Tuesday 28th - What, more planks?!

Kicking off with Stu flatting down the top coat Cream on the Cotswold side of SO 4798.

[Photo : Paul E]  The above was only partly done as Stu also had to sand all the thin skims of extra filler that I had put on during Saturday. I think there is still a bit more filler needed at the south end of this side. This was a heads-or-tails situation where a long thin groove showed when top coated - it probably wouldn't have mattered, but in the end we decided to fill it.

Richard catching up with door frame and door edge painting on the Malvern side.

David continued the painting at the south end in Gloss Black ........

....... and completed it, leaving just the Matt Black still to paint on the connection rubber.

Inside 4798 the matching curtain ties are now in place. We need the tables in next.

Keith adds the first coat of varnish to what will be

the doors to the new cupboards in the central vestibule.

All completed on the top side. The backs will be done on Thursday.

[Photo : Paul E]  Derek did a good job rebuilding the Malvern side battery box cover, using two new planks and the best of the existing ones.

Dave was back in and doing more PAT testing.

It's rag time again and I'm not talking about jazz. This is usually done in Upholstery where the table surfaces are clean. We get through a lot of rag with painting, wiping down, cleaning and polishing, and of course all the Dirty Gang activities. Thankfully supplies of old sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, all types of towel, tablecloths, knapkins, shirts, etc, are frequently donated for which we are very grateful. Heavier and thicker items such as curtains make ideal protective covers.

"Priority cushions to make". Our sales are still doing very well.

More DMU seat backs for the NYMR contract.

Another priority job for Ken. Keith paints in Gloss Black the connection straps for the south end of  BSK 35308.

[Photo : Paul E]  Paul captured me pad sanding and  tidying up the area of 35308 where George had been working on Saturday. This was then dusted off and wiped over with white spirit. With SK 25451 coming into the Works, this extra bit of work on 35308 will now cease. Some metalwork repairs remain to be done before the coach moves to the Diesel shed at Toddington.

And mentioning SK 25451, Dave makes a start on the general sanding down on the Cotswold side.

What more planks for the Mink D van? Yes, another plank is being planed by Paul, but this will be cut into smaller lengths for the doors.

[Photo : Paul E]  Maurice busy priming again.

Keith joins in.

And yet more. The Mink D will forever be remembered as the "plank wagon".

We are still running the Winchcombe-Broadway shuttle with Rake 1 and the Bubblecar during the week while the ongoing repairs to the embankment south of Gotherington continue. Betton Grange, having run round the rake, backs down before heading back to Toddington and Broadway.

Monday 27th - Double "A" Team

 Regular readers will know carriage cleaning is a very routine operation. Very occasionally a minor change. This week it was totally different and caught us all out by surprise.

We knew the weed killing train was due, so one rake in platform 2 to be expected. First surprise - it was rake 2.

Later the weed train came through, which I missed with the camera. Second surprise - it was the contractors mini gear, not our new wagon.

But still routine enough so I took a photo through the bridge and of the garden, 'cause it all looked nice.

Round to P2. The trains had been drawn down so that carriage "A" could have the Cotswold side washed. There I found Peter, David, Tim and Chris at work. 

Then I saw the problem.

It was also on the cream, but clearly on the crimson you can see it was black on the left. After an hour and a half on this side alone we called it a day for this side of the train. The result was not satisfactory so we will have to give it some thought. I used a scouring pad on the windows which did work. With the short platforms washing this side is always a problem, and for various reasons it affects rake 2 more than carriage "A" on rake 1. When I could check my notes later I found this was last washed on 27th October last year - 26 weeks ago! No wonder it was dirty. Rumours abound that platform lengthening is going to happen sometime - would certainly help with this problem. 

Third - and biggest - surprise was rake 1 returned to P1!

So our day to concentrate on rake 2 didn't happen. It was all hands to rake 1. After an Afternoon Tea yesterday in rake 1, with crumbly scones, it needed a lot of TLC.

