Saturday 18th - Watching and waving

Yet another very warm day, but we still had a good number attending.

Quite a group taking a break to watch the first train of the day hauled by "Betton Grange" on its way back up the line. 

In Upholstery Peter and Jane add the finishing pieces of moquette to this refurbished seat cushion from SK 25451.

Laura makes another of the wonderful door stops. This is a really inspired idea, along with the key rings and bookmarks, to use up small offcuts of moquette.

When I first saw this particular moquette laid out on one of the tables my reaction was somewhat mixed. Having seen it as a cushion and now as a doorstop, I think it looks great!

Stripped seat frames (backs and cushions) from TSO 4867, which is now back in the queue for a full restoration.

[Photo : Gerry] Two photos that Gerry sent me that I missed adding to Wednesday's post. Nick repairs one of the seat bases from 4867.

[Photo : Gerry]

[Photo : Bryony]  An on-train job for Robert and Chris this morning was to secure a loose ceiling panel in TSO 4772.

Now back to sorting out the new door liner for BSK 35308.

More trial fitting of this complex item.

And more change to original plans. BSK 35308 is now going to replace BSO 9000, which has been our brake coach in Rake 1 since 2009. It is now 9000 that will be going to the Diesel Shed for repainting in blue & grey. The Diesel Dept are aware of the change. The little bar that we built in 9000 when it was initially restored will be an asset for future running in the mini set of blue & grey coaches.

Out in the Barn George continues the general sand down on the Malvern side of SK 25451.

Bob joins him, but on the Cotswold side to do some hand sanding.

Later in the day Graham also got going on the same side, his work on SO 4798 completed.

At the south end James does some further welding on his repaired roof corner.

Alan meanwhile is making repairs to the end of the roof. 

A different job for Andy is repairing a number of heras fence panels that have been stacked up in the yard - not sure by who, perhaps Construction & Maintenance or Lineside?

After the welding repairs, a clean up with an angle grinder.

And then a break to wave at our passengers, who were eagerly waving back. It was quite noticeable today how many responded to our waving. Perhaps like us, thankful that the worst of the heatwave is over.

Jenny once again doing a great job cleaning our Mess Room.

John produces many items for us on the lathe and milling machine, this time making some new door catches.

Simon and Tom have made a new shelf for the kitchen in the GW Inspection Saloon. With the shelf and supports fitted, they are now securing the front section with wood dowels.

With the dowells gently hammered in as far as they will go, they are very carefully trimmed.

The end result is perfection. An excellent job.

Following on from Gerry's photo on Wednesday, the replacement wall panel fitted by Mike in the saloon's corridor.

Another of the Behind The Scenes tours was held today. This is the All Railway one which takes in the Toddington sheds, a signalbox and Carriage & Wagon. Dave led the Carriage & Wagon section for the six members, the maximum number for this type of tour. The next tour on August 8th is the Carriage & Wagon version and is a sell out.

Andy and Bob wave as the Bubblecar gathers speed on its way back to Toddington. This is an excellent vehicle for a shuttle service and very pleasant to travel in.

Dave, later joined by Bob, doing some intial prep on the Malvern side of TSO 4406, one of our recent acquisitions.

Two altered station sandwich boards being prepared by Alex, who will be doing the signwriting. 

On to the next job. Adding the large G W to the Cotswold side of the Mink D van. We have a number of large hardboard templates for various letters. I used to enjoy doing these in my early days with C & W.

Gleaming 3850 is admired as it passes with Rake 2 on another southbound run.

Now on to SO 4798 and the final stages of its refurb in the Paintshop. Ian touches up a few minor bits on the Cotswold side of the bogies.

Meanwhile the cleaning of the Malvern sides is being finished off prior to painting by Andy, and below Graham and Martin.

Jenny gave the two refurbished toilet compartments a final clean. The new varnished veneer panelling looks really nice and certainly fits in well with the upgraded status of this coach.

[Photo : Roger]

Returning later to see the painting of the north end bogie being completed by Andy and Ian. 

Well, that's it. Finished. It has been a long haul but well worth the effort and a fine display for our Gala visitors next weekend.

After the Gala, SK 25451 comes into the Paintshop and we start all over again.

Finally we were very sorry to hear about Paul of St Blazey's little dog. A number of us have lost our pets in the past year, including myself, so we know what it's like. Paul is always very complimentary about our work, which is very much appreciated by us all in C & W.

