Tuesday 21st - The last plank

A lively day with a lot going on, though not everything was captured.

Starting with the large Mink D van, yes, this really is the last main plank, not counting the short planks for the doors (the planks for one door have already been made and painted). As previously mentioned, the top planks have been a real trial to fit correctly because of the roof beams and other protrusions. Paul and Maurice offer the plank up for yet another test fitting.

[Photo : Paul E]  Still a bit more to do, so back to the Woodshop for more adjustments.

Another test and then back yet again for a little more wood to remove. Could this be it?

Maurice is inserting a bolt. So yes, I think this could be it!

[Photo : Paul E]  It is! Well done both! The bodyside planks are finally in after a very long hard effort. 

It's the eight doors next - quite a big job. Jim from the Woodwork team has been to see Alex to discuss their making.

In the Barn Ken sets up the magnetic drill to continue preparing the main plate for the south corridor connection on BSK 35308.

We made some more very good progress with SO 4798's painting. Stu did a brilliant job, working from the Cotswold side north end he did all the cream top coating to the centre door ........

........ and then completed the south end, some of which had already been done.

Ian went round the coach top coating the solebar, both the side and underneath, the latter after cleaning with a wire brush and thinners. The Cotswold side had a second coat.

Richard also did a great job, getting the Malvern side cream undercoating completed, including the windows.

Derek has been diverted to repairs on the Shark ballast plough, so Keith took over the repainting of the repaired battery box cover for the Cotswold side. The back needed a good sanding to remove a lot of loose flakey paint. The cover for the Malvern side box is being rebuilt, while the box itself is also not in a good state, in particular the floor which is crumbling.

Stu finished off the cream top coating with the centre door. Bar the windows, and door sides and frames, the first top coat on this side is now complete.

Keith paints the interior of the Cotswold side battery box in white undercoat.

David does some more work on the south connection door, including some filling where needed.

With the filler setting, David transfers to adding Gloss Black to the inside of the connection.

Late in the day I  clambered up the scaffold to add another coat of Matt Black to the connection rain cover and  gloss the top of the south end, including the filler pipes.

At the end of the day the fully undercoated Malvern side .......

........ and top coated Cotswold side (bar the windows).

Today was the first day of the revised midweek timetable to allow the slip between Bishops Cleeve and Gotherington to be repaired. Richard and Keith watch the Bubblecar setting off back to Toddington and Broadway.

Betton Grange runs round Rake 1 to prepare for the return trip.

The Grange created a lot of interest for our travelling public throughout the day.  A few minutes ago there was a reasonable crowd at this end of the platform, many taking photographs, but all were now back on the train with the whistle about to be blown.

I quickly walked to the other end of the Works to catch the train going past. Stu watches as it passes by on its way back to Broadway.

I always love having lunch sat at the north end of the station, where you can enjoy the loco as it waits for departure time.

Monday 20th - Found It!

 Last week I came across a very squeaky toilet door, so this week my mission was to find it and give it a squirt of oil. Of course it was not in rake 2 where I started, but in rake 1. But job done - you won't be announcing to the entire carriage if you use this loo!

Today I was once again "odd job": vacuumed the carpet in Mary, oiled the hinge and helped out with carriage washing later.

Chris, Peter and Steve after they had finished washing.

We are aware that the north end carriages (under the bridge normally) need windows washing both sides so hopefully we can get them onto a platform next week and do one side.

Another 16 turnout this week so as well as the above it was David, Greg, Jane, John M, John S, Kath, Lynn, Nick, Nigel, Rich, Roger C and Val.

When I left Roger C and Val were down the siding attending to the Bubblecar and W22.

Saturday 18th - Railcar, bits, and a tunnel

 Today was the first of several Saturdays where the GWR railcar was out and about, first doing a morning round trip to Cheltenham, followed by Winchcombe - Toddington shuttles.

