West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust WSRHT

HCP Progress Report for April 2024

Posted on May 11, 2024

Heritage Carriages Project - Progress Report April 2024

Development of the Washford workshops has contnued. We have also contnued work on 6705.
For the Washford workshops, we have:

  • Positioned our new table saw and planer thicknesser in the ground floor workshop and
    connected them to the dust extraction system.
  • A Dust extraction connection has been installed ready for the arrival of a new bandsaw,
    which has now been ordered.
  • Booked PSSR test for the compressed air system – scheduled for May 22nd.
  • Connections between the vacuum pump and
    the carriage have now been improved and now
    no longer leak.
  • Timber racking is under construction for the
    storage of our timber supplies.
  • The mitre saw in the mezzanine workshop has
    been connected to the dust extraction system.
  • We have now removed all our inventory from
    the Portakabin office and old wood shop at
    Williton.
  • We have placed a banner on the outside of the
    workshop facing Washford station pla1orm announcing our carriage restoration activity at Washford.
  • Work has continued on 6705: 

    • Both sides of 6705 below the windows have now been stripped and prepared for
      painting.
    • Vacuum testng is now proceeding step-by-step through the carriage vacuum system
      to discover and rectify all leaking joints.
    • Some of the guttering has been removed which reveals considerable corrosion and
      evidence of water ingress.
    • Two 2.4m staging sections have been completed to form a 4.8m assembly complete
      with steps and balustrades. A second 4.8m staging assembly is now well underway to
      provide safe access on the other side of the carriage.

Plans for May 2024

  1. Washford
    • Complete installation of ducting for dust extractor.
    • Complete build of racking for Timber storage.
    • Complete last two staging sections to enable safe working on 6705.
    • Have air compressor system tested and certified.
    • Assess evidence of water ingress from leaking gutter and determine suitable fix for this.
    • Plan for move of container and 9037 body from Williton.

2.  Safety Documentary

Work to connue on our documentation set, focusing now to include machine-specific risk assessments
prioritized in the order the machines are likely to be implemented in the Washford workshops. We will also develop proposals for a workshop safety training course for our volunteers.