Monday 16th - An Early Start

 To the season. Running for February half term, first time since 2013. And we had 16 of 17 volunteers. With just the one rake it was almost all done by tea break. So opportunity for me to photo most of the team.

Rich

Greg and Lynn

Val

John S (knee replacement having worked wonders)

Long Tall Steve

Kath

Nigel

Tim, Chris, Peter, David

I wonder how long this had been there? (Hiding on the floor, not here all the time!)

Escaping the camera were Jane, John M and Roger C.

Back next week then not until March 16th as Race Trains are running after the first normal running weekend, so contract cleaners come in.

Saturday 14th - Oh happy dayyyy, oh happy dayyyy ...

Yes. Happy day, the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day. A rare treat

Two photos from Paul W, , with Paul himself washing TSO 5023. 

It was good to see the Youth Group in again, under the supervision of Alex and Richard S.

Some good progress was made with painting various areas of the Mink D van. While Richard looks after the far group, nearby Alex was explaining an aspect of the underframe.

Ed from Didcot was back in again and sanding down another of the large steps from the Mink D.

The step now primed, with the original two steps now undercoated.

Maurice adds green primer to the many nuts and bolts.

Later priming whatever this is, which has been sat on the paint trestles for a while.

Jenny, having cleaned the windows on the Cotswold side of RMB 1876 last week, moved round to the Malvern side. The Mess Room bell has just rung hence no Jenny, just her gloves resting on a step.

Simon did some very good work today in 1876 getting the two compartment doors and the very heavy connection slider back into place.

This is the door to the north end compartment.

The door to the south vestibule.

The connection slider took quite an effort to reinstate and Simon is to be congratulated for getting this done. It will need some adjustment to ensure it closes correctly.

Robert fitting more draught excluder. This in itself can be a tricky job as occasionally a nail or screw will find nothing to bite into or hit an obstruction.

The ceilings in the toilet compartments still need to be top coated but with Simon fitting the compartment sliding door, Bob instead moved to the store cupboard to do more painting and varnishing. I captured him finishing off the undercoating of the painted section of the outer wall.

He also top coated the outside of the servery door.

In Upholstery Peter and Jane are creating more curtains for SO 4798, ..........

........ while Laura and Carol are cutting out the side pieces for the DMU seat head rests. The photo below shows one in place.

John is making more metal parts for new vacuum cylinder sleeves.

John making more recordings for SO 4790 which is still on the jack road.

Andy collects the leaf spring clamp which had been used to adjust the tension of the springs and enable the correct ride height of 4790 to be achieved.

TSO 25488 had been brought to the pit area and given a steam heating test. Leaks were found and will need to be dealt with.

There is a real feel good feeling when the light grey undercoat begins to go on after months of bodyside preparation, though in the case of SO 4798 this has been very sporadic because of other priorities and as such seems to have been going on forever. Now happy with the preparation in the first of the recently marked out zones, Richard takes on the painting of Zone 1. Zone 2 is also ready so we can also get that done. Zone 3 will be next to be checked. Now at last we will be able to know how we are progressing.

Rose's efforts have not just been restricted to the greenhouse, gardening and her work with the FOWS Maintenance Dept. She has installed bird feeders by the greenhouse and regularly feeds the feathered visitors, including very friendly robins. That's a fine collection of birds listed.

Her spring plant trough looks lovely.

Weds 11th / Thurs 12th - Will it ever stop raining?

Wednesday

Wednesday had a good turnout with 22 attending.

Thanks to Nick and Eve for four of the day's photos. On Thursday I took some more relating to them which I have included for this day.

Beginning with Upholstery who are busy with the NYMR DMU contract.

[Photo : Nick and Eve]. Ceri looks to be sorting some smaller pieces of the Bournemouth Blue moquette, which judging by the shape appear to be the seat cushion sides.

[Photo : Nick and Eve]. Eve is machining a larger piece, probably for another seat cushion. Attaching one of the side pieces?

[Photo : Nick and Eve]  Laura and Chris are finishing another seat cushion.

Two photos I took on Thursday showing the large pile of stripped seat backs and cushions ........

......... and the growing number of prepared versions ready for covering.

[Photo : Nick and Eve]. The weed spraying wagon must be nearing completion now and looks superb in its Rail Grey top coat. Nick's team of Rex and Bryan (in the photo), and Gerry, and of course Nick himself, have done a cracking job in creating this. I wonder if they are going to add the yellow as displayed in the photo of the one on the SVR.

Three views of the interior showing the various connections between the components and the bolts securing it all to the heavy duty plank floor.

Also on Wednesday, our flooring contractors Bob and Pete returned to fit coir matting in the three vestibules in RMB 1876. The toilet compartments were fitted with light grey marmoleum. The main compartments and passenger area of the servery will be fitted out when the ordered marmoleum arrives. The next day I covered all the coir matting for protection.

***************

Thursday

We had slightly more than last Thursday with 14 in.

Many thanks to Paul and Roger for their photos.

While getting ready to come in, the forecast on my radio included, " ..... after the wettest January on record......". 

As I type this on Friday morning I can hear the rain on my conservatory roof. Looks like we'll be adding February as well. 

Of course no matter what the weather the stock has to be got ready for this coming weekend when the half term week of running begins. It has been a struggle trying to get everything done with our very much shortened shutdown season. I just hope the extra running next week is worth it. 

One consolation with the wet weather - at least the faded 03 paintwork looks better when wet!

[Photo : Paul W]  Paul sent me this photo with the news that he had finished all the vaccing throughout Rake 2 and was making a start on cleaning the floors. C&W staff please note, especially with all this wet weather - muddy boots are not welcome!

It's a while since I photo'd Rose and all the wonderful work she does in the greenhouse, much of it to make our station garden and beds look good, and not forgetting Bob Mack's memorial and the tubs outside the main entrance to the Works.

The Indoor Gang were busy with more repairs and rebuilding. In SO 4798 Alan was sorting out several loose underseat grills ........

..... while Roger was installing more new beading in the south vestibule and is now close to completing the ceiling rebuild.

[Above three photos : Roger]   We will be making a start on painting the beading on Tuesday.

It was nice to welcome Tim, our new Painting team member, on his first working day. His first job was to complete the top coating of the new battery box covers destined for CK 16221 in Rake 2.

Later on he followed on from Stu with the painting of the underseat grills in RMB 1876.

Steven, who has now moved into the Indoor Gang, did a very good job refixing the metal threshold strips in 1876. The coir matting was very neatly trimmed with the strip temporarly screwed down. The strip was then removed and the cut piece of coir discarded. Finally the strip was fully screwed in place and the job was completed.

Stu tidied up the heating pipe covers in 1876 with a fresh coat of Silver Hammerite.

Bob undercoated the toilet compartment ceilings and then gave the new veneer walls a third coat of varnish. This just leaves the ceiling top coats to be done.

I cleaned up the two door tracks for the south compartment of 1876. There was a third track for the south compartment sliding door but that seems to have disappeared since Tuesday.

Stu top coats the three ceiling panels for the south vestibule in 4798.

Richard I was installing new plug sockets and tidying up the wiring around the servery shelf unit in 1876.

I noticed the hot air gun plugged in earlier on.  Richard demonstrates why it was there. 

Just enough heat to give the conduit the necessary bend.