Introduction Part 1 of this story, in Quainton News 72, told of the trials and traumas suffered by Dennis in acquiring his Hawksworth coach. As promised, now follows the story of the first steps on the long road to restoration...

With the coach now firmly and safely located at Quainton Road, various crucial decisions had to be made about how to proceed with the task of restoration. Dennis had gleaned from BR that the principal reason behind their decision to scrap was that the coach was very leaky! An initial inspection revealed that the previous roof repair made by BR now needed doing again. Further, many of the steel side panels were well past their serviceable life, and many had extra screw holes for fittings not now required, and which would anyway be incompatible with an authentic rebuild. The decision was therefore taken tore-skin the vehicle, starting at the top where BR had made their original roof repair, down to frame level, and including the ends. Now that this momentous decision (it promised a great deal of hard work!) had been made, it was necessary to consider the logistics of how to re-skin the sides of a coach - in total approx. 130' - out in the open air exposed to all the vagaries of the climate of the Vale of Aylesbury. Of course, all guttering would also need replacing. It quickly became apparent that to purchase galvanized sheet piecemeal as the pace of work demanded would be unacceptable on grounds of cost. Fortunately, during the days of restoration of his pannier tank 9466, Dennis had forged ties with many engineering firms, and through this network was able to find a local firm who offered to supply and store ordered galvanized sheets alongside their own. Dennis was thus able to buy all the sheetwork in one go and at an attractive price, for the firm was able to combine this bulk order with their own annual one. Together with his father, the late Brynley Howells, Dennis started the daunting task by deskinning one-third of the length of the coach, boarding in with hardboard to keep out the elements. By doing the work on a rolling basis, frugal Dennis was able to make the boards last the entire job, moving them on section by section.

Further 'systems analysis' of the task led to the inescapable conclusion that to finish the re-skin to any reasonable timescale, it would not be possible to do all the preparation at Quainton. The panels were therefore taken to the Howells home in Harrow to be cut to shape, drilled, countersunk etc. in Dennis's back garden. (Dennis wonders, tongue-in-cheek, how much his mother and neighbours must have enjoyed this - it went on for years!) The prepared panels were painted on both sides, numbered and brought back to Quainton for fitting. This arrangement allowed work to take place off site Monday to Friday, leaving the weekends for work on the vehicle itself which of course couldn't be taken home!

During this time various raids on scrapyards were made to get external fittings. A particularly successful 'score' was made on a trip to Sheffield which yielded the metal work for the corridor connection, together with a Collett pattern (identical to the Hawksworth) set of GWR components for the communication cord apparatus. Later, Dennis secured two sets of gangway connections, one for his own coach, the other to fulfil a request by Carriage & Wagon who wished to fit a set to the buffet car. Dennis has fitted his to the Hawksworth, and notes impishly that it would be nice to see the buffet car finished! (to date, only one end has received its replacement bellows).

The rolling process of re-skinning gradually progressed along both sides and ends of the coach. Perspex windows were used for glazing as a matter of expediency, for there was insufficient time to fit timber frames and to bed in plate glass windows - a process that requires at least a day per window. The next operation was to paint the coach in the open air. Here the old problem of how to persuade paint to stick to galvanized metal had to be confronted. The problem had to be solved, otherwise a 'Foryh Bridge' programme of endless re-painting would have been initiated. The aid of the chemist was sought and the problem solved by the use of an acid etch, available under the trade name of 'mordant solution'. The coach has been brush painted on this secure foundation, with synthetic enamel, in GWR chocolate-and-cream livery. Dennis hopes one day to be able to get the coach under cover long enough to allow flatting down and lining-out, so that a true 'coach finish' may be realized.

The story of the remaining outside work and the internal restoration will conclude this series in a forthcoming Quainton News.

(As told to DPS by Dennis Howells)

Photo:
Peter Clarke - GWR Coach No.2242- Rebuilt roof

Photo:
Peter Clarke - Fitting of replacement corridor connection

Photo:
Peter Clarke - Fitting of replacement corridor connection

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1993 and so does not reflect events in the 20+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
DB950048 - David Matthews - Quainton News No. 73 - September 1993