Weds 22nd - Thurs 23rd Busy day, quiet day

Apologies for this being so late. What with the gala preparation and then the very busy first two days of the gala, all very long days (up early, home late), it's been a job to get this done.

The three days of the gala will follow in the next posting.

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Wednesday

Thanks to Gerry for Wednesday's photos of what looks to be a very busy day.

For our Upholstery team it was a landmark day with the refurbished DMU seats on their way back to the NYMR. Chris and Eve steady the loaded trolley as the hoist lifts it and then moves it to the void.

As each trolley load is grounded, another trolley is used to moved them outside where they are stacked ready for collection.

Another contract completed.

Back to the current job - refurbishing some of the worn seat bases in SK 25451. The horsehair is tidied up ........

....... and then Ceri and Eve secure the canvas on top.

Just inside Upholstery the sample seat base used to show visitors the composition.

Ainsley and Ben reconstructing a door.

John ensuring the access cupboard doors in SO 4798's south vestibule close correctly. On Saturday John ensured the main slider in the north corridor connection closed correctly - 4798 will be at the north end of Rake 1 so this door will be permanently locked.

Nick, Ken and Gerry are correction the radius of the corridor connection U frame using the metal strap as the guide.

Ken fits the rain cover on BSK 35308's south corridor connection.

Tightening the bolts.

On to the kitchen rebuild in the GW Inspection Saloon which Simon is close to completing. Here he is preparing and fitting  the backing strips for the worktops.

[On Saturday morning I had a quick meeting with Simon to clarify the what we were doing with some of the kitchen aspects. Varnishing the hardwood has been started, but I needed to be clear on what was wanted with cupboard and shelf interiors, the new wall panelling, etc. D.C.]

Bryan and Rex are finishing off various aspects of the reinstated windows on the Cotswold side of SK 25451.

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Thursday

As mentioned in previous postings, Thursdays have become relatively quiet days with small attendances. I spent most of the day preparing the Works for the gala, so very few photos were taken.

Roger and Alan are doing the very important job of checking the main water tank before the refurbishment really gets going.

Tank full and no leak problems showing inside the vestibule. Good news!

The only other work on the coach was Phil hand sanding on the Cotswold side. This will change next week when the coach moves into the Paintshop.

The Paintshop displays set up.

In Upholstery our sale items nicely on display (obviously not the seat base!).

D6948 comes down from Toddington to collect Rake 3 to have it ready for the next day and the start of the gala.

Tuesday 21st - Gala prep, here we go again

With the Diesel Gala rapidly approaching it's time to begin preparing the Works for what we hope will be a successful weekend. At least the weather on the Saturday and Sunday is predicted to be a little cooler.

Although we have finished the refurbishment of SO 4798, there are always the last few small touches needed. Richard went round cleaning the doorway striker plates, did a few other small bits of snagging, and top coated in gloss black a small length of skirting in the south vestibule.

With the rebuild of the kitchen in the GW Inspection Saloon almost finished, Stu added the first coat of thinned varnished to the hardwood surfaces.

 

The improvement is quite striking. Before going any further I need to check with Simon about the light wood parts and new wall panelling.

With the dry weather seemingly endless and to avoid fire risk, it looks like we have gone to full diesel running with D6948 heading for Toddington with Rake 1.

In the Barn David is working on the Cotswold side of SK 25451, sanding and painting any bare metal with red oxide where necessary.

With BSK 35308 back in the running for a C&W refurb, Ian and Roger G. are removing the old transfers.

Taking a break from his initial preparatory work on the Malvern side of TSO 4406, Dave has a good look at the very corroded south end corner. We've got a lot to do there.

On now to Gala preparation with Roger and Ian giving the Paintshop floor a very thorough vacuuming. The track troughs where accessible were also cleaned out.

Roger E. from the Indoor Gang appeared today and did a brilliant clean up of the Barn through route. Prior to this the two of us had a good general tidy up in here.

 

Roger then cleaned (as much as you can with these) a number of the chairs, which we place around the viewing area.

Richard helped me errect the chain barrier. Some of the advisory signage was also placed in position. A quantity of expired brake blocks provide good anchorage with some of the stands.

The final train of the day comes by. Class 24 24081.

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Following a request from Andy Protherough, the first photo of SO 4798 after it had first been brought into the Works.

Photo taken by Alex on 2nd March 2024

A post showing some of the highlights of 4798's lengthy refurbishment is being collated.

Monday 20th - 6 Weeks Again

 Yes, six weeks since we were able to have rake 1 in P2 and rake 2 in P1. Here are Peter, David, Chris and Tim starting the long slog. They were also degreasing as they went so by their standards they are much further north by now if the extra work not required. 

"Mary" needed a good vac. Before

After (and yes, the carpet is wearing thin)

After this I took the spot mop on an outing through both rakes. Before

After

While I was doing that Roger C, Val, Kath, Lynn and Greg were cleaning the outside of the windows on rake 1. The problem here is that any water is instantly dried as it touches the glass, so although the washing team had been through there were still streaks. I'm told that even this follow up team had to wipe off any spray instantly or it was dried on as well.

The rest of the team today were Jane, John M, John S, Nick, and Nigel.

Next week is a photo charter using rake 1, so only half a job to do! 

Due to fire risk diesel haulage only this week, followed by the diesel gala Friday to Sunday.