As you can see this was at the end of tea-break, so rake 2 was left (it had been cleaned inside, but washing was abandoned) so that rake 1 could be serviced. I scoured the windows in "A" whilst Chris, Peter and Tim gave it a wash. This last had a wash on 8th December. But since it is a faded maroon coach due for withdrawal when FO 4968 is ready, you couldn't really tell if it was dirty or not!

The rest of this side of rake 1 was then washed. Tim happy to soldier on as others drifted away.

The rest of the team today was Greg, Jane, John M, John S, Kath, Lynn, Nigel, Roger C, Steve and Val.

A very different week!

Saturday 25th - Hot stuff

Another very warm day with our doors wide open and a good attendance with 21 in.

One of the early jobs was to clear Platform 1 bay ready for the "Cab A Loco Weekend"  on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May.

Ian dismounts from the 03's cab to check all is well before towing the Fruit C van and Santa Coach into the yard.

Now neatly stabled in one of the south yard sidings.  The Santa coach could do with a good clean; wonder if we will have time?

Meanwhile stabled just outside the Barn is the ballast train, comprising our new 03 and four Dogfish wagons. The Shark ballast plough is currently having some minor repairs to the doors.

Stacked high with ballast and ready to be taken down to the slip site between Bishops Cleeve and Gotherington.

We have done a number of welding repairs to the Dogfish wagons over the years and are back doing yet more with Alan making patch repairs to the ballast chutes.

A close look at D2069.

W22 passes by and heads towards the station on the Toddington - Winchcombe shuttle.

Hello, a new wee beastie sits outside the Barn. So what's this all about?

James is busy cutting rectangular sheet metal strips. When asked what they were for he declared that they were to be made into new footpedals for the PWay people carrier outside.

Andy cleaned up the finished product.

Two of the new pedals sit either side of an existing one.

[Photo : Paul W]  It looks like the gang are off to the Coffee Pot for that mid morning toasted teacake and tea. Paul scrubs up ready for the off.

[Photo : Paul E]  Maurice tucks into a nice bit of cake and coffee, preferring the cake to a warm buttered teacake. I wonder who paid? :-)

[Photo : Paul W]  W22 waits in Platform 2 before the return to Toddington.

Jenny gave the Mess Room another thorough clean, which this time included the chairs. A very striking before and after! She recently cleaned the walls where the dirty overalls had been leaning - we need to put on some white emulsion to complete the job.

Dave enjoying the fresh air while chipping off old paint from the north end bogie under FO 3127.

The result of a leaking cowl on the roof of BCK 21092. It would have to be one of the First Class compartments. The roof area around the cowl has been sealed, which just leaves a repair to the beading and ceiling paintwork in the compartment.

The north end bogie under the GW Inspection Saloon being serviced by John.

With SK 25451 now in the Barn, James tackles the roof repair at the Cotswold side south end. It will be good to really get going on this coach.

You don't often see the anvil being used. Ken carefully flattens one of the connection straps from the south end of BCK 35308. There are four altogether, two straight and two curved, which I later coated in Red Oxide. They will be painted in Gloss Black on Tuesday and so be ready for Ken on Wednesday.

George attacks more of the rivet line on the Cotswold side of 35308.

Maurice recoating the recentily installed Mink D top planks, all of which have had to be modified to fit.

It had now become very warm and summery, so lunch up at the station was a must, especially with W22 arriving from Toddington.

[Photo : Carol]  A  nice view of the station and W22 from the garden. That blue sky is incredible.

It was just Carol in Upholstery today, producing more curtain ties for SO 4798. 

More big strides with the painting on 4798's Malvern side. Alex initially flats the undercoat Cream and Brown using the circular pad sander with 320 paper.

For a change and to speed things up, he used the air lance to remove the dust.

Next on with the GW Cream top coating.

I later captured him applying the GW Brown.

As with the undercoat, this first top coat will be flatted. The application is so good it seems a shame to have to do this. 

I didn't get round to taking photos of my own work which, besides priming Ken's connection straps, was of a lot of fine skim filling on the Cotswold side of the coach. In places fine grooves were noticed, which we felt we could remove, but are we becoming too fussy? There is still more to do. 

I also gave a tour of the Works for five participants doing the all-railway version of the popular Behind The Scenes visit.