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7828 – May 2014

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A month of careful finishing jobs- the pile of retrimmed seat sections is growing, both sides of the exterior have received 3 coats of Midland Maroon gloss, and the ceilings painted a final 2 coats of white enamel before the brass vent covers were applied.

The old floor covering has been removed ready for the new in a few weeks. A single new window bolection has appeared to check fit and decide on any final changes. Odd jobs continue on the rebuilt south gangway, with some of the smaller fittings remaining.

7828 – April 2014

 

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Overdue update. 2 new volunteers this month- welcome both.

Gangway now complete with bellows both footplates have been trial fitted and are now just off for painting. There are a few brass fittings to support the canvas curtain to put on, and the two stowage hooks for securing the gangway when running at the end of a set to fit, but otherwise this end is complete.

The whole exterior has been rubbed down again prior to first coat of gloss. All commode handles have been sealed on and the bolts trimmed, filed and painted. The missing destination board brackets have been screwed onto the west side, and that means all the exterior bits are on, save for the window bolections.

Inside, both toilet interiors have been dismantled, and the timber sections removed, cleaned and sanded, and replaced ready for varnish. Work on the saloon interior panels continues off site, with most bits now ready to refit once we have stopped throwing paint around overhead. With a view to this, the ceiling has had another coat of gloss to blend in the recently fitted passenger communication cord tubing. One more coat of enamel to go, and the chain can be threaded in, and we have some Alarm Signal transfers courtesy of the NRM.

Most of the interior is now cleared ready to strip out the old cracked and lumpy floor covering, but this won’t be fitted until after we are happy with the ceiling paintjob.

Seat trimming is accelerating, we need to purchase some of the less obvious materials for this job now- vinyl for the undersides of the armrests, fabric for piping, covered buttons, tacks, pins, plywood for quarter panels. Some good news on the light fitting project as well, but as progress on supply of fittings is usually accompanied by an invoice, we’re having to pace ourselves to keep things moving without running out of cash. Some movement on further small castings as well, table leg bases and clips are now in stock, and attention has turned to light switches.

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Derby 175: Carriage Building in Derby

2014 marks the 175th anniversary of the arrival of railways into Derby. In 1839 the first passenger services between Derby and Nottingham began. At the same time, workshops were set up by the North Midland Railway, the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Railway near Derby station. These developed into a large complex of manufacturing facilities producing wagons, carriages and locomotives.

Today, the rail industry that is still located in Derby plays a vital role in supporting this country’s railways and also over seas. Derby is the only place in the UK that still designs and builds trains. It is also home to the largest cluster of rail-related companies in the world.

To help celebrate this occasion the LMS Carriage Association would like to share a bit of carriage building history. It is with the kind permission of the British Film Institute that we are able to bring you footage of carriage building in Derby. This was filmed at the Carriage works on Litchurch Lane in 1933, now owned by Bombardier.

Maybe you work there now? Maybe you recognised a relative? If so or you simply enjoyed the film, please leave a comment.

Links: Would you like to find out more information about the 175th Anniversary of railways in Derby or find out what is happening? Well, here are a few links that might be of interest.

BFI Corridor Third

Derby 175 Event Calendar (derby175.com no longer available by 2017)

Derby 175 Facebook Page (no longer available by 2017)

Derby 175 Twitter Page (internet archive page)

Midland Railway Study Centre Carriage Building Photos

Bombardier Future train build at Derby video

GOLD Derby Railway 175 Logo

 

7828 – Feb 2014

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Cold and wet couple of months at Rowsley. The regulars keep pushing on with the restoration of 7828’s interior. The vestibule and luggage area ceilings have been treated to further paint, and further panel scraping has almost completed the removal of the old varnish. The old saloon lower panels had become a source of concern- the seat rails and table brackets are screwed to them, and water damage from the windows and regular repositioning of fittings had caused many of them to split in crucial places. Some of the plywood panels had warped within the mahogany frames, others had disappeared, whilst a number of tenons had broken off in their mortises leaving corners flapping. The surviving panels have been stripped of beading and any usable sections of frame, and a complete set machined up and assembled- a whole two weeks work! These now await staining and varnishing to match the original sections of interior to be found on the partitions and upper areas of sidewall. Once these are fitted, the seat supports can go in.

