Back to the attack

With the repainting of RailCorp heritage set 621/721 completed the team have returned to the attack of the restoration of 629 & 729.
Although most of the body painting has been completed many of the defered tidy up jobs have been tackled including the removal of the last traces of Cityrail blue with a lick of paint around the lower window inserts.......

....a cut in of the door edges and frames......

........and the fiddly bits including jumper receptacles and air hose heads and taps.

The application of the final shaded lettering has also been commenced.

The seats are bolted to mounting plates which are screwed into the floor timber.

As the originals are mild steel and have obviously had a hard life the decision has been made to remove and replace them.

This will also allow easier sanding of the floor ready for the new floor covering to be laid.

New stainless steel floor mounts have been manufactured and are ready for installation.

Some mechanical matters have also been rectified with a radiator compartment oil leak being traced to a split in a fan motor drive hose.

Years of exposure to constant heat from the exhaust and radiators had taken its toll and the hose was so brittle that it broke completely through on removal.

The oil lines come up through the floor into the radiator compartment from the pump below and feed up to the roof mounted radiator units. With all the gear in there plus leaking oil its not a great place to work.

Thanks to some great work by the guys from Pirtek at Cardiff new hoses were made available and have been refitted ready for many more years service.

A year down the track.

It seems like only yesterday that Project Sputnik commenced with the movement of The 629/729 to the Paterson home of The Rail Motor Society. The completion of recent efforts has the set on show again and highlighting some of the many tasks undertaken during the last 12 months which have transformed the cars from their ex service "Prong" Cityrail livery.


After masking up of the whiskers the final coats of body colour have now been applied to the ends.....

...and also sides of the cars to return them to their 1960's Indian Red livery.

Once again Tony Matthew's wonderful efforts have made the lettering task so much easier and authentic shaded lettering and numbers have been applied to the end doors.....

...to the centre section to reinstate the cars codes and numbers.....

......to the sides to denote seating classes.......

...and of course to the luggage area doors so the Guards will know where they have to get in.

With the tape off the cars are again looking very much like they did in their early years of service.




From across the tracks passing passengers and crew can now witness the reborn "local set" as they pass the TRMS depot although there are still many tasks inside to complete before they will also get the chance to travel in the cars.

Thanks to all our supporters during this first project year especially the board and members of TRMS for their friendship and assistance.

Horn works

After many years in service the "Country" horns on 729 were found to require more than just a "tidy up". Having been hit by trees, birds and other objects the throats were extensively damaged and some parts missing all together.

These horns are a RVB 6320 -007 type and have been used on many NSW railcars for over 40 years. Amazingly they are still produced in Australia and are available from Sirens, Horns & hooters Pty Ltd in Queensland.
After removal from the car the modular assembly was dismantled and all parts examined.


The brass and copper "throats" or "trumpets" are held in with grub screws but having been exposed to the elements the screws resisted being undone and had to be drilled out and the holes retapped.

When correctly assembled these units have 3 trumpets of 3 different sizes. Each produce a different note and are listed by the manufacturer as being 420Hz, 520Hz & 600Hz.

The configuration used on the 620/720's has 2 throats facing the driving end of the car and one facing "backwards".

Fortunately some spare stock had previously been acquired so when our specialist "Horn fitter" arrived reassembly could commence immediately.

The pic below shows Jamie working with a big horn.

With the unit back together a final check of the diaphrams and air ways was conducted.

Several obstructions were cleared including a lot of grime and a hornets nest presumably established during the 629/729's period in storage.

The air line to the horns is piped up through roof above the drivers compartment and the horns are rivetted to the aluminium roof & frame.

Another job is completed ready for service and for the painters to apply their magic.

Face lift

During its 46 year life the 629/729 has undergone several makeovers to keep it on track with the changing railway regimes.

As introduced to service the 2 car diesel train wore a livery of Indian red relieved with yellow lining, whiskers and end of car "eyes". This attractive livery served for 3/4's of its in service life with the only change being the removal of the above window side line.





Escaping the "reverse"era, the 629/729 was painted in the Belbin designed "Candy" livery during the mid 1980's. This bright livery which is still loved by many certainly brightened the fleet but was not to last long.

