Let’s Make A Train (2)

In the 1870s, The Pullman Car Company of the USA sent kits of parts to the Midland Railway for assembly at the Litchirch Lane Carriage Works. Effectively, the Railway was gluing together a giant Airfix kit, although not plastic!

But the ebullient Gregg Wallace fronted an episode of “Inside The Factory” first broadcast in 2022 and repeated a few days ago.

Mr Wallace “shot to fame” (as they say) presenting a programme called “Veg Talk” on BBC Radio 4. His origins were humble, as a porter and then a salesman at Covent Garden Market but he grew his own fruit and veg business dramatically and then moved into the Restaurant trade

Once upon a time, documentaries on the BBC were well researched, informative and occasionally intellectually challenging.

“Inside the Factory” is none of these. The series verges on the banal, intellectually at Primary School level. Some of the information is revealing and interesting, but the presentation is hardly “highbrow” and rarely even “middlebrow”.

“And the wheels fit on the bolster?”, mused Gregg with wide eyed amazement. “Wow, I never knew that!”. Although Gregg’s (mis)understanding was confirmed by the supervisor interviewed, that conclusion is wrong.

The wheels fit on the bogie …

… and the bogie attaches to the bolster …

… pivoting on that big peg in the middle.

The “Train” programme begins with the arrival of a very long lorry load.

We were NOT told whence came this vehicle, but a sign on the back …

… reads “Convoi Exceptioinel” which is the European standard for warning following drivers of a “Long Vehicle”. So it is reasonable to assume that these loads did NOT come from the UK!

These IKEA-style “flat packs” of aluminium panels would form the floor pan of the carriage. But first we have to enjoy watching the welding machine doing its stuff.

Once welded, the floor was shot blasted using a terrifying nozzle viewed excitedly by Gregg but without shot! 

Scaree!

This would clean the surface and provide a good “key” for the next stage. Then it was spray painted by hand. Indeed all the body panels were hand sprayed.

The welded floor was then spun upside down, again much to the “Wow” factor from our endearing presenter.

Once upside down (“So the seats are all underneath? Wow!”)

Erm, No, Gregg. The seats haven’t been fitted yet. If they had, they would have been crushed when the floor panel was turned over!

Here the “bolster” …

… and lots of other stuff is fitted (but no wheels, Gregg!) and the floor is turned right way up. 

Along comes the roof panel, “assembled in the same way as the floor”. The roof is suspended in a jig.

Now the sides have to be fixed.

These are swung into place alongside the roof-gap-floot jig …

As we watch this side panel swinging, note that the panels are not solid; they are hollow with zigzag aluminium strengthening which makes them much stronger than the old steel panels and, importantly, they weigh only a third of the “traditional” metal construction.

Here is a view of the original delivery, end on.

All the panels are like this.

Nothing was said about how these panels were actually made, which confirms that they were NOT made at Litchurch Lane!

The sides are bolted to roof and floor …

… using 28 (in the case of this shorter panel) “Huck” bolts. “Huck” is a brand name like Hoover, Google and Sellotape. The generic term would be “self locking bolts”.

No, fbb had no idea either – but he has watched a video.

And “swage“?

Swaging is a metal-forming technique in which the metal of one part is deformed to fit around another part by either pressing or hammering, or by forcing the material through a die.

Yep, that matches the Huck Bolt idea. The “nut” (called a “collar”) is pushed onto the threaded bolt in such a way that the metal of the collar is forced tight into the screw thread making a permanent immovable seal.

According to the Alstom man on the telly programme, these devices are stronger than a weld, stronger than a rivet and even stronger than Seccotine.

(OK, fbb made that last bit up)

So floor …

… roof …

… and sides … 

… make up a very strong tube of aluminium which is, effectively, the equivalent of the steel chassis of the traditional railway coach.

As yet, no mention of coach ends?

So far, have we come across anything that is actually made in the UK?

More possibilities tomorrow!