Birmingham RailCar Workgroup

01/02/2025

10 years ago today we were working hard at the Churnet Valley transferring a whole host of interior parts from storage for onward transport to the North Norfolk where trailer car 56182's restoration was just begining. Kevin Dowd and Chris Moxon, both a decade younger(!) are seen with a second class seat, today fully restored and carrying passengers along the Norfolk coast. A lot has changed since then, with the latest progress being the initial hanging of the first door to be returned to our current project, 50479. Fittingly this is the same equivalent doorway that was in use in 2015 on sister 50437 that Kevin is standing in! Hanging double doors is a fairly complex operation and this is just the start, we will update again as we continue with this major part of the 50479 Guards Van reassembly project.

26/01/2025

It's been around a month since we updated on restoration activities but we have been active during this time. Three spare heaters have received minor works making them operational for adding into the pool. Two of them have been provided by the L432 Preservation Group and have been salvaged from scrap Class 117 W51400.

Two of the three are seen here being tested, the ex 117 pair are heavily glazed with carbon - hence the sparks, and have been cleaned out where possible. Two out of the three were handed incorrectly for Class 104's so we have also been busy converting the handing of one, with the second to follow soon. All three heaters are now back in the shed being painted.

The plans for these are for one of them to be swapped onto M56182 (as we are still struggling with one of the overhauled ones) whilst the ex-51400 examples will be set aside and quite possibly used for M50479, although they may of course get pinched before then given the poor reliability of these machines!

31/12/2024

Another year has passed already and it's true to say that much has been going on in 2024.

At the East Lancs Railway it had been seven years since M50455/M50517 entered service there following overhaul and repainting into BR Blue. This meant much of the season was spent undertaking a Major (M) exam on the two cars, which in turn included mechanical repairs to the braking system. The set did however perform on services and took part in the annual DMU Gala along with a delightful BR Blue themed photo charter. M50517 is currently out of service requiring some more brake repairs.

At the North Norfolk Railway, trailer car M56182 started the year nominated for several awards including the Heritage Railway Association award for diesel traction and the Railcar Association's Railcar of the Year. Sadly we were runners up in both but nevertheless enjoyed the recognition and the HRA ceremony/dinner in Brighton. M56182 operated intensely on the line all season clocking up some 7,553 miles, a huge total for its first full season and by far the highest mileage of any 104 this year. During the year M56182 also welcomed a visit from the local MP, appeared on local radio, and helped celebrate the 70th anniversary of the introduction of First Generation DMU's by carrying a dedicated headboard on the very day passengers were first carried back in June 1954. The vehicle was enjoyed at several special events as well as the many day-to-day services.

Also at the NNR, our only current restoration project, DMBS M50479, has also made huge progress, this being the first full year of restoration that we have had the full force of the overhaul team directed towards it. The guards van area of the vehicle (the rear third) has been transformed having received major bodywork renewal of both the framework and outer skin. The results have been clear to see with a clean painted body out-shopped in the Autumn. Of course the same twelve months have also seen a myriad of other tasks completed on the vehicle, too many to list individually, which are all feeding into the process that is steadily bringing the vehicle closer to completion.

Over at the Llangollen Railway, sadly M50454/M50528 have had to be removed from service following a wheel bearing failure on DMBS M50454. This was a particular shame as the set had already spent most of the summer being worked on to improve its condition and return them to service, and a lot of efforts had been made cosmetically to get the set back in action for the annual gala in October. A modest 228 miles was covered for the set, and progress towards rectifying the failed wheelset is now being made.

With five Class 104 vehicles running in traffic and a sixth under restoration, it has been a good year for supporters of the class. Looking ahead to 2025, we hope to see the repairs to M50454 and M50517 completed to allow both of the East Lancs and Llangollen sets to return to full strength and run a little more than they did this year. M56182 will continue to run in Norfolk but will likely see fewer miles next year, as there will be two DMU sets in service to share duties more evenly, and of course M50479's major restoration will continue to march onwards. Keep checking back on this page for all the 104 themed updates and we hope everyone has a great New Year!

25/12/2024

Wishing all of our supporters a Happy Christmas and restful festive period. Over the next week, look out for our annual review of the year and the traditional expansion of our 104's in BR service galleries.

25/11/2024

The past few weeks have seen us getting stuck into a long list of smaller items associated with M50479's guards van restoration. Far less exciting than the large reveals of exterior paintwork, but no less important in our mammoth journey to restore the rear third of the vehicle. Due to the varied nature of the achievements, the photos are individually captioned.

17/11/2024

Today M56182 brought down the curtain on railcar operations at the North Norfolk. The first full year of service for the vehicle has been extremely busy with 7,514 miles being covered over 158 running days. Most of these were ordinary operating days but we also took part in the 60th Anniversary of Closure, Mixed Traction, Vintage Transport and 1960's events. The vehicle performed with 100% availability which was achieved with the help of 11 maintenance examinations and rectification of a modest number of reported non-critical faults. The vehicle was also externally washed four times. All of these upkeep activities were provided 100% by our volunteer group as part of our hire service, sometimes in inclement conditions, and we are proud that we have completed such an intensive first year.

We will now take a break over the winter. Next year the railway will have the use of a second cosmetically smart DMU set, so the mileage of M56182 is expected to drop to a more balanced level, to even out wear and to show off newly overhauled Metro Cammell trailer E79263.

08/11/2024

Kevin and Paul washing the 104 at Bury before this weekend's DMU gala.

06/11/2024

Our time in the main shed with M50479 is now at an end, and we are back in our usual facility once again. Two coats of gloss paint have been applied in more controlled conditions which has given a good finish. It is a major milestone in our journey through this first third of the vehicle and where we wanted to be by this colder time of year.