During an attempt to cheaply give the Newcastle railcar fleet a makeover several sets including the 629/729 were treated to a coat of all over brown with a single orange waist band line. Unfortunately due to the poor quality paint used these sets faded quickly and locally became known as "turds".

With commuter complaints being received about old trains in service and a shortage of funds to replace them, the remaining sets in service at Newcastle were treated to the Cityrail "Prong"livery which attempted to make them look more like their modern "Endeavour" stable mates. It was this livery that the 629/729 wore when she finished her public service career.

With restoration well advanced the painting team has now commenced the next face lift to restore the 629/729 to her original livery.

With the lower end completely covered in 2 coast of yellow 729 briefly looks like the long fallen North West railcar 403!

The original line work on the ends of the cars was extensive and so careful planning with picture and drawing references was made to ensure that the final product is correct. Greg Edwards excellent "Datasheets" drawings work well to produce 12 inch to the foot gauge models too!

The side lines are carefully measured, checked and remeasured to make sure they're in the right spot, evenly spaced and parallel.

To prevent overspray the cab windows are masked again....

While the signwriter tends to the intricate curves of the eyes and whiskers.

At the end of a tiring day the effort looks great and ready for the Indian red to be sprayed but what will the final result look like??????

Details

While some may call it rivet counting, and others may curse at the extra time it takes, the attention to detail with the restoration of the 729 / 629 will ensure that the result is historicly correct and preserves the look of an era of train travel now past.
With the speckle and other paint finishes in place the saloon areas of 729 are looking like new and now require only final touch ups and the refitting of lights, overhead ribbed rack carpet and rubber before its ready for the floor covering and seats to be reinstated.


As reported previously, the iced drinking water unit has been included in the restoration program and with the fitting of original signage plates (thanks Andy) its ready for a second service career.

Even the waxed cups are back in place.

The lights in the vestibules were changed in later days with simple rectangle units being installed.

Fortunately a supply of early round fittings with original domed glass have been obtained which Bob took no time to install.

All they need now is a lick of ceiling white paint and it will be like they never left.

Left till last, the toilet cubicles in the centre of the trailer car are now at the head of the queue for a tidy up. Stripping the doors of labelling and fittings allows a thorough clean prior to painting......

....but has also revealed some labelling of the locking fittings that proves that what went into workshops didnt always come out in the same configuration.

Several components bearing other numbers including that from DEB set cars 902 & 954 have been discovered to date but the most common numbers by far are 629 & 729. The restoration team anxiously awaits finding a component off 3805.

More detail not seen for many years being prepared to be added to the outside of the cars are replica builders plates.


The counting continues........

Speckle reproduction

The restoration of 629/729 is planned to incorporate the reinstatement of as many original fittings and features as possible to tell the story of the sets early years of service.
A distinctive feature of the 600/700 & 620/720 class railcar interiors was the use of a distinctive "speckle" paint on the lower internal walls. This decorative paint finish incorporated a beige/brown base colour covered by a random mixture of stringy paint speckles to produce a durable and attractive wall coating.


To prepare the wall a base coat is applied throughout the lower car.

Experimentation has derived that a special brew of 2 different "Camfleck" speckle paint mixes achieves the right colour balance. The application of the final coat is certainly not delicate being made by using a 3mm tip!

The final paint finish looks great and just like the original....

...and is only bettered when the upper walls are also painted and the dividing aluminium trim repositioned.

The painter is in.

To suit servicing requirements 629/729 has been moved undercover temporarily and currently enjoys the shade alongside class leaders 621/721.


Whilst in the workshop area the opportunity has been taken to reinstate the Countrynet Satellite antenna which was removed when the set was retired.


The holes for the old securing bolts and cable were diligently covered by the techs when the antenna went and now makes replacement easy.


After a scrape clean of the surface and some Mastic for a good seal the antenna is back in place.

With the floor down the painter has been busy in 729.

White ceilings and the Alpine green upper walls are quickly taking shape with Pete rolling the big surfaces...

and then cutting in the detail bits and panels with a brush.

A nice surprise has been the discovery of the Iced water unit which was never removed, just plated over.

Watch this space for the next installment.