W86500 Restoration (Sep 09-Present)

The purchase of W86500 was completed and the vehicle moved over from LNWR Crewe (where it has been in storage) to Crewe Heritage Centre on the 11th September 2009. A few days later the vehicle moved to its new home the Churnet Valley Railway.

After arrival the vehicle was parked in Cheddleton yard where an assessment of its condition was made. Surprisingly after so many years in store, the vehicle appeared in good condition. Externally the vehicle appeared sound, apart from one or two minor areas of bodywork and a smashed window. The end doors would also need attention, you could see where they punched a small hole through the end doors to enable the through air pipe to be carried through the vehicle for its brief trip on the mainline.

Internally, the vehicle was complete but a bit rough round the edges, following some water damage and years without attention. However this was not deemed an issue as the vehicle's interior would not be publicly accessible.

Restoration work on W86500 started almost immediately. The end doors, once used for versatile loading but long seized, were freed off and the wooden components removed for refurbishment, most of which required rebuilding.

The underframe of the vehicle, along with the steel components of the end doors, were shot blasted and painted black. The spraying thoroughly covered all visible underframe components such as chassis members, vacuum cylinders and dynamos etc. This transformed the vehicle from the floor down and thanks to its good condition, required little further work in that area.

On November 13th 2009, W86500 was moved undercover for full bodywork & roof repairs on a contract basis by Heritage Restorations at Oakamoor (CVR). In the first month, the sides had been "scabbled" stripping it of all its bodywork paint and taking the sides back to bare metal. A start was made on the bodywork on one side and the roof vents were also removed so the roof could be attended to.

2010 saw work on the body of W86500 progress at Oakamoor, after a snowy setback in January which resulted in no access to the site for a month. As is normal for carriage restoration Heritage Restorations poked and found a bit of rot, attacked the sides and found loads more! Many rotten pieces were cut out and replaced with new metal. Of the 8 doors, only one was deemed fit to be put straight back on, the others needing repairs or replacement.

About 50% of the end loading doors had had their frames repaired and the plywood panels replaced, the new ones being hand cut as every aperture was a slightly different size.

By Spring the first primer had been applied to W86500; to the one and only decent door and to the south end panel. The centre section of the roof was cleaned off and painted in primer. By summer most of the rot had been removed with the process of welding in new metal, sanding, filling and priming had been started. Bodywork progress was more advanced on the west side of the vehicle, with primer proceeding down the flat sides in the areas where previous work was completed. All four corners of the vehicle required welding after suffering major rot.

Heritage Restorations concluded their contract work on the vehicle at this point, and it was moved outside with the intention of completing the bodywork once the Moorland & City Railways Cauldon Lowe branch reopening galas in November were over.

May 2011 saw space become available in the carriage works at Cheddleton, which enabled bodywork to recommence on W86500.

Welding repairs were made to the door pillars, of which there were eight in various conditions. The ends of the vehicle were completed after repairs to the folding "tailgates" were undertaken and the wooden end doors refitted and gloss painted. The roof stripping was completed with the roof being primed and painted. The roof vents and rain strips were then refitted. It was decided to replace the side doors with examples salvaged from a large batch of scrap GUVs which met their end in a Sheffield scrap yard and have been in our stores for such a project as this. The best were selected and the steel plates over the windows ground off. Handrails and other fittings were also removed leaving the doors ready for shot blasting. The shotblasting was done in June where the doors and bodywork were treated.

Six weeks of intense sanding and filling follwed, after which the three coats of Crimson gloss were applied during July. The steel doors were also fitted during this period so they could be sprayed with the rest of the vehicle. It departed the shed during August.

The autumn was spent on the smaller fittings on the outside of the vehicle. The handrails, bump stops (rubber pads which stop the side doors opening more than 180 degrees and hitting the side of the vehicle), spring clips and chalk boards were all refitted to the exterior. A quick internal restoration was also undertaken, with the loose paint being scraped off the internal planking and ceiling followed by replacement planking where it was missing or had been removed for welding repairs. The ceiling was then repainted white and the sides bauxite, the original colour scheme.