Tuesday 12th - Certainly lots of variety
An interesting day with all sorts going on, including a large delivery of planking for the Toad brake van, unfortunately in the rain!
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However, firstly to answer the three comments from last Thursday's posting which basically by the time I read them it was a bit too late to respond directly.
As ever Dave a fine blog...do like the final photo.
Thank you Michael. Nice to know we are doing the right thing. As for the photo, I was sat on the table opposite and saw Nick and Gerry slumped down, tired but happy, and knew it was a photo opportunity not to be missed.
The area where the buffer sits on the mink van would seem to need a dose of needle gunning to remove scale that appears to be visible, moreso after the red oxide primer was applied
That's a good point David. I guess Gerry thought a simple clean up with the angle grinder was enough. Certainly when the buffer is repaired and remounted, a sealant will be applied all round to prevent water ingress, and as such a bit of uneveness on the buffer beam will not be a problem. I will ask Gerry when I next see him.
Great photos Dave.
I
can only think that there may be less remedial work to do on the tables
if they were detachable and stored in the rake until needed, say in the
brake van luggage area. It would stop infants, (and older children),
standing or being stood on them!, as the only tables that really need to
be permanently in
position are in the buffet/restaurant car and its associated carriages for dining. Just a thought.
Regards, Paul.
Thank you Paul. I enjoy taking all the photos, and being a roving reporter round the Works and Yard capturing our activities can be very interesting and feels now very much part of my job.
Regarding the tables, there are simply too many throughout the 8 coach rakes to be able to do anything like removal and storage, and they are actually fixed to the floor in many cases. Also of course they are there for our passengers to be able to put their drinks on and any food bought, as well as personal belongings. It is unfortunate that we occasionally have thoughtless parents who, as you say, stand their young children on them. Our train staff are always on the watch for this and if seen soon request the parents to remove their child from the table. The only removable tables are those set up in the special areas for disabled passengers as they may need more room if in a large wheelchair..
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Now on to Tuesday's activities.
As stated at the beginning it was a very wet morning with the rain intensifying towards midday. Thankfully it cleared up later on.
The Toad brake van was really "under attack" today with five busily working on it and the angle grinders buzzing away. Maurice cleans up one of the south end buffers.
Paul is doing likewise on the main ribs on the Cotswold side.
Alex and Richard are discussing progress and the next stages in the refurbishment.
Stu takes a break from his angle grinding to have a very necessary sweep up.
Later in the day I noticed that Alex had disappeared from the Paintshop. I soon guessed where he was. The south end planking is being retained as its condition is pretty good.
In Upholstery Dave is assembling one of the RBr chairs that required repairs. Earlier on he had been down in the Woodwork shop hunting dowels.
The chair back awaiting refitting.
Returning later, the chair had been reassembled and Dave was busy fixing the two sections of ply that form the seat base.
Four more chairs, all with their final coats of varnish and ready to go upstairs for Upholstery to do their magic.
While talking to Dave I noticed the two stools and beautifully re-covered chair in the corner. I don't know where these are destined, but it would be nice to paint the stools. As for the chair it is genuine GWR as can be seen in the photo below.
In the main Workshop Dave H. is cleaning up one of the many luggage racks from CK 16221.
More of the underseat grills from 16221 are be given the first of two coats of silver Hammerite by Alan.
Time to refit the south end door on the Malvern side of 16221. Ainsley first ensures the bodyside hinges are clear and clean.
Once again the door hoist is in use. This makes the job of lifting and fitting the door back down on to the bodyside hinges so much easier and an easy task for two people.
A shuffle of some of the items at the north end of the Paintshop enabled all the trestles to be put in place so that the various doors from 16221 can be given more coats of varnish by the Wednesday team.
Moving on to the Bubblecar, where Ian sands down the door edges and frames, and door backs, at the Cotswold side south end. The old warning notices on the door backs are also being removed.
Bob top coated the Malvern side part of the roof ........................
.................... and then harnessed up to do the centre section. This completed the roof top coating. We will have a good look later in the week to see if we need a second coat.
The various parts for corridor connection rain covers, having been coated in red oxide, have been painted in gloss black by Keith.
Currently Alex is working on notice boards from Cheltenham Racecourse Station. Keith now black glosses the back of this board.
Later in the afternoon Alex is back in the Paintshop and now well into the repaint of this particular board. In the background are various sized rectangles of plastic noticeboard that are being painted to become train timetables for hanging on the larger boards.
Steam always looks great on damp days. Dinmore pulls in with a Cheltenham bound train, while 4270 waits in Platform 2 with the train to Toddington and Broadway.
The whistles blow and, as the coaches in Platform 1 slowly move away, 4270 thunders past with our Maroon Rake.
