Potter

01Jul 2021 by Potter

Armstrong Powerhouse Second Major Sponsor for Restoration of Unique 4VEP EMU

PRESS RELEASE: Embargoed until 1st July 2021Released via SETG/AP/BBR - Web, Facebook & Twitter as required.SETG Contact Details: Steve Upton - steve.upton@setg.org.uk Armstrong Powerhouse Second Major Sponsor forRestoration of Unique 4VEP EMU LONDON, 1st July 2021 – The Southern Electric Traction Group announced today that it has reached an agreement with Armstrong Powerhouse to sponsor the continuing restoration of the Bluebell Railway’s unique 4VEP Electric Multiple Unit No. 423 417. This comes weeks after a similar show of support from Tom Cairns, founder of RealTime Trains.3417 has been under long-term restoration at Strawberry Hill depot since 2015. The support of Armstrong Powerhouse will go towards overhauling the brake system of the unit and, alongside the support from RealTime Trains, will mean that unit is almost fit to be hauled on…

28Apr 2021 by Potter

RealTime Trains Latest Supporter of 4VEP Restoration – Press Release.

News, Press Release

LONDON, Wednesday 28th April, 2021 The Southern Electric Traction Group announced today that it has reached an agreement with Realtime Trains to sponsor the continuing restoration of the Bluebell Railway’s unique 4VEP Electric Multiple Unit No. 423 417.3417 has been under restoration at Strawberry Hill since 2015. Attention is currently focused on making the unit fit to be hauled on the National Network, and refurbishing the passenger accommodation to allow the unit to be used either as push-pull stock with suitably equipped locomotives or as hauled stock on preserved railways. Future developments for the unit will including the installation of GSM-R digital cab radio, On-Train Monitoring and Recording equipment as well as CET toilet equipment and Central Door Locking. Steve Upton, SETG spokesman, said “It’s astonishing and gratifying to receive…

25Feb 2021 by Potter

SETG Gains Corporate Support from Diamond Rail Services

News

The SETG are pleased to announce that Diamond Rail Services have generously provided 10 meters of essential fabric which will massively assist our Trim Shop in bringing 3417's passenger accommodation back to life. The 'Timetable' Pattern moquette was a notable feature of First Class across all trains formerly operated by South West Trains Ltd and can still be seen today on certain trains operated by their successors South Western Railway Ltd. The fabric will allow us to restore first class cushions and seatbacks damaged by water-ingress during the unit's various episodes of open storage, and we are looking forward to seeing what our resident seamstress genius Maggie can do! From this...... to this!Thanks to Diamond Rail Services. Diamond Rail Services are also supporting other heritage projects through their Heritage arm,…

25Feb 2021 by Potter

January/February 2021 Update

News

Author's Note: I've been rather remiss in updating the website for the past few weeks months and we have made some significant progress with the unit since agreeing a "Return to Work" with depot management at Strawberry Hill. As is always the case, the Minions are also threading their work on 3417 around the requirements of Real Life, in particular the rigours of shift work.So please excuse the "lumped together" nature of this update.Well, it's been a busy two months and a bit, folks and we are continuing to make progress. As Absolutely-Not-A-Bloody-Minion Doug observed when we were at the shed last week it sometimes it feels like we are making only infinitesimal progress with the project. And on most days he is right. There are a lot of small…

17Nov 2020 by Potter

Keeping Busy Despite Lockdown 2.0

News

Good afternoon, folks. Are you all enjoying lockdown? No? You're not? Neither are we. In fact we are as deeply ticked-off about it as anyone. Just when things had started to gather momentum again... Job Stopped. Bugger.But all isn't lost, dear readers, because the Minions are allowed access to things like the internet, email and mobile phones and know how to make good use of them. With this in mind, we can talk to you about a few odds and ends that have been taking place behind the scenes.As you'll all be aware, one of the jobs we had initially thought would be beyond us was the repair of the seriously damaged seat bases and backs that were removed rom the unit after it's return from Ilford. To briefly recap,…

23Oct 2020 by Potter

Work Day 20th October & Group Outing 21st October 2020

News

Good morning everyone. The Minions have been busy this week, working at Strawberry Hill on Tuesday and getting out on the road into deepest darkest Kent on Wednesday. Before we go into Tuesday's work, here is a little background on why the work was carried out. A few weeks ago we discovered that persons unknown had attempted to gain access to the shed. Thankfully Network Rail contractors who were working in the area at the time had noticed these little herberts and challenged them. The herberts promptly ran rapidly in the Direction of Away, and the contractors notified SWR depot management. SWR depot management contacted us within 10 minutes of that initial conversation. Fortunately myself, Darren and Lynn were available and on-site within an hour of the phone call with…

15Oct 2020 by Potter

Work Day 11th October 2020

News

There's no way to dress this up, folks. This is another update almost entirely dedicated to seats. I'm sorry. I promise there will be updates about greasy machinery very soon. But in the meantime it's the unglamorous but needy stuff which is keeping us busy. If there's one thing that 3417 needs at the moment, it's seats.We had a small workforce of three on-site last Sunday, and only one technically-trained Minion, so while he got on with fiddly stuff that involves wires and voltages, Potter and Doug* set their sights on stripping the remainder of the water-damaged tea base of their rotted covers. Rather than bore you with tales of tearing fabric, dust (lots of dust), evicted spiders, staples that would come out, staples that wouldn't come out and staples…

04Oct 2020 by Potter

Workday 3rd October 2020

News

First of all, our stealth Drinkwear salesman Mr Mark Hopwood (also known for being in charge of a railway company or two) continues to do stirling work advertising the magnificence of the Third Rail and the SETG. If he keeps this up there might be another mug of tea & really nice biscuits for him when he next visits Strawberry Hill. Thank you very much, Mr H!Do you want yours? Would you like to drink the hot beverage of your choice like a Managing Director? Then wait no more, dear reader - follow the link below and fulfil all your SETG Merchandising desires! https://www.setg.org.uk/eshop/ Now; enough shameless enterprise - on with the news. The Minions were once again on-site at Strawberry Hill on the 3rd October 2020, busily engaged in…

24Sep 2020 by Potter

Work Day Report: 13th September 2020

News

Greetings from behind a face mask, everyone.This report comes to you from coach U of the 09:43 Avanti West Coast service to Preston; please feel free to appreciate the dedication to keeping you all informed of 3417's progress! We hope you're all well, staying socially distanced and coping with the continuing COVID nonsense. (Is anyone else getting bored with living in a bad apocalyptic science fiction story? I know I am.)The Minions were on-site on Sunday 13th September for a mixed train/non-train day. As much as we want to crack on with sorting the unit out and getting it back into service, there's more to running a depot than just "fix train, play with train, lock-up and go home." Maggie and Lynn, our trim experts, sat down and continued their…

10Sep 2020 by Potter

Update from Minion Towers: 10th September 2020

News

Good afternoon, followers of the 4VEP.We hope this small update finds you all well and coping with the increasingly bizarre ups & downs of 2020.We wanted to bring you this small but important update regarding the re-wire of Trailer Open 70797. We have now assembled the required materials for the work and, more importantly, we have assembled a small dedicated team to carry out this work. The three men who have volunteered are all ex-railway fleet managers and well respected in their field. The job is a big one, but it will be done to a high standard and when finished will mean that coach is ready for many years of use. We hope to see work start in around a fortnight, and we will keep you all updated with…