Thurs 20th / Fri 21st - Getting ready / The shunt

Firstly apologies for no Tuesday posting. I was in, but go so bogged down sorting things out as the day progressed that I gave up on the idea of grabbing photos. There was in fact just a small group of us in attendance.

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Thursday

On now to Thursday and another very varied day, grabbing what time we could with any outside jobs, ever threatened by the weather.

First job for me was to sort out the latest paint order from T&RW, this time requested by Alex for the Wagon Team's next projects, the GW Tool Vans and second tank wagon. The empty tin was used for packing, and is very gratefully accepted for when one of ours occasionally gets some over zealous closing.

Glyn appeared, partly to make last minute arrangements for getting the last bit of shelving up to Toddington Shop (via the DMU), and partly to pick up another batch of moquette cushions from Upholstery, which are continuing to sell well.

 

On to the jobs for the day. With the weather seemingly reasonable (well at the moment anyway), it was another chance to continue our restoration of the Royal Mail Coach in Platform 2 Bay to its former glory. While discussing tactics, the positioning train came through behind Foremarke to collect the first passengers of the day from Cheltenham.

 

There had been a paint spillage earlier in the week, so we skipped a section to tackle this one instead. With Phil on filling (no pun intended!) and Jeff with the pad sander, the spill was soon cleaned away and the panel made ready for undercoating.

All we need now is some dry weather without the heat. Unfortunately the next week or so is either heavy rain or showers - we can but hope for some dry spells.

On Tuesday Alex managed to get a top coat on the first cleaned up section and what an improvement. Bob M. has repainted the whole of this side of the roof, so already we have a glimpse of what we hope the coach will soon be returned to.

External improvements continue to be done with S&T's SO. It might only be rust treatment, hole patching with gaffer tape, and a coat of Green Primer, but it looks so much better that the hotch-potch of dirty old paint and rust. While Maurice works on this side, Dave has started on the Cotswold side.

Over to the 3rd Rake to find Geoff and Alan reinstating the south vestibule ceiling in RMB 1808 after fixing a leak.

Old and new bits of pipe involved with the issue.

Paul and Dennis were busy with cleaning in the 4th Rake.

At the south end of the rake in SK 25488, Roger is fixing a leak in the toilet compartment maintenance cupboard.

Returning via the Barn to capture Ken stripping down more of the north end of FK 13326. Following its greying up some time ago, there is some further filling and sanding required on the Malvern side, which we will soon be returning to.

Then swivelling 180 degrees to capture the almost completed Creosote Tanker, now with all its lettering and numbering finished (nice one Alex!).

Meanwhile Chris has made a new support, which he is now inserting between the tank and stanchions.

Bob K. continues the preparation and undercoating on the new Barry Van doors. Further along the wall, the new steps for Tool Van 4 were also given more primer.

Now back into the Workshop to see today's efforts on 1675. Phil continues fitting the restored light strips to the ceiling above the seating area.

Richard installs more cabling in the former toilet compartment at the south end.

Derek prepares the north end corner for more panel supports, initially drilling some necessary holes in the framework.

Annoying when this happens - fortunately it was extracted easily.

John checks the tread thicknesses on this set of wheels. The refurbished Commonwealth bogies in the Barn are destined to go under 1675.

The coach exterior improves weekly as the windows are steadily reinstated.

In addition to the windows, Gerry is also replacing the missing bits of gutter.

Various thoughts have been given as to what we do with the remaining bodywork where the original paint and filler layer still exist. There is far too much to fill, so the most likely will be anglegrinding it all off. This sounds a lot of work, but we had to do this with BCK 21092 which had a badly corroded surface and the result was very successful. Meanwhile an area had been paint stripped and to be fair, it looked pretty good, and as such Richard H.'s pad sand gave a good result - the downside, a lot of paint stripper had to be used.

