More website History
November 2015
Whilst the work at Buckfastleigh on W233W continues unabated we have, after 7 months of patiently waiting, at last, had 169 returned to the undercover luxury of the Swindon shed at Williton. Today we started to tidy the remnants of 2 years of life in the sidings, and the carriage is now ready for a further onslaught.
Of course, we haven't been idle during the ensuing period with work on seating, section two, and of course much work on 233. A work schedule will be established over the next few weeks to allow further steady progress over the weeks and months ahead. We hope to have lots of new work to show at next year's WSR Spring Gala.
March 2015
Don't forget to visit us at the West Somerset Railway Spring Gala. Our sales and information stand at Williton will be open on Saturday 28/3 and Sunday 29/3. Do drop-in where we will be happy to relieve you of your cash or donations of books etc, timber or tools!
October 2014
This year's annual Carriage Restoration Convention was excellently hosted by the Llangollen Railway and, as is now customary, 5542 Ltd were there along with around 50 other delegates from heritage railway groups and organisations from as far apart as Aberdeen and the Volks Electric Railway in Brighton. The programme of illustrated talks and demonstrations was centred on the Railway's carriage workshops located beside their running line some distance from Llangollen Station comprising an excellent three road covered workshop and extensive siding accommodation that allows them to undertake the restoration of rolling stock for their own line and other owners. The income generated here and in the locomotive workshops is the force that drives the Railway forward. Predictably a major source of interest to us was the presence of Collett auto coaches 163, 167 and 174, close relatives but, as ever with GWR carriages, not quite identical twins of our own 169.
Tony displays components made for 233 and 169
Two members of the 169/233 team left the West Country long before dawn in time to set up a small display with illustrations and examples of what we have achieved. Tony Brooks was able to demonstrate that we can hold our heads high with the quality of our work at least equal to the work of professionals and fellow amateurs. In particular, we were able to advise other groups on our success with the steam bending and lamination of structural timbers using epoxy resin adhesives. Whilst no longer alone in bringing these techniques to the heritage railway world from the construction and marine industries it is clear that we can be proud of our advanced mix of these modern techniques along with our high standard of more traditional work. Any doubts on this score were dispelled by the requests to undertake work for other projects. The speed of our renovation of 233 along with the unique history of the vehicle has helped to raise our profile as serious players.
Various displays and demonstrations took place over the weekend
Our thanks go to the Llangollen Railway for their friendly informal atmosphere and the varied programme with something for all, not forgetting the fine quality of the Ludlow Gold beer on the Saturday night Real Ale train where we delegates had our own reserved first-class carriage.
Photos © Mike Dunse
April 2014
The lack of updates re work on 169 doesn't mean that there's no progress just that large quantities of "standard" wood components are rather mundane and not very photogenic!
January 2014
The fast-track restoration of Auto 233 has rather stolen the limelight but progress with Auto 169 has continued, work has recently been concentrating on the continued manufacture of seating components which might sound relatively mundane, however, it has taken quite some time to gather all the necessary parts, but at last, the process of glueing and assembly has now arrived and the start of a fairly major 'glueing up' operation is now underway. Progress in this area is only limited by the number of long clamps available to us. We have quite a few but as they say 'you can never have too many' so if you have any that are 3ft long or more, that you don't need then please get in touch. Unfortunately, they won't be available to sit on for a while as we will need to 'catch up' on the bodywork construction side but they will be available from stock when required.
October 2013
A few photos of our stand at Williton during the West Somerset Railway's Autumn Steam Gala.
Comments
Post a Comment