Tuesday 12th - A little more sparkle

A very small number in today, so a small posting. We did have a very nice surprise during the morning with an unexpected visit.

Maurice's first job was to undercoat the large planks destined for another wagon repair (not sure which one).

 

After that he spent the rest of the day doing the final exterior jobs on Tool Van 92, The van will  be shunted out on Friday to be replaced by the second tank wagon which is currently in the sprayed primer put on by our grit blasting contractor. There is still some interior painting to do, but that can be done later when the van is at Toddington, if not before.

Dave was back in SO 4798 free'ing up more seating as far as possible ready for transfer. That is when he could get out there with the heavy rain somewhat contradicting the weather forecast for the day. Derek also had this problem with his ongoing repairs to the Monster Van.

A very pleasant surpise during the morning was when Eddie, our former Head of Woodwork, turned up unexpectedly with a bag of sheets, etc for the Painting Team. Willow was itching to jump out of the car into that great big puddle.

Pam adores dogs, so Willow had some extra fuss. It was good to see Eddie again and catch up with the news.

Although there is still some paint snagging to do on the Malvern side, we needed to crack on with the first coat of varnish on SK 25488. Stu was first off as usual on the Cotswold side, beginning with the upper section (top panel down to the lower line).

 Richard began at the south end.

 Then on to the lower panel.

 Pam arrived and get going on the Malvern side north end.

 Much later in the day, all three were well into the Malvern side.

Varnish is never nice stuff to put on coach sides and unless you are careful, it will so easily backfire and run. It's also difficult at times to see where you have been, but the backlighting is a big help.

 First coat completed and the sides of the coach now really gleaming.