Tuesday 3rd - As busy as ever

Two days before Lockdown Mk 2 and we are as busy as ever, though with just a small group attending.

Beginning with RMB 1808, Richard completed the lining out as far as possible on the Malvern side.

Then on to complete the south end corner. With the vertical demarcation tape removed, the underlying unpainted inch is black glossed. It's always very pleasing when this is done as it gives one a glimpse of what the coach will look like just before it goes out.

We have probably gone as far as we want to now with the external painting. The lower brown panelling that was recently sanded down can now wait until the missing Malvern-side doors have been reinstated.

While Richard was busy on the Malvern side, I spent some time dealing with some missing paintwork in the Cotswold-side doorways and some general tidying up with little brushes. The latter in particular is another satisfying job as it brings everything together.

Inside 1808 Roger is applying some sealant, prior to starting more second top coating in the counter area.

With the second coating of Cream providing a nice depth of paint, the whole area is now very much brighter and will look very good when completed.

In the Workshop Kevin was cleaning more of the removed parts from CK 16221's second bogie.

John and Ainsley were back on the endless prep work on 16221. We will finish it one day - promise!

Derek was also in and working inside 16221 - I never got around to taking a photo. I also missed Bob. Apologies both!

The new second rake has a bad steam leak from SK 24949, right where the south end bogie sits - thank goodness we have carriage jacks! With the rake now stabled we have the opportunity to get this fixed before the Santa season. It was however still a surprise to see this in the Barn instead of SO 4787, which was in on Saturday, and immediately surmised that the shunt had been done the day before.  

Richard primes the final two sections of new ceiling panelling for the north end of BSK 34929. The Painting Team have been much in demand recently with so much arriving on our trestles. This work can be quite refreshing and certainly very relaxing after coach painting. 

As for that blue tray that has just appeared, it has an attached pencil and contains scrap paper for notes. Hopefully this will prompt those wanting stuff painted to say what they want done - while some things are very obvious (like the battery box and ceiling sections), others are not, and we don't want to make any mistakes!

A busy day, making that afternoon cup of tea very welcome. Plenty of black paint under that thumbnail!