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GNR 2701 Restoration 2007
The luggage rack nets are in the
process of being fitted. These have
been made by one of the team.
This is a hotel advert has been
recreated from a photo of a genuine
Great Northern Railway original. These
are above the sliding doors.
To expose the spring cage. Repeat
this process on a second cushion.
And removed the old felt and hessian.
To make a long cushion to fit the 3rd
compartment out of two short cushions.
First take a cushion out of stores.
JANUARY 2007

January saw 1st class seat number 6 installed and seat number 7 delivered to the upholsterer. Work
then started on getting the 3rd class seats ready, suitable seat backs have been obtained for stores
and only required lengthening by 2 inches to make fit. Only the side panels had to be made from
scratch. It was decided to make the cushions the full width instead of two half cushions the process of
building the long cushions is detailed below.
FEBRUARY 2007

February started on a down note with the snow on the 8th flattening the gazebo, lets hope the rest of
the month is a little better.  
MARCH / APRIL 2007

After the snows of February work on the carriage continued with completing the third class seat
cushions and side panels ready for upholstery, great many small jobs have been completed and in
mid April to last of the 1st class seats for the coupe was finally fitted and the first of the 3rd class
seats has been sent to the upholsters. The laying of plywood ready for the linoleum flooring is well
underway.
MAY / JUNE 2007

Progress in the last couple of months has consisted of a great many smaller jobs i.e. the panelling of
both toilet compartments (Note we are not going to fit toilets the 3rd class one will be used as a store
for the TTI's and the 1st class is going to be a display area showing the restoration of 2701 and
details of the other vehicles in the teak set). Completion of the laying of the plywood for linoleum.
The 1st class compartments are about 95% complete, some of jobs still left to do are fitting under
seat guards, seat numbers, communication chain etc. The first of the 3rd class seat backs have come
back from the upholsters and the pictures are being mounted in to the view frames.
The latest form of rolling stock at the
railway passing through the yard gates.
Class:- Shed, 3 rail.
Gauge:- variable.
Wheel arrangement:- 3 to 6 rollers.
July 2007

The 1st class compartment linoleum has been cut to fit and is now awaiting the adhesive, the 3rd class
is to follow. One bigger task that has been completed is the movement of the Funds Shed that for the
last 20 years it has taken up three car park spaces and with Bewdley being a temporary terminus it was
felt it was time to move it to increase the car park area and have it in a more convent place nearer
the carriage.
August/September/October 2007

The linoleum has now been laid and glued down in all compartments along with the toilets and
vestibules, the corridor will be done at a later stage. The under seat guards have been fitted in the 1st
class compartments. Two of the 3rd class compartments now have the re-upholstered seats fitted and
all the view frames have had the pictures mounted in them. We found on close inspection that there
was a number possible foul conditions with the first attempt on the steam heat piping this has been
rectified and the final coupling up of the heaters is almost complete.
November 2007

All the seat backs, bases and side panels have been delivered and fitted the seat cushions are
expected early in December. The task of fitting seat number plates and seat reserve clips is under
way. As the number of jobs left to do reduces before the carriage moves to Kidderminster for the
mechanical work some of the team have started work on the GWR 1145 Snake see page for more.
The antimacassars which were last
fitted for the station gala have been
embroidered.
View of the complete seat set.
The under seat heater guards have
been fitted.
The shadow of “1st” from the corridor
door could not have fallen better.
The painting of the 3rd class toilet
compartment has been finished and
the window hand rails fitted. The letter
rack and fuse box are not normal items
for a toilet but in this case the area is
to be used as a TTI store room.
The delivery of the first set of re-
upholstered seats for 3rd class and
the mounting of pictures in the view
frames the compartment looks very
near complete.
The opposite side of the compartment
note the mirror in the view frame.
This advert was spotted in the isle of
Mann by one of our team while on
holiday and with a small amount of
manipulation with a computer it was
made to fit the frames.
Replica builder’s plates have been
fitted.
Shunt progressing well.
Preparing for the sideways shunt.
Oh for a traverser!
Shed shunted to it new position.
One more finishing touch has been
fitted in the 1st class compartments
are the reproduction Hotels adverts.
Coupe compartment with pictures and
mirror installed and for the Bewdley
station gala we did a trial fit of the
antimacassars.
Full compartment looking at the side
with all pictures these are
enlargements of Great Northern
Railway postcards of the same period
as the carriage.
The folding table in the coupe
compartment has been installed.
The table in the folded position.
The coupe seat assembled and fitted.
This completes the seats for the 1st
class.
The fitting of the netting to the 1st
class luggage racks is well underway.
All the side armrests have been fitted
in the 1st class compartments.
The polishing and fitment of the 3rd
class luggage rack brackets is
underway.
The dynamo has been mounted having
first checked it was a dynamo and not
something from the 1940’s that should
have been defused!
The dynamo required a right angled
bracket to archive the correct position.
Thanks goes to Rob of Goodturn
Engineering for fabricating it at short
notice.
The plywood underlay has been fitted
in all compartments along with the
threshold plates.
The plywood underlay in the coupe
compartment.
The fitting of plywood in the corridor is
well underway.
The lamps in the 3rd end of the
corridor have been fitted.
The door of the 3rd class toilet has
been hung, the sycamore panels are
on order to complete the refurbishment.
Having survived all the strong winds the
Gazebo finally came to grief with the
snow on Thursday the 8th. This was
the seen Friday morning.
Same day different angle.
Saturday morning saw the start of
salvage operations nothing was going
to get done to the carriage that day.
Not easy to see with the snow as a
background the mass of bent and
broken poles.
With the gazebo beyond repair and
still the need for a covered area so
one team member has loaned a 6 man
frame tent as a temporary solution.
And so the LNER (SVR) Coach Fund
camping club has been formed.
The accommodation is a bit cramped
and varied so the bunk allocation will
be decided by the drawing of straws.
But it will mean that work on the
carriage seats can continue.
Remove the outer cloth and foam.
Connect the two cages together using
crimps, in this case the cushions were
still 3 inches short so another cage
was dismantled for extra crimps and
rows of springs.
After the crimping the parts together
and tightening all the other existing
crimps in the cages, you have a cage
of the correct length.
The cage is then wrapped in a layer of
new hessian this stitched to the cage
and glued to it a layer of foam.
The foam is then wrapped around the
sides and stitched to the hessian and
the cage.
Finally another layer of foam is glued
on top and it is ready for the trip to the
upholsterer. Only 7 more to do.