Thursday 17th - A bright and cheery day

So nice to have a dry, sunny, warmer day, but not for long as the rain is due back the next day. I just had to take a stroll out of the Works for a few minutes and make the most of the nice weather with two photos of our Winchcombe site.

 

With the Christmas break speedily approaching, more of the Thursday regulars were away. However it was back to what we tend to do on Thursdays and the "Dirty Gang" were back in action with the bogie.

Tony and Ian are loosening the secondary suspension coil spring assembly on the Cotswold side. The job order is strip down, clean up, examine, re-lubricate and finally refit.

 

In the Barn, three of the windows on the Cotswold side of TSO 4867 are in the process of having their frames cleaned up and refitted with new seals and internal framing.

Phil S., with help from Dave H. inside, repositions the frame ready for fixing.

At the north end Bob is cleaning up and priming more of the TSO's roof, that is as much as he can safely reach.

This is very worthwhile work as it prevents any corrosion getting worse until the coach can eventually be brought in for the full restoration. Bob also looks for any leak points that may be present  or developing.

When 4867 is eventually brought in it will be located under the safety wire and we can then get at the whole roof and do the full job.

 

 

Richard B and Richard B, otherwise known as Richards I and II, really are the kings of our electrics. Now enjoying lunch after a busy morning up at Toddington replacing more of the battery charging units on our "Covid 1" rake.

 

 

 

Hopefully it won't be too long before we can replace the somewhat sad names of "Covid 1" and "Covid 2" for our running rakes with our much missed "Main" and "Maroon". The former 3rd Rake is now simply a collection of out-of-use TSOs, SOs, etc, in the 3rd Rake siding and scattered about the yard.

 

I just couldn't resist taking this photo of Richard I returning all the items used for their work at Toddington. Definitely economy of travel very much to the fore!

 

 

 

Progress on RMB 1808 continues and isn't all that far from completion. The missing door is being rebuilt and its doorway needs a capping strip and the new pillar refitting. As for the painting and refreshing of the varnished parts, the end is also in sight. 

Jeff literally moved from job to job today taking on a number of tasks. The first was undercoating the new section of ceiling in 1808's centre vestibule. 

 

 

Richard J. attached the two GWR roundels to the lower panels of 1808. Transfer application is almost complete with just the coach numbers left to go on.

Back to BSK 34929 and my first job of the day, correcting Tuesday's lower line tape hiccup. With the incorrect narrow tape removed, the hard bottom paint line was carefully sanded flat, the area cleaned up, and the correct width tape applied.

Phil J is giving the left of the double doors an overall sanding down. Filler was later applied where needed and a base coat of undercoat Light Grey added. As far as possible it is important not to let the preparation of the doors fall behind. There's nothing worse than having a fully painted up coach with a completely un-prep'd door to tackle. Obviously with the doors taking time to repair and rebuild, they can be the last to be painted, so it's good to have them at least "greyed-up" with the base prep completed.

 

 

To the right of the double doors, another outstanding area having only had some basic prep was the narrow section between the guards compartment and first passenger door. Jeff sanded down existing filler, added more where needed, and then "greyed" it up. 

It's very encouraging for the Painting and Prep Team when the often very lengthy prep work finally disappears underneath paint. We will probably celebrate when we can at last paint CK 16221 in the Barn!

 

 

 

 

Again, more consistency as Jeff undercoats the south end, Cotswold side.

 

 

 

He went on to tackle what was left to do on the other side of the corridor connection, and a little more black glossing inside the connection itself.