Tag: B777171

  • 09/08/2026 – More Sides

    09/08/2026 – More Sides

    Hello and welcome to this weeks news from Quorn as we continue with box van side panel replacements on B854782 and B777171.

    Firstly we should welcome Carl who came along on Saturday to see us with a view to volunteering in the future, hope you enjoyed your day.

    Saturday started with Nick and Carl clearing the stored boxes from inside the East side North end of B854782 to allow the rotten panel to be removed. Once the panel was out, the metalwork was cleaned up and a new ply sheet cut to size.

    The sheet was trial fitted and marked for the framework rivet cut-outs which were drilled. The panel was then primer painted by Carl.

    Ernie helped me with a couple of jobs on parts from my ever cantankerous old Triumph which needed fettling; the oil sum pan was straightened, and a new jacking support plate made & welded into place under the front crossmember.

    Ross is developing his own design of Tyre Profile Measurement device; which has progressed to the first stage of manufacturing and trial fitting of the magnetic frame for attaching to a wheelset.

    Ernie applied some undercoat to the west side van door that was made and fitted last week on B854782.

    Nick, Charlie, Carl myself fitted the side panel into B854782, and Charlie fitted the door hold-back catch. I then painted the panel with undercoat.

    In other news, we all admired a very smart 1961 Morris Minor visiting the yard at Quorn; Ross rode a rather old bicycle, and Charlie took a selfie.

    On Sunday we moved down the yard to B777171 which was stabled next to the buffer stops. Both panels on the west side south end were to be replaced; the first job for Ernie, Ross, Mark and myself being to remove the old bolts; half of which came undone, however the other half needed the help of a grinder, hammer and chisel.

    Two new sheets of ply were cut to size by Ross, Charlie and myself, and primer painted by Eireni & Ross.

    Nick and Mark cleaned up the exposed metal framework on B777171, then applied some red-oxide primer.

    Once dry the panels were lifted into the van and sealant applied to the frame. Working inside what was becoming a very warm van in the afternoon sun, Nick carefully located the panels into place, then Ross & I drilled the holes and bolted the panels in.

    Any excess sealant was scraped away and the door furniture was then fitted by Charlie & Nick.

    Thanks for reading, join us again next week, all the best, Dave

  • 29/12/2024 – Vans and Vac Cylinders

    29/12/2024 – Vans and Vac Cylinders

    Over the festive period we have made good progress with four box van roofs, salvaged some of the Lowfit’s rotten floor and made a start on the restoration of a vacuum brake cylinder.

    23rd Dec – At Rothley, Nick, Ross, Mark and Tom stripped the roofs from B777171, B780282 and B779978. New roof sheets were opened out and rolled up to be lifted on to the roof of each van. Dan, Oliver and Charlie cleaning the sheets and tidying up. By the end of the day, each van was sat with a sheet resting on its roof.

    24th Dec – Nick, Ross, Mark and Tom fixed down the roof sheet at each end and along the sides of B777171. The top door frame was refitted to both sides and the roof sheet fully fitted and finished. The roof coverings of P18422 were removed down to the bare wood. Oliver and Charlie assisting tiding up the old roof coverings then cleaning and painting the roof hoops.

    27th Dec – The roof was prepared on P18422, the sheet laid out and lifted onto the van for rolling out. The roof hoops were fixed on B779978 & B780282, and both sides fixed down aside from around the door frames due to rotten door top frames.

    28th Dec – Nick, Ross, Ernie, Charlie and myself returned to Quorn to look at options for replacing the four rotten top door frame noggins. The floor of the recently arrived Lowfit wagon was assessed and will need to be replaced. The majority of the planks were found to be rotten however there were a few that could be salvaged. They are by coincidence big enough to be made into replacement noggins for the box vans. We therefore set about removing the re-usable planks.

    Whilst myself and Ross were busy with the planks, Nick, Charlie and Ernie continued the work on the 21″ vacuum cylinder spares. Despite having enough parts for three cylinders, the corrosion damage on two of the cylinder bores means that these will need machining before they can be used again.

    Ernie finished off drilling the split pin hole in a new door hinge pin that he had made to replace a missing one on the Lowfit. The new pin was then fitted to the wagon.

    Ross and myself selected the best of the four rotten door frame noggins from the vans at Rothley. In the warmth of the Mess coach there was much head scratching and careful measuring up of what was a somewhat incomplete noggin. We were eventually able to complete a drawing that will enable the manufacture of some replacement noggins.

    29th Dec – Nick continued with painting up the one usable vacuum cylinder whilst I cleaned up the threads of the dome studs with a die-nut.

    Ross and myself took a look at the first of three floor planks from the Lowfit that had been left inside overnight to dry out a bit. Slicing in stages to assess the integrity of the wood in the middle of the plank, we were able to cut good wood of the correct size for one replacement noggin.

    The next stage, using our drawing, was to start marking out the positions for the eight mounting holes, which were then drilled.

    Thanks for reading, join us again soon for an end of year round-up looking back at what we have achieved over the last 12 months.