Weds 18th /Thurs 19th - Tables, toilets and a wifi

Wednesday

Many thanks to Gerry for the day's photos.

Beginning with Bryan drilling holes in the new 

panel for the bottom door hinge and section of  capping strip on the Cotswold side of SO 4798.

Trevor was working on the latest door from BSK 35308, which is currently in the Barn.

Simon working in the Malvern side toilet compartment in RMB 1876. .

Ken working on a vacuum cylinder interior part.

A recently acquired bogie being overhauled by John and Ian ............

......... and later being cleaned up and painted with Black MIO by Russ.

The GW inspection saloon arrives at Winchcombe having been brought down from Toddington by 26043.

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Thursday

Thanks to Roger for the extra photos.

A lot of progress was made RMB 1876, and it needs to be as our running season gets ever closer.

With the marmoleum laying completed by Bob and Pete on Wednesday, we could now reinstate the tables.

Alan securing a table wall fixing in the south compartment.

Roger dives underneath to secure the first table at the north end of the coach.

[Photo : Roger]  Ensuring the legs are tightly fitted.

[Photo : Roger]

[Photo : Roger]  The south compartment completed. We can now get the seat cushions back in place.

[Photo : Roger]  Judging by the reflections and the gleam, the fresh coat of varnish on all the woodwork was really worth doing.

Bob returned to the freshening up of 1876's store cupboard. The Silver Grey top coat is strained through a piece cut from old tights - not Bobs! :-) When top coating there's nothing better than a brand new brush!

By the time I photo'd Bob painting he was well on the way to completing the top coating of the grey area. The ceiling had already been done.

Bob's final job was to add another coat of varnish to the shelving. They should now be easier to keep clean. All that's left to do in here is tidy up and re-secure some of the aluminium beading.

Next door in the servery Richard I is in the process of setting up the wifi for the card machine.

Richard II ensures the new chiller unit is firmly seated and doesn't wobble with the slightly uneven floor.

If Richard I has to get under the coach I always seem to capture him. Some jobs offer no option when some cabling needs securing.

The new wifi in place. Still some work to do, but the setting up looks to be well in hand.

Wow, that toilet bowl looks brand new! Paul is doing a brilliant job with the cleaning.

Phil has hip problems and as such has had to miss a few days. However knowing we needed to get the toilet compartments in 1876 rebuilt, he has very kindly returned so as we get the job done. 

It was good to see the lights in both compartments reinstated and the sink going back in the Malvern side.

Tim, our new Painting team member, did a variety of jobs, one of which was to tidy up more bits of paintwork on 1876. 

The back of the main battery box cover for the Cotswold side of the coach was given a fresh top coat.

Stu connected up the gauge and vacuum pump to check the braking system, another essential job.

Moving on to SO 4798, the backs of the toilet doors needed further attention from Tim.

The first load of grey is on the Cotswold side, but the next stage with the secondary filling has only just begun.

It wasn't long before chalk marks littered the lower areas. We have an awful lot to do to make all this better, especially because the base of every window had to have new sheet metal replacement. The bumps and troughs are clearly visible.

The rivet line is no exception and as such Phil tackled this first.

The thorough sanding of the new filler completed with 240 paper (which renders the surface beautifully smooth), is followed by another brushing with the undercoat Light Grey.

And so the process goes on. Meanwhile we must get the north half of the Cotswold side finished and greyed up.

Tuesday 17th - Very productive and a very welcome arrival

Most of our days are productive, but occasionally along comes one where we feel that we have really made some strides forward. Today felt very much like that.

Four steps had been made by Steven for the Mink D out of cedar and awaited some further fettling to complete them.

The job was completed by Robert to round them off and do the cutout on the one above. The fourth also had a cutout put in.

Meanwhile Paul and Maurice continued mounting more of the painted planks on the Malvern side of the van.

Then it was back to the drilling and bang-bang-bang to locate the bolts before adding each nut in turn.

In quieter mode Maurice undercoats more primed planks.

Paul hand sands the new steps to finish them off. More priming and painting will be soon underway.

The ordered marmoleum had arrived so Bob and Pete were able to return to begin laying the rest of the flooring in RMB 1876. A lot of space is needed, especially when the first main run is the full length of the north compartment.

Brown paper patterns made on the spot are vital for this job.

Pete carefully cuts the length in the marked out shape.

Taken at the end of the day with the main areas fitted. Above looking south and below the opposite direction.

I didn't see them go, but I expect they will be completing the job on Wednesday.

We were very pleased to see Keith back for a visit following his health problem. He plans to be back on his regular Tuesday turn in two weeks time.

Also back is Ian. He returned two weeks ago after a long spell away, only to go down with a bug a week later. Thankfully he is fine again and very keen to get stuck in on the solebar, headstock and underframe work he enjoys doing. Nearly all the Malvern side was cleaned up and painted in Black MIO.

Next the headstocks, starting with the south end. You never know just how far to go with these. There is so much that could be done, but when looking at the oily mucky state of some of it, you have to ask how much do you sensibly do. With 1876 Ian kept to just the main visible parts.

Richard highlights the lettering on the first of the two gas bottle container covers.

Earlier on he tidied up the side of doorway at the Malvern side north end where we had difficulty securing the rubber draught seal.

Alex catches up with the remaining signwriting on 1876 - the Emergency Lighting Point and the stars indicating the positions of the vacuum cylinder pull strings.

The floor track for the servery sliding door in 1876 seems to have gone missing. I found this track in our spares and Richard is now cleaning it up. It will probably need cutting to size.

On now to SO 4798 where the first chalked zone (Zone 1) has been greyed up. Zone 2 is ready, so Stu finishes off the prep in Zone 3.

Returning later with Ainsley now painting the Light Grey undercoat on Zone 0. Stu has painted Zone 2 and is now working on Zone 3.

Hey, this is looking great!

After so long in a confusing state of preparation, it's good to see almost all of the south half of the Cotswold side now with its first coat of grey.  Besides some windows to catch up with, the next stage is to go over the areas needing further filling.  Also of course we will continue with the Cotswold side and get more zones completed and greyed.

4798 will go into the Paintshop when RMB 1876 is completed and goes into Rake 2.

The end of a busy day. Robert enjoys a light tea before leaving for his 80 mile drive back to Pontypridd.

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A very welcome addition to the GWSR which arrived at Toddington during the day is a Great Western designed BR built Inspection Saloon. It was formerly based on the Llangollen Railway and is privately owned. Once we have completed anything that needs to be done, it will be available for private hire bookings.

All the photos were taken by Alex.