A very varied day at the Works and no wonder with 28 attending. It was standing room only in the Mess Room at 1100 and not everyone was there!
There was a lot of varied work going on, so just where do we start?!
How about the saloon in 1675?
Having seen the tables beginning to go back, it was also a treat to see Laura, Jane and Alice trial fitting curtains at the south end of the saloon. The result of the test is that they will need to be shortened so as to avoid the base of the window and consequently avoid any accumulated condensation.
Visiting Upholstery later on both they and Peter were involved with the shortening process.
Alice rethreads her machine prior to continuing.
Jane and Laura were hand sewing.
A big smile from Alice as she carefully folds the curtain to the required length. What excellent progress all round. The large bundle of curtains can be seen in the background in the the photo of Laura. With the tables going in as well, it won't be long before the saloon is completely transformed.
Continuing with 1675, lining out also progressed very well during the day. I made a start at the north end of the Cotswold side and was then diverted as the various members of the team arrived. Martin begins at the south end with the removal of the initial line tape.
Meanwhile on the Malvern side Bob completed the final bit of top coating. Jeff watches after removing more line tape from the south end.
Back to Martin who is now applying the yellow tape to cover the edge of the brown paint. The second run of tape will be along the line of pencil marks put on with the aid of the tiny plastic gauge, which marks the top of the yellow band.
Back to the top line, which has been taped up, where the yellow paint is now going on.
Bob and Jeff have transferred to the Cotswold side, positioned the runs of tape along the bottom line and are now painting on the yellow. Yellow paint is not the best for coverage, so we wait a few minutes and then return to the start of the painted section and apply a second coat, which usually gives a satisfying result.
Martin meanwhile has progressed to the doors.
Phil has started at the south end of the Malvern side and tapes up the top line.
I returned a little later to find his yellow painting also in progress.
The bottom yellow band is now complete along the entire Cotswold side. Continuing the top band, and hopefully more on the Malvern side, will begin on Tuesday.
Time for the trains with a group of us taking a break to watch them go by, initially the Bubblecar ....
........ and then Betton Grange returning after its first run to Cheltenham. Paul (standing nearby) and Dennis (sitting) were cleaning in Rake 3 across the other side of the yard.
She's back! Pam gives Jeff a big hug and is obviously very pleased to be back in. At home Pam is currently repairing a seat from Jeff's 1953 MG YB, which she will do to perfection having once been self-employed in her car and light aircraft internal refurbishment business.
There were a number of small painting and varnishing jobs left inside 1675 which Pam loves to do. And with all that done the Painting team have completely finished inside the coach.
Lunchtime and,with the nice weather it was back to sitting on the second of S&T's two railcar trailers. Pam waves to the crew on Betton Grange and then the many passengers as they passed by on the train.
With TSO 4867 up on the jacks John is inspecting tyre wear on the wheels, beginning with the south end bogie.
Both the general state of the treads and the tyre profile are checked.
Also being checked by Ken is this radiator from 4867. The general synopsis is not good.
From underneath is the sheeps head steam valve...
........ which Ken takes into the Workshop to clean up - the small valve at the end was not in good shape.
In the Workshop Steve, our mains electrician, was installing a new welding socket.
And talking of welding, a shot taken by holding my phone through the doorway into the Workshop. Alan was working on the south end of SO 4798 where he was rebuilding the baseplate and replacing the rotten lower sections of the connection support pillars.
A pause while inserting a new abrasive wheel in the grinder.
Inside the south end James was assisting Andy who was using an anglegrinder on the rebuilt framework.
Buffer extenders can be a trial to remove despite some hefty pulls of the buffer to ensure it has been pulled back far enough to allow the release of the extender. Ian takes over from James. A few minutes later James was back working with the extender removed and the buffer pushed fully back in.
George loads up a fresh piece of 80 sandpaper before resuming the general sanding down of the Malvern side of 4798.
More progress inside where in the central vestibule Ben was working on a door seal .........
........ while Ainsley was securing the top section of the doorframe on the Malvern side north end door.
Simon was once again installing new wall panels in 4798.
It was nice to see Ian, who normally works in the Painting Team on a Tuesday and at Broadway on a Wednesday, bringing one of his fellow Broadway volunteers around the Works.
Wow, what a difference! Jenny, you are a treasure. The area between the Works and signalbox fence has always been a bit scruffy, but thanks to your hard work has now been considerably improved with weeds, tiny scraps of litter and anything else unwanted, removed and consigned to the nearby Grundon bin.
Jenny takes a well earned break. Even the seats have been washed down and look very much better.
We need to find some heavy bit of railwayana to display on the raked ballast area this side of the far fence.
The revamped timetable means that the trains no longer regularly meet at Winchcombe - this is the 1440 crossing.
The next job? Back to cleaning the Mess Room.
Finally a look at the Open C wagon. Paul E and Maurice smile for the camera, taking a break from more creocoting (it's actually now called Creosolve, but creosolving sounds like a crime thriller or something on those lines). I wonder if those edge pieces are going to be done?
Chris and Robert are back to trialling the cedar planking having cut four lengths to the correct height,
At the south half of the wagon Paul and Maurice are fitting another creocoted floor plank.
A general view from the south end.
During the afternoon a general discussion on progress with Chris, Robert, Stu (Works Manager), Phil, Maurice and Paul.
