Restoration of trailer coach 60502
This article was opened on 1 November 2020, and was
last updated on 5 March 2022.
Work is proceeding on the restoration of a fourth
trailer coach for use in our train.
Our fleet includes 6 Trailer
Second Open carriages from ‘Hastings’ narrow-bodied stock.
Two of them (60501 and 60529) have been active in our train since its
main-line preservation career began in 1996, and a third (60528) has been undergoing restoration as time
permits.
60502 is one of three such trailer coaches
from the original unit 1001, one of the seven
‘6S’ short-underframed units. 60502 was in
as-withdrawn condition, which means no work had been carried out since
withdrawal from BR service in 1986. Its bodyside skin was already quite
corroded in places: this has allowed moisture inside the skin where it
has been attacking the framework of the vehicle, and ultimately could
compromise its structural integrity.
It was felt that we should act promptly to begin restoration of this
vehicle by addressing the corrosion issues and repairing framework
members where required. The alternative would have been to do nothing
and watch the vehicle disintegrate in storage, at which point it would
have only scrap value.
Photographic updates are given below, with the most recent ones
towards the top of the page.
Photos from February 2022
On 24 & 25 February, Rhys Evans-Holmes took these photos depicting
significant progress which has been made to the repairs on the bodyside
of this vehicle:
Above: The same part of the solebar which
was depicted in the Autumn (below) is seen
looking as good as new, following work to weld in a replacement section.
Above it, the (unfinished and unpainted in this view) mend to the foot of
the bodyside itself is seen.
Above & below: The solebar has been
repaired in two places, with further repairs needed as may be seen in the
area beneath the lavatory; the rest of it is now in good order. The
windows have been re-fitted to the ‘long’ (4-bay) saloon.
Photos from Autumn 2021
Above: Following on from the previous (Spring 2020) section, an end-face of the vehicle
has been re-skinned following repair and strengthening of the collision pillar.
Above: The gangway end and its rubbing
plates have been fully refurbished and re-equipped with flexible
‘curtains’, and refitted to the vehicle’s end-face. Photo by Andrew
King.
Above: In the 30-plus years since this
vehicle last moved on the railway network, the deterioration of its
fabric has continued. This deterioration had already been such as to
hasten the fleet’s withdrawal from BR — lest we forget, sister trailer coach
60509 was withdrawn because of excessive body
corrosion as long ago as March 1983! In specific areas where rainwater
has been funnelled down the bodyside, the solebar has rusted right
through as can be seen. The untidy patch above it at the base of the
bodyside was a BR-era mend. Fortunately it will be seen that much of the
structure including the underframe itself is in much better condition,
and we intend to weld new section into this area.
Above: The underframe and conduiting on
60502 is generally in much better condition than the foregoing photo
would suggest; it has all been repainted with primer.
Above: The BR-era longitudinal patch,
characteristic of a sizeable proportion of the ‘Hastings’ fleet in the
twilight of its revenue days, has been removed here to expose the
internal structure and to remedy any defects thus exposed. A much neater
patch will then be applied, which (like as on our vehicles in main-line
preservation) will be impervious to the elements and also virtually
impossible to spot. Photo by Andrew King.
Photos from Spring 2020
Above: Trailer coach 60502 looks piebald in this view from April 2020,
with the juxtaposition of red lead oxide primer on 1980s-vintage BR Blue
& Grey livery—which has since disappeared beneath grey undercoat.
This is the ‘long’ end of the coach, having 4 seating-bays.
Above: The BR livery has been covered by
grey undercoat, in this view of the ‘short’ saloon (having only 3
window-bays, rather than the 4 as found on units 1011 onwards). The toilet is beyond the vestibule
door.
Above: The lowest portion of the bodyside
on the end of this carriage has been cut away, to reveal the serious
corrosion which has taken hold of the collision-pillar—it is entirely
absent at its lower end where it should have transferred load onto the
baseplate and solebar. This is what happens when railway vehicles
impregnated with sea-spray are left to sit for over 30 years!
Hand-painted wording on the blue paint (revealed beneath the grime)
refers to various heavy maintenance activities carried out on this
vehicle in the 1980s under BR ownership.
Above: Accordingly, the wooden panelling
in the vestibule was removed to reveal the collision pilar, seen here
amid insulation, part of the doorframe, electrical cable and pneumatic
pipe. Apart from its lowest extremity as seen in the previous photo, the
pillar is in fine condition and is a very substantial piece of metal—as
befits its purpose. The team at St. Leonards Depot has cut back the
damaged portion and has welded in a replacement section, a task already
carried out where necessary on our active vehicles.
Above: The new section of
collision-pillar has been welded in, and will subsequently be painted to
protect it against future corrosion; the bodyskin was further cut back to
facilitate these works (compare with a previous photo); it in turn will
be patched, welded, filled, sanded, primed and painted. In common with
various such areas on the rest of our train, it will be impossible to see
where such work was carried out even under close examination!