Sanding the second man's side of 56223 has continued this weekend, an issue we had with the other 108 set with paint flaking off badly around the windows has also occurred on this vehicle and will need some careful work to blend the new paint into the old. It has also been decided to remove all of the roof vents as part of the work.
The work following on from the wheelset swap on 50545 continued, with the vehicle revisiting the lifting jacks in order to adjust the primary suspension on the no 2 bogie. The carden shafts have now been reconnected, along with the air pipes, earth straps, and electricals. The job is almost complete with just the speedo cable to reattach.
Work in 56456 has continued. The last two vestibule panels have been removed, and work started to fit brackets and timber. Panels which have already been fitted have been squared up and tightened. A collection of electrical parts have also arrived.
Pentrefelin has been a hive of activity this week, with various members having been down on a number of days.
The Wickham has received a thorough internal clean now that the season has finished.
Work has continued on the 105 jumper sockets with all four at the front of the vehicle now being fitted and wired up. The headcode box has also been wired up, and lit up for the first time since the unit was withdrawn from traffic. A pair of jumper cables, and the sockets and lids for the rear of the vehicle have also been painted up ready for fitment.
The biggest job of the weekend was to change a wheelset on 50454. It sounds quite easy when written down, but it is quite an involved job. Work has begun last weekend to disconnect the bogies from the body, this work was finished early on Saturday and the body lifted from the bogies.
While waiting for 50454 to be ready, the rail crane, driver, and one of our members arranged for one of the spare 104 bogies to be craned onto the track, and be moved into the shed ready for stripping down and refurbishment.
The offending bogie was then removed, lifted with a crane, and the wheelset rolled out, the new wheelset lifted onto the track, the old one lifted away, then the bogie was lifted again and the new wheelset placed underneath.
As ever we like to take opportunities like this to access things which are difficult to reach when the vehicle body is "in the way", and various parts where lubricated. The primary suspension on both bogies was also adjusted, before the body and bogies became reunited. Work then begun to fully reattach both bogies, this will be finished next time.
Our followers will have noticed that the secondmans side of 56223 is starting to look quite worn, with the varnish starting to craze in places, the roof paint also looks In need of attention. Work has begun to sand down the side, and scabble the roof in preparation for painting.
Woodwork which was fitted to 51618 in order to return it to traffic after major bodywork was done earlier in the year, was carefully removed, labelled, and treated to two coats of stain, and then a coat of varnish. This will be refitted next time.
