The hard work put in to preparing an application for funding the restoration of 43567 & 23956 to the Heritage Lottery fund by Roger Melton & Murray Brown, has paid off.
The LNERCA was informed that the application had been successful in mid August, the grant of £123,500 towards the total project cost of £165,000 will enable the two coaches to be restored by contractors over the next three years.
The project will start with the restoration of BTO 43567, which will allow the NYMR to operate an LNER train. With the planed completion of TTO 56856 during 2001 there should be very little overlap between these main projects, while 24109, 1623 & 23890 will continue at a slower pace at Pickering, these being worked on by volunteers or short periods of contract work. It is hoped that the contract restoration of TK 23896 will be completed to coincide with the completion of 23956, it is possible that in 2003/4 that there will be in traffic five, six, seven or even eight LNER coaches in traffic on the NYMR.
Here is how the potential train will be formed.
The coach week which began on 26th August and ended on 3rd September was the best attended for some time, with a good turn out of volunteers on each day. The two coaches which were the focus of attention during the week were TTO 56856 and CL 88339.
Highlight of the week for many was the trip in Great Western saloon for the volunteers and their friends and family. The saloon was provided free by the NYMR in lieu of use of 641 and was attached to the friday night Pickering Pullman, which was hauled by 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley (this compensated for not having an LNER saloon). Thanks are due to Ken Kitching and Dave Palmer for allowing the use of the saloon and for organising its shunting onto the train. Very special thanks to Stuart Hiscock who volunteered to cater and who produced an excellent spread.
The list of honour for the week includes;
Len Clarke, Peter Wilson(with Andrew & Christopher), John Curtis, Malcolm Brown, Stuart Hiscock, Andrew Daniel, Roger Melton, Dave Cullingworth, Paul Johnson, Jackie Marples, Ray Sowerby, Gordon Wells, Murray Brown, Ben Moorhouse, with apologies to anybody I've overlooked.
The passenger communication gear has now been completed after much gnashing of teeth by all concerned.The removable toilet and between toilet ceilng panels have now had the sundela board glued and screwed to them. These now await a trial fit, the tongue & groove boarding for the vestibule ceiling has been cut. New hatch frames for the access doors in the ceiling have been made, along with a cover for the guards reset lever for the PC valve.
On the electrical front, the box, set into the toilet wall has been made and fitted. Also as the NYMR is scraping three Mk1 coaches it has been decided to fit a Wolverton electrical system to this coach (yech!), The parts for this have been selected and are undergoing cleaning and painting.
The teak panel which had sprung in one of the toilet compartments has been pulled back into place with cramps and the glue blocks renewed. Most of the beads for the inside of the saloon have been made and await fitting before they are wallpapered. Once the remaining beads have been made and fitted then the saloon can be wallpapered as well.
Len Clarke has made a start to fitting the inch mouldings (that's half round beading to you), however 24109 has now left the yard for the first time in many years to allow work on the siding.
Revised quotes are awaited from West Coast Railways.
The expected work in August has been postponed, although some new componants have been prepared.
The rebuilt areas of the coach have had the main teak panels fitted, these have been cramped to the frame and glue blocked, as have the earlier fitted vertical panels. These areas have also been dressed up and sanded then gold sized and varnished.
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Inside view of the former compartment side | External view of the former comparment side |
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The former corridor side looking north (with yours truly planeing the bottomside rail | The same side prior to panelling looking south |
1299 has now been removed from the yard and now awaits tarpaulins and eventual restoration.
The big surprise this summer, was to see the CL pressed into almost daily service in July and early August. This is the first time the NYMR have used a suburban coach in normal trains for about fifteen years! As it was used as a strengthener 88339 found itself on a variety of sets, some days it was in the same train as 641. I have to say that it looked absolutely magnificent behind A2 pacific 60532 Blue Peter, is this the first time the A2 has hauled a post war LNER coach since it was returned to use by the NELPG?
Upon completion of the mk1 in the paint shop the CL was transferred there, where where it has been given a varnish and partial repaint by Len Clarke and his helpers. This should keep 88339 looking good until Len puts it into LNER livery to coincide with the completion of 43567....
Andrew Daniel 5th September 2000
Read last newsletter (July 2000)
© 2000 L.N.E.R. Coach Association.