TASC 45 Machine launched

Somehow I missed this; a week or so ago the TASC-45 track machine was launched after its impressive restoration from vandalised condition. A few pictures of the launch ceremony (including indestuctible bottle of champagne...) begin from here.

More Building Developments

The café extension continues at an impressive pace, with window frames undergoing manufacture and fitting.





The external stairs have now been installed, leading up to a long-desired viewing gallery which is being created to allow the public to safely overlook goings-on in the Heavy Overhaul Workshop building. We’ll all have to be on our best behaviour, no swearing (which might be a challenge for some!) This shed currently contains 34081 ’92 Squadron’ which is undergoing overhaul and is making excellent progress, thanks to the superb efforts of the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society who deserve a huge amount of praise and support.

First new paint on Esso 1914...

One side of the first section of Esso tank No.1914 was wire brushed and painted with green primer today.


Still a very long way to go! I need to get undercoat on top of the primer as soon as possible, as the primer is porous and doesn't offer much weather protection. Better than nothing however!

Casualty

Scenes filmed around the tunnel at Wansford for 'Casualty' a few months ago were included in the episode broadcast on BBC1, Saturday 18th June.

Here is the iPlayer link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0122tb9/

Some NVR footage is during the first five minutes, the main part starts after the 28min 30 sec mark. It has to be said that the locomotive continuity is questionable!

Corridors and Crossings

LMS Brake Composite Corridor (BCK) No.18017 has received LMS corridor gangway connections. I believe that these originally came from some ex-LMS Irish coaches. This coach is undergoing conversion to volunteer sleeping accommodation, which is a much-needed facility on the railway.


Some mysterious yellow lines have appeared across the tracks by the Carriage and Wagon shed. Presumeably these are marking out the location for a new crossing to serve the shed, which again will be very useful.

Loco Overhaul Snippets

D9529 (numbered in preservation as "14029") is now looking resplendent after its repaint and should be staying on the railway for a while once up and running. These locomotives are ideal for preserved line use, originally designed in the early 1960s as a diesel-powered equivalent of a GWR pannier tank for shunting and branch line work.


"14029"s previous 'industrial' appearance, this time last year.


IRPS member Chris has been busy continuing the sprucing up of static 'gate guardian' Swedish 'B' Class 4-6-0 No.101. He has wire-brushed, primed and undercoated the left-hand cylinder cladding. Over the past few weeks or so, the missing cab windows have had their glass replaced and have now been reinstalled on the cab. The adjacent Wagon-Lits Restaurant Car has also seen a good clean externally.


The wheels for Danish Class F 0-6-0T No.656 'Tinkerbell' were moved into the old shed, in order for them to be temporarily fitted to the frames and the whole lot moved into the Heavy Overhaul Workshop for overhaul to continue.

Wagon and Carriage

Quite a lot going on at the moment on the carriage and wagon front. I spent my day needle-gunning more of the first section of the Esso tank. The platform side of this section is now ready for wire brushing and green primer, as is the top, and I am well on the way with stripping the yard side as can be seen here. It doesn't look much, but the area stripped so far represents many hours of work.


Peter was working on the Southern brake van No.55550 further along the platform. The second verandah end has been removed and will be replaced with new timber, matching the excellent job already completed on the other end. He is also planning on replacing the timber panelling in the sides at some point.


Peter has also burned out the bolts holding the steel deck at the same end in order to undertake repairs/refurbishment.


Tim's standard 20-ton BR van has received its top coats of BR 'freight brown' and templates for the lettering were also taped in place by the time of my visit.


And now to carriages... the spare bogies for temporarily withdrawn Mk1 E25639 are undergoing overhaul in the workshop. In the foreground, the wheelsets from the first bogie are undergoing servicing and painting. Behind can be seen the second bogie awaiting attention, in the condition in which they were recovered from outdoor storage.


The first bogie frame has also been cleaned and painted. Very surprisingly, the various Mk1 carriage bogie types (B1, B4, Commonwealth) are not as interchangeable as you might expect. So much for standardisation!

Cafe extension update

View of the cafe extension (taken a week ago), which is coming on nicely. It will be interesting to see how it has progressed on my next visit.

I should be able to get up to Wansford very soon, and will hopefully be able to post an update actually related to Carriage and Wagon!

Wansford Station Building on the Beeb

Wansford old station building is currently featured in an audio slideshow of 'buildings at risk' on the BBC website. The building is currently in a very sorry state and must be purchased, stabilised and restored before it simply falls down - in time, if continued to be left as it is, it will.

From the BBC:

"There are dozens of historic buildings across the UK that have fallen on hard times - and many of them have made SAVE Britain's Heritage's annual list of properties deemed to be in most need of saving from dereliction.

The charity's Buildings at Risk Officer, Rhiannon Tracy, takes a look at some of the unloved structures - and sees how the fortunes of other lucky buildings have been transformed."

The feature can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13567574


The NVR 'Friends' organisation is trying to raise funds for the purchase and rescue of the building but a lot of money is required - an appeal leaflet mentioned £160,000 just for the purchase of the building although this figure may well now be out of date. If the whole yard could be purchased there would be possibilities for also saving the brick-built ex-LNWR goods shed opposite the station building, and with a little imagination the empty land to the west could potentially accommodate a carriage shed, saving huge amounts of time and money on carriage overhauls. Perhaps we need to consider converting it into a railway pub or some other commercial venture to gain more income?!

VIDEO: Swanage Railway

Nothing whatsoever to do with the NVR, but this weekend I paid a visit to the Swanage Railway in Dorset, one of my absolute favourite preserved lines.

Unusually for a British summer day the weather was hot, dry and sunny, ideal for a pretty steam railway that still carries lots of holidaymakers to the beautifully restored original seaside terminus at Swanage via Corfe Castle.

This video is an attempt to capture the atmosphere both of the day and the railway in general. Taken once again with my point-and-shoot (stills) camera, I am seriously considering upgrading to a proper video camera as I rather enjoy the film-making process and my current camera has many limitations!