Tuesday 27th - Concentration

The day started off fairly quietly, but as the gang gradually appeared the job allocations around BG 81049 soon had the project steadily heading towards the finale. The plan is to shunt the coach out on Thursday 6th May, so at the time of publishing this report we have just 3 days left to complete everything planned.

Stu and Maurice kicked off the work with the taping up of the lower and upper lines respectively on the Malvern side. The yellow had been completed on Saturday, so just the black to add to finish the lining out.

Maurice now applies black gloss to the upper line. Stu had already done his at this end - just the tape to remove to reveal a crisp black and yellow line.

 On the Cotswold side Richard began cleaning up the windows.

 

Phil tidied up the strip of wooden floor behind the chequer plate at the south end with some filler, after which this was painted.

Having had a good hard look at the BG on Saturday we decided that all the underframe fittings on this side would greatly improve the overall appearance of the coach if cleaned up and repainted. Roger has made a good start with the Underframe Gloss Black.

A quick errand to our Admin HQ to pick up a package and then on return into Upholstery to find Dave in the process of adding a stiff base to this chair and placing cup washers on the various drilled holes.

Back to the Barn and Stu, having completed his lining out and all tape removed, began black glossing the various handles, door stops, grab rails, etc.

Roger was doing a very professional job on the Cotswold side with all the underframe fittings. The cover to the gas bottle cabinet was on top of the nearby trestle (I had earlier cleaned this up ready for painting).

The only regular opener on the BG is the Cotswold side guards door so Richard is completing the bits of lining out on the edges of the door and door frame. The back of that door could do with a repaint as could much of the inside, but unfortunately we haven't enough time for what would be a considerable project in its own right.

The first return trip of the day comes past the Works with cheery waves from the crew and passengers.

With his lining out now completed, Maurice has joined Stu with the black glossing of the various furnishings.

It's often only when the overall job is nearing completion and the pressure eases that certain things become more obvious. Some of the windows need some extra sealant, so Richard is going round applying this where necessary. These bits will be painted up on Thursday.

In the background Roger is now painting the cover for the gas bottle cabinet. 

Kevin was back in and completed a number of very useful jobs, one of which was repairing the step into our main container.

Phil transferred to the new battery box in the Paintshop, adding the relevant undercoats - white to the inside and dark grey to the exterior. The wood base sections for the new coathooks in 81049's guards compartment were also painted in Cream gloss.

Apologies to Dave, Robert and Phil, the SK 24006 gang, as the promised photo wasn't taken. They are making considerable progress with the steady removal of the seating into storage.

A final look at BG 81049 before closing up for the day.