Weds 15th / Thurs 16th - The present and the past

Despite the continual heat, we are more or less back to our normal attendance levels for the holiday season. We all wish it was a bit cooler of course and some rain would be very welcome.

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Wednesday

Gerry is back from his holiday so we are back to a good regular selection of Wednesday's activities. Thank you Gerry. I have added three photos taken on Thursday to provide more information.

In Upholstery a bench seat from SK 25451 ready for stripping by the team.

With the old moquette removed it looks like new foam padding and canvas are being put on by Eve.

Rex is preparing the latest window to be reinstated on 25451 after the completion of the underwindow metalwork repairs.

 

With the glass reinstated Rex and Bryan are trimming the black sealant.

Ken was working on the south corridor connection on 25451.

Two photos taken by myself on Thursday showing the metalwork repairs made by Alan on Saturday and the rebuilt connection done by Ken.

Always hard at work and keen to get on with the job, Simon takes a break and smiles for the camera.

Neil doing the finishing touches with the rebuild of the kitchen in the GW Inspection Saloon. We will probably start the varnishing very soon now as there is a lot to do. The work tops will be coated with Danish Oil. We will then paint the ceiling.

It looks like we are going to be replacing more of the worn corridor panelling in the Saloon. Mike is carefully removing pieces with some pincers.

Jim is measuring up what looks like a corner section for one of the replacement door frames for the Mink D van.

Bob with the Weed Spraying wagon. 

Another photo taken by myself on Thursday showing the holder for the instructions and other information now bolted in place on the end wall.

Dave and Ainsley well on the way to completing the job to add a new skin to one of the door frames from newly acquired and unrestored TSO 3961.

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Thursday

Ainsley with the multi-tool cutting a rebate at the top of the door from TSO 3961.

Rod inserts screws to secure the door skin to the frame.

As well as being a member of the Indoor Gang, Roger is also our H & S lead. He is cutting a new length of floor highlight strip. Looking very much like a roll of our yellow sandpaper, occasionally this has ended up being stacked with the genuine stuff!

Roger now removes the old strip from the bottom step before adding the new one. A similar strip is on the top step.

During the day a fair amount of shunting took place. The plan was to extract TSO 4867 and bogie sets from the siding. The Weed Spraying wagon is now back in the next siding.

FK 13337 "Gillian" and FO 3127 were dragged out.

Part restored 4867 now out and in the yard. Its full restoration is now going to go ahead, but no dates yet.

Shunting over with Dave back to work on another recent aquisition, unrestored TSO 4406.

A special day for Rod who received his 15 years certificate from Ian. Congratulations Rod!

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Now a trip down memory lane with three photos taken by Rod in 2011, in his early days with C & W.

This is RBr 1672, our previously running restaurant buffet car in for a repaint. It is up on the jacks and we have visitors.

 

Now the coach and a shoc van are outside on the Works siding - with the Class 20 pushing them? Whatever is going on?

Rod later provided the answer. 

2011 was during the period when the Chicken Curve slip blocked the line and the locos were based in our yard. Looking through all his photos for the period we also had the Class 20 and Electro Diesel as well as the 03 and 04. 2807 had failed, so it may be that we had to make room in the Barn. At the time RBr 1672 was the most weather proof of our coaches under refurbishment so was shunted out. SK 24949's refurb finished in August, with 1672 next out in April 2012.

He also included another photo of a skinny bloke with a phone in his hand.

He's obviously very happy about something. Maybe having just taken a photo for our original blog?

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Now back to the present and SO 4798, which is nearly finished in the Paintshop.

Phil and Tim are finishing the cleaning up of the Cotswold side of the bogies.

They then started on the painting, both using the Black MIO.

Taken at the end of the day.

The south bogie is much further ahead, particularly so because I followed on when Tim had to leave for the day.

Add Roger to the Friday list. Hopefully a couple more will be able to help. 

The Gala display and directing stuff will need to be brought back out next Tuesday.

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And finally.

One of our Saturday upholsterers was missing last Saturday and below is the reason why.

Advertising the GWR in Cobh Station is Carol enjoying a lovely holiday in Southern Ireland.

The real thing, tasting so much better over there.

Carol and Andy at the Titanic Experience. Cobh was the doomed ship's final pick up point before sailing into history.

A very poignant display.