Tag: Rowsley

Ceiling Week 1

So I’m on leave for 9 days, and it’s….. wait for it….. Ceiling Week!

The main saloon ceiling panels have been cut, shaped and painted with primer, undercoat and gloss over the last few weeks. Fire retardant emulsion is being applied to the top surface prior to fitting. The first pieces to go on have been the new bulkhead panels. Those in the coach were not original, but had been thoroughly chewed and modified and patched up so with the spare from the ceiling we’ve made a new set. These have been fitted, and the holes drilled for the passenger communication gear.

The whole underside of the roof has been painted with the same fire resistant emulsion, and several metres of new wooden conduit manufactured to replace broken and missing sections along the cant-rail. The ceiling springs off this, so it’s important that it fits properly.

Plan- tomorrow, two of us are going to run a covert operation to trial fit the first ceiling panel. 14 big ones, 4 vestibule panels, 2 toilet panels, 4 sections above the luggage racks and gangways, plus around 150′ of beading, 9 light bases, 16 ceiling vent covers and 120′ of passenger communication tube to fit. Best get started!

 

EARLY BOXING DAY FOR 7828 02 DEC 2012

The final piece of boxing-in

That should probably be ‘boxing-in day’ as the final pieces of tongue and groove boarding were fitted to 7828 at Rowsley. I’m not sure if boxing-in is the correct terminology, but it’s what we call the boarding that goes between the frame members on the inside of the coach. If you think it’s a bit rough you’d be right, it’s a support for the decorative interior panels and is never seen by the passenger so doesn’t have to look perfect, in fact a lot of the original boards are sawn but not planed. As far as the interior is concerned attention now turns to the ‘hoppers’ where the droplights live and once the rubber bump stops have been fitted in their new higher positions ( to prevent the droplights opening too far) we can think about replacing the long heater pipes. The latter are presently being rubbed down and painted ready for fitting – and they’re bloomin’ heavy!

Spot the Difference – the Wordy Bit

Somehow the text to accompany the photo of 7828 went into the ether – so here it is!

A milestone was reached in the restoration of the NRM’s LMS Third Open 7828 at Rowsley on the evening of Thursday 1st November when the final panel accepted its fate and bent to the typical LMS ‘tumblehome’ profile.  It seems to have been a long slog, but in fact it is just over a year since we turned 7828 on Rowsley turntable and started taking off the old panels and beading, the latter having been left on as a guide. As anticipated the frame on this side did not need as much repairing as the other side, but there was still plenty to do on the bottom rail and other horizontal sections. The new panels, which are 9mm WBP ply, were primed, undercoated and glossed on the interior side before fitting, the latter involving hundreds of Sheradised panel pins. Since then the new panels have received a coat of brushing filler, and two-pack filler in the panel joins and pin holes, and the long process of rubbing down has begun. You may wonder why we haven’t applied wood primer first, but a visit to the Carriage Convention at the Bluebell Railway (see a previous blog) revealed a very good finish on ply by using the filler first, after all, if you prime first you tend to sand most of it off!

Since putting the panels on several folk have commented ‘it’s starting to look like a coach now’ –  the restorers’ reaction is probably best left under a tarpaulin…

Beading ‘L’ 17 Oct 2012

Don machines the beading with a router and jig

Or it could be an ‘F’ or a ‘T’, that Don Lee is a picture of concentration working on with the router.  Now that the panels for Third Open 7828 at Rowsley are all cut out, the beading needs to move up the priority list. It will be a little while before the panels are all fixed in place and painted but then the panel joints will need to be covered by the beading. The main purpose of course is to prevent moisture getting into the joints, but a secondary purpose is to add to the attractive appearance of the coach. The junctions where the long straight sections of bead meet come in several different shapes, these are cut out on the bandsaw, fettled up a bit on the bobbin sander (for which we have a slightly rude name), then the edges are rounded off using  the router on a former guide, one for each shape, made by Alan Taylor.  It’s a very noisy job which is why Don is wearing ear protection.

‘Taylor-Made’ Panels for 7828

Now that the final frame repairs have been completed on Third Open 7828 at Rowsley, thoughts turn to re-panelling. Originally panelled in mahogany, we are using 9mm WBP ply, and Alan Taylor sprang into action by cutting out virtually all the panels for the upper bodyside, while James White and I made sure any bare wood on the framing had at least a coat of primer applied. The ply will need pva wood glue applying to the edges then priming and painting on both sides with the exterior side getting the paint, sand, fill, paint treatment many times over. Alan looks very happy with his efforts don’t you think?

7828 Frame Repairs Complete

At Rowsley  the frame repairs on the NRM’s Third Open 7828 are at last complete aside from a few little tweaks. Ben Riley slogged away for hours trying to get a stubborn bolt out of the bottom rail at the toilet end, had a rest, Harvey Coppock came along and gave it a couple of taps and out it came! Such are the joys of carriage restoration. It’s been a long slog of repetitive work on the framing but the prospect of applying the new panels is now mouth-wateringly close.  The props we put in to support the frame and cantrail are now out, and that will make access inside the coach much easier.

Completed frame repairs on 7828

Rowsley Carriage Shed open on 27th May

The LMSCA Carriage Shed at Rowsley will be open for visitors to see our restoration work during the visit of steam locomotive 70013 Oliver Cromwell to Peak Rail on Sunday 27th May 2012.

LMSCA Carriage Shed
The LMSCA Carriage Shed at Rowsley South

Further information on the railtour can be found on , and

Please be aware that car parking facilities at Darley Dale and Rowsley South will be subject to a small parking charge for this event.

Update: Peak Rail have advertised there will be an admission charge of £2 to either Matlock Platform 2, Darley Dale Station and Rowsley South Station and Site, which will be redeemable off the price of an all day rover ticket.

7828 Catchup 2009

The first in a series of updates, to bring you up do date with progress made on 7828 in the past couple of years.

Before panelling (photo by Alan Taylor)

After upper panelling (photo by Alan Taylor)

Stones ventilator surrounding mouldings (photo by Alan Taylor)

Sanding of the moulding that surrounds the Stones window ventilators. (photo by Alan Taylor)

Measuring moulding on the 2nd side, in prepartion for fabrication of new moulding components (photo by Alan Taylor). These measurements were also used to estimate the quantity of wood required for the task, some 26,000 square inches.

Using router on lower side panels to create a rebate so a lap joint can be made when fitting  (photo by Michael Fearn)

Panel fitted, with rebate ready for glueing and fitting of the next panel (photo by Alan Taylor)

Fitting the next panel along (photo by Alan Taylor)

Door after removal of internal wood panelling and its droplight (photo by Alan Taylor)

Detail showing this door once belonged to 16213. 7828’s original number was 16211. (photo by Alan Taylor)

Evidence that blinds were once fitted to the doors, believed to be for blackout conditions during WWII (photo by Alan Taylor)

Work being undertake to strip a door of its fittings (photo by Alan Taylor)

 

Markings on one of the doors, VIIII and 19129 (photo by Alan Taylor)

Markings on one of the doors, 7828 and 3 (photo by Alan Taylor)

Rotten door timber to be removed and renewed. This shows the area where much of the water gets in around the droplight. (photo by Alan Taylor)

That concludes the catchup for that last part of 2009. Next to come, 2010.

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