October 2011

The first of the floor side timbers are now in place and are ready to be fixed to the post frames and these will allow the lower panel infills to be installed.
The first of the double doorway infills has been built and installed leaving just the two singles doors to be infilled.

November 2011

As the frame repairs and modifications progress thought is being given to cladding this portion of the coach.  The body panel bottom edges are held in place by an infill between the brackets which is fixed to the inner floor outer rail.  This infill has been made in 4 metre runs and is then cut to length for invidivual fitting.
In order to get the floor edge correct the double doors have been recovered from storage and stripped of their old steelwork.  One of the doors, number 7, needed a replacement bottom rail and so this has been manufactured from a large hardwood former newel post we have been donated because, like most of the wood on the coach, the blank wasn’t a nice modern size!

June 2012

Work is progressing slowly with the rebuild and conversion of the former luggage doors from plain panel to ones with a fixed window.
The door skins have been precut by our supplier to size so all we’ve had to do is put in the fixing holes and cut the window apertures.  Doesn't sound much work but it actually takes quite a bit of time!
The fixing holes have been punched into place with a hydraulic press set up to press the screw countersink and then punch the hole.  This beats the previous method of drilling each individual holes and then pressing the countersinks using an old fly-press
The door frame itself has been lined to produce a frame of standard size ( 18” wide by 36” tall ).

August 2012

Work on the doors has continued following the supply of new door top skins by South Devon Railway Engineering.  Interested in new door skins ? then click here

Door 10 has now been reskinned and awaits rehanging though it still needs the interior side refurbishing which will happen when we refit the droplight.

The frame between the cross–corridor and the compartment (i.e. between doors 13 & 14) has been repaired, modified and refitted.  The window adjacent to door 14 has been reduced in height to improve the security of the galley in due course.  At the moment it still requires some bolts due to the door post requiring repairs at the ends.

October 2012

The cross corridor infill panel has now been built and fitted. Given that the servery will be the other side of this wall a small window has been built to introduce light whilst maintaining security. Servers can also look out to see where they are when standing!

February 2013

The 25th February was an auspicious day in that we fitted the first replacement external panel – it’s only been 6 years as can be seen from this page.

April 2013

Having fitted the first panel to the Staverton side we got the balance of the lower panels fitted to the rebuilt half of the coach.

August 2013

When we prepared the chassis for the riveting we had to remove the vacuum pipe from the Staverton side chassis rail. Over the August Bank Holiday weekend this was replaced with new stainless steel tubing and fittings.  The flanges were made specially for us by the Plymouth Metal Centre and machined by South Devon Railway Engineering.  The entire vacuum pipe has been replaced from one end to the other.  Next time we will bend up the links to the direct admission (DA) valves which themselves still need servicing.

October 2013

In order to apply the brakes evenly along the train there are local “direct admission” (DA) valves. These detect the change in the vacuum pipe pressure and then admit atmosphere directly into the vacuum cylinders thereby applying the brakes (see our FAQ on vacuum brakes for more details).
The vacuum brake system on W2180 appears to have been last serviced in 1965 because that is the date on the DA diaphram and link hose.
The diaphram and seals were replaced with new components so the DA valves can be refitted to the coach. This will happen once the last pair of flanges have been machined up.
We still have the vacuum cylinders themselves to service which may result in them being changed to the more modern rolling ring type.

Also the new tyres for W2180 have arrived as part of a batch of GWR coach tyres.  Fitting will have to wait for a time slot in the SDRE Works.

November 2013

Having had the last two flanges machined the pipes we’d prepared for the Direct Admission (DA) valves could be assembled and the DA valves refitted to W2180.

We re-instated the old link hoses to the vacuum cylinders to keep the dirt out until the cylinders themselves can be serviced or replaced.  Our cylinders are the older IR band type rather than the prefered rolling ring version. (see our “How it works” for more information ).  Apparently these hoses only have a life of 5 years which is why we haven’t fitted new ones – the present ones are dated 1965 !
About a decade ago we were donated a petrol driven vacuum exhauster which had been built for testing the vacuum brakes of wagons in-situ and it has been used ever since when vacuum cylinders are rebuilt. Just to check we had no leaks we connected it up and achieved 16 inches of vacuum; a far cry from the BR 21” or the GWR 26” but a vacuum never the less.  The inability to get a higher vacuum was not a leak in our new piping – as tested with the flare lamp – however even though the pistons can be rattled up and down with a bar they do not rise so we suspect the rings are frozen to the cylinders.

