THE DOOR TEAM Updated 18th November 2024
The Door Team are based in the same workshop as the Woodwork Team, and with good reason as the two types of work very much cross-over. Door backs are usually of wood sections, as are the doorway pillars. While Wednesdays have been the traditional Door Team day, our current team members may be in attendance on any of our four working days.
When a coach is in for refurbishment, most of the doors will be removed and stripped down for a full internal cleaning and servicing. Tolerances are fully checked and any defective parts are repaired or replaced. There is a considerable amount of precision work involved in the fitting of the hinges, windows, and their support mechanisms. Lock and striker plate fitting is an important safety activity. Damaged or worn back sections are replaced as necessary.
Door refurbishment is always a lengthy process but it has to be done thoroughly and correctly. In some cases the door can be serviced without being removed, which obviously helps with the timing of the overall coach refurbishment.
The Door Team are always on the look out for new members to help with this very important part of Carriage and Wagon.
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Current members of the team
Ainsley
Trevor
Rod
(helping out with vacuum cylinder servicing on his first day)
David (the newest member of the team)
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Former members of the team
Craig - formerly Head of the Door Team,
"I started in C&W at Winchcombe in
July 2004 and I remember that on my first day Sylvie asked me
to make that little weather shelter for couplings which is fixed
to the trackside wall of the old shed! In August 2006 Eddie set me to
work rebuilding door number 1 (now number 6 in present system)
of TSO number 4763. There is a little background story to
Eddie's asking me to have a go at the rebuild but I will leave
that for now! In June, 2012, I was
mysteriously elevated to Head of the Door Team, and that event sadly
coincided with the death of Geoff Gore. His leaving us was a
huge loss to C& W."
Craig has very kindly said that he will always be available for consultation.
Chris has vast experience of carriage doors having worked on them at Swindon in his early years. He will be missed by the Door Team, but his expertise hasn't gone to waste as he is now a member of our Friday Maintenance Team who look after our running rakes, mainly at Toddington.
Derrick (spelling correct!) dismantling a door ready for refurbishing. Derrick joined C&W in 1996 and after many years in the Door Team retired at the end of 2020. He always took great care in how
the refurbished doors were presented, even ensuring that the slotted
screws for the back panels were correctly aligned in the vertical
position. Rumour has it that the screws were further tightened by
another mystery member of C&W, only to be put back to vertical by
Derrick the following week! And so on and so on........
We were all very sad to hear that Derrick passed away in November 2021. He was always jovial and a great character to be with. He is still very much missed.
Mike B. joined in 2011. His reason for joining was a feeling of being able to be a part of something worthwhile, and a wish to learn techniques and be a part of a great team which produces satisfying results. He soon became a valued member of the Door Team and very adept at the various skills required to reconstruct a door and ensure it worked as it should. We sadly lost Mike in 2019 when he died of a heart attack whilst on holiday.
When Paul joined us he soon showed how adept he was, one of his first jobs being the repair work to a window in the Discovery Coach when that was being created. Eddie, our former Head of Woodwork soon grabbed him for his team, but eventually Paul joined the Door Team where he became a much valued member. A few years later we were very sad to hear that he was suffering from cancer. He never returned after the pandemic and eventually passed away in February 2024.
Des transferred to the Door Team from Painting & Preparation when the former was down to just two members. He has since retired and is now just involved with the upkeep of the Discovery Coach at Winchcombe Station.
David F. returned after a period away from the Railway and joined the Door Team at about the time when Ainsley, Des and Rod transferred from the Painting & Preparation Team. He has now fully retired.
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In addition to the above, a selection of photos of their work
A bare door frame with the three drainage holes in the base
Trevor secures the base of the droplight scissor spring (named lazy tongs).
The metal channel coated in red oxide is for drainage - tubes from this exit via the door base.
Paul fitting the heavy back base section
Newly made sections of a door back in the Paintshop awaiting varnishing.
Note the insert in the near edge of the door pull to provide added strength.
The back sections for this door have already been attached and will be varnished in situ.
Returning to Derrick's door dismantling and a fair degree of repair is needed here. The three drainage tubes in the door base can be clearly seen.
Chris working on the door handle fitting.
A new insert of bodyside panelling means new holes for fitting the centre hinge.
The gibbet hoist has made door refitting so much easier.
Doors can now be lifted millimetre by millimetre into the exact position.
Derrick checking locks using the lock action test rig and recording his findings.
