SVR wagons 2013

You would have to speek to their owners about that I'm affraid, the best one of those was saved many years ago, being the NER open currently in Highley mining livery.

 

Would you have possible contact details for any of these at all? And which wagons are these in question specifically?

 

I'm afraid I don't, Kidderminster museum are the custodians of these so they would be the place to start.

 

There is a phrase at Bewdley which translates to "You have just been stitched up with / volenteered for a proper pig of a job," it goes "All you need to do is....." Myself and the Bear certainly had one of those jobs on our hands sorting out some broken split pins on 40554, which go through the pins that hold the springs in place. Once the spring pin is out, it is a two minute job to knock the old split pin out and re-assemble it, however, to get the pin out of the spring hanger required two of us, a jack, two crow bars, set of stillsons, chisel, hammer and a punch! Much cursing and swearing later, this little job is done. Hopfully this wagon only needs sign writing, touching in of paint, and the number / load plates being re-attatched, and a pads exam.
The skylights for the mess van are now assembled, but we still need a roof to attatch them to. This work is in hand but there are only so many pairs of hands to go round.
Wish us luck folks!
Olly

 

There are only so many ways of describing doing the same job as last week on a different bit of a wagon, however, it that is the nature of some of our work. Our work on 80982's brake gear has continued very well, hopefully, a couple of weeks will see the third corner of the brake gear finished. The roof sheets, I belive have now been cut, and with a bit of luck, will soon be marked up in readyness for drilling, always nice to have a distraction from the repetative turning work!
I'm in for a busy few weeks now, but I will try to keep you in touch with whats happening, but hopefully I will bump into a few of you at the SVR's gala in two weeks time.
Take care folks!
Olly

 

Some weekends, you seem to work your socks off, and yet when you come to write it down, it hardly takes up much more than a line or two, so here goes.
As there are a couple of goods based Photo charters coming up, the morning was spent oiling round the wagons ready for these charters. It never ceases to amaze me how much water accumulates in the axle boxes, the slurry like mess appears to get everywhere when you remove it.
The afternoon was spent having a tidy up, and but hopefully next week will see us move things forward again.

 

Would some form of shaped tie-on tarpaulin bag that could be taken on and off in a trice be a time/money-saver in the long run?

 

not really, it finds its way allong the axles and in through the back of the boxes.

 

I see. A bit of oily rag wrapped round the axle immediately behind the box?

 

Would simpley turn into a bit of wet rag behing the axle box, and it would mate shunting a pain.

 

Well, unfortunately, owing to being short handed this week, I am short of things to say. Our regular gang on a weekend rarely exceeds three these days, so when two are sick (three on saturday!) it leaves you very short. I have got one piece of progress to report, the new bits for the third corner of van number 80982's brakes have been made and these are now ready for re-hanging, leaving me with just one more corner to do, hopefully, examining the innards will not throw up so many worn out parts as there are normally subjected to less wear than the hangers and their associated pins, so fingers crossed.
Hopefully there will be more to report next week, in the mean time, I'm getting the drawing board out for another little job,
Take care
Olly

 

Well, this week is proof that good progress doesn't always make a good story. We made very good progress with needle gunning the old paint from the roof of 80982. As there are only three sheets of the origional roof left, this may, at face value, have some of you wondering what is taking us so long, but the old paint, while it is getting scabby and breaking up in some areas, the areas that are still stuck on, are very well attatched and it is proving a tough job to remove. The big, re-occuring problem is that we keep finding more holes which will need repairing, the needle gun going through the roof next to one of the hoops this time! All I can say is thank heavens for electric glue!
See you all soon,
Ian

 

Well, another weekend has passed, and good progress has been made on tool van 80982. The roof has finally finished been cleaned down, on the outside at least, with two pannels getting a wire brush and a coat of primer, hopefully the third pannel will get some fairly soon, although of course, with working at height, we need two people there, and these days, with modern regs it needs to be two people passed for work at height.
Going from up in the sky to down on the floor, the third set of repaired brake gear is back in its rightful place, with the fourth set now taking up residence on the bench for repair. The bits that don't require renewal have been cleaned and primed ready, with a long weekend ahead hopefully meaning progress can be made here too, now the better weather is here, lets hope some of the painting jobs can move forward too.
All the best
Olly

 

Sorry for the lack of info, been away on Holiday.

