Carriage & Wagon Report, June 2006
by Richard Johnson, 11th June 2006

I see, looking back through these reports that I first began mentioning work on the FK (Corridor First) 13329, over a year ago. It really has taken that long to restore, and we chose to do it because at first glance it appeared to be in ‘good’ condition.

It is now complete bar the shouting, and was moved outside on 10th June. As I write, there are a few bits of trim to be screwed back, floors to be given a final clean and one or two minor plumbing dribbles to be attended to. Then, it’s into traffic for the first time. Buy a First Class ticket and judge for yourselves what you think.

Our RBr (Restaurant Buffer Car) 1675 performed sterling service throughout the nine days of our Gala. I am told that the bacon rolls went down well. This was a baptism of fire for it, and no mistake. Nine days continuous running; sometimes from 9.00am until 9.00pm. Inevitably a couple of problems manifested themselves as the week wore on. Firstly, a valve on the pressurised water system stubbornly stuck open and meant that pressure could not be raised properly, leading to a lack of water for drinking, cooking and washing up. Secondly the thermocouple on the boiler failed towards the end of the week. We have decided to take the coach out of use again for a short period to rectify these things. We cannot do it whilst it is in service.

As was said before, it is inevitable that in bringing back into use equipment that is 45 years old, and has not worked for the last 10 years, there are bound to be teething problems until it all beds down. We will get there.

Currently in our shed on a temporary basis, and receiving attention is Mk 1 TSO (Tourist Second Open) 4763. I have attached a picture, showing work on the roof going ahead. The work is being done at the toilet end, where a number of pipes and vents protrude, and some holes have been discovered. This is the second of the two TSO’s we rescued from the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway a couple of years ago. 4772 has already been restored and is in the Chocolate & Cream set.

There is plenty to do on 4763, so all the effort being put in now will shorten its ultimate restoration. This is actually quite useful, as it gives us the measure of the job, and means we can keep that in mind and make plans, whilst working on the Maroon set.  One job we have not tackled before has become apparent. The section of the steel vacuum pipe which protrudes from one end of the coach by the buffers is badly corroded and has some big holes in it. After much head scratching, we have decided that to get to it to get it out and replace with new, we are going to have to strip out one of the toilets, and take up the toilet floor!

The GWR Tool Van W4 is making good progress. This vehicle has four large glass roof lights, to give plenty of light to those working internally. A broken one has been replaced, and serious repairs are underway to the pair of windows on the sliding doors at each side. The only real major job left on the body itself is to replace the roof canvas. That should be interesting with the four roof lights above mentioned!

A project just being started is the restoration of an LMS 6 wheel passenger Brake Van 32990, known as a ‘Stove R’. This belongs to the 8F Group of which Loco Department Head Mike Hoskins is a member. Apparently, they have a complete set of parts, and all new replacement cladding. We dragged it out of the siding where it had been hiding for several years, and it will go under cover just as soon as the GWR Tool van is finished. I have also attached a picture of this. It can be seen that it is in need of complete strip down and refurbishment.

These vehicles are quite rare in preservation. They were apparently built for use on goods trains, such as milk trains or some parcels trains which had no train heating. Thus a stove was installed to keep the Guard warm. The plan is to get it refurbished and operational into full 1938 LMS livery, exactly as it was when first built 68 years ago. That should look good.

After 20 years of running without a bogie problem on our coaches, we have now had two in two weeks. Firstly, the SO (Second Open) 4787 had to be withdrawn during the Gala, after a strong smell was noticed from one of the axleboxes. Examination showed that it was running hot, so the coach was detached to be checked. When we opened up the axle box, we found that the bearing had actually sheared, and the part bearing on the journal had twisted, causing heavy wear into the bronze. I have attached a photo of what we found.

Although not absolutely clear, the picture shows the bearing standing on end and at the top, it is showing bronze where it should be white metal. On the left is the part that had sheared off. The rectangular plate it is resting on is the slipper plate that sits above it in the axle box.  Happily, the journal itself does not appear to be damaged.

A week later, we had a similar report from a Guard about the Carmine & Cream RMB (Buffet). Examination showed shards of white metal on the axlebox pad, so that coach has had to be withdrawn to be checked out.

It is ironic that we should have experienced these problems, as for the last couple of years we have had a serious continuing programme to overhaul the axleboxes on all our service coaches, to make sure that they are in tip top condition. There has been a beneficial change to the oil used, and a pad renewal programme is underway.

Next time, I will be able to deal with this a bit further. Hopefully, I will be able to report that all is well.