Tag: 850498

At the tail end of last weekend, I mentioned that we had prepped a roof sheet ready for fitting onto B762855. As it was still very much frozen upon arrival at Quorn, we shunted the vans down so that we could get the scaffold tower round all side of the van and be on even(-ish) floor.

The Roof end hoops were stripped off, along with the old roof covering. The roof boards were scraped of roof adhesive and then brushed off all debris.

The new sheet, having been rolled up in the week, was hoisted up on the roof and rolled out and positioned. One end of the sheet was fixed to the van using one end hoop, and then tensioned north to south, and fixed in place with the next roof hoop.

The roof sheet was fixed along the side using stainless steel staples through the sheet and into the roof boards. The west side of the van (the side facing the running line/GUV and yellow coach) was positioned such that it could just be tucked up and fixed, which left the east side of the van with a huge curtain, as in the photo above. Curtainsides work for lorries, why not for box vans?

Today, the roof was painted black using black bitumenous paint and the leftover sheet on the sides were trimmed level with the frame of the van. Other tasks completed today was the scraping of B850498. It was hoped the van would have tripped to Loughborough in the week for the welding to be completed. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen so it is hoped that the van is moved to the loco shed this week.

Quorn Wagon and Wagon have had a busy weekend, we have worked on B850498, B954268 and prep work has been started for B762855. The van train has also been de-branded following the 2 recent photo charters and the Winter Gala.

B850498

As mentioned here previously, the donor chassis is that of a tank wagon. We know this was a saddle mounted tank wagon, built in 1942 for the Air Ministry. These had non-coacting push brakes. this means both sides can be applied independently of each other. Originally the push brake rods had wooden spacers, these were found to be rotten and could rotate and fall onto the railhead.

The wood was removed and replaced with galvanised steel pipe, as was used by BR to repair these items.

It was decided to replace a single floorboard in the south end of this van. The old plank was removed and a suitable replacement found and cut to fit in the hole. The new plank was then dropped back into the hole, and the hole drilled for the bolt. Job done, you would think. Unfortunately, as with many jobs in preservation the 5-minute jobs often take much longer as was the case here. In the end, 5-floor planks were replaced in this van. Under some of the boards was found some pea gravel, evidently from its time as a grounded body at Swithland Sand and Gravel.

The imitation shock-gear the Matt has conjured up has now also been removed in anticipation of the vehicle moving to the loco shed at Loughborough for the completion of the body to chassis welding.
B954268

After the photo charter on 12th Feb, the van train was deposited back to us with B954268 as the brake van for the set. It was looking a bit worse for wear, with some planks under the East side ducket having rotted through, and a layer of green slime covering the north end of the vehicle. Whilst cleaning a step board was found to be rotten, and this was replaced too.

Matt has also spent some time tidying up the letters on the side of this van, which are currently stickers. If the resources can be found, it is hoped this van could be repainted this year, once B850498 and B854782 are completed.
In other news

Whilst having a hunt for props to fill the theatrical van, it was found the B762855 has a few holes in the roof. This occurs when the roofing felt has cracked, due temperature cycling hot and cold, and the flex that the vehicle is put under when running in the train. We have obtained another lorry sheet on site and spent this evening cleaning this down over the turntable pit, ready for next weekend, where it is intended for the roof covering to be replaced. Watch this space!

Thanks for reading!

This weekend, despite the weathers efforts, has seen work continue with the imitation Shock gear for B850498.  Apart from a few final finishing details, the main components for the west side are in place.

The components are all bolted in place using existing holes in the chassis and having been a former tank wagon chassis there are a fair few of them.

With a number of Photocharters after the Winter Gala we took the time, in the dry, to fill one of the vans with a prototypical load.  Parcels were originally loaded in the CCT and the usual BR care was taken to off load these.

Christened the theatrical van it is available for events and charters for cameo scenes on platforms or in yards.

 

 

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.

Our winter project is progressing leaps and bounds. The Christmas lull has seen a partial reroof and the fitting of the roof canvas. A new door noggin and all four doors replaced with associated furniture fitted.

A pair of BR(W) non common user plates have also been created and sign written