Work continues on the restoration of our 80 class power car No.69, and with the end now in sight we thought we’d provide a summary of the work undertaken by our volunteers in recent months.
Bodywork repairs
A major focus is on repairing corroded bodywork (the bane of any volunteer restoring a mk2-based carriage), which has been a significant undertaking in itself. Corroded sections have been removed and Des has been working his away along the bodyside welding in new sections as required. While this has been going on, Niall and Chris have been giving these areas a coat or rust converting Aquasteel to get rid of any remaining corrosion and protect against further rust developing.
Rebuilding the vestibule
The vestibule section also suffered from corrosion, and much work has been carried out removing these sections and replacing. After many, many months of effort, this has been completed and rust converter and primer has been applied for future protection. The wooden door posts also required attention, having rotted away to the point of no return. Fortunately, our volunteers had copies of the original drawings from British Rail Engineering Ltd (BREL) and Robert was able to provide these to MJM Marine, who drew CAD files from these, which they then used to create brand new mouldings. Robert has now fitted these into the vestibule and we’re now finally at the stage where we can start putting things back in, rather than taking stuff off.
Fancy helping out? We’d love to hear from you. While volunteers with skills such as welding are always welcome, there’s plenty of other tasks too. Much of the non-welding repairs have been carried out by volunteers whose days jobs are in the media and marketing, so you don’t have to be a tradesperson to get involved.
For more information about volunteering on our rolling stock, email info@downrail.co.uk.
