exciecoachbuilder

Hi lads, I don't recall any insulation on those type of coaches. I remember that the body side panels were just a thin sheet of timber with an aluminium outer skin glued onto the thin timber panel, and a veneered panel on the inside. There was no framing as such on the sides, instead there was a timber pillar from the cant rail ( top rail) to the bottom side (bottom section) each side of the windows. The only framing that I can remember was around the toilet section, and the end gangway sections of the coach.Also, they were the only coaches that were ever referred to as ( by coachbuilders in Inchicore works anyway. ) laminates. The new sides were done in a cheaper ' hurried up' way of traditional coachbuilding. The timber used for these rebuilds was iroko , which is a cheaper version of the more traditional teak that was used in previous times. Iroko is not a good timber to work with as the grain 'runs' in every direction, especially if you are notching out with a chisel for hinges etc or planing by hand. There was no asbestos on these carriages, the Park Royal coaches were literally stuffed with controversial blue asbestos. The asbestos was removed from each coach by contractors before work began on the Park Royal re- skinning , and interior re - fit programme 1981 / 83.

Hi guys, just a quick comment on the coach 1465. That coach was part of the ' rebuild ' program done in the carriage shop in Inchicore works between 1978/ 79. The only original (1950's) parts that you can see in the photograph , is the roof and the gangway ends of the coach. A lot of the doors were replaced too. The sawmill which was at the time , located within the carriage shop was very very busy in those days.

Just in reply to Mayner, it wasn't just a few laminates that were re -skinned. It was most , if not all the laminate fleet were ' rebuilt' in the late 70's and into the early eighties. They actually became known as Re-builds and never referred to as laminates again. Quiet a lot of work was done on them , not just re - skinning. New cant rails ( top rail ) were fitted along with whole new side frame sections. Then followed along with aluminium panels on the outside and awful plastic veneered panels on the interior. Complete new toilets were fitted too along with equally awful false tile pattern panels. No welding , no plastic , no fibreglass and no fumes. Nice clean work as we used to say.

Fantastic , I had forgotten about this film. I remember them filming in the Inchicore carriage shop during the NCB days ( new carriage building )of the Mk 3 building program. Some of the faces I recognize there are sadly no longer with us , including Vincent Connaghan the lifting shop senior foreman. Great memories..

That's exactly what they sounded like. I remember when I started as an apprentice in Inchicore back in 1977, one of the Sulzers was ticking over on the line just across from the carriage shop. The fitters working on it would rev it every now and again. Over the next few days, that loco and other Sulzers were shunted into a siding were they remained for many years to just rust away..