Some interior transfers have been sourced, and the new artwork for the exterior insignia and numbers has been started in earnest (a contract job). The new castings for the passenger communication gear are just a few coats of paint away from being fitted, which would be nice to do as we could then put away the white paint.

We don’t have any appropriate tables for it yet, but we do now have all the brass wall mounted fixing brackets, adjustable table leg bases and clips for when we do. The timber draught excluders for the tops of the droplights are now repaired and covered in new felt, ready to be fitted with a set of new springs.

There has been a trip to York to delve into the archives, and several other ‘runs’ are planned to such far flung places as Birmingham, Devon, Peterborough, Telford, Sheffield and Matlock to collect other materials and components. The new moquette is now in the shed, and very excited I am about it too.

 

Restoration of 27162 (6)

Since the last post in September the new steel panelling for the sides and roof at the south end has been completed. This includes the fixing of the panels to the wooden framework using stainless steel screws sealed in with an adhesive  The whole of the west side has been painted with primer and a first undercoat.

Internally the steel panelling has also been finished in primer and new wooden partition frames have been manufactured and installed.

Two external doors have been replaced having been refurbished and most of the sliding windows are now installed.

Much time and effort has been spent on refitting the guttering in order to be perfectly certain they do not leak and that there is no gap between the gutter and the body.  This was a problem following the first restoration.

The carriage will remain in the shed until the gangway is fitted, the roof vents fitted and the outside is completely painted.

It has not been possible to obtain a full side view recently due to another vehicle alongside 27162.

 

New body side and roof almost complete
Side panels fitted and the roof panels almost complete
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Internal view showing new wooden framework and steel panelling

 

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New roof paneling and preparation for fitting gutters
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Guttering fitted showing stainless steel screws

 

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East side in undercoat showing replacement door
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West side painted in undercoat

 

LMS Carriage Searcher Spring 1997

This was the second adventure to an area north of Aberdeen for the members of the LMS Carriage Association. As before the purpose was to try and find as many LMS carriage bodies in farmers’ fields with the aim of recovering spares to help with the restoration of carriages under its care.

This expedition was a far more fruitful trip with a large number of LMS carriages spotted and spares recovered. It turns out there were some historic finds in there too!

14th Carriage Restorers’ Convention

November 2013 saw the return to the annual carriage restorers convention to the National Railway Museum at York.

Stathis Tsolis of the NRM welcomes delegates to the 14th Carriage Restorers’ Convention

The weekend was focused around a number of presentations and practical demonstrations, along with networking opportunities and access to some of the heritage carriages (LMS 14241 & Topaz) not normally open to the public.

A demonstration of scumbling techniques by Mullins Studio.
Ian Matthews demonstrates lining using a coachliner brush and signwriting paint.
Stathis Tsolis shows the application of a varnish fix transfer. Further information can be found on the LMSCA website and NRM blog.

Presentations subjects included the restoration of the NER Railcar, water gilding, the Railway Heritage Registers Project, the NRM Carriages Illumination project, LNER restoration case studies, LMS 7828 restoration and Metropolitan Coach 353.

The NRM have produced a YouTube video summarising the event which can also be viewed on their blog.

LMS Carriage Searcher 1996

Back in the late 90s, word got around that there were old railway carriages to be found in farmer’s fields in the area to the north of Aberdeen. Many of which could yield spares to help with the restoration of carriages on preserved railways. With this new found information members of what was to become the LMS Carriage Association made the journey north to see what they could find. This video is of their first expedition into the unknown…

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