Date set for Annual General Meeting
The date for this year's AGM will be Saturday 25th April, aboard the 11am departure from Pickering. All LNERCA members are invited to attend, more information will be included with the next newsletter.
Detailed report on Fish Van 75169
Now that fish van 75169 has arrived at Pickering, Alastair Dalgleish has compiled a detailed report on its condition. The report is shown below.
Bodywork
Initial inspection reveals at most 3 original pieces of panel left on the vehicle, with evidence of significant repanelling havig taken place in preservation. It would appear that upon being preserved the vehicle was painted a chocolate brown colour, following the livery sequence through the surviving layers of paint, it is possible to see (chronologically) white, rail blue, bauxite and chocolate brown.
At some point after preservation and painting brown the vehicle has been adapted for use a workshop, with a socket for a 240 volt supply along with internal and external lighting, sockets and a fuse box. It is reasonable to assume that the repanelling work took place at the same time as the electrical installation, as the new panels bear no undercoat and at most 2 layers of white emulsion, which has deteriorated at the cost of the new panels. The new panels are also evidenced by the untidy and absent securing bolts on the bodyside support framework. Of the 3 end panels on the south end, 2 require replacement due to severe rot, the centre one possibly being salvageable, but as it is unlikely to be original, this may not be worth the effort.
The 2 West side panels were in good overall condition, due to the moss growth on these panels it is a fair guess that this side has been protected from the weather, possibly under trees. These could easyily be pressure washed and painted.
The North End panels seem largely original, but the woodwork is in horrific condition and requires total replacement.
The East side of the vehicle has been on the weather side, and all panels require replacement due to holes and rot.
The West side door is in good condition the aluminium panelling being sound with no evidence of pitting or corrosion aside from where the lock mount (now absent) has been. Traces of the original livery are still present where the lock mount was placed. Care will have to be taken when priming the doors so any paint will key properly - this is clearly an issue with the current paint. The west side door lintel has totally disintegrated and the west side door sill is badly rotten so these will require work before the doors will close properly.
The East side door is in a marginally better condition aside from the doors being unable to be closed further than they are at the moment due to a badly bent door sill (most likely too heavy a load being placed on it), and severe floor rot inside the vehicle.
Underframe
The underframe appears in good condition with most rust being surface only, both headstocks appeared sound, along with buffer and coupling springs. The brake shoes are all present and are in good condition, with very little wear and no apparent flangeing. The vacuum cylinder is present, and will require removal and servicing, the vacuum main is present and may require patching. The steam heat main is totally absent, most likely removed early in preservation due to asbestos lagging.
The west side handbrake is inoperable, and should be padlocked out of use at the earliest opportunity to prevent further brake gear damage.
The east side handbrake shows severe collision damage with major buckling to the operating arm, v hanger and safety hanger. The swan-morton brake lever is totally absent, a spare may be available at Goathland, but may require some modification to fit. The collision damage appears to have been caused by a road vehicle or forklift striking the weakest part of the east side operating arm.
Both builders plates are absent, but cast vacuum stars, repaint plates and lamp irons are in situ. Coupling are absent and two new vacuum hoses are needed. Buffers appear operational but in need of greasing.
Internal
The interior has been fitted out as a workshop as stated earlier, but the interior retains many original features that should be preserved. Most interior panelling is present along with tie down rings, and the remains of an ice shelf at one end. Original roof panelling is also still in situ, and appears watertight due to a relatively new felt roof having been fitted, although new rainstrips are required.
The floor has been renewed with poor quality chipboard which is largely rotten and unsafe. Under no circumstances should this vehicle be used for storage of heavy items until the floor has been renewed.
This completes my assessment of the vehicles condition.
John Curtis
Sadly we have to report that John Curtis, Secretary of the LNERCA died peacefully at his home in Pickering on 18th Jan, after a long illness. It is safe to say that without John's input, the LNERCA would be in nothing like the position it is today. He carried out a vast amount of research to provide information for the restoration of the LNER carriages (an example of his research can be found here), organised the manufacture of components, carried out a lot of restoration work, specialising in detailed work, and was largely responsible for our DVD production and sales in recent years. He will be sorely missed.
