2022 roundup

Well that was 2022, another hectic year in Carriage & Wagon. The first full calendar year where we were unhampered by lockdowns, and the new normal, whatever that is. So a canter through the highlights of the year seem in order. It's impossible to record everything here, if you want more go back and read some of the posts over the last year - looking back it's amazing how much we've done.

So, starting off casting our minds back to the winter close season, the shutdown project for the paintshop was TSO 5042:

2021 saw the upholstery team redo all the seating so it made sense to make the exterior look as fresh and new as the interior.

At the same time the Mink A had its finishing touches added and was shunted into the daylight complete for the first time:

Another winter shutdown project was some refurbishment works to the in service RBr, 1672:

BCK 21092 also had its tyres sent away for turning and some other work done on it while it was up in the air:

There was also what seemed like a never ending amount of shunting for all the various servicing requirements and rake re-arranging:

Come the new season then, and a gap in the paintshop schedule emerged which we filled with something a bit different - the bubblecar! The upholstery team had already spent the first part of the year doing the seats up for it:

And by July the painting team had worked their magic:

It was on prominent display during the Summer diesel gala and then went back up to Toddington for its interior refurbishment to continue.

The major project of the year, or really the next few years, entered the works in March; RBr 1675:

It's going to be a long job, but the teams have certainly got stuck in this year. The most striking element has been the amount of metal replacement, both panelling and structural. The amount of floor cross bearer replacement has been unprecedented:

And another first has been utilising completely new pressed steel ends:

Work hasn't just focussed on the body. Although it will be some time before they're ready to go in, Upholstery soon worked their way through the set of loose chairs for the vehicle:

The dirty gang have spent quite some time cleaning up the bogies, dismantling and servicing parts where required:

And of course the door team have attempted to get ahead of the game and do as much work as possible so that when the body is ready, the doors are ready to be re-hung:

Another neat project for the upholstery team was a set of cab chairs for the diesel department, turned around in their usual crisp fashion:

The major wagon project for the majority of this year has been the total body rebuild of Toad 17392, formerly allocated to Croes Newdd. Here's how it looked shortly after work began:

It had had several quick facelifts over the years and was now distinctly tatty. Being a brake vehicle though, it was key to gala goods train operations so work was on a tight deadline, and in the end it ended up being done in two phases. Here it is outshopped Late May, taken from a low angle to hide the still parlous roof!

After a successful gala outing, of which more shortly, it was brought back in and the roof completely replaced too:

The run up to the steam gala in June saw a quite astonishing amount of work done on wagons to get as many ready and looking their best as possible. Looking back it's hard to believe we did so much in so little time.

First up is the Macaw B 84974. This one was done at Toddington and involved a complete repaint and about a third of the planked deck replaced:

Time really was against the beer tank which was really looking too scruffy to send out again. In the end, the Conflat had a reasonable job done on it, while the tank itself had some paint hurriedly thrown over the old surface with minimal prep, so this is one to return to at some point. Nevertheless, it did the job and looked much smarter:

Just 8 days separates the following two photos! Mink A 142594 was fundamentally sound but very shabby and in the wrong livery:

After a thorough sanding, a few minor body repairs, and some rather late shifts pulled, it ended up looking like this:

A fine addition to our rapidly growing GWR era goods train.

With that theme in mind, we really wanted to run the Gunpowder van, so we thought we probably ought to restore the non-platform side of it too. It looked splendid in the rake:

Indeed the whole rake garnered many positive comments, and with 12 vehicles in the main GWR set:

And another 4 for the Winchcombe shunt:

It was a fine show indeed, and another first as we saw the first goods train to Broadway that weekend too:

One wagon which did miss out on the party was Water Tank 106, still slowly making progress at Toddington. It is at least recognisable as a tank wagon now, even if the tank isn't quite on yet:

The main summer project for the Toddington wagon gang was the cosmetic restoration of the 2 ex-MOD wagons being used for coal storage. They had been collected from Hunting Butts and although were more or less sound, were covered in graffiti:

The brief was initially simply to clean them up and give them a coat of paint to make them less of an eyesore, but things sort of developed, and before you knew it, not only had they been painted in local private owner liveries, but they'd been made FTR as well to join the goods train in time for the Autumn gala:

Next up a couple of wagon projects that kept the Winchcombe team occupied during the summer. These ones really will remain static as they either have a static use or are not fit to run. Either way, they still now look so much better, no longer eyesores in the yard but attractions in their own right, the Macaw H 107328:

Still needs the timber planked deck fitting, but from a low angle looks complete,

And the Friends of Winchcombe Toad 35357:

Phew, that was a lot of wagons! Perhaps the culmination of all the wagon activities of the year was the photo charter with 4270 on the goods train in November. With a beautiful sunny day, it really showed off what we've been doing:

Right, back to carriages for a little bit, and we were all rather taken with the new first class moquette bought in to do the first class compartments in BCK 21092:

Yet to be fitted, but doesn't it look stunning.

Keeping the wagon team occupied at the beginning of winter was a quick refresh of BR Vanfit 774445, used by P'way. The plywood doors were falling to bits but the rest was relatively sound and just needed a quick repaint. The new doors just about squeaked in being fitted in 2022 being done on new year's eve:

Work has begun on the first of next year's major rebuilds already too, GWR Mogo 65642:

The dirty gang also had a wagon to play with over winter, one of the Elks used for transporting rail and sleepers came in for a bogie lift and general exam, certainly an unusual sight on the jack road:

Saving the best 'til last, CK 16221 has been the major project nearing completion this year. A Cinderella coach for so many years, with several restoration attempts faltering due to asbestos and other reasons, it is finally nearly there. At the beginning of the year there was still a fair bit to do:

Just under a year later, not quite ready to emerge from the paintshop, but very nearly there:

On the outside, painting is virtually complete and varnishing is well under way.

The interior panelling is all complete and has seen several coats of varnish:

The corridor is looking the business:

Compartments just some minor details left to fit, the upholstery dug out of storage having been completed some 10 years ago:

Toilet compartments shaping up nicely:

And the stretcher window is finally fitted and working after an awful lot of head-scratching:

So there we are, the year in C&W!

Thanks to our electronic sign in system, we can report that there were 3912 attendances by volunteers this year, logging a total of 990 days 7 hours - a phenomenal achievement.

On the blog side of things, we have had over 170,000 views this year, and almost 500 comments, for which we are enormously grateful, thank you, it makes it all worthwhile. We can claim a world-wide audience too:

Our top ten most viewed posts this year have been:

1. Evolution - a survey of our Mk 1 coach interiors
2. Saturday 15th - Shunting on Ice
3. Saturday 12th - back with a Bumpy Start
4. 4270 goods train charter
5. 2021 roundup
6. Saturday 30th - Good progress everywhere
7. Thursday 3rd/Saturday 5th - Mainly good and even brilliant, with a lovely ending!
8. Friday 22nd/Saturday 23rd - Wagons all over the place
9. Saturday 26th - Summer already?
10. Tuesday 11th - Just about there and some very sad news

All that remains is to wish our followers a Happy New Year, many thanks again for all the interest shown in this blog, let's see what 2023 brings!