Restoration of LMS railway carriages at Rowsley (Peak Rail) & Wirksworth (Ecclesbourne Valley Railway)
One of 10 nominations, and the only carriage, 27001 has been nominated for this year’s Steam Railway Award.
Originally built in 1950 to LMS diagram 2161 as a corridor third brake carriage, 27001 has been exquisitely restored as a vestibule third brake carriage with disabled access. We hope you will agree that this is a worthy candidate and encourage you to vote for the LMSCA.
Cast your vote by 28th Jan at THE STEAM RAILWAY AWARD.
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.
The wooden framework is now substantially complete and the steel roof hoops have been fitted. We now await the arrival of the steel side panels which will then be welded to the existing panels. They will be fixed to the wooden frame using stainless steel screws.
The existing side panels have now been completely returned to bare metal and filled as required. Painting is now underway and the primer is being followed by the first maroon undercoat.
The sliding windows have been completely reglazed as almost all of the were original plate glass which did not withstand the heat of the fire. They have now been painted on the outer side and await fitting.
John Leather
Existing bodywork in primer
The wooden framework almost complete
Steel paneling in first undercoat
Primer coat on the sliding windows
Sliding window in primer coat
Work on the framework has continued and the east side frame and cantrail has been fitted. The west side is currently being prepared in the workshop. The gangway end has been refurbished and fitted temporarily to determine the position of the bolt holes.
In the meantime much effort has been spent in reglazing the sliding windows. This required dismantling of the brass frame by drilling out the fixing screws at one end after which it was necessary to apply sufficient heat to melt the solder holding the corners together. New rubber seals were purchased and the glass fitted with the help of liberal quantities of detergent. Further work on the replacement of windows is continuing.
The new end frame has now been completed and the pictures below show it being fitted.
The new sections of cant rail are currently being made and will be fitted with the new side frame members over the next few weeks.
Progress on 27162 is continuing at a good pace. Dismantling of damaged portion of the framework and roof is now complete and a start has been made on the replacement of the bottom rail. The new end framework is being manufactured off-site. Some of the new floor boards can be seen in the picture which will be laid when the bottom rail is complete.
Meanwhile a start has been made on cleaning of the slider window frames and preparing for fitting of the windows.
Work has now started on the restoration of LMS Third Open 27162 following the fire of October 2011
The work is being carried out by Lee Sharpe who is making steady progress in removing the damaged framework. The work is being carried out in the WyvernRail maintenance shed at Wirksworth.
The picture below shows the extent of present progress.
As work continues to prepare Third Open 27162 for repairs to the framing , panelling and roof, following last October’s fire, plans are being drawn up to move the vehicle into the Maintenance Facility at Wirksworth on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.
If these plans go ahead on schedule, work should begin sometime in October 2012.
Whilst we are waiting for this to begin, the surviving wooden framework and metal skin have been painted with emulsion paint. Arrangements are also progressing with the set up of internal lighting facilities, to allow members to see the work that they are doing through the winter months.
During the course of the last year, all of the surviving internal fittings have been removed for cleaning and refurbishment where possible.
Two tasks were progressed today on the Brake Third.
Much grinding, hammering and chiselling was applied to one of the vertical frame supports, which needs to be removed in order to facilitate the wider window reveal, for the proposed extra seating bay.
This was the second day of work on this item, and finally the weld attaching the metal socket to the cantrail gave up. The resultant piece of hardwood will be re-used as the window sill frame.
Also, following recent welding work on the brake end panelling, primer and undercoat have been applied to this.
We await further bolting & welding to attach the steel corner plates to the outside of this panelling.
