Wednesday 29th - All hands to the pump

 With a number of jobs to do, we quickly decided who was doing what. Like yesterday many hands went over to the 'Queen Mary'.

The most time consuming was deciding how to replicate the four lamp brackets, bearing in mind we need 2 left hand and 2 right hand. They have to look authentic, so 3 of us started heating and bending metal, look out for next week's blog which should show the finished product.

Meanwhile Alex was applying paint to the inner parts of the 'Queen Mary'.

Something a bit different, its time for the annual PAT testing of everything electrical.

With our new bench arrangement, there is that bit more space for everyone. I should have asked Ken what he was doing.

Phil is making some small trolleys for manoeuvring doors inside the carriages, I thought they were roller skates.

 Due to a mechanical failure with the carpenters mitre saw, it was time for a new one. Richard is marking out the fixing points.

Geoff is concentrating, so I did not disturb him.

Gerry is cleaning parts for the 'Queen Mary, he seems to like working in the Barn .... maybe not so when the temperature drops.

John V is making a frame for storing used lubricants in the former oil barrel trolley. This will prevent any spillage onto the floor.

Jenny is cleaning up their work area in the upholstery shop.

Tuesday 28th - Mainly the QM

 A lot of concentration on the Queen Mary brake van today, but other work was done as well, and despite the relatively small attendance, a lot was achieved.

Beginning with the Queen Mary, Bob was back to internal roof scraping and sanding, before giving the whole area a coating of primer.

With his ears well plugged, Alan worked on the inside of the cabin with one of the two air sanders in use today. The cabin had a liberal amount of bits and pieces of old wood and seating which were taken out and stacked in the foreground - this pile was later removed and what was to be retained was stored elsewhere.

Later on Maurice was adding wood primer to the old planking on the Cotswold side of the van. Bob meanwhile, with his earlier job completed, was coating the ducket with grey etch primer.

Next job, a coat of etch primer on the roof end, another area of galvanised sheet metal.

A two-in-one of Bob adding anti-corrosive green primer to the cleaned up buffers and buffer beam, while in the background Maurice has moved round to the Malvern side to coat the old planking there with wood primer.

Wood filler had been liberally used on much of the planking around the whole van. Alex was in the process of sanding this down on one of the doors.  

Moving across to Dogfish 993121, of the three ballast wagons this so far had not had the hand wheels cleaned up and repainted. 

Tony set about this and when I photographed him he was well into undercoating the hopper door wheels.

The next job was to take the free'd up vacuum cylinder into the Workshop for servicing. The bolts securing the lid have been loosened and soaked in lubricant.

Meanwhile he had removed the old vacuum hoses and stripped off the connectors, which will be put onto new hose pipes.

Meanwhile Alex completed the repainting of the handwheels on Dogfish 992930 with the On - Off instructions painted in red.

Kevin, our very able stores man, was tidying up the main area at the north end of the Workshop, before tackling more jobs with our outside storage. 

Having cleared away all our display material after the weekend gala, it was time for a bit of a tidy up in the Paintshop. Wrapped up in a bag I once again came across this wonderful set of antiques that had been donated by a member of the Railway. They had been used by the father of a friend when he was based at Stratford Locomotive Works (Great Eastern / LNER). 

 

The date on the tin of varnish is 8/10/62, so almost 60 years old. I intend emailing copies of these photos to Williamson as I am sure they will be interested in seeing them.

 

With storm clouds and the wind increasing it eventually turned into a day of very heavy rain. Not much sitting outside after lunchtime! Before we know it we will be back to our Mess Room for our breaks.

It was an early finish today, but before locking up and departing, a final look at a very much transformed Queen Mary van.

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Finally a quick flashback to Gala Sunday 26th.

I think our days of acquiring transfers for our coaches may be over - well, as long as Alex is around. This is the north end of BSK 34929, the south end will be next. When I asked if he was doing the main numbers too, the reply was a very definite yes!

