Thursday 16th - A Welcome Visit

 A quieter day with not so many in as the Christmas period begins to make itself felt. 

It was however very pleasant to have a visit from Eddie and Val. Eddie, our former Head of Woodwork, retired early this year after a very long time with C&W. Val had made some delicious mincemeat goodies which went down very well during our morning tea break - thank you Val.

We also met Willow, Eddie and Val's new Labrador, who was very pleased to see everybody, although I suspect it was really wanting to know who has the biscuits !

Beginning with BSK 34929, Richard continued working on the Cotswold side central passenger door and surround where he left off on Tuesday. Jeff carried on with this later in the day. It shouldn't be too long now before the preparation work is finished and we can begin undercoating this final area.

On Tuesday the yellow hadn't covered very well on the this lengthy section of line despite two coats, so Jeff added a third which was a big improvement.

Mostly you win, but occasionally you lose and this was one of those times. The removal of the tape took off some of the second top coat of the maroon paint and messed up some of the yellow lining out, accompanied by some very blue airings. Very annoying after all the hard work put in by Roger, Jeff and myself, and especially as all the other lining out on this side had gone on so well. So some corrective work to do before we can add the central black section.

In the Barn TSO 4763 has been lowered on to the refurbished bogies. Ian and John are doing some adjustments to the bogies now that the weight of the coach is on them.

Over to the Third Rake siding to see how the Indoor Gang are doing. Lots of things happening with FO 3132 "Mary", but where is everyone?

Ah ha - here they are, having a well earned break, and a good laugh!

TSO 5042 is one of the possibles for a winter shutdown quick repaint. Some repair work has already been done internally at the north end, while all the seating has been completely re-covered by the Upholstery Team.

Richards I and II were once again doing an upgrade to the battery charging equipment. Richard I informed me that when this has been completed, every one of the running coaches in all three rakes will have been dealt with. Well done both, an excellent job!

If 5042 does come in for a repaint, I think we will need a new battery box as well!

Finally into TK 24006 to see the progress there. A photo of Bob K. undercoating one of the compartment ceilings at the north end of the coach.

In the corridor, Dave is re-attaching one of the many panels that have been cleaned up and varnished. The re-fitting isn't permanent - all these will be removed again once the coach eventually comes in for full restoration, but as Dave says, putting them back now does mean they are out of harms way with respect to other on-going work.

Other things going on today included Nick and Bob  S. doing preparatory work with respect to creating a waste oil bund and setting up a shelter for both this and our heating oil tank. More painting was done with items on the Paintshop trestles, including the restored scotches and the various parts of the new axlebox tool.