WINDOWS UPDATE
Following the article about the missing window pans from Walsall 815 in 'Omnibus' no.189 I was contacted by Andy Hawthorne (of C1 3301 fame) with a very promising source of spares at Quantock Motor Services. Andy had spoken to the owner, Stephen Morris and there was indeed an 8ft wide Roe bodied decker in his canibalised stock. On following this up I discovered there were 2 ex-Darlington vehicles, one with old style 'simplex' glazing rubber and one with the more modern flush glazing. Both had been stripped of running units and all interior fittings for use in Quantock's preserved Northampton Daimler CVG6 and I was welcome to the window pans if they were the correct sort.
A couple of days later I journeyed to Taunton, suitably togged up, to inspect the vehicles. It was quickly apparent that they had many fittings in common with 815, including the peculiar roof corner mouldings that partly held the pans in place. The simplex glazed pans looked the best match and I set to work. It's a familiar story, at the far end of a muddy yard, well away from electricity, in the cold, in the dark, in the wet, up a ladder, on my own, with a sledge hammer and big screwdriver. Seems to happen nearly every December since I joined BaMMOT.
On this occasion I was only able to remove one pan before darkness descended and I returned up the M5 and M42 to Wythall. The following day a check fit against 815 with the help of Mike Jordan showed the pan to be slightly too wide but, as the profile and glazing section were spot on, it was thought that it could be cut and welded to fit. One week later, I'm back at Taunton, this time armed with a portable generator. The second pan is out in under an hour and I'm back on the M5.
Next step is to clean up both pans and get some expert aluminum welding advice.
I'm deeply grateful to Andy Hawthorne and Stephen Morris for their assistance. Quantock is a truly excellent set up, with an amazingly eclectic heritage fleet drawn from all parts of the country. The whole operation is very professionally run and their workshop facilities left me very envious!
More progress on 815 has seen the replacement offside mudguard re-fitted by Pete Murphy after a lot of work to get the correct radius into the wheel arch. Meanwhile Geoff Hodkinson has begun cleaning and priming the seat frames. Again, these are suitable replacements as the originals were removed when the bus was turned into the staff canteen by WMPTE.
Dave Taylor
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
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