It was a fine day for it, and as this was the first time it made it to Winchcombe during working hours, the usual rag tag viewing gallery out to watch. It really does look at home on our line. If you'd like to experience it, there's still plenty of time, please do support it, doing things like this isn't cheap!

First job was the shunt the dogfish out the way, now that they have all had some attention to get the doors and handbrakes working smoothly. They will be out on stone shuttles from this coming week for the embankment repair.

Just inside the barn, Maurice and Paul did the honours with the roof canvas paint on the BR Vanfit. we have much better access to scaffolds and room to wield them at Winchcombe, hence doing that bit here.

As most painting was done in the dark by torchlight on a Wednesday evening, inevitably we missed a few bits, so Paul and Maurice kindly went round and spared our blushes. The van is now complete and will be shunted out next week.

The bogies for the Hawksworth saloon continue their clean up and greasing/oiling. 

A bit further in, Ken was overhauling one of the gangway connections for 35308. 

Although the diesel department will be doing most of the bodywork prep on this coach, being the first in the planned blue and grey rake, George made a bit of a start chipping away old cracked filler.

I'm not actually sure what John was doing here! Something on the metal folder...

Earlier he was keen to show his new turned wooden handle for the roller.

James continued welding the latest door for 35308, I think Alan was also doing some metalwork for that coach too.

Chris and Robert were back and forth between the woodwork shop and saloon in the barn with various bits of wood.

Tea brake time, and James brought in some more toys; the new Dapol 517 class and autocoach. Very pretty in the fully panelled livery!

Our chocolate and cream livery is thankfully much simpler, and I set to with the first coat of brown on the Cotswold side, Dave capturing me in the act.

Bit more shiny now!

I did my usual trick of not getting to upholstery until everyone else had gone except Laura, but I found her restocking the cushions which are still flying off the shelves. 2 more NYMR DMU seats in the foreground just ready for final sewing up.

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And finally, as I like to say after reeling off my various GWSR hats "And in my spare time, I work for Network Rail!"... Sunday was one of those days; we had a blockade on the Bristol and Gloucester line this weekend for, among other things, some drainage refurbishment work at Wickwar. 

A nice sunny day, but not in the tunnel; the view out looking towards high mileage and Bristol.

Just over 1km in length, but straight - you can see the light at the other end, just!

And out the other side, looking towards Gloucester...

Wickwar signalbox, obviously no longer operational but well preserved.

No sign of the station or goods yard buildings, but this brewery building was contemporary with the building of the line.

Although not part of the works it would have been rude not to inspect the aqueduct - much like our aqueduct at Stanton it also carries a public footpath over the top.

Weds 15th / Thurs 16th - Interesting times

Wednesday

Once again thanks to Gerry for another nice collection of photos for Wednesday

Steady progress with BSK 35308 continues as another repaired door is prepared for remounting. Trevor and Ben have brought the last one repaired by James around to the Malvern side to check its fit.

It appears to be successful so the door shell is taken back to the workbench to be rebuilt.

The droplight is in place and the guides are being secured. This will be followed by the scissors lift.

In the GW Inspection Saloon Neil is preparing the kitchen for the new unit currently being built by Simon.

Jim preparing planks (Gerry didn't say what these were for).

In SO 4798's south vestibule Rod is resecuring the trim strip to the right of the Cotswold side door. The new thin panel was given a coat of wood dye. Rod said that it would probably need a second coating.

Bob and Bryan were doing more on the fittings for the Weed Spraying wagon.

Old fridges make very good bunds for storing chemicals. Another one is needed for the wagon and Stu noticed this one which had been placed next to the skips. It was cleaned inside and out, and then placed in the Paintshop ready for painting yellow. The rightangled arm, also to be painted yellow, will be used to secure it.

The four grabhandles for the wagon were removed and the fixings shortened to reduce the overall width of the vehicle. They also require repainting. Their locations on the wagon have been identified on the attached masking tape.

Nick and Rex are fitting the hydraulic brake mechanism to the wagon.

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Thursday

Gerry wasn't able to capture Upholstery so to make amends a photo showing more progress with the NYMR DMU contract.