 

Well, the number of holes in 80982's roof appears to be multiplying, as two more of the side plates have just been removed from the roof. The new ones have been drilled ready, although the frame of the van needs a little bit of TLC before the new bits are fitted. I would have spent today making brake pins again however, most of it was devoted to repairing the lathe!
40554 is now approching completion, as she has recived some touching in of the paint, although we still need to attach the number and loading plates.
Silly season is now upon us so next week I'm guarding all weekend, I'll bring you up to date as soon as I can.
Olly

 

Sorry for the delay, it has been a busy time guarding and firing for me lately. I will try to bring you up to date.
40554 is more or less complete now after a very protracted overhaul, and is now looking very smart.
80982's roof has taken leaps forward. One new hoop was required as the origional roof had had a hole cut in it where there used to be a stove at the kitchen end of the van, which had been plated over by either the GWR or BR, so we had elected to replace the whole hoop. As this particular piece of steel was too big to go through the rolls, so it was a matter of little squeezes on the fly press with one man operating the press, one guiding him, and two holding the hoop. The result is quite pleasing, but rather than a smooth curve, it is made up of about 50 flats.
The last main section of the roof is made and loosely fitted, there are two of the extension plates to fit but we are looking at leaving those untill the door is done to ease removal of the doors. There is still work to do on the brakes, while the inside of the roof needs priming and then we can start on undercoat.
Wish us Luck
Olly.

 

This weeks activities could best be described as lieing in a puddle and swearing, however, I'm sure you would like more detail than that.
The Weltrol MV (One of the wagons normally used by the boiler shop) was in need of a pads exam, in readyness for her getting a bit of a run out. Well, it was one of those jobs where the request began with the phrase "All you need to do is...." These are rarely as simple as they sound and yet we fall for it every time.
The first problem is that the axleboxes are 10" x 5" boxes, which means they are heavy, there is no tie bar on the bogies, so the jack is useless as this locates off the tie bar, and we did not have a lot of space to work in.
Once we had figured a method of getting the boxes on and off we came across one bogie that didn't one to play. One box had a bent bolt, which luckyly came out fairly easily, one had a cross threaded nut, which had to be cut and replaced in order to get it off, while having un-done the bolt on one side, it wouldn't release and turn, after much swearing and a lot of sweating, someone had the bright idea of climbing over the frames to see what's happening. In the gap between the top and bottom of the box, into which the T-bolt fits, had fallen a coach bolt (a million to one shot possibly while someone was knocking the bolts out of an old piece of timber) and this had jammed the T-bolt stoping it moving, a quick movement with the pliers and the offending box dropped gracefully away.
So when you see a goods train trundling past in a gala weekend, spare a thought for the lads who will have spent many hours lay in mud, just trying to do the routine jobs.
Cheers
Olly

 

I'm back after a brief holiday, thanks to the Boys and Girls at the South Devon for making me feel at home again.
Back to Bewdley, 80982 now has a complete roof other than a couple of side plates, although we do need some more bolts to finish the job.
Given the good weather this weekend, we have turned our attentions to Ballast wagon number 60906 which is in for a repaint, and a fettle up, hopefully, with the junior club coming down after the gala, we can keep the momentum on this one.
Hopefully I will catch up with you on Gala weekend.
Ian

 

Well, sorry it has been so long, a mix of issues keeping me from having the time to post on here, but rest assured, the boys and girls have been busy working on our two current projects.
The keen eyed ones of you will have noticed that apart from half of one side, ballast wagon number 60906 has been stripped of its black paint before turning green, with most of that green paint getting in turn covered in grey under coat, while the junior club, being small and nimble, have crawled round underneath of the wagon and given the frames a good clean down, hopefully that will be all the frames need, although the trouble with working outside is that work on this wagon is governed by the weather now.
Tool van 80982's roof is getting less and less full of holes, as the steel part of the roof is complete other than one small section above the rock side door and a few bolts, while the skylights are on, and just in need of glazing. Work on the brake gear is nearing completion, while the roof is now white at last.
The van is a big project made bigger by the fact that it is our normal working area, and still has to act as mess room and workshop while under repair.
Hopefully my reports will be more regular towards the end of the year.
Olly

 

Olly: I hope all your good work on the wagons is rewarded at the Spring gala with Paddy's PT 813 back in service. It looks the part on a rake of your stock!

Best wishes

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