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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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The wood was given its second coat
of paint on Sunday. It was stacked anywhere there was space to dry.
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On November 4th, IVAN had a rare outing
during a shunt.
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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.
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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!
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With the floor bearers cut for the
Belfast end verandah, James and Edward cut the floorboards to fit - a long
job with a handsaw.
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Edward in action! Here he cuts out
a carefully measured amount from the 2 1/2" thick floorboard.
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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.
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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.
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Painting continued ad nauseam
- and with five coats on all woodwork, there's a lot to do! Here are Larne
end floor components.
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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.
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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.
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The rivets were heated up to
a bright yellow heat in an oxy-propane flame. The hearth is a loose arrangement
of firebricks.
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Here comes the rivet - inserted in
the hole, and then . . .
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. . . hammered into place using
pnuematic rivetting hammers.
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The finished product - domed on one
side.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Then attention was turned to the Larne
end verandah wall - the parts were dry of their five coats of paint and
ready for assembly.
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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 . . .
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Then once the bolts were in the holes
Edward moved in with the air wrench to put the nuts on.
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The inner layer of tongue and groove
went in simultaneously as the bolts penetrate each layer.
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Success! ECF and JJF contemplate the
flat pack assembly kit which went together so quickly.
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It's all part of an evening's work
for Mark. James seems pleased at progress too.
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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 . . .
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I hope this has given you a fun insight
into work behind the scenes at Whitehead.
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