Tuesday 13th - More preparations and achievements

Not many of us in today, but there was certainly a lot done, and although Tuesday is normally the Painting Team day, more coach movements took place to lessen and help ease the amount of work needed for the big shunt on Monday 19th.

Both Stu and Maurice are in early, and by early I mean 7.30 - 7.45, so as often happens some jobs are completed with still just the three of us in attendance. Inside TSO 4614 in the yard, Stu adds a second coat of varnish to the new panel (on the left) and while at it, also refreshed the backs of the two sets of doors. This was followed by a fresh coat of black gloss on the skirting boards in the vestibule.

 

Maurice began his day adding filler to a prepared (i.e. cleaned up and painted in oxide)  depression in the lower line on TSO 4763. Being a 3rd Rake coach it has been placed at the far end of the siding, so will remain there to be joined next Monday by the other coaches selected for the 3rd Rake. 

Then it was back into the Workshop and more cleaning up of the side of the gutter to remove the scabby remains of old paint. The gutter was then given a fresh coat of Light Grey undercoat.

Another essential job is the annual polishing of the Discovery Coach BG, in reality this time being two years because of the pandemic. It was exceptionally hard work, especially with the sun beating down. When this was completed, Maurice, Roger and I moved on to the ramps to repaint the railings and metal sides in GW Brown top coat.

Richard appeared, but the orange overalls have been swapped for a smarter look as he has his Railway Catering Services "hat" on today.

P&O passes with the first train of the day to Cheltenham. 

 

A welcome tea break amongst the lovely station garden.

While Alex was busy signwriting on the newly repainted side of the Gunpowder Van, the first two coaches in the shunt came by. Prior to this the two ballast wagons and other vehicles had to be moved out of the Barn/Workshop siding to the Barn jack road, simply to make room. Any major shunting within the yard and station environs has to be planned beforehand with a written script, all very necessary with the limited space available. The script had been written by John H. who was shunter, with Ian driving the 03 as usual.

Both coaches were from the Cotswold side of the yard.

Another shunting movement brings RMB 1876 and TSO 4614 from the 3rd Rake siding into Platform 2.

A blog posting "Shunting Operations" by Andy Th. was published in late February this year, which describes much of what is entailed with this activity. 

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Next a sequence describing the various stages in the signwriting done by Alex for the Gunpowder Van.

Initially he records all the signs to be painted, noting the sizes and fonts of the letters and numbers, and their exact location on the vehicle side. He then prepares the relevant number of prints at home with the various letters and numbers in the correct sizes and fonts.

The next stage is to build up the combinations required, very carefully sticking the various pieces of paper together. The reverse side of each batch is then rubbed with French Chalk.

The collated pieces of paper for "G. P." (of the G. P. V. logo) are placed on the van side. Alex then checks the exact location using his earlier measurements before sticking this down with tape.

Using another example, once the collated pieces of paper are attached, Alex carefully runs a pencil over the edges of all the letters and numbers.

Returning to the "G. P. V.", the first two letters and full stops are now clearly marked in the chalk left over from the pencil pressing.

With mahl stick ever present, Alex will then paint each letter using the chalk outline as the marker.

Job done, and what an excellent effort!

A final look at the Discovery Coach with the polishing completed and the disabled ramps now repainted, all looking very much better.