What has happened to 1336

It has been asked on a number of thread as to why 1336 has been withdrawn from traffic, so soon after the 'completion' of a 10 year overhaul.

The leaks mentioned in the railway press, have come from at least two sources.

Steam heat;
The usual person who fits the steam heat was not available. It seems that the join between the main pipe fixed to the underframe and the heaters fitted to the floor did not leave any room for movement, of the expansive (metal pipes expanding) and lateral (movement of the wooden frame work) The corrective work should entail replacement of the household quality pipework with proper railway style.

Drop light (window);
The main side lights in this carriage, open like droplights. Usually the side lights are fixed with opening top lights e.g. Mk1s, Bulleids... Previously some carriages had the main lights opening, but usually they had the traditional brass strip to hold them closed.
This carriage used a short lived rubber grip system to hold the drop light, sadly it does not grip the glass very well, and allows water into the frame work under the droplight.
This was a major problem that caused the bottom rail to rot away. The team restoring the carriage modified the design... but this seems to have made the problem worse...

To fix the drop light leaks means taking out parts of the interior...

It has also been suggested that there are problems with the roof and the electrics. This has already been talked about on a thread... Can we please be sensible about what we say. The staff who restored this carriage have worked very hard, and have done their best!

 

Yes we can be sensible about what how we talk about 1336.

There was one other thing that I heard from one of the Mets restoration team, and that is the four end doors leak too.

As you say the restoration team did their best, if only they had taken some of the advice they were given though, such a shame but hey ho they will get there and this coach will make a fine asset to the Maunsell fleet..................................eventually.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Does anyone know how the droplight design differs from the original, and how it could be improved on? Droplights have been around for a long time, surely it must be relatively easy to make then reasonably watertight.
Daniel

 

Most droplights have wooden frames, the lower part of the frame has a brass strip, that clips over another strip fixed to the outside of the carriage. To close the droplight you lift and push. This forms a very good seal.

1336 was designed to have no wooden frame around the glass, and rubber seals grip the glass to form the water tight seal. Sadly it doesn't! and the modifications made seem to have made it worse.

Only a couple of years later they changed the design (see 1309)

 

Yes this is true, but I gather that the team restoring it were offered advice on how to improve it, in particular from two members of the mets restoration team. However in theirwisdom they choseto ignore that advice and the results speak for themselves.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Thanks for that, I think I get the idea. With modern rubbers it should be easy to make a good seal. Oh well, I guess they won't make that mistake again.
Daniel

 

Oh yes they will Daniel i am sorry to say, very sad.

Regards
Chris Willis

 

Is it really neccesary to be so silly about this? They made a mistake - this isnt a first for any restoration project. If your going to make design changes this is what can happen. Perhaps they didnt follow someone elses advice, but then perhaps there was a good reason why, or maybe they just wanted to try out their own idea first.

Chris

 

Apparently 1336 will return to service on Monday and be marshalled into one of the service sets during the shunt.

 

1336 was relaunched on Monday, forming a special Maunsell train with 1638. There are some fantastic pictures on Dave Clarke's fotopic site: http://extension3363.fotopic.net/p56966445.html

Evidently the rumours of major problems were exaggerated. Congratulations to the restoration team!

Pil