Back on the body we have removed the lower stringer which had rotted at a few joints and are in the process of its replacement; the first new section can be seen in the photographs.  We intend to use the the good bits of the old stringer to repair the larger one above where it has suffered in the joints.  With this we are approaching the end of the framing repairs for this side of the coach.

April 2014

The side rail has been replaced in readiness for the new steel sheets however these will have to wait for the repairs to the next stringer up and the window lower bar to be repaired.
The running shed in which we are located is due to be demolished to make way for a new carriage and wagon workshop so we will need to improve the weather resistance of the coach.
Since the steel cladding is effectively clinker built it is likely we will trim the bottom off the top sheets so the new lower panes can be fitted whilst the top sheets are still in place.
We’re holding off for as long as possible to reduce the damage that would inevitably happen to unpainted sheets.

Three of the floor joists have been refitted into their new pockets.  The balance will be done in due course but the the joists themselves have been cut ready.
The floor used to be made of hardwood planks topped with an asbestos rich “cement”.  This has been professionally removed along with the planks so we are replacing them with two layers of plywood.  The lower layer is 18mm fireproof plywood and the upper layer is 22mm Lloyds grade BS1088 marine plywood.  The final floor covering will be some form of hard wearing linolium.

November 2014

The Totnes end, Buckfastleigh side panel has now been rebuilt with medum sized window aperture as per the Staverton side.

March 2015

Over our first 2015 working party the second Buckfastleigh side luggage compartment frame was modified to have a standard 4foot by 3foot window instead of the previous 16inch wide plain window.
Whilst rummaging in our stores looking for something else we have found the vacuum pipe fixing brackets – these have been cleaned up, repainted and refitted to the coach.

August 2015

May 2016

The new luggage/wheelchair area floor is fitted. The bottom, 18mm thick plywood, has been coated in a fire resisting finish. The top 22mm layer will eventually be sanded down and the linolium glued to it.
Note in the upper photograph the old handbrake standard mounting block has been retained and simply build into the floor. This is inside the galley area of the buffet so should make for a more stable floor.
The black line is the timber forming the base of the corridor wall; the counter front will be mounted on the near floor joist.

November 2016

The first new bulkhead can be seen in place in the former luggage space. This bulkhead isn’t where Hawksworth designed one to be so the roof hoop has the same centre line as the floor joist making the top fixture more complex.
On the left hand side of the bulkhead is a piece of the original corridor.

March 2017

As mentioned seven years ago (!) above in February 2010 Hawksworth rooves have a design fault and corrode through behind the gutters. The lower edge of the original roof was replaced sometime in 2180’s past and these repair panels have gone again. Because water ingress can do so much damage and changing these panels is not a trivial task we have decided to use stanless steel. This worked well on GWR TSO 1295 so South Devon Railway Engineering have bent us up a set for 2180. The picture above shews the first of these fixed in place. The construction is effectively clinker built so we can't fit the next panel until the one beyond is in place. The order is effectively 1,3,2,5,4,etc.

April 2017

Slow prorgress is being made; the penultimate side sheet on the Staverton side, Totnes half of W2180 has now been fitted ( see above ). The sheet to its right has been prepared and will be fitted next time.
Stainless steel roof sheets 3 and 2 ( see March 2017 for numbering ) have now been installed so when the next side sheet is fixed we will be able to fix 5 and 4 meaning we'll be half way along this side.

November 2017

The Totnes half of the Staverton side now has its roof and the galley doorpost on this side has been repaired ready for the door.
The original guard’s step has been relocated to this door to allow emergency egress from the galley following the removal of the Guard’s compartment and the filling of the original doorway.  The doorway also has a GWR guard’s long grab handle.
If we can get another one then the Buckfastleigh side will be similarly fitted.

2180 is now to receive some more full time attention so better progress can be made; the carriage is needed by the Railway.
Members of the shed team are currently rebuilding the battery box so this can be re-instated and then the galley floor completed so the corridor wall can be re-alligned to allow the conversion from corridor accommodation to open seating.
The Totnes half of the Buckfastleigh side has had the lower cladding sheets fitted so it’s catching up on the Staverton side.

Behind the scaffolding, the last top sheet is fitted to the Totnes half of the Buckfastleigh side

©GRB 2018

The new compartment C/D floor; note the reinforcement in the left hand panel.

The double doors at the Totnes half of the Buckfastleigh side have now been hung

©GRB 2019

The ‘A’ ( Dynamo ) end of 2180 with buffers and drawhook removed.

One of the spring assemblies.

©GRB 2019

2180 in protective cocoon.

©GRB 2019