Yesterday I sauntered over to Bowes to drop off two ex NCB gates that were surplus to requirements at Beamish…

Below: The two gates referred to above. Whether or not these can be made reusable remains to be seen!

Below: In the workshops Alan Milburn has nearly completed the thorough rebuild of one of the coal hoppers – this one being a steel framed variant. See an earlier blog for photographs of the chassis being spray painted in red oxide. The wood is all new and tanilised before fitting. The original hopper interior has been recreated and working doors feature. The chassis is still to be painted black and the exterior painted, but work on this impressive restoration should be completed very soon. Shortly to follow this wagon will be another Bowes based job, when P&JR lettered wooden bodied and steel framed hopper moves into the workshops. This is further work to rebuild the fleet so badly damaged by last years arson attacks.

Below: Some of the complex compound angles used in the hopper construction, authentic but hidden inside the wagon body.