Restoring coaches at Aviemore: When things go from bad to even worse!

BR mark one, SO number 4477, finally came in for its service this week. As mentioned in an earlier post it needed attention to the floor in the non toilet end. Owing to it not making it into the shed in time to do a thorough repair, the plan was to try to cover the bad bit with a piece of aluminium checker plate.

The duck tape by the gangway door is covering the point where the lino started to break up.

Alarm bells start to ring when you realise just how far the floor has risen owing to rust. This is about one and a half inches above where it should be. It was to get worse when it was discovered that someone had attempted a repair in the past and filled some of the gap with a piece of wood.

Even more alarm bells start when the tape is removed to find a concrete screed approximately half an inch deep, the concrete had started to break up.

When the lino was lifted, it revealed half of the original lino underneath. This had been cut down the middle, the rot in the floor squashed down and the whole lot covered in the concrete screed.

Definitely not the way to carry out a repair.

The complete floor had to be removed, the area of concern is the dip in the steel across the gangway entrance.

More views

The end panels should really be removed to do a thorough repair, however owing to time restraints, we are going to attempt to replace the floor with the end panels still in situ.

An attempt to repair the dip in the steel frame will be the deciding factor, if it will be successful or not.

Bill discovered that the brake cylinders were not facing the right direction, causing the hose from the DA valve to the release valve to rub on the chassis. This was caught just in time as both hoses had become holed.