Tuesday 20th - Considerable Progress

We had ten in today, all fairly scattered throughout the Paintshop, Barn and Upholstery Shop. Overall there was considerable progress.

Beginning with the black lining out on the Cotswold side of RMB 1808, Richard completed the south end and centre door. The yellow had all been done by Alex on Saturday along the whole length of this side.

At the north end Roger managed to complete the bottom line and half of the top. Considering that this was his first time at lining out, he made a very good job of it.

Unfortunately with very little of the yellow 25 mm tape left, we have to wait until we can acquire a new batch before continuing. The cheaper cream tape is only used for lining out if we have no other option - it doesn't give such a crisp edge.

[News flash: Alex says that the tape order will arrive this week and he will deliver it on Saturday Further news flash, they're in the hallway waiting to go, phew! - Ed. ]

On the opposite side Phil and Maurice second top coated the lower brown panelling.

Allowing for plenty of hardening time, it shouldn't be long before we can line out this side.

John was back on underframe painting. We only do what is really necessary, often bearing in mind the state of the equipment below the sole bar and what it would take to try and clean it all up. Bogies are rarely done of course. However on the occasions when the underframe has been grit-blasted and primed by the contractor, we often do as much as we can, which makes for a stunning overall appearance for the coach.

And then there are the charging points on both sides and the fuse box. Our Electrics Team like these freshened up with new red paint. We do too!



 

On the other side the sole bar was being tackled by Maurice and Phil.

The battery box by Maurice has already been done, including cleaning out the base of the interior which had become a sticky mess. The old fabric was removed and a waterproof sealant applied.

In the far distance John is painting the buffers and other parts around the buffer beam.

 

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Phil and John then moved to the south end to so the same.

This just leaves the chequer plate and a little more painting on the corridor end door. The rain cover above the connection looked as though it hadn't been tidied up, so we need to check this too.

The saddle for one of the buffer extenders at this end of the coach was in a bad way and very loose. As such it was removed. Its replacement is narrower and the holes need to be bored.

The missing centre door on the Malvern side was in too bad a state to be save and the skin was transferred to our metal skip. Its replacement is one of the later aluminium doors, which Ainsley is cleaning up and adding filler where necessary.

The final job was the application of our base undercoat Light Grey. It means that when the door is eventually fitted we won't have a serious preparation job to do, not a nice thing to contemplate when the rest of the coach is fully painted up.

Enjoying the peace and quiet of the Upholstery Shop, Dave is tackling the removal of the covering and filling from this seat base.

 

 

 

 

I watched him working on this for a while and could see what a tricky job it was. You have to get into the limited space to cut away the ties from the outer springs and thus free up the hessian undercover.

Moving to the Barn and CK 16221, Derek has been busy rebuilding the floor in the south end (2nd Class) toilet compartment. The floor struts are now in place and have been given a coat of preserver.

 

 

The new toilet floor, cut to shape and ready to fit. It did with a bang! And it fitted very well.

He later appeared with the frame sections all cut and shaped for the north end (1st Class) toilet.

For Alan it was back on the sanding down of the masses of filler that have been applied to this coach.

Bob initially worked on the Cotaswold side and then moved across to the other side. There's even more filling on this side, both to sand down and needed.

Understandably mention of filling and sanding on 16221 is often greeted with a "Oh no, have I got to?" look, but we must get on with this. Endless preparation can become boring, but eventually work on 1808 will cease and we will have to move on.

Just in time to catch the last run of the day with Dinmore Manor returning to Toddington. There were good numbers on both trains today which was very heartening to say the least.

Just before leaving for home, a final shot of 1808 with top coating and lining out at this end and on this side now completed.