Still upside down, more steelwork is seen having been added, including the main transverse members and the kerb rail.
With holes drilled in the new main underframe members, they are now being assembled, upside down (which is often easiest). Initially held by bolts, once the assembly is complete, these will be replaced by hot rivets.
The following three pictures and captions provided by Martin Skrzetuszewski show some of the work being carried on the underframe.
Roger Barton transfers dimensions from the old onto a new underframe cross-member. The drawgear is attached to these steel channels. New mounting brackets have been cut to length, size and drilled. These were freshly made today - just like Mr. Barton's hallmark flask of coffee!
The wastage and fatigue cracking in the old underframe cross-member can be clearly seen. The brackets shown attach this to the solebars.
The solebars, headstocks and cross-members on the underframe for 567 are new. Two recovered corner diagonals can be seen and recovered headstock brackets are in situ. The solebars have been drilled to take the recovered running gear, including side-spring shoes as shown.
Two of Dave Clarke's photos showing that work is now under way on the SECR wagons again. Here on the left the headstocks that had already been made for 567 are being finished and used as a guide for drilling one of the new headstocks for the identical underframe of SECR 7-plank No.16358.
The second photo shows the new solebars for the wagon bolted together to facilitate the drilling of holes at various positions along their length. The late Pete Reid provided the original inspiration for this project, and this wagon (along with the 9F loco, and the SECR wagon he bought for the Bluebell) will be a fitting tribute to his long dedication to the Railway.
The new steelwork has been paid for by the Bluebell Railway Trust, and all the work is being undertaken by volunteers (mainly at this stage, Roger Barton).
This was the worst of our four SECR 7-plank goods wagons. None of the 2-plank ballast wagons survive in preservation, and since they had identical underframes, it was decided to convert this former Port of Bristol wagon (of which we do not know its original SECR/SR numbers) to represent the 2-plank design. It is seen here, having received some new mechanical parts. The new headstocks can be seen on top of the underframe, awaiting fitting. Two new solebars are also to be made.
Last updated 12 August 2006 by Nick Beck and 16 December 2006 by Richard Salmon