, and some of the interior plywood cut and fitted. Monday saw little jobs being undertaken, including refitting all the veranda door tops, lower floor quadrant cutting and fitting, filling strips manufacture, and a door plank to replicate and fit (I’m proud of that one, but took no pictures during the manufacture!)

I finish with some night time shots of the Yellow Coach and that south yard. Both Matt and I, both living an hour away; both in Lincolnshire, made use of the bunkroom in the Yellow coach and stayed a few days at the railway. it’s not very often you see views like this, and I’m sure some of the passengers on the evening trains were surprised to see the lights still on.

Once we’d finished our daylight work, Matt and I tidied the mess area in the coach and used our limited upholstery skills to manufacture a new seat base for the mess area. One of the cushions was missing when Nick and I first started using the coach as a base for our wagon restoration activities (around 2012). At that time this didn’t matter as there was just Nick, myself and Alex (Nick’s son), and the occasional visitor Now, we find ourselves in need of some extra sitting space for a larger team, and our visitors. We can now seat 18 around the 2 tables!

We are happy with our progress, and are thinking about organizing a proper work week next year!

Thanks for reading!

27 August 2018
19/08/18 The battle is almost over

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.

19 August 2018
12/08/18, 1T57 50 years

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.

12 August 2018
06/08/18 – Midland again

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!

6 August 2018
29/07/18 Matthew 7:25

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.

29 July 2018
22/07/18 A new skin(ish)

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!

23 July 2018
15/07/18 Seat backs and planks off

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.

15 July 2018