April & May Progress

M50455 & M50517

Window Sealing: The set was recently stabled in the bay platform (the proper place for a DMU!) so that the passenger windows were accessible for a quick look at the sealant. The windows are clamped directly to the bodysides and water getting in was always a problem for BR. Only a layer of sealant between the window and the steel prevents damp getting in so the cracked sealant was tidied up and new sealant applied over the top to hopefully prevent water getting in. This sort of treatment would be impractical for BR's large number of vehicles, but the extra TLC will with luck make our interiors last longer.

Replacement Engine: M50517's soon-to-be No1 engine has been steam cleaned since the initial starting and has been sprayed twice in grey following masking and the removal of the copper engine oil filler pipe. Many thanks to Greg Wilson of the CVR Motive Power Dept for spraying it for us.

M59137

Hardwood Interior Pieces: Work on M59137 has continued, with the larger jobs taking up the past few months. More of the hardwood pieces that surround the windows have been repaired by Kevin to immaculate standards, and we are confident they will produce a fantastic result. Kevin has advised that the end is possibly in sight for these essential interior components.

Bulkheads: The rest of the team have failed to escape the wood that is so prominent in Class 104 vehicles, being engaged in the refurbishing of the bulkheads. It has been decided to leave the five sides that face the vestibule (door) areas until the exterior doors are fitted, leaving six saloon facing bulkheads to strip, sand, and then varnish. So far all six have been stripped of the old BR varnish following a five day push in the vain hope this monotonous task does not tie us up for too long, and we hope to start sanding in June.

Heater Ducting: The saloon heater ducts (that run the length of the vehicle) that were assembled some time ago have been sliced into length so they now slot in where they will eventually be fixed. They will need various flanges and cover slips fabricating so these new pieces can be joined to the original parts of the ducting system. Once secured in place permanently with these plates, only the holes will need to be cut where the hot air will blast into the saloon and these will be complete.

Underframe: The recent (late May) period of beautiful weather that has taken the UK by surprise meant it became too stuffy to work on bulkheads inside the vehicle so the "summer job" of the remaining underframe components was started. About 1/6th of the solebar was glossed in black, but it has now been decided that it will be sprayed at a later stage in the restoration.

GRP Covers: Off site, the past six weeks have been spent refurbishing the GRP covers. These are made of fibreglass and 16 of them hide the heater ducting ports (The top image in this previous update) in the vestibules as well as 2 to cover the passenger communication valves (which put the brakes on if someone pulls the emergency chord). There is also a box which is located in the large vestibule that would be the cab if this were a driving vehicle. Inside the box will be the two heater controls. Unlike the heater ducting, these covers are visible to the public so need to look reasonable! They have all been sanded down, primed, the holes & damaged areas filled with body filler, sanded again, primed again and gloss painted with three coats of their original colour: light grey. A simple process when put in a sentence like that, but as is always the case, infinitely more time consuming to tackle in reality! All 19 pieces are now complete and have been stored until fitting to prevent damage.

Jumper Cables: With the covers complete attention has been turned to the four jumper cables and their dummy sockets. Two jumpers are mounted on each end of the vehicle, with the dummy sockets alongside. These sockets will be used while the vehicle is still under restoration to hold the jumpers up, but when the vehicle is formed in service, the sockets will hardly ever be used, as being a centre car the jumpers will always be plugged into a neighbouring power car! Nevertheless the sockets and the jumpers are still receiving a full clean up, prime and gloss, two in black and two in white. So far 3 out of 4 jumpers, and 2 out of 4 sockets, have been cleaned to bare metal and primed. The remaining two sockets will require some more attention as the moving part in them has ceased.