Sunny warm days have returned to the preserved DMU capital of Paterson and with The 629 & The 729 stored outside it dosnt take long for workers to warm up.
With the cars divided doors and windows can be opened to cool things inside and to catch any soothing breezes.
When Cityrail removed the window blinds a cover panel was installed to cover the remaining cavity into the upper body.
As blinds are to be reinstated these covers have been removed by unscrewing and drilling out the retaining rivets.
Someone went to a lot of trouble to fold up these now useless items..
..and with a rivet back in the hole….
…all thats needed is a touch up by the painter and the original configuration will be back in place.
The collection of original Brown and Green vinyl seats has been in storage for a while and as the day for their reinstallation is drawing near the sorting and cleaning process has commenced.
These seat cushions come in several different styles, stampings and condition so they have been catalogued and categorised so we know what configuration options we have for reassembly.
One thing they all have in common is dirt….
So the washing and restoration of the A grade samples has commenced.
After lugging the seats around for cleaning the workers are keenly focussed on the day that all they’ll need to do is sit on them.
During the sorting evidence of previous history was noted including the former position of ash trays on the seat end panels…
…and a curious stamping found only on 2 seat frames. It appears that some conscientious worker stamped the car and seat position (622 – 18) on the seat frames that once adorned car 622. While this type of stamping was common carriage practise no other 620/720 seat frames have been found stamped this way.
Other seat components including the back rods….
..and the end panel screws are stored cleaned and sorted ready for reassembly.
The seat frames have also seen some attention first being cleaned and greased prior to painting.
Several different paint colours have been used over the years as shown here with 2 shades of green evident.
Pete the painter has been busy first priming the seat frames…
..and then giving the second class ones a coat of brown….
..and the first class samples a stunning coat of green.
With the paint hardening nicely these frames are ready again for a second stint of service.
