Carriage Restoration and Maintenance at MHR Loco Shed

November 2005 to date

12th November 2007:                   BSK 34947 now in gloss     Photos (12th November 2007):  Tony Wood
31st October 2007:     Mike Cross was painting BSK 34947       "My apprentice" - said Duncan, grinning.                Photo (31st October 2007):  Tony Wood
4th October 2007:     Duncan replacing the rotted frame of this window in BSK 34947 with new hardwood mouldings   Photo (4th October 2007): Tony Wood
	17th July 2007:   Duncan has begun gloss coats on TSO #4600   Photo (17th July 2007): Tony Wood
... and just in case you wondered why there are no coaches being painted around this time, here's a photo showing the A4 Duncan was painting:
Photo (7th July 2007): Craig Semplis

 

30th June 2007:   New page by Mike Pearson on carriage restorations at the Mid Hants

21st March 2007:   Finished trailer car of the DMMU
This photo doesn't really do the paint job justice.   When the coach was shunted outside, I remarked to Duncan how good it looked.   "It's the dog's" - he said.   Agreed.       Photos (21st March 2007):  Tony Wood

13th March 2007:     Duncan lining a trailer car of the DMMU         Movie of this scene (3.2 MB, 13th March 2007)     Photo and movie (13th March 2007):  Tony Wood

David showed me the plumbing he's done towards restoring vacuum braking to coach 4977   Photo (13th March 2007): Tony Wood

24th January 2007:   Coach 4977 coach-end repairs and painting have now been done, all bar the number transfers. Duncan was fitting the corridor end. The coach will now be moved over the pit in the wheeldrop shed for vacuum brakes to be fitted Photo (24th January 2007): Tony Wood

19th January 2007:   Catching stalwart volunteer Bernard Bond is like wildlife photography (don't let him know you're there!) but here he is, sitting on a loo to fit new wooden trims around a window in Coach #4549 outside the shed.   Not far away, just inside the shed, Roger Thornton was applying green paint to coach 4977     Photos 9th January 2007): Tony Wood

14th November 2006:     Coach S4549 is looking good   Click photo for internal view      Photos (14th November 2006): Tony Wood

1st November 2006:   Coach #4549 is now in undercoat green and the doors and windows are in gloss. By the end of the day the solebar and steps and the "temporary bogie" bearing caps had been painted this side so it was beginning to look smarter        Photo (1st November 2006):  Tony Wood

5th October 2006:    Duncan was flatting on #4549     Photo (5th October 2006):  Tony Wood

15th September 2006:     Corridor end for #4549         Photo (15th September 2006):  Tony Wood

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David has finished the window surrounds of coach #4549, and Town end windows are in.	Corrosion at the country end:   "Worst we've had - just caught it just in time. It is  always the toilet area that gets this bad; #4549 is a 1956 coach," said Duncan.
	Photos (1st August 2006): Tony Wood

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12th July 2006: Coach #4549 repairs (Bernard Bond and Dave Sibley)  Movie, 1.9MB       Photo and movie  (12th July 2006): Tony Wood

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	5th July 2006:        "It's cracked. I heard it go! It'll have to come out" - said Duncan         New trims inside the next window's frame
Daniel has driven his Fiat Punto from Germany on a visit to help at Ropley until it is safe to return   (World Cup: Germany 0 - Italy 2)      d:-)   Photos (5th July 2006): Tony Wood

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27th June 2006:   That's Bernard Bond working on the interior of coach #4549. Very wary of cameras is our Bernard!  d:-) Photo (27th June 2006):  Tony Wood

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21st June 2006:     Dave Sibley is making good progress MAGS-welding-in new metal for repairs to the corroded surrounds of most of the windows of coach #4549 Photo (21st June 2006): Tony Wood

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24th May 2006:     David has repaired most of the Town end of coach #4549.   This is one of the few MkI s with windows sealed directly to the outer shell - a design which caused corrosion problems between glass and body, and which was soon changed. Duncan showed me how this one has suffered to the extent that all the windows have to come out for the steel surround to be repaired, but there wasn't anything yet that called for a photo     Photo (24th May 2006): Tony Wood

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10th May 2006:     David Sibley was cutting out corroded parts of floor and frame to corridor end and corner of coach #4549 and welding in new sections   Photos (10th May 2006):  Tony Wood

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4th May 2006:     Carriage #4549 gets the usual treatment on corroded ends as part of a comprehensive overhaul. Duncan would like to see its present Commonwealth bogies replaced with the BR ones in stock (but awaiting renovation)

 

31st January 2006:   Griddle Car #1105 repainted, re-upholstered and with new flooring, is now finished and ready to roll out tomorrow, 1st February 2006   Photo, at Duncan's insistence  d:-)   (31st January 2006): Tony Wood

24th January 2006:     Griddle Car #1105, repainted and re-upholstered, is to have its lino replaced     Photo (24th January 2006): Tony Wood

Underneath S3906 on the pit road, John and Jim were installing new brake parts to the Commies.   Its place in Duncan's corner of the shed has been taken by the Griddle car, in for some exterior painting after some years of service   Photo (6th December 2005): Tony Wood

30th November 2005:   Bernard Bond and Duncan Richardson were working on the interior of #3906, and now that the coach lighting is working you can see all that lovely lustrous varnished wooden panelling. When the upholstery is in, I'll take a photo. Bogies are replaced with (temporary) Commonwealth bogies: Jim and John have fitted those adaptors (see below) at the pivots.  New brake rigging is needed now. Photo (30th November 2005): Tony Wood

	24th November 2005:   Jim Lawrence cleans the axleboxes, John Dunkerley salvages parts to make adaptors, for a pair of Commonwealth bogies to use temporarily under TSO #3906 until authentic BR Mk1 bogies in store are renovated
	Duncan showed me his tenon-saw-&-chisel handiwork inside the TSO. The camera (on timer) was on the floor looking vertically up at his mortised ceiling framework.   The plywood bits with big holes are for the original light fittings, and you can see the insulated water tanks in the space above.   This area will make a lobby for buggies and wheelchairs     Photos (24th November 2005): Tony Wood

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