Floor finished in 1623
Recent work on 1623 has concentrated on removing the last bits of damaged / rotten flooring in the coach, and starting to relay the floor, using either recovered boards or new tongue and grove boards, which are cut to size. Work during the Christmas break concentrated on completing the relaying of the corridor and vestibule floors, and over the weekend of 16th / 17th January, the remaining flooring was laid in the compartments. Completion of the flooring is another major achievement in the restoration of this unique carriage and it means there are a now a whole new range of jobs on the interior which can be carried out.
David Cullingworth lays the last few floorboards in TK 1623
We have acquired a number of MK1 compartment seats and cushions, and a dynamo from the SVR. The seats will be adapted to fit, and the cushions will be re-upholstered in a suitable moquette, before being fitted into 1623. The cushions and dynamo were collected by Roger Melton his way up to Pickering for the working weekend, although the seat backs still need collecting. Is anybody able to help?
Mk 1 seat cushions, acquired from the SVR,
New acquisitions
Over the last 2 months, the LNERCA has acquired two more vehicles - a Gresley Restaurant First, and what is believed to be the last remaining LNER Diagram 214 Fish van.
Restaurant First 42969
This has been donated to the group by Newham Borough Council, who were looking to dispose of it following the closure of the North Woolwich Railway museum. The coach arrived at Pickering on 17th November, where it will be used for the foreseeable future as an upholstery store / workshop by the NYMR. Before this can happen however, it will need a new floor, as the original was removed, due to the presence of asbestos. There are more photos of it both at Pickering and at North Woolwich, here .
Restaurant First 42969 seen in at Pickering
Fish van 75169
Has been acquired from the Nene Valley Railway. It is believed to be the last surviving Diagram 214 fish van, and was built in 1948 to LNER diagram 214 at Faverdale Works, Darlington. These vans were commonly attached to passenger trains from ports such as Whitby, and would have been a common site in trains travelling over what is now the NYMR. The van was delivered to Pickering on Monday 19th Jan, where it will used as a stores vehicle, The Pickering Wagon group have kindly offered to carry out renovation work on this vehicle. The LNERCA would like to thank all those who have contributed towards its purchase and transport. If anyone is interested in making a small donation towards its renovation, please do get in touch.
Fish van 75169 loaded and ready for transport from Wansford to Pickering
We have also acquired a second heavy duty scaffolding tower - this one is much larger than the existing one, in fact, as can be seen from the photo below, it only just fits inside the new shed! This will allow work to be carried out on the upper sections, and the roofs of vehicles with ease.
A view of the new set of staging - as can be seen it is a tight fit inside the shed
Wanted - Can you help?
With Thompson TK 1623 progressing well, thoughts are now turning towards the seats and the upholstery which will cover them. What we are looking for are details ( pattern numbers / samples / photos ) of LNER Thompson 3rd class upholstery, as none is known to survive. If you can help in any way, please contact us at L.N.E.R. Coach Association .
Website updated
With News and photos added to the 42969 and 75169 galleries. The 3669 website has also been updated with photos of the progress made on 3669 in November and December.
On-line fund-raising schemes
We have just launched several new schemes to help raise restoration funds on-line for the LNER Carriage Association on-line, with just few extra clicks. The new on-line fund raising schemes consist of two web shopping portals and two search engine schemes, and by using these schemes you can help raise money for us, without it costing you a penny!
Shopping Portals
The two shopping portals are buy.at and easyfundraising.co.uk. If you shop on-line, using either of these portals, then for every purchase you make, we receive commission on that purchase, whilst you pay the same amount as you would have, if you had made the purchase direct!
On-line shops available through the Buy At scheme include Amazon, Asda, CD Wow, E.on, Hertz, Ikea, More Than, National Lottery, Premier Inn, and many more. The complete list of participating stores, and what commission they offer, can be viewed on the site. This scheme doesn't even require you to register, all you have to do is go to http://buy.at/lnerca , and start shopping!!
On-line shops available through the Easyfundraising scheme include AA Travel Insurance, Argos, Blockbuster, iTunes, More Than, The Trainline, Thomas Cook, WH Smiths and Wickes. The complete list of participating stores can be viewed here . To use this scheme, you do need to register first, a process that only takes a few minutes and can be done here .
Search Engine Schemes
The two search engine schemes are www.everyclick.com and www.easysearch.org.uk . These schemes work by the web company donating some of the money they receive from advertising fees, for each search that is completed using the search portal.
Site last updated 21st January.
Opinions expressed on this web site do not necessarily represent the policies of the LNERCA Committee. © 2009 L.N.E.R. Coach Association.