Ending the year on a positive note, the van is now fully painted in white primer. Additional fittings will be added and final painting will be done during 2009.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year
On the last work day for 2008 we replaced the missing window in the sliding door. After several attempts the glass was fitted to the rubber using the correct tools. Another job done.
Ending the year on a positive note, the van is now fully painted in white primer. Additional fittings will be added and final painting will be done during 2009.
Ending the year on a positive note, the van is now fully painted in white primer. Additional fittings will be added and final painting will be done during 2009.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Continuing the tradition.
Restoration works at Eveleigh continue to proceed at a great pace using many volunteer "new hands" and some new materials, but still using traditional methods and machinery.
Thanks to the establishment of its own timber working machinery, (which was rescued from scrapping at another railway workshop many years ago by 3801 Ltd) the Large Erecting Shop facility is still a working example of how the railways conducted most of their overhaul and repair business ïn house".
This capability allows the Eveleigh workdays team to produce the essential (and often expensive to purchase) timber mouldings, strips and components for the restoration of its own and other restoration projects. Many of the items required to restore these heritage vehicles simply cant be bought but we can make them!
All you need is the timber to start with....
After checking for nails and any other foreign objects the timber is first passed through the planner to provide a consistent side to work off.
Then the thicknesser is used to reduce the timber to the required size.
Beautifully finished timber ready for cutting timber flows out the other end.
Cutting timber of this size and length requires a serious saw.
Brute force is also required to pull and safely push the timber through to cut it down.
To tidy up and bevel the edges the good old hand plane gets a run....
...and then a quick hand sand removes any remaining "dags".
The end result is another bundle of quality machined timber prepared inhouse and under the time it would take to drive to Bunnings - even if you could buy the right material!
To prepare the strip for fitting the young hands apply their painting skills.
The panels and ends of the HKB are made up of several timber panels so cover strips were used to help weather proof the joins.
The strips machined and painted earlier in the day are measured, cut and fixed in position.
Because the strips are made of hardwood, the nail holes are pre drilled to prevent splitting and then the nail heads punched and puttied to provide a smooth finish.
Another panel is finished!
The strips adjacent to the mail doors are metal to provide additional strength to the door framing. These have been removed, cleaned, painted and refitted.
The main door strips are bolted in place through the body to the internal metal angle framing.
Metal plates were also applied adjacent to the bottom door frame corners to minimise body damage from platform trolleys. Water ingress has resulted in these rusting from the inside so they have been removed and replaced.
Some of the corner roof moulding have also become cracked or damaged so new pieces are hand crafted and screwed in place.
With the metal work off the main body panels were found to be in excellent condition and only required a quick clean up with the sander.
The body has also received an initial spot prime to seal the screw heads and minor cracks and then the whole side rolled with a thick coat of primer ready for final sanding and painting.
The 516 bogie team continued on replacing those hard to get at final pins.
The positions required to repair these bogies could certainly not be called ergonomic!
After consultation on the rating requirements for shear forces the centre casting has been bolted up using high tensile bolts.
The brake cylinder has also received the attention of the fitters.
After removal the piston was striped and cleaned....
...ready for a new "leather" seal to be fitted.
A new triple vale (CAR - Charges, Applies and Releases the brakes) has also be fitted to make sure the car not only runs well but also stops!
With our steam friend The 5 9 1 7 still in the shed many hands were occupied with its preparation for its final run of 2008 the next day.
The 4 5 0 1, still grubby from its steam assistant duties earlier in the week, was used to position the 59 for coaling outside the magnificaent facade of the Large Erecting Shop.
Nick the coalman has been a great supporter of Eveleigh steam operations over many years and again came to the party with the delivery of another load of "black rocks". These ones came from Werris Creek.
The end of another successful Eveleigh work day sees much progress, the fire burning and steam slowly being raised.
Thanks to the establishment of its own timber working machinery, (which was rescued from scrapping at another railway workshop many years ago by 3801 Ltd) the Large Erecting Shop facility is still a working example of how the railways conducted most of their overhaul and repair business ïn house".
This capability allows the Eveleigh workdays team to produce the essential (and often expensive to purchase) timber mouldings, strips and components for the restoration of its own and other restoration projects. Many of the items required to restore these heritage vehicles simply cant be bought but we can make them!
All you need is the timber to start with....
After checking for nails and any other foreign objects the timber is first passed through the planner to provide a consistent side to work off.
Then the thicknesser is used to reduce the timber to the required size.
Beautifully finished timber ready for cutting timber flows out the other end.
Cutting timber of this size and length requires a serious saw.
Brute force is also required to pull and safely push the timber through to cut it down.
To tidy up and bevel the edges the good old hand plane gets a run....
...and then a quick hand sand removes any remaining "dags".
The end result is another bundle of quality machined timber prepared inhouse and under the time it would take to drive to Bunnings - even if you could buy the right material!
To prepare the strip for fitting the young hands apply their painting skills.
The panels and ends of the HKB are made up of several timber panels so cover strips were used to help weather proof the joins.
The strips machined and painted earlier in the day are measured, cut and fixed in position.
Because the strips are made of hardwood, the nail holes are pre drilled to prevent splitting and then the nail heads punched and puttied to provide a smooth finish.
Another panel is finished!
The strips adjacent to the mail doors are metal to provide additional strength to the door framing. These have been removed, cleaned, painted and refitted.
The main door strips are bolted in place through the body to the internal metal angle framing.
Metal plates were also applied adjacent to the bottom door frame corners to minimise body damage from platform trolleys. Water ingress has resulted in these rusting from the inside so they have been removed and replaced.
Some of the corner roof moulding have also become cracked or damaged so new pieces are hand crafted and screwed in place.