Saturday 25th - Diesel Gala Day

 A rather different blog from me on a Saturday. A small band of us gathered to meet any visitors to our workshops. It was a bit slow to start with, but as the number of trains went through an increasing number of inquisitive enthusiasts came to see what we do.

We had all the usual boards and finger posts out directing them through safe areas. Of course being a Saturday it was business as usual with much work happening around the 3 workshops.

Paul carried on with wire brushing and painting on the 'Queen Mary', even Henry was in on the act!

The original lamp brackets had been removed by 'Gas Axe'. The metalwork team will be making new ones and welding onto the bit that is left, when finished you won't see the join. A nice job for next Wednesday.

Fortunately Richard has been able to provide a living example of left and right hand brackets.

Over to the dirty gang, this brake cylinder was found to be faulty on one of the Dogfish. A tricky and awkward job but Tony, Ian and Andy sorted it.

Its a very tight fit, but in it must go.

George is making a superb job of rust and flaky paint removal on these water pipes, followed by the essential red oxide primer.

Pam divided her time with prepping mouldings for varnishing, and essentially trays of tea for everyone. Always a very important job.

Richard has put together a brilliant set of photos and information about the refurbishment of the 'Mink' A van. It is looking fantastic.

Of course it was 'Diesel Gala' Saturday, so we did get out there and wave to our visitors. A mixed day but nevertheless a very interesting day, it was good to talk to our enthusiasts who enjoyed a view of what we do in Carriage and Wagon.

Thursday 23rd - Preparations and introductions

It certainly was a busy day with shunting and other Gala preparations, a new member joining us, and all our usual general work.

As always that early cup of tea with which to relax and discuss the day's activities and all that has gone on since the previous week.

We were very pleased to welcome Roger, our new member who will be joining the Indoor Gang and so will also be involved with 3rd Rake Maintenance. Paul steadily works through what is now a very substantial induction, which provides our new staff with a very good grounding in the day-to-day life of the Works. Roger's "official" photo for inclusion in the Indoor Gang section of Meet The Teams (from the blog's home page) makes him look even more like David Dimbleby!

The Queen Mary van obviously drew much attention with time speeding on towards our big Gala in early November. Paul cleans up more of the north end platform prior to giving it a coat of red oxide.

In Tuesday's posting I mistakenly described these lengths of cut timber as more parts for the  Mink A van, whereas they are in fact replacements for the rotten bases of the veranda sills in the QM. Alex tests this piece - a perfect fit and the top slope at the correct angle.

Later in the morning, with the 3rd Rake shunting to prepare the relevant coaches for the Diesel Gala completed, the Queen Mary was moved into the Barn on the jack road. This not only brings the vehicle under cover and out of the bad weather forecasted for next week, but barring the jacks, this road has some good space on either side of the track.

With much of the metalwork cleaned up and primed, more focus is now on the wood planking. Jeff carefully sands one of the doors on the Cotswold side.

Later in the day Alex primes the original planks that have been carefully sanded. The original S R gradually disappears, but it will be back!

Capturing some of the other work going on during the day. Phil was preparing to refit the main valve to this toilet tank.

Underneath CK 16221 Richard is installing new cable.

Not long before the afternoon tea break as we stop to wave at the passengers and crew on the northbound train headed by 4270. P&O, looking glorious in the sunshine, has previously rounded Chicken Curve before running past with the southbound train. Passenger numbers are still very good.

Much later in the day with just a few of us left, Ian was loosing the bolts holding the small vacuum cylinder on the centre Dogfish wagon, which is due for servicing. During the day Richard H. top coated the undercoated handwheels on Dogfish wagon 993920.

Apologies for the small number of photos today, but most of my time was spent preparing the Works for the Gala opening with much appreciated help from Richard H. The end of the day and all the setting up is completed, leaving just the few on-the-day bits that can only be done immediately prior to opening up on Saturday and Sunday. The taped off visitor viewing area is very popular, especially with photograhers with that great sweep of track coming round from Chicken Curve.

In the lobby the various trestles stand waiting to be put out at the start of each day. Let's hope for a good fine weekend and plenty of visitors to the Railway with what will be our first gala since before the pandemic.