The underframe and bogies for L&B Heritage Coach 7 are making rapid progress at the Festiniog Railway's Boston Lodge Works. 

The completed underframe is currently inverted, for easier attachment of the air and vacuum brake cylinders and rigging.  The angles along the outside of the solebars that support the wooden coach body have still to be fitted.  Now the FR team have completed one chassis (for Coach 17), the work can be carried out much more efficiently, as they know "what goes where".

Nearby are the two massive Jones Calthrop couplers, awaiting fitment to the underframe.  Tests with the completed chassis for Coach 17 (now in Essex) showed that the couplers should be interoperable with the smaller FR-style chopper couplers, although some experimentation will still be needed to select the correct stiffness for the springs for the L&B couplers.

Meanwhile, outside in the yard are the bogie frames, complete, painted and with brake hangers fitted. 

The wheelsets are waiting nearby. 

Back in the machine shop, the machining of the axlebox castings has just been completed, ready for the roller bearings to be fitted. 

Having used their spare pair of bogies for our Coach 17, the FR have built a batch of 6 coach bogies; two are already under the chassis for the next new FR coach, whilst two of the remaining bogies are destined for our Coach 7.  It is much quicker to make items in batches - an advantage of using the FR's standard bogie, which is a modern development of the original L&B bogies anyway!

The FR's CME Jon Whalley is hopeful that Coach 7's underframe will be completed on schedule around the end of February. 

Thanks are due to Jon and his colleagues at Boston Lodge for showing me the progress today.

Submitted by Bob Barnard 10/02/12