With the metal work off the main body panels were found to be in excellent condition and only required a quick clean up with the sander.
The body has also received an initial spot prime to seal the screw heads and minor cracks and then the whole side rolled with a thick coat of primer ready for final sanding and painting.
The 516 bogie team continued on replacing those hard to get at final pins.
The positions required to repair these bogies could certainly not be called ergonomic!
After consultation on the rating requirements for shear forces the centre casting has been bolted up using high tensile bolts.
The brake cylinder has also received the attention of the fitters.
After removal the piston was striped and cleaned....
...ready for a new "leather" seal to be fitted.
A new triple vale (CAR - Charges, Applies and Releases the brakes) has also be fitted to make sure the car not only runs well but also stops!
With our steam friend The 5 9 1 7 still in the shed many hands were occupied with its preparation for its final run of 2008 the next day.
The 4 5 0 1, still grubby from its steam assistant duties earlier in the week, was used to position the 59 for coaling outside the magnificaent facade of the Large Erecting Shop.
Nick the coalman has been a great supporter of Eveleigh steam operations over many years and again came to the party with the delivery of another load of "black rocks". These ones came from Werris Creek.
The end of another successful Eveleigh work day sees much progress, the fire burning and steam slowly being raised.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Steamy days
The Eveleigh work days just get bigger and bigger with more work, more oldmates and more feeds happening in the shed.
With the arrival of summer and new visitors, the days are now much longer and steamier than experienced for a long time so 3 meals to keep the troops going are the order of the day.
The apprentice cook started the day with a good helping of various animals dished up ABN style and provided much needed energy to get the oldmates on the job.
First task was to finish the 516 spring ordeal.....
....and with some jacking and banging another job was completed.
Over on the HKB Steve continued his repair works routing an exact edge to butt the patch.
This van seems to have suffered many hits and bangs over the years and thanks to sound repairs like this she's now well prepared for many more runs in the future.
With the sides tidied the cover strips are now going on.
The door handrails sit on top of the strips so the holes are drilled.....
...and the long screws waxed and screwed in to firmly hold them in place.
Last the strips are trimmed off flush with the bottom of the car sides....
....and everything given a good coat of primer.
After lunch the group gathered to help support our oldmate Keg with his "Movember" fundraising effort. During "Movember" Keg joined the ranks of those growing Mo's to raise funds for research of various mens illnesses. Our Eveleigh oldmates donned fake Mo's to support Kegs effort and through their donations additional funds were raised.
Some of the resulting looks wernt that convincing.....
....and some looked downright suspect....
...but everyone had a giggle, albeit briefly for some that had trouble sticking the distance.
The steamy side of the day saw much attention turned to preparing 5917 for her run the next day.
During the week a run of new fire bricks had been started with a new mould constructed to finally make the right bricks available.
Out on the wood heap Chris started breaking up the light up material....
......and after many trips a steady fire was burning nicely and steam raised slowly.
Everyone wanted the engine to look its best so out came the cleaners.
First the tender was washed of grime to show the excellent paint finish applied at Cowra....
...and then the boys did the same on the bolier.
With steam being raised attention turned to more tidy up jobs.
Having been steam cleaned the driving wheels received a fresh coat of black...
...and the rods polished to show off their length.
The bro's and Jess put in a big effort all round....
...and the results speak for themselves.
After a quick inspection underneath everything was ready for a day out on the road.
2 years may have passed since the 3 8 0 1 left the building but steam, skills and oldmates are still alive and strong at Eveleigh, just the way its been for 120 years.
With the arrival of summer and new visitors, the days are now much longer and steamier than experienced for a long time so 3 meals to keep the troops going are the order of the day.
The apprentice cook started the day with a good helping of various animals dished up ABN style and provided much needed energy to get the oldmates on the job.
First task was to finish the 516 spring ordeal.....
....and with some jacking and banging another job was completed.
Over on the HKB Steve continued his repair works routing an exact edge to butt the patch.
This van seems to have suffered many hits and bangs over the years and thanks to sound repairs like this she's now well prepared for many more runs in the future.
With the sides tidied the cover strips are now going on.
The door handrails sit on top of the strips so the holes are drilled.....
...and the long screws waxed and screwed in to firmly hold them in place.
Last the strips are trimmed off flush with the bottom of the car sides....
....and everything given a good coat of primer.
After lunch the group gathered to help support our oldmate Keg with his "Movember" fundraising effort. During "Movember" Keg joined the ranks of those growing Mo's to raise funds for research of various mens illnesses. Our Eveleigh oldmates donned fake Mo's to support Kegs effort and through their donations additional funds were raised.
Some of the resulting looks wernt that convincing.....
....and some looked downright suspect....
...but everyone had a giggle, albeit briefly for some that had trouble sticking the distance.
The steamy side of the day saw much attention turned to preparing 5917 for her run the next day.
During the week a run of new fire bricks had been started with a new mould constructed to finally make the right bricks available.
Out on the wood heap Chris started breaking up the light up material....
......and after many trips a steady fire was burning nicely and steam raised slowly.
Everyone wanted the engine to look its best so out came the cleaners.
First the tender was washed of grime to show the excellent paint finish applied at Cowra....
...and then the boys did the same on the bolier.
With steam being raised attention turned to more tidy up jobs.
Having been steam cleaned the driving wheels received a fresh coat of black...
...and the rods polished to show off their length.
The bro's and Jess put in a big effort all round....
...and the results speak for themselves.
After a quick inspection underneath everything was ready for a day out on the road.
2 years may have passed since the 3 8 0 1 left the building but steam, skills and oldmates are still alive and strong at Eveleigh, just the way its been for 120 years.
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