Thursday 5th - Even some shunting going on

It was a very busy day, to the point where I saw but actuallly didn't manage to photo the shunting. The Fruit C van is now at the end of the headshunt next to the Army RBr - I'm guessing it is being returned to Platform 1 Bay ready for the Santa season.

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Firstly to answer a comment in my Tuesday posting.

Neil    October 4, 2023 at 9:59 PM

With all the work on the NYMR carriage will we be trying to buy the coach or are the repairs part of the hire deal? Do we know if it’s going to choc and cream or staying it’s original colour?

The two NYMR coaches are a free loan for 10 years. When they arrived we did various repairs both inside and out, and have since continued to treat them as though they are our own, keeping them in good condition and making any repairs as necessary. SK 24804 has always been the brightest of the two and although there are some rust patches, the paintwork is in relatively good condition and polishes up well. SK 25488 on the other hand has always been dull with its varnish coating very tired looking. As such I am very pleased that we are now repainting it. The crimson and cream livery will remain, as will the other aspects such as the black roof and gutters, and cream corridor connection doors. The only difference will be the painted lining out, numbers and lettering. The two coaches will soon look great together. I don't know what will happen when the 10 years are up as to whether they will return to the NYMR or remain for a further period.

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On now to today's activities. 

Maurice wanted a change after all the priming and the undercoating so far done on Tool Van 92, so why not dig out the red top coat and paint the ends? As with No.4, the south end looked very striking when he had finished it.

Also as with 4, some of the footboards on 92 were in a bad way. Chris test fits the new one he has made for the Cotswold side. 

"The bolt holes all line up, over to you now Dave to get the step painted up".

With the south end top coated Maurice later returned to the undercoating on the Malvern side.

Geoff and Alan had noticed that the toilet compartment doors in SK 24949 (3rd Rake) weren't moving very well. The hinges have been removed and will be closely inspected. Geoff struggles to take this one apart. I didn't enquire whether they had any success - a "must do" for next Thursday.

Also going over to the 3rd Rake and SK 24949 was Bob to continue repainting thr Malvern side toilet compartment.

A later walk down the yard to see how Dave was getting on with tidying up the Army RBr.

On the way back to the Works I spotted the four new stands that Keith had finished painting on Tuesday. Of course, they were for PWay, I remember being told now.

Rex and Bryan were busy fitting the final window frame on the Malvern side of 1675. A job for me in the late afternoon was to grind off the old paint and underlying filler underneath two of the windows on the Cotswold side to allow enough space for when the frames are fitted.

Another meeting with Richards I and II, and Phil, to discuss the latest in the electrical work in 1675. The RBr is a very complex vehicle in many aspects, hence the need for the many charts, diagrams and discussions.

The plan for today was to test the lighting circuitry. The 24 volt box in the kitchen area was once again opened up and with Richard II on board, ..........................

........... and Phil and Richard I below at the underframe junction box, testing could begin.

A different job for Bryan and Rex was the removal of one of TSO 5042's vacuum cylinders ......

................. which Ian links up to the mini vacuum pump and subsequently tests.

In the Barn Derek continues the stripping out of FK 13326's south vestibule in preparation for the rebuild of the end frame and new end panels.

Upholstery have been busy! There are 15 more cushions here, ................

.............. plus another 4 on the rack, ..............

................... and another 6 in the making. Julia, in charge of our shops, had turned up and was in conversation when I arrived. She later left with the 15 that were on the side bench.

On now to the progress with SK 25488 where the preparation is still in full flow. Jeff carefully hand sands this Malvern side window frame.

Nice to see David in on a Thursday and enjoying the company of the Thursday members of the Painting and Prep team. He is normally the sole member of the team in on Wednesdays. He continues the cleaning up of the Malvern side south door. Later he began removing the old paint from the south corridor connection door.

Phil also worked on this side in the centre area, adding filler around the edges of the areas where large amounts of paint had to be removed (some had literally fallen off in small sheets when scraped).

Back to the pad sander to smooth the now hard set newly filled areas.

Jeff was now doing the same, again filling around the edges where large amounts of old paint and varnish had been scraped off.

The last steam of the day as Tina brings Foremarke Hall past the Works.