Tuesday 14th - Back to the usual and another surprise (non-railway)

It was back to the usual Tuesday gang with several returning after spells away. It was somewhat wet to say the least but that didn't stop us rushing out as usual to watch the passing trains, which looked very atmosperic in the damp conditions.

The Shark, being stabled just outside the end of the Paintshop, is very handy when it comes to watching the trains in wet weather. While Foremarke Hall waits with the northbound train, Maurice, Stu, Roger and Alex watch P&O approach with the second train of the day.

As the train passes, the crew acknowledges our presence on the veranda, as do many of the passengers all happily waving and looking surprised to see us where we were..

Foremarke comes by with the early train from Cheltenham

So, what were we up to during the day? During the course of the past few weeks with all the work on the doors and doorway frames on BSK 34929, we had generated a fair amount of dust. Although there is still a lot to do, clearing this is still a very worthwhile job, so Richard set to with the Henry. Even the compartment door windows needed a good dusting, as can be seen with the nearest one.

In the process of making even more dust, but the jobs had to be done, are Stu and Maurice working on the Guards doorframe and centre passenger door respectively.

The new aluminium capping strip now given a coat of etch primer and the passenger door sides cleaned up and coated in base undercoat Light Grey.

Maurice completes this job with a coating on the top of the door frame.

Keith continued the cleaning up of the four table tops destined for the compartments in 34929. 

With the sanding of the edges now completed, the first coat of varnish has been applied. It was originally thought that these would have to be repainted as the original paint had gone too far into the grain, but with the combined efforts of Keith and Pam (last weekend), even the graffitti on one of them had been removed. A second coat will be added by Pam on Saturday.

Alex was rostered as guard during the afternoon, but was with us for the morning. One of the larger station noticeboards belonging to Toddington was being reconstructed following his excellent efforts with the paintwork and signwriting.

In Upholstery Dave uses the electric bread knife to shape the foam. This would be impossible to cut neatly by any other method.

Another carefully marked out piece awaits his attention. Dave stated that there were about three seat bays left to do in TSO 5042.

Returning about an hour later and Dave is already well into rebuilding this seat base. The large pins are being inserted to secure the white canvas and foam to the base prior to stapling.

In the Barn the outer two of the three Dogfish ballast wagons are having the hand wheels for the hopper doors and brakes repainted. Continuing this lengthy job was Roger, working on 992930.

Clean up completed and the hopper wheels now ready for some red oxide and then white paint. 

The hopper wheels on 993061 also ready for painting. Just the brake wheels on both vehicles left to clean up.

Finally last, but most definitely not least, is Alan busy working on four lamps brought in by Alex for use on the Shark ballast plough next week (Alex will be guard).

Several of us joined in and at the end of the day the white lamps had been undercoated, while the black ones were finished.

Returning to Alan it is amazing the backgrounds that some of us have in our lives. During one of our recent tea breaks Alan, who originally lived in Brecon before moving to Cheltenham a few years ago, talked about his ancestry and we were in for quite a suprise !

Alan's great, great, great uncle (a harpist by profession) went out for a walk one evening and on his return home said to his father "Dad , I've thought of this wonderful tune". He then picked up his harp and played the tune. His father instantly took up his pen and wrote some words to go with it. The result was 'Land of my Fathers", the Welsh national anthem.

 

That was on his grandfather's side of the family. 

 

On his grandmother's side and further back in history, on the battlefield at Agincourt to be precise, one of her ancestors was listed by Shakespeare as Davy Gam Esquire in the list of the English dead. In fact his title is wrong as he put himself in between Henry V and a French knight, who was about to inflict a serious injury on the King, and in doing so received a fatal wound himself. He was knighted by the king either as he lay dying or posthumously. The name Gam has no doubt perpetuated to modern times because Alan's grandmother's surname had evolved to become Games.