On the way out of the shed we were able to get on an inspection pit for 10 minutes (for the first time) which allowed a search for a major vacuum leak, detected during the start ups and testing earlier this year. We found a broken off small flexible vacuum hose underneath which is a good start to explaining the poor (zero!) vacuum. We also discovered that a large inspection plate on the rear final drive has been missing for many years which is unfortunate as the drive dog and bevel gears have been exposed to the elements all that time. The good news is that in spite of this, they are in amazingly good order with only the lightest beginnings of surface corrosion apparent. All teeth etc. are also in very good order. Look out in 2025 when we hoe to see more mechanical progress.

02/11/2024

M50479's time in the shed continues, with undercoat applied to the rear end successfully this time. The week also saw an attempt at glossing but regrettably the undercoat had not cured enough in the particular atmosphere we are currently experiencing on the North Norfolk coast, despite being in the main shed. The shed is now being warmed by a space heater to dry up the atmosphere to quickly proceed before we are returned to our usual restoration facility.

27/10/2024

The past week has seen both good news and bad news for M50479. The bad news was that due to the damp, we suffered severe adhesion failure on the undercoat paint and had to spend a soul destroying weekend sanding it all back off down to primer and in some places bare metal. The good news is that North Norfolk Railway management extremely kindly agreed to allow the vehicle to be accommodated in a one-week only gap in the main Carriage & Wagon shed. This will allow enough time in a stable environment to intensively apply four coats of paint to bring the back end up to a sealed gloss finish which is where we need to be prior to winter. We now enter the week with a fresh coat of (pink) undercoat kick starting the process.

25/10/2024

19/10/2024

M50479 Update: The guards van and rear end bodywork has now all been diligently filled and sanded followed by a second coat of black primer and a grey undercoat. Hopefully not long now before all the metalwork is painted and therefore fully protected from the late autumn and winter conditions that are on the way.

13/10/2024

This weekend M50479's ongoing body overhaul has reached an important milestone: the guards van and back end (approximately a third of the whole vehicle) is now fully welded and structurally sound for the first time in decades. This comes as part of our race against the oncoming winter with the aim of having the back end prepped, sealed and painted before Halloween 👻.

The past month has seen a focus on the secondman's side double doorway and the final (sixth) section of the van. Lower doorway sections have been replaced as these outriggers had corroded away. The main panel received the low familiar lower half reskin and extensive framework repair. Also repaired was the cantrail above part of the passenger doorway which had also wasted, in a similar fashion to the driver's side. These repairs have required the guards bulkhead to also be removed, itself also very rotten and requiring repairs over the winter.

We cannot stop to fully celebrate just yet, with an intensive period of sanding, filling and painting now booked in between now and the end of the month, before the cold temperatures hit proper and we embark on our winter works programme. Wish us luck! 🤞

14/09/2024

M50479 Update: The fifth guards van panel (out of six) has now been welded into place after "the usual" stripping out and framework reconstruction. To facilitate repair of the final section, the second half of the guards van bulkhead has been removed ready. With the end of welding now in sight for this third of the vehicle, other guards van themed tasks have also been progressing, including a full paint strip of the wing wall and removal of the emergency cupboard for restoration "on the bench".

08/09/2024

It's been a year since M56182 was launched into traffic following major restoration, so today it was time for the first annual exam which, this time being early on in the 7-year maintenance cycle, was thankfully a small one. Some stats from the vehicle's first season:

-156 days in traffic
-7,406 miles
-100% reliability
-9 additional exams owing to the high mileage
-11 faults found, and fixed

Being the annual exam, we also undertook some extra jobs including splitting the vehicle for a check and grease up of corridor and buffers, reapplying paint to the white wall tyres and greasing the bodyside door hinges. The vehicle passed with no major issues so we are good to go for another 12 months. With other NNR based vehicles coming back into the fold after cosmetic overhaul, we are expecting DMU running to be more balanced over two sets next year, so it is unlikely M56182 will clock up such high figures next time!

25/08/2024

M50479 Update: It's been over a month since the last pictures but we have remained busy rebuilding bodywork on the second half of the guards van. The work has been similar to what has featured before and we have now completed the next section from the corridor connection to the corner, so the whole back end is now sound. This section needed all it's lower half framework replacing in the end as well as the new outer skin, along with supporting timberwork. We now turn our attention to the secondmans side and it will be a race to complete the side and prep and paint the whole guards van before the winter weather sets in - all this whilst also representing our group at various Autumn Railcar events around the country!

04/08/2024

Some interesting (Hopefully!) photos of one of today's jobs on M50455 at Bury which was to renew the 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear piston seals on No1 gearbox.

During the many tests carried out during the ongoing M exam, it was found the the 1st gear piston on No1 gearbox was passing air, caused by failed rubber piston seals. Each piston has two seals.

Other tasks carried out were filling grease ni***es on the new cardan shaft and freewheels fitted last week, repairing a damaged and leaking heater fuel filter bowl and pipework and whilst the No1 side fuel tank was empty, the opportunity was taken to renew the tank gauge that hadn't worked for many years. It will be quite novel now not having to dip the tank to ascertain the level of fuel in the tank!

02/08/2024

Work continues on M50455 at Bury. Sunday 28/7/24 saw Mark replacing the Walker seals on the leading bogie's final drive, with Graham and Jeff tackling the control air filter, Malcolm repairing an air pipe and Kevin oiling the brake rigging etc on the bogies being amongst some of the jobs carried out. The vehicle was then lowered onto it's bogies later in the afternoon.
The following Wednesday saw the two freewheels removed by Steve before overhauled freewheels were refitted by Kevin and Graham. Bogie leaf springs and horn guides etc were all oiled up by Kevin and Jeff.