SVR wagons 2022

Better late than never, it has taken me over a week to post this.
Following a loco turn last Saturday, I was expecting to just finish and go home, however, on walking across the yard, I found Mark and Steve putting the drawbars back into 98480.
This has been a job that has dogged us for a while owing to damage to the treads.
By the time I got there, the boys had gotten two back in. I made a round of tea and got stuck into helping out.
There were a few issues as it rapidly became apparent how badly bent the original headstock had been, the new one being straight was giving some alignment issues. Some physical work with a round file and some swearing sorted that out, leaving only the high spots on the welded repairs to stop the drawbars going back in.
The final one proved awkward so the technique of rotating the drawbar with a spanner until you found the easy point, then smack it with a hammer until it won't go any further, and repeat, was adopted to great success.
See you soon
Ian

 

Good to have you back Ian!

 

Click on images for full size version.
Painting and signwriting on GWR Mink 93045, painting and timber being cut for GWR Open 98480, and painting and brake repairs on GWR Loco Coal 83831 this weekend.

 

So that's why it wouldn't work!
Sorry it has been so long, as I touched on in my last post, my mental health has been hit and miss, and having had a good day, I have been coming home and finding I still haven't had it in me to do this, but today, I'm capitalising on it while I'm on the up.
When 98480 first joined us, she had an odd problem where you couldn't get the brakes to work at all. If the brakes were set so they released properly, you couldn't get them to come off, if you moved them up to the next setting, the wheels wouldn't rotate.
The main reason was that everything was shot to pieces. The whole wagon was looking the worse for wear, with the head stock life expired, the sole bars in need of a lot of electric glue, with all of the brake gear being rebushed, replaced, straightened, got hot, lightly adjusted with a sledge hammer, and so on.
That particular side of the repair is nearing completion with the removal of the cross shaft and vee hangers (we've actually only taken the one off for now to try to keep the place a little tidier)
This particular part was causing a large percentage of the original problem, as there is so much wear here, rather than rotating in the 'V' hanger when forces was applied to the brake handle, it simply slewed sideways and did nothing. The reason was clear, as I could get a finger into the gap between the shaft and it's respective hole. Upon inspection today, it was discovered that one side had around .350" of movement, the other side had a shade over .410" (that's in excess of 10mm to those who only do new money) and where the ovality was at its worst, that grew to .046"! Well it's no wonder the brakes didn't work.
Mark and the gang have been holding off doing the woodwork until I was finished, but I'm at a stage where, save for about four floor planks in the middle, there's nothing stopping them now, and they have been cracking on with it well, cutting planks to length and getting on well with priming them on the bench, so they will be already part way through painting before they go on.
My plan for repairing my bit, is to tidy up the damage to the ends of the shaft, making the ends approximately parallel, then fixing some large bushes into the 'V' hangers to make up the nearly half inch of gap.
This wagon seems to the untrained eye, to have stood still for ages, but once the boys start on the body, hopefully you will see her suddenly appear to be a nearly complete vehicle again.
We also did a minor repair to the yard gate, someone seems to have snapped the post off, the bend in the broken piece suggesting a disagreement with the digger, or simply equipment. Having noticed it, it was annoying me, so between myself and Graham, we made a simple repair, with some one inch bar, a spot of electric glue, and a few swift snacks with a hammer.
As the P.Way lads pointed out, "When it comes to doing repairs around here, it usually seems to be us or you!"
Hopefully see you soon
Ian

 

Great to have you back @olly5764 and good to hear that things are on the up for you.
Thanks for the interesting report-that's certainly a 'challenging ' project!

 

Thank you.
Yeah it has provided a few interesting challenges.
As these vehicles get older, we won't be the last to have to cross these bridges so I look forward to seeing and hearing whether others follow the solutions we took, or if they come up with better ideas than ours.
On the other issue, I like people to understand why I'm not always completely with it, and hopefully those in need, know there is an understanding ear if they find themselves in my position

 

This is looking promising, two updates in quick succession!
I'm afraid this one will only be a brief one as I was trying to juggle multiple rolls last week, however, the bits of tree are going onto 98480 in the form of a floor, which is not as simple as it sounds, as the nature of the beast means there are numerous bolts and rivets that stick up from the kerb rail and sole bar. The method for fitting around the ones poking up from underneath is easy, place plank roughly in position, butted up to it's neighbour, give it a clout with a hammer (with suitable protection in place) remove then attack the dented bits with a drill / chisel. The ones through the sides are more technical with rulers and marker pens and some such technical gubbins.
The brake V hangers and cross shaft finally got some attention with the end of the cross shaft getting dressed up by yours truly (having grudgingly done my angle grinder course on the thinking I really need to stop getting others to do that bit for me) while over in the machine shop, the bushes that will go in here have been started on. By started on I mean, suitable material found, put in the lathe, an abuse laden attempt to stick a hole in it made, followed by more abuse when closer examination of the drill revealed that whoever had last tried to grind it, had done so backwards, so the lands were forward of the cutting edge (heaven knows why). A properly sharpened drill suddenly made the job much easier, but that was then followed by another distraction caused by me being duty shed master, a dummy spit, followed by me putting the tools away and clearing off to the pub before anything else went wrong!
In all seriousness though, the mechanical side of what has been a very drawn out and challenging job is nearly done, and hopefully the sides and some finish paint will happen very soon
See you soon
Olly

 

It gets even more difficult if you put bacon and ketchup in them first…

(Sorry, I’ll get my coat.)

 

Ah, but proper motivation can work wonders!
PS. At the risk of getting into yet another livery debate, surely that should be brown sauce not ketchup?

 

Brown sauce for sausages, ketchup for bacon...

 

I've been trying to upload these and write a report for a week now. This time the problem was truly beyond my control, I've not been able to get on here at all!
Well I'm here now.
So after inspection of 98480s 'V' hangers and cross shaft, it was decided that the best approach was to dress the cross shaft and bush the hangers.
For the uninitiated, the key to making a bush is to make it slightly bigger than the hole it is going into. This may sound crazy but these are the principals of an interference fit. Too big, you'll not get it into the hole, too small and it'll just fall out. Generally 0.002" to 0.004" bigger than the hole is ideal at this scale.
So the first pic shows one of the bushes being bored out on the lathe.
Pic number 2, the finished part sits in my hand.
Pic number 3 shows the bush sitting on top of the hole, it's obviously never going to fit without some force behind it.
In pic 4, the press exerts the required force for us.
Finally, pic 5, job done. Now all we need to do is rivet them back on.
This will be my final report this year as a series of guards turns and my love life (yes I do have one) will be keeping me away until new year, so, all that remains is for me to thank my regular readers, especially for being so understanding while my mental health has been hit and miss this year, and on behalf of myself and all the gang, to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
I'll see you on the other side,
Ian

 

Thanks for the update Ian, and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and the team!

 

Thanks for keeping us updated and for the detailed pictures. Have a relaxing break!!

 

Nice series of pictures. So far, I have been lucky and not had to re-bush anything, but the day will surely come, given the state of at least one of the vehicles "in the queue".
Thanks for all the wagon reports this year and hope to read more of them in 2023.

 

Thanks for the update Ian - always good to see the activities of the other wagon teams...have a good Christmas & New Year!