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Canterbury Railway Society Inc News D 26 Restoration Progress Report 23/3/2002 Progress since the last report has slowed as members have been involved with outside projects such as Ferrymead station fencing, train running over Xmas/New Year or just taking a well earned rest :) We are happy to say that we are now regaining momentum as seen by this report. The end outside roof arch rails were found to be beyond repair so the purchase of some suitable clean grained macrocarpa sufficed. After cutting and shaping to size, the end arches were secured in place ready for the roof timbers. The refurbishing and attaching of the end stanchions began in earnest on Boxing Day 2001 as the boilermaker was available to do the straightening of the somewhat bent and twisted stanchions vertical members by careful heating and manipulation. Some cutting, renewing of parts and rewelding was necessary and expertly hidden by grinding off excess so as not to detract from the authenticity of this ironwork. Only one stanchion top bracket was salvageable, so the manufacture was arranged of three new top flat iron brackets, appropriately welded and drilled for screws to fit the top spigot of the vertical members. All stanchions were attached to each end of the vehicle. At the beginning of February 2002, the beech T&G roof timbers were in place bringing the look of a new dimension of completeness to this carriage. Also adding to this, the interior exposed T&G was given one coat of varnish. The PVC roof cover was laid out over the roof with slight tension on and left for one week. The final stretching and securing of the cover was done and end and side mouldings previously manufactured from recycled beech timber were secured in place with 1 inch by 8 gauge roundhead screws. The cover was given a sealer coat and two coats of ebony coloured paint. During last year the outside pelmets were removed to be refurbished and it was found that they were made from teak timber. These pelmets have now been replaced back on D 26 and secured by 2 1/2 inch x 12 gauge countersunk screws. This now almost completes the outside of the carriage body, apart from some small mouldings to be attached and the final decor. On the arrival of glass for the carriage windows, there arrived a slight problem of the size and how to manufacture the wooden beading to hold in the glass. An old T&G kauri flooring board was found and by careful machining we were able to make the necessary beading to the correct profile. In no time the windows were glazed and ready for final fitting into the vehicle. It will be necessary to review the work to be done on the interior of D 26. A copy of NZR Standard Painting of Cars & Vans dated 10 August 1889 has come to hand courtesy of Robin Knight. The colour scheme we had chosen is correct, but we were slightly out on which colour goes where. Keith Brown who provided the information for the above report wishes to acknowledge the help of individual members who are willing to share their knowhow and information. It is always appreciated. Photo Gallery
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