In response to Gordon Smith's query in Tuesday's post, with respect to dust the Upholstery workshop has long been fitted with a ceiling suspended air filtration system, similar to that used in the Woodwork shop.

The first job of the day for Tim was the further cleaning up of the old fridge. The sides were given a light sand ........

....... and then the requested painting in yellow could begin.

After all the usual logistical Paintshop jobs, I got going on the four modified grab handles for the Weed Spraying wagon, giving them a light sand and then a coat of green primer on the ends. The location information of each is now written on the back of one of the end sections.

An end of day photo of the four repainted grab handles and the new veneer panels for the GW Inspection Saloon with their final coat of varnish.

Richard I is measuring up an electrical baseboard for the Weed Spraying wagon. 

The prepared board with mounted battery charger and voltmeter.

Richard II was already on board sorting out more wiring.

Jeff was very welcome today as this made three from the team and we were able to get some outstanding bits of SO 4798 undercoated. Parts of the Cotswold side north end were still in the base grey, so it was good to get these cleared up.

Another job I had lined up for myself was finishing the roof painting at the south end with the Light Grey MIO. I had also hoped to complete the Dark Grey undercoating above the connection and get the Matt Black paint on the rain cover, but that will now be a job for Saturday.

Good to see the roof completed.

The livery undercoating now completed on the Cotswold side.

The Malvern side south end also needed to catch up now that the missing section of gutter had been reinstated, sealed and undercoated. Jeff again did the Cream section, after which I gave Tim his first go at coach painting by doing the lower panel and a very good job he made of it too.

3850 was Rake 1's haulage today.

It is now public news that the embankment slip curse has hit us again, this time on the Malvern side between Bishops Cleeve and Gotherington. Midweek running will be restricted to Winchcombe - Broadway until mid-May to allow engineering teams safe access to the site, while weekend running will continue as normal with a 5 mph passage over the affected section. Full details are listed on the GWSR website.

In preparation for the work the ballast train has been brought down to our headshunt for some essential maintenance.

Stu, Phil, Tony and the Indoor (who have now become the Outdoor) Gang spent the morning going over the Dogfish ballast wagons ensuring they are functioning well.

[Photo : Roger]

Roger and Geoff checking that the side chutes open freely.

[Photo : Roger]  

Phil and Stu checking the working of the chutes. The long iron bar was used by Stu to clear any ballast blocking them.

Alan and Tony oiling up where necessary.

A new step board fitted where one was missing.

Was it really that long ago that these were repainted? Happy memories of Grenville and the Olive Drab paint. They have had metalwork repairs to the bins since then by Nick and the team.

[Photo : Roger]  On board the Shark ballast plough. The hand wheel used to raise and lower the plough. When we used to have visiting school parties it was always the "steering wheel"!

With Train 1 back in the station, a chance to capture the badly faded SO 4787. In answer to Roger's query in Tuesday's post, this is the coach that will be replaced by SO 4798. The last three coaches in the rake will then be RBr 1675, FO 3132 " Mary" and SO 4798. RCS plan to move the Afternoon Tea events into 4798, with "Mary" being used as the extra space if required. Judging by the popularity of this event I think this could well be a regular occurence.

I couldn't resist two more photos of W55003, the Bubblecar. It's still hard to believe we repainted this 4 years ago.

The end of the day. The station is now closed up and the staff gone. Just Tony and I left at the Works.

Tony power brushes along the top of the Inspection Saloon's south bogie.

While Tony finishes his work, a chance to relax for a while in Rose's garden. It's very peaceful with the chirping birds in the nearby hedgerow.

This whole area is being steadily transformed. Potatoes have been sown .......

....... while nearby the rhubarb and peas/beans/sweet peas (? Must ask!) are flourishing.

Trees - cherry, apple, pear - await planting.

The greenhouse and cloches, and everything else, look very promising. Rose really enjoys everything she does here and it is already providing a lovely area to visit and relax.