Mountsorrel Heritage Centre

The doors will simply fall off that van if you glare at them for long enough!

This has been one of those 'problem vehicles' which has been knocking around the GCR for something like 25 years so it's good to see it finally getting the attention it deserves.

Moved on October 23rd, with thanks to the Mountsorrel volunteers for assisting with sorting stored materials to facilitate the move, and to the GCR's ops department for the shunt.

Original running number was in the series 501000-502999. Research continues. Prior to coming to the GCR in the mid(?)-90s it was at the Dean Forest Railway; before that I understand it was part of the Bristol Port Authority fleet. If anyone has any photos of it (or which might be it) from these earlier phases of its life, drop me a PM please.

 

The doors are apparently off now - as is all of the woodwork!

 

Your only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

 

The latest issue of the supporters e-newsletter was received today, but it hasn't been published on the Centres website yet, though it will be at some stage.

One item on there showed the current state of the LMS van with the woodwork removed which I have copied from the Newsletter and posted below....



New timber has been obtained to rebuild the bodywork in the New Year. The roof timbers don't appear to be too bad from the photo, which is a surprise.

 

The December Newsletter is now available online....
http://heritage-centre.co.uk/newsletters/dec-2020/
Includes film of loco "Colin McAndrew" being steam tested.

 

Thanks for that Johann. I'm looking forward to seeing "Colin" busy shunting trucks around the site on a busy Summers day in 2021!

 

Thank you. Is there a plan of where and when to rebuild the lift bridge? Hopefully the parts came with a financial endowment to help things along.

 

The bridge is supposed to be going basically where the stub track to the right ends......



The intention is for the track to run over it and a siding continue (I believe) to where you can just make out a pile of rubble in the distance, by the foot crossing over the Mountsorrel branch. The tracks beyond the bridge will need to be buried to rail level, as it is part of the sites circular footpath route. With it being in an old quarry, you haven't got much room to play with there now, as the site is slowly being filled up with buildings, track, walkways and now the Memorial Garden. A space to the right of this photo is also being reserved for an interactive visitors centre with educational facilities that has been planned for a while, but decisions have yet to be made on its actual size/extent, so they may change.

As regards the bridge itself, it was dismantled at Snibston and only the metalwork was kept, all the timbers being destroyed (burnt, from what I was told). Of course, nobody bothered to measure them.......
The Leicester Industial History Society have managed to locate a dimensioned BR 1950's drawing since then, so that solves that minor problem!
What Mountsorrel are getting is a selection of metalwork.......no woodwork.....and, more importantly, from what I gather no money either, which I see as being a major problem in getting the thing rebuilt. Local Authority budgets are rather stretched after the past years episodes, so it is going to have to depend on donations and grants from other sources - and the wood isn't going to be cheap.
We'll just have to see what happens when the assorted parts are delivered to the site and their condition is assessed. It is hoped to restore it so that it operates, something that hasn't been seen since the 1960's..

 

The LMS van has now gained a new floor prior to the latest Lockdown.......... (photo courtesy of Steve Cramp)



---and the underframe has been cleaned and painted, together with repairs being made to corroded metalwork on the two ends. Lots of wood stacked ready for the new bodywork planking, though new sliding doors are having to be made from scratch.

 

Good to see that the team at Mountsorrel are getting this LMS van into pristine condition. However the latest GCR "Lockdown" instruction will sadly cause a halt to proceedings for volunteers.

 

'Colin' could be useful for pre heating carriages in the winter on the GCR if needed.

 

I haven’t seen this “instruction” yet but would it cover Mountsorrel anyway? They are a separate organisation. (Not saying they won’t have similar restrictions, I have no idea.)


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Only if the Loughborough and Swithland signalmen sign on at about 6am to give it time to get up to Loughborough to do some pre-heating.

Plus, I don’t think that was what they bought it for.


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The LMS van has now been totally rebuilt and is currently in the process of being signwritten. Have a look at the photos of it on the Quorn Wagon update for this weekend.

That work has all been done in the space of 3 months......

This is a clearer version of the image of the completed item before signwriting.

 

The finished article today , courtesy of Steve Cramp......


The livery style is slightly more vintage than the van, but it certainly looks the part!

 

I can certainly empathise with that decision! Looks great, nice job.

 

I like how in the picture the track looks awful but somehow the men have the skill to make it look smooth by when it’s finished. I wish my model railway look like this will when it’s all fixed properly. How do they make the rails not kink?

 

As an update to the lift bridge situation, for obvious reasons the delivery of the extant parts of the structure has had to be put back due to the current Lockdown situation. Once things (hopefully) start to ease in the next couple of months, then moves will be made to arrange a suitable delivery date.
Once everything has arrived, then the "kit of parts" can be assessed and some idea of the likely costs of replacement timber and other items can be put together. Fundraising for that will no doubt be subject to a seperate appeal.

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=measured+shovel+packing