On the Cotswold side Maurice had a go with the anglegrinder and the result was a good clean surface. As suggested above, this will be the most likely course of action. With Nick and the team now cleaning up the skirting welds, the Painting and Prep team will no doubt begin to put more effort towards 1675.

I wonder how many photos have been taken so far of this major work? If we ever create a storyboard about RBr 1675 to add to the others on the Paintshop wall, it's going to be an almost impossible job trying to pick just 7-8 out of the, by now, many hundreds already taken, never mind all the many hundreds still to come!

Although tackled first thing in the day, I deliberatley left the Santa Coach til last. Those who have been following its progress will guess why - it's finished! Richard and Bob complete the last bit of varnishing.

All that was left to do was highlight the Malvern side builders plate, one of Jeff's favourite jobs. Actually the lettering on this wasn't very distinct in places and gave Jeff a headache or two.

 Bob and Richard proudly stand by the completed coach. 

It's getting towards the end of the day and time to get ready for the big shunt tomorrow, with all obstructions cleared out of the way. The Santa coach will be returned to Platform 1 Bay where it should look stunning in its new livery.

The north end of the Workshop has been cleared of all the scaffold towers, the gibbet hoist, and the new battery boxes for 1675. All the steps and ladders alongside 1675 have been cleared and doors secured. The Barn through road will have been similarly done.

So, let's hope it all works as planned and that the weather is kind.

The Usk Goods Office, a wonderful restoration done by the Heritage Team, and its siding soon to be the home to the LNWR Van, Gloucester RUC Toad, and the Macaw. The new grass and fencing finish it off a treat, and everybody loves that perfectly shaped tree (best viewed from across the line).

                                                                                                                  Dave C.

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Friday shunting from Alex

So, the big day finally arrived! 2 teams on site, a shunting team and a RBr underframe team.

First job (well, after we'd shunted a whole load of other stuff well out the way like the fourth rake) was to pull the tank wagon out into the daylight for the first time since its refurb. Doesn't it look great! Just some bits of timber to insert at the ends, other than that, done.

Then the FK and RBr had to come out...

And the RBr went over onto the jack road.

Up, up in the air, for the team to push out the accommodation bogies..

And do a number of jobs on the underframe while it was at a convenient height.

Next up on the shunting list was the Santa coach. First we had to pull it out of the paintshop, then pull the Friends of Winchcombe station wagons out of the bay, before we could put Santa in place, but there it is, looking so much more cheerful in crimson and cream.

That concluded the morning's activities.

After lunch, the real fun began, with a trundle to the other side of the yard. First job over was to hoik the Macaw H out of the way.

Then get these two rather tatty looking wagons that had been rather prominently on display into the station.

Then the master plan could be put into place - the Usk siding now has wagons!

The crew of the first train into the siding are rather pleased with themselves, members of the branch line society would be jealous, I got all the way to end end on the Toad!

Another view with the sun out, showing the carefully planned order so as not to hide the superbly rebuilt Usk hut from passing trains.

Then it was back to more up and down, up and down. Because we'd parked the fourth rake on the mainline down towards the tunnel to get it out the way, the track circuitry wouldn't allow the signalman to clear one of the signals we needed to go past, so he red then green flagged us to go past it at danger with permission.

After a lot of toing and froing in the middle siding on the up side, the second master plan began, 2 tool vans at once!

They went straight into the paintshop, yipee!

Whilst walking through, things were looking encouraging on the RBr with its shiny new bogies underneath and the body carefully lowered back down again.

After a bit more back and forth it was time to put the train set away for the day, so we went and collected the fourth set off the mainline in very pleasant conditions.

A somewhat weary crew knowing we're nearly done.

So, two tool vans in the paintshop, let's crack on!

But that's for tomorrow, a brilliant day's work by everyone involved with loads achieved. Well done all.

Lastly, just a caveat from me, although I was one of two shunters today along with Clive, I only took photos either when everything had stopped or when Clive was taking sole responsibility for a move and I was in a position of safety. Just for the record. :)

 

                                                  Alex

 

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