RPSI - Works Photo News

RPSI Home - Steam Train Dates - Online Shop - Website Contents

Restoring GNR(I) VAN No. 81 during the first semester, 2007/08
Photos by members of the restoration team.

Restoration of our GNR(I) Brake Van (known to its friends as Ivan) has moved very firmly into the woodwork phase. After the delivery of wood from Scrabo Timber Merchants in September, the youth squad has been enthusiastically painting and cutting and fitting. Each plank needs five coats of paint - so that's six working days from cutting to fitting - assumming that the paint will dry in the cold carriage shed! Here's what happened from October to mid December - effectively the first university semester this academic year.
If you don't know who IVAN is click here. If you'd like to help us then click here.

Part funded by the Northern Ireland Museums Council.

	Work on the steelwork is now in the home straight. Mark has put in a lot of time to clean and paint the Larne end and sea side wall girders. The steel gets four coats of paint.
	The wood fitted to the van was removed for final machining and painting one Saturday. Here James and Adam add a chamfer to the top edge of an outer skin board. Although supplied with a chamfer top and bottom, the exterior timber only had a chamfer on the top edge - so the youths are mounting it back to front and chamfering the other side.
	Next, the knots are sealed with knotting compound - basically cheap French polish. This will stop the knots from drying and falling out in a few year's time.
Then a marathon painting session began with watered down acrylic wood primer, the first of five coats of paint. 1.) Thinned wood primer 2.) Neat wood primer 3.) Charcoal grey undercoat 4.) First coat gloss 5.) Second gloss topcoat
	The wood was given its second coat of paint on Sunday. It was stacked anywhere there was space to dry.

	On November 4th, IVAN had a rare outing during a shunt.
	Next weekend it was back to painting. Here Adam paints the timber for the Larne end verandah. As the weather got damper and colder the painting operation was moved indoors.
While Adam was at that, James put coat 4 of 5 onto some of the timber for the Belfast end. This black painted face is screwed against the inner face of the outer skin - and is being painted purely to protect the wood from moisture. It's highly unlikely IVAN had this much care taken to protect the woodwork originally - which may explain why it all needs replaced!
	With the floor bearers cut for the Belfast end verandah, James and Edward cut the floorboards to fit - a long job with a handsaw.
Edward in action! Here he cuts out a carefully measured amount from the 2 1/2" thick floorboard.
Mark called on Joiner Ernie's professional help to rout a section out of a floorboard to allow it to fit against the front floor bearer.
	Francis and Mark survey 3 fitted floorboards. At this stage clearances still needed to be eased to allow the wood to swell when it gets damp.

Painting continued ad nauseam - and with five coats on all woodwork, there's a lot to do! Here are Larne end floor components.
A day for rivetting. Some steelwork parts were pushed off the frame by heavy corrosion, but after scrubbing and painting they were ready to go back on. Firstly Dave made sure the parts to be joined were securely held in place with nuts and bolts.
	Then he cut the rivets to the correct length. This is important because if the rivet is too long the head will bend during rivetting - too short and the head will not barrel out enough.
The rivets were heated up to a bright yellow heat in an oxy-propane flame. The hearth is a loose arrangement of firebricks.
	Here comes the rivet - inserted in the hole, and then . . .
. . . hammered into place using pnuematic rivetting hammers.
	The finished product - domed on one side.
Flat on the other side. The heat and vibration of the rivetting process shook some paint loose - it needed cleaned and given its four coats of paint before wood could go on top.

The final gloss topcoat arrived! After spending the last weekend painting this end wall with its two gloss coats, James screws it into place for the last time.
	Mark was cutting planks for the cabin sides - which are about eleven feet long. Here he has reassembled the circular saw so that he cuts exactly the same length of plank each time.
Then attention was turned to the Larne end verandah wall - the parts were dry of their five coats of paint and ready for assembly.
	James drilled holes in the wood through the original holes in the steelwork. A perfect fit every time as each hole is drilled in place . . .
Then once the bolts were in the holes Edward moved in with the air wrench to put the nuts on.
The inner layer of tongue and groove went in simultaneously as the bolts penetrate each layer.
	Success! ECF and JJF contemplate the flat pack assembly kit which went together so quickly.
It's all part of an evening's work for Mark. James seems pleased at progress too.
	Edward wasted no time in starting to paint the eleven foot cabin side planks, with the new roller, which seems to work quite well. The first coat of five - well, you know the story by now . . .

I hope this has given you a fun insight into work behind the scenes at Whitehead.
Why not join us?

Click on the RPSI logo (above) to go to the RPSI Homepage