G.W.R. Autotrailer 169 News and Restoration Blog

 Yesterday we went through the final checking and trial fits, today we assembled the main frame of section on the chassis for real. After an early (for us) start we cleared the required space and one of the original vestibule partitions that lay in the way and set about joining the first of the next section sole (bottom) plates in place, soon to be followed by the cross members which have to be assembled prior to the second sole plate to locate it all into the correct position. This is where the earlier trials then pay off and with very little repositioning it all slotted neatly into place. The pictures below show  the assembly in various stages of completion with the final shot showing the corner flooring brackets being added. Al in all a good start to the next few weeks of fairly intense construction work. Please keep checking back for the latest updates or bookmark  G.W.R. Autotrailer 169 News and Restoration Blog (gwrautotrailer169.blogspot.com) .

 Today we completed the final preparation work and trial assembly of section 3 ahead of the real and hopefully permanent thing starting in earnest tomorrow. The first work will be carried our in the yard at Williton due to overrunning work in the shed. Sawing the flooring rebates Just about ready for final assembly Thankfully the weather looks set fair for a few days. You may be able to catch a glimpse of our work on WSR.org via the Williton webcam. Otherwise check beck here for regular updates over the next few weeks. 

 Preparation for Section 3 Assembly   06/03/2022 We have been very busy since the New Year trying to ensure we are as prepared as possible for the upcoming reassembly work on section 3. We are taking our agreed undercover period commencing 28th March and it is our intention to fully utilise the time allowed to ensure we can complete as much as section 3 as we can and do any preparation and dismantling of section 4 as possible during the indoor period. The 3 roof hoops that we will need have now been glued and mortising for the roof spacers is progressing well. These are being hand made. An additional crossmember for section 4 has been made to a help ensure all is mounted squarely on the frames. Pictures below show the roof hoops nearing completion and the gluing of a section 4 crossmember. We have also made copious amounts of tongue and groove floorboards that will act as a base for the 25mm ply that is the actual flooring. Work has also continued on the doors for the lug...

29/10/2021 Further progress on the assembly of section 3 requires a further 3 Roof Hoops to be manufactured, and due to the imminent increase in electricity prices and the fact the there is a high demand for the said power for several hours we took the opportunity to save a few pounds before the 1st November. For those who are new followers of this Blog and all things Auto 169 this will be a new process to you although we have now produced 8 of these and will probably need a further 5 or 6 before we reach the Luggage end. Briefly they are made of 4 laminations of 3"x1/2' ash. The individual laminations are steamed for about 2 1/2 hours before being removed and clamped to the former. The first lamination is allowed to cool for about 20-30 mins until 'set' when its unclamped and lamination 2 is added. This process is repeated a total of 4 times when they are removed clamped together and then left for a couple of weeks to fully dry out prior to gluing. The pictures below ...

Work continues on the construction of the luggage doors, Number 2 (right hand) of 4 beginning to look the part. And below the best of the originals                                              

 16/09/2021 Following on from yesterday's successful operation to remove the tempory cover from the carriage we followed up with a very productive day first fitting the framework of section 3 of the carriage. We were confident the section in isolation was 'good to go ' but until today we had not had the opportunity to see how well it fitted the existing bodywork. Well, by about midday just about all our fears were a distant memory and we were very happy with the outcome. The photographs show most of the woodwork in question with one or 2 small pieces omitted that still require final finishing. Because we can only mark the final fixing holes from underneath we will need to address that before final fixing can take place. We will then be able to erect the bodywork sides before tackling further roof hoop manufacture.                                                ...

15/09/2021 Have you passed our carriage at Williton and wondered what lies beneath the blue and white tarpaulins? Today we have exposed the truth..............nothing! Well, not exactly nothing. When we needed to vacate the Swindon shed we needed to ensure we protected the work we had already completed on the bodywork so we hastily constructed a tent from wooden poles supplied by one of our workers and obtained a large tarpaulin to cover it and protect it from the ravages of the West Somerset weather. today it was time to dismantle it and start preparing for section 3 to be added to the existing 2 parts already there. The driving end partition wall was also extracted and moved back beside the luggage end partition temporarily to allow us more working space. These will both be removed over the next few months to allow all of section 3 to be added. Watch out for further updates coming soon, but in the meantime here's a pic of the space created today and a picture of a piece of the ...