Carriage & Wagon News - May 2011
LBSCR 8-Compartment Third 2403
Sure and steady progress has been maintained in several of the work areas of 2403 since our last update. One of the most significant tasks to have been completed, at long last some might say, is that in early March Derek Atkins re-fitted the last of the 32 windows. The interiors of all of the compartments have now been fully sanded and undercoated. Several of the doors have been repaired and refitted to the coach body. Derek Gardener has finished fitting the internal door frame in the London end compartment and it now boasts the hung door which was pictured in our previous report. Derek is also well advanced in making two new doors to fill the the "gaps" left by the extension of the London end compartment. Derek is making good use of some old body frames, from the C&W extensive sock of spares, as the basis for the new doors rather than trying to make new doors from scratch. Outside of the coach many of the lower body panels have been fitted together with, in many cases, their associated body mouldings. It is expected that in the fairly near future the London end of the coach, which you'll see from the photos has already been primed, will turn green when the first undercoat is applied. John James continues to wave his magic wand over the seats in the two London end compartments. Although embryonic seat frames were made some time ago by Kim Chalkley, certain modifications are needed to them to fit in the new layout of these two compartments.
LBSCR 10-Ton Open 27834
Steady progress is being maintained on 27834, the most significant event to occur was the fitting of the springs at both ends of the wagon which back the buffers and connect to the draw bars. Two new solebars have been cut primed and fitted, also the knees are in the process of being cleaned and fitted. The draw bars have not been fitted yet as those available have badly badly worn eyes and hence these need to be repaired before the draw bars can be fitted.
LBSCR Bogie 5-Compartment Brake Third 4168
Work to rebuild both bogies and fit the wheel sets was completed in early February which then enabled the carriage to be moved back inside C&W for the final work needed before it returns to traffic after a short break of about 20 years! Gary Walker undercoated, rubbed down and undercoated all of the outside panels before finally bringing the shine back to 4168 with gloss paint. This enabled all the lettering transfers to be applied and the final coats of varnish to be brushed on. Whilst work was progressing on the body paint work Kevin Colley & Dave Smart were working on the mechanicals within the underframe. This included fitting new buffer brackets together with repaired buffers, they also completed work on the steam heating pipe work and the carriage braking system. John James checked over all the door furniture and did corrective work where required. Stuart Butt spent an exciting day crawling along the roof applying one last coat of protective paint before 4168 burst out into the sunshine for the final checks over the inspection pit before it had a test run in the first week of May. It is expected that by the time this update hits the website 4168 will be back in traffic and I for one cant wait for a ride in it as painting its underframe was my first ever task working in C&W.
4168 Update
Since these notes were written 4168 underwent a series of trial runs and was passed fit to return to passenger service. Her first day in traffic was Thursday, 19th May.The IWSR is once again able to run a 5-coach bogie set, complete with a brake van at each end. Some ex-works pictures of 4168 have been published in the Latest News section of this web site.
SECR 4-compartment Brake Third 4149
A very significant amount of dismantling has been done since our last report and even without any shot blasting (which is booked in to start on the 23rd of May) being done significant amounts of rust are apparent in various areas of the underframe.
SECR Bogie Saloon Composite 6375
C&W played musical wheel sets on 6375 during late February and early March. It had been identified that the wheel sets in the country end bogie were badly worn, so it was decided to remove the bogie and send the wheel sets for tyre turning. Unfortunately on close inspection it was found that the wheel sets were too badly worn and hence could not be turned. Therefore Gary Walker had to search around for an alternate solution to get 6375 operational again. Luckily it was established that the wheel sets in PMV 1930 would fit in the country end bogie, so the PMV was brought into the C&W sidings so the wheels could be removed and then fitted into 6375. This then left PMV 1930 minus any wheels! Luckily we did have some spare wheels which could be fitted to the PMV to get it mobile again and allow it to be move back out to griffins. This unplanned wheel swapping had an unfortunate knock on effect on progress on 4168 and hence contributed to it missing its planned introduction back into service in mid April.
PMV 1046
As mentioned in our last update this PMV was going to be assessed to see if it would be suitable to enter traffic this season. To these ends it has been into C&W where the underframe will be de-rusted, cleaned & repainted by Dave Anscomb and Colin Withers. The air brake system will be overhauled and new pipework fitted, in addition the spring hanger doughnuts will be replaced. Peter Clowes has already started work on replacing rotten parts of the bodywork, he will continue doing this and ultimately fully repaint all of the body.
Winter maintenance
Winter maintenance has been completed on our bogie and four wheel stock, all have now had annual 'A' exams, in addition all stock have had at least two door exams.
What else has been going on?
During March C&W were joined by a small group of French apprentices who put their skills to good use on various wooden related projects during their stay.
We all wish John Garside a speedy recovery from the heart attack he suffered recently.
Coming up next
A start will be made on striping the body from PMV 1669 as it will provide the donor underframe for the next four wheel coach to be restored by C&W, LBSCR brake 3rd 4115.
LBSCR 6349 will be coming in for attention to the external body paintwork which is flaking off in several places.
On SECR 4149, once the shot blasting is complete all the metalwork will be painted to prevent any new rust forming and then the bogies will be reassembled and refitted. This will enable the underframe to be brought back to the C&W sidings where it is intended that the rust damage will be repaired by C&W staff.
Once the eyes on the draw gear for LBSCR 27834 have been repaired and the draw bars refitted the floor for the wagon will be made and fitted.
New volunteers
We'd like to welcome Alastair Brock (Colin Brock's son) who has joined C&W as a new volunteer since our February report, Alastair is working with his father on wagon restoration. It is especially nice to to see a member of the younger generation joining our volunteer work force as the ultimate well-being of the IWSR will be in their hands one day.
Over the next few years the Carriage & Wagon Department is likely to lose a number of long standing volunteers through various reasons; retirement, moving away from the Island etc. We have much to achieve if we are to keep the IWSR's unique collection of historic rolling stock in tip-top condition, at the same time as progressing new restoration projects. We really need to maintain the momentum of progress that has been built up over the last few years. In short, we need to introduce new blood into the department now so that the outgoing generation can pass on their skills and knowledge to the incoming. The one thing we cannot do is to keep growing the paid staff workforce, we simply can't afford it!
If you would like to join our team we have jobs for all ages, abilities and experience and can provide whatever training you may require. From project leader to making the tea, a job to suit you is here. For more information please contact either Carriage & Wagon Supervisor Gary Walker (telephone 01983 883613 (8.30am to 4.30pm daily), E Mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), the railway's Volunteer Coordinator Clive Miller (telephone 01983 882204 (times as above), E-Mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .) or visit the Vounteer Information page.
Further pictures of IWSR C&W Dept. progress can be seen on C&W team member Derek Atkins' website.
IWSR 40th Anniversary Gala
The Railway's 40th Anniversary Gala showed off our carriages and wagons at their best, with Victorian LBSCR and LSWR locomotives heading all trains. Since the Gala around 50 videos of the event have been published on You Tube - well worth a look if you were unable to be there in person.