It’s not all about Santa, even at this time of year. In between Santa trains, Robert has been keeping work moving on 80 Class railcar No. 69 by tackling a job that’s been quietly waiting its turn: fitting the replacement Guard’s Compartment door.
Mk2-type carriage doors have a habit of corroding from the inside out. This can result in the door rather dramatically deciding that it no longer wishes to be a door, but rather to re-enact a certain John Hurt scene from Alien, only with rust. So a spare door had to be sourced and persuaded into place. In order to get the door to the point where it would actually slam shut, further work was needed. This meant repositioning hinges and stripping back layers of old paint.
With the help of two rather unwilling platform assistants, the door was lifted into position and hopes were high for a satisfying slam. Naturally, it didn’t fit first time. It never does.
Undeterred, Robert was back the next day in overalls to convince the door to comply. The culprit turned out to be the wood trim, which needed cutting back, followed by lots and lots of sanding, fettling, and further adjustment.
By the end of the day, success! The door finally closed with a resounding and very satisfying SLAM. And more importantly, kept doing it.
Meanwhile, three windows from the engine room compartment have also been removed so the frames can be treated for corrosion, with the aluminium cleaned back to its original finish.
