Tag: 784409

Hello everyone and welcome to another update from Quorn. This week has been one of defect clearance, cleaning and finishing off vac cylinder repairs, including a new improved special tool! Its also been lovely to see the tank train running on Saturday for as part of the firing school. Okay, lets jump in to what we’ve done..

First job was to fit a flip down stop board in the four foot of the dock road to protect the vehicles in the siding, and the people working on them.

Ernie arrived with a new plate to use for pressure testing vacuum cylinder domes once they have been repaired. This also means we can test 18 inch domes as well. Thanks to Ernie for sorting this out. Between Ernie and myself we got the plate sorted and made two o rings to act as the seal between the plate and the dome.

Ernie also worked on another tool used to push out the guide bush in the bottom of the vacuum cylinder.

Charlie, James Oliver and Dan started tidying the area outside the coach beyond the dock as it was starting to look quite untidy and overgrown. Some equipment was re-sited and a lot of brush clearance was done.

Mark, Tom, Oliver and Dan finished off washing the vans in the yard. Mark and Tom then moved over to needle gunning in the pockets of 3689.

Nick and I cleared some of the defects noted against the vans when they have their Fitness to Run exams. A few handbrake rack bolts, underkeep bolts and a handbrake chain. With a bit of assistance we also change two buffers on B784409 on opposite corners.

I had managed to get hold of some soda media in the week and finally had the opportunity to try out the soda blaster, firstly on a vacuum cylinder, but also on 3689. It made a bit of a mess, but thankfully its water soluble! We’ll keep experimenting on this to find out what its best to use it for.

We pressure tested the latest cylinder and found a few further pin holes, however the new plate worked a treat!

Thanks for reading, and join us next week to see what we get up to! Cheers, Ross

This weekend, the group’s efforts have been directed in two directions, on B784409 and on B850498.

Last week the previous secluded dockside underframe of B784409 was brought out into the open and scraped down ready for paint. Saturday saw the compressor repaired and the underframe spray gun brought out to finish this van off. Today sees the handbrake end picked out in white and the bearing end caps picked out in yellow.

Saturday’s work on B850498 sees the end panel on the ‘blue end’ of the van removed. This was removed due to having a soggy bottom, and a British Rail bodge panel in the middle which covered over a hole in the sheet. The removed panel was drawn around on a new sheet of plywood, then cut out. it was then offered into the van to check the fitment and then taken out and primed inside the GUV.

Today the new end panel was fitted to the van, and ended by being painted into undercoat

Matt has also undertaken the task of producing some ‘shoc’ gear for this vehicle. This is a purely cosmetic item, but is an important part of this van’s profile.

This weekend has seen full axle box examinations carried out on B850498.
Removal of the covers, clean, inspection of the axle and pads. It is clear that the chassis has been stood for some time so 3 of the boxes required new pads. Boxes then oiled and reassembled after the new pads had soaked. Over the next few weeks we shall keep an eye on the oil levels and monitor the oil use, initially, this will be high until the pad is fully soaked.

B784409 has now been shunted into the box van train and joins sister B783082. This has allowed access to the unrestored east side underframe which has been scrapped cleaned and is ready for paint. This will be done next weekend and will be ready for the Winter Gala, this will also be the first time the vehicle has run in preservation.

Also of note on B784409 we removed the east side wagon plate,  this was fitted in 1981 when the vehicle had its vacuum brakes removed, fitted with air brakes and new suspension becoming VEA 230097. This uncovered the original HMLE data panel. This gives Route available and speed data for the vehicle under various load conditions.