Above are two views of the south side of SNCB K1A 21013, which is now wearing blue and cream topcoat. Replacing the complete panel, rather than stripping the interior to make repairs, has been a very successful strategy for dealing with the severe corrosion on this coach. The middle strip is still to be painted (yellow?)
What's more, this technique has allowed a start to be made on the north side much sooner than expected - as this pile of scrap sheet metal from the north side testifies.
Surprisingly (to me at least) the side sheets were originally welded as well as rivetted to the structural frame. Cleaning the framework up takes a lot of time and effort. It is not necessary to weld the new sheets on due to the relatively low speeds of trains on the NVR, so in theory at least, in future it should be easier to remove and replace the side sheets on this vehicle.
Another view of the north side, stripping and cleaning underway.
