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2020, It Wasn't All Bad

It's been a tough year for everyone this year with some huge challenges, and sadly some losses too. But as the year draws to a close with at least an end in sight, even if the next few months aren't going to be much better, I thought I'd have a look back and see what we managed to achieve.


First off GWR Ply sided van 65643 came in for repairs at the beginning of the year as some of the plywood had delaminated. It looks much better now.


The model railway coach came in for roof repairs in January too, and while we were at it, we filled, sanded and repainted what we could, the lettering was refreshed and the whole lot given a coat of varnish. It was amazing how much it brought back the faded paint.


TSO 4772 was outshopped, it was virtually complete before lockdown commenced although it only actually got shunted out when we came back. Sadly it has yet to be used in passenger service as open carriages have gone out of fashion this year.

And then there was the lockdown

We sat and waited, anxiously wondering how long it would be, how we'd be able to come back, and what we'd actually be able to do. Key people worked extremely hard to write risk assessments for us to return to work, and also what trains we might run and therefore what work we needed to do with what little money we had available. Compartment coaches were to the fore, so a lot of shunting was required.


A lot of those compartment carriages were a little overdue a paintjob. There was no possibility of getting them all through the paintshop in the month or so we had to prepare everything, so we made the best of it and did what we could outside. Luckily Dave put in a big paint order just before lockdown so our cupboards were well stocked.


We swarmed over the lower body sides in a socially distanced manner! And in just over a month, we repainted the lower chocolate panels and a few other odd bits and pieces on no fewer than four carriages, SK 25743 (pictured), SK 24949, FK13329, and FK13337 (Gillian). There was also a host of other jobs to make things fit to use again, including a repaired window on BCK 21092.

When trains began running again in the middle of August, we could heave a sigh of relief knowing we'd done all we could, and hope that some money would start to come in. In the meantime, it gave us a chance to attack a couple of coaches that would no longer be required for operations.


The Upholstery department recovered TSO 4763's seats which were looking very faded and tired, whilst in the paintshop we brought RMB 1808 in, which had only just missed out a winter slot for at least a couple of years and was well overdue.


It's almost ready to go out now with the last door reattached just needing painting.

Along with all of that, our two longer term projects also saw steps forward, the refurbishment and conversion of BSK 34929 is really coming together now,


And CK16221 continues to progress, but there's still a fair way to go with this one


Although its bogie restoration is looking good, with this one completed by the end of the year, unusually done in the workshop


We're always looking ahead to the next project, and TSO 4867 has received some on and off work throughout the year too, recently coming in to have some window frames done.


In addition to all of that, our cleaning and maintenance gangs have been out in all conditions doing what they do so well, and without whom, what we do in the workshop would all be largely pointless, and behind the scenes, key individuals have been flying their laptops harder than ever to keep the show on the road, not just with all the Covid stuff, but to show that we are meeting the ever increasing stringent requirements to operate a safe railway with ever more in depth records, written out procedures and competencies.

We also set up this new blog, and looking at the stats, it's doing pretty well! We've averaged about 500 views a day since we launched, over 50,000 in total, and some from some quite far flung places too!


(I suspect some of these will be VPNs and bots, I'm suspicious when we get 100 views all at once at 5am, but nevertheless, great to see!)

So, in summary, to misquote a well known fictional department store owner, "We've all done very well!" Unfortunately with Gloucestershire in tier 3, we're back to essential work only like November. So we'll do our best to keep the blog busy with things we hope are of interest along with reports of what little C&W activity there is.

The Lighter Side of Carriage & Wagon

As a regular contributor to the original C&W blog that Peter Bennett set up back in 2011, and now the new one set up by Alex, I have accumulated nearly 14500 photos. Over the past 9 years it is inevitable that light hearted moments have crept in. 

The following are a selection, which also includes a few from other members of C&W. Some have been published before and, while most are amusing, some always make me laugh out loud.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I have - something to cheer us up in these worrying times.

 

We have to start with Christmas of course and three of our members participating in past Santa Seasons. Bob's crazy Santa's trousers hat was brilliant. Pam was in the Paintshop and trying on her snowman costume for the first time with us helping out. Ron changed his orange overalls to become Santa.


We have been flooded several times, particularly because we are the lowest place in the yard. Luckily there was no lasting damage. The sight of Bob casually strolling through the Workshop flood did however bring a smile. (Nov 2012)

 

Yes, the 03 really was painted pink. It was done by the owner Chris B. in honour of Silvie, who used to be one of the drivers. On our old mess room wall was a cartoon of a pink 03 with Silvie looking out of the cab. She was invited back and was almost in tears when she saw it. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of her in the cab. As you can imagine, our travelling public were somewhat bemused as they passed by. Not long after it was nicely repainted in its original livery. (April 2010)

We love Cheryl's cartoons. The "tan" refers to the colour used for the corridor connection doors. The birthday boy was me.


"Are Upholstery using those 12 inch needles again?!"


"No, sleeping bags aren't provided!"


"You missed Henley chaps - the regatta was last week"


 "I thought we restored coaches, not garden sheds. Still we could do with some spare doors for our MK 1s".


"Reckon they overdid the booze in those mince pies!"

Congratulating Alex on passing all his A-levels. Alex was TTI on the train and happily grinning back. So were all the passengers!

"What?!   Chocolate and Cream top coat?!   And fully lined out?!"


 "It's OK Rex - you can come out now!"


"Why do I always get the heavy end?!"


"That's it chaps - vertical painting"


"Aren't those tables meant for Broadway?!"

"He never did?"  "Yes, honest"  "No, he couldn't have"  "Yeah, he did"  "Really?"  "Yes"  "Naaaah"
 


"What?! You want them all painted?!"

 "Yes, Bertie will help when the 03 is being serviced" 

The last outing of Clive's famous overalls. Rumour has it that he bought them from Noah!


 "Yes, I know you can do lots of things with dominos - don't even think about it !!!"

"D'you reckon Broadway would notice if we kept this?"


"It's safe to come out now Rog"


Phil doing a "Wot no"


"You think you've vacuumed up what?!"


"Er, Grenville - I think shoe polish is more traditional"


"I did tell him Ron about eating too many mince pies"


"Now do I get my new dress or not?"


"All together now - the hills are alive with the sound of ......."


"Well, this made our passengers look twice".


"I declare our temporary mess room open!"

And we did! Complete with copper capped chimney and brass horns as it was built in Swindon and based at Gloucester Horton Road (85B). (July 2018)


"One slice or two?" "Butter?" "Jam too?"


We very much miss Ria, Eddie's lovely black Labrador. She knew how to get more than her daily ration of doggie biscuits as she knew we all loved her.

"Phil up to his usual tricks again?!" 

"Hey, where's the ball gone?!"

Happy memories of the old Workshop and Phil ringing the tea bell with one of his "90 mph" spins. It used to frighten the life out of us at times!

I've kept the best one til last.

Chris T.'s experience of carriage doors makes him a much valued member of that team, especially as his apprenticeship was done at Swindon. A few years ago Chris attended an apprentices reunion that was held in the famous STEAM Museum.  

In his own words, the beer flowed and ........................

 

Of course with apologies to I.K.B.

I hope you enjoyed this selection of the lighter moments enjoyed by our staff in Carriage and Wagon. There were some photos that I couldn't find such as where Grenville had spray painted his boots and left his footmarks in a patch of black paint on the Barn floor. With so many photos to look through I will have no doubt missed many other humerous moments. Maybe when I get enough I will publish a second run.

Here's hoping everyone has been able to have a good Christmas. 

Happy New Year!   Let's all hope 2021 proves to be a better one.