Saturday 11th - Hot!

 A very warm and muggy day today, but ended with a nice storm and some much needed rain.

Starting off in the barn where a wheel swap was taking place to finish off the RBr's bogies.

John marks the wheelset number on the new axle before it is rolled in.

Job done as Andy looks on. By the end of the day they were tarped up ready to go outside, this is all we can do until the rest of the coach is finished and we put the bogies underneath and see how it sits on its springs.

The team are doing well in the RBr saloon, ceiling panels were the order of the day today, Simon and Alan with the glue.

Steve fitting the next one in place.

The end of the day and considerable progress made, Alan's still thinking about the next step!

Robert was back on door liners, routing another one into shape.

While Ben was sorting out another door lock. Quite the production line.

There are a number of things and arrangements slightly different on the RBr to standard coaches when it comes to doors and windows, and I was amused to see a whole contingent of people walking back on the platform having gone to look at the in service RBr to see if that could shed any light on the confusion. Questions remain to be answered, and we might not be too popular if we start dismantling the serviceable one for some exploratory surgery.

The Santa coach saw some more paint today despite the relatively low numbers and the heat. Pat progressed the undercoating on the Malvern side. I gave almost all the Cotswold side a second top coat, but a picture of that would have looked largely the same.

But I finished off the day making some more visible signs of activity by making a start on the tool van, currently parked alongside the paintshop by sanding down the bits I could reach back to bare wood. It's mostly ok but there are a few small areas we need to repair somehow when it comes in properly.

It was also a nice shady spot to watch the trains go by, Foremarke Hall cautiously chuffs past - we don't want any lineside fires!

John was saving the company money today - the milling machine needed a new part but it cost £60. "Huh, I can make that" Said John.

So he did - well done!

The other activity going on today was a lot of heavy lifting of these wooden cabinets and shelving. These have been in storage for some years but are now going to be moved up to Broadway for the new shed shop. Quite why we were moving them out of a rail vehicle to move them from Winchcombe to Broadway wasn't entirely clear however...

Finally for today new volunteer Helen was getting stuck into upholstery today and John let her loose with the electric carving knife to carve up the foam for the next delivery of seats for the Dean Forest.

Another new volunteer who didn't make the blog on Wednesday is Steve (l), who was keen to get involved in some wagon woodwork. The Barry wagon's doors were falling apart, so that's his first job, timber components accumulating behind as Geoff helps cut.

Also on the wagon front, a little update on the chaired sleeper wagon at Toddington. 

We don't always know where we're going to end up, this time the first job was a bit of gardening to get this large weed out of the way!

Work has progressed on the cosmetic work while we contemplate replacing all the spring hangers, with the end in gloss black, many other areas now cleaned up and either primed or undercoated.

The last couple of weeks have been very pleasant weather for evening working.

And we frequently work until it's too dark to carry on, which at this time of the year can be as late as 10pm. if anyone fancies joining our small band you will be very welcome!