Saturday 8th - A historic moment

Wow, what a busy day and one that was very notable.

Firstly in answer to a comment at the end of the previous post.

I'm very pleased to see that you seem to have finally 'turned the corner' with the rebuild of 1675 after all the trials and tribulations with the doors! I look forward to being able to ride in it once it is in service. I presume, that before it enters revenue-earning service, it will be given a 'dry run' or two to check that everything is up to the C&W Department's high standards, with the volunteers used as 'guinea pigs' to check that the bacon baps are up to standard.
A Pettifer

It would be nice to know we are at last turning a corner in this very long running and very complex project. Ian is having many mini-meetings with the view to speeding up progress and even suggesting some "overtime" to enable specific lines of work to be done without impedence from other jobs going on at the same time. Certainly where a line of work dries up, affected staff can temporarily move to assist in other areas.

With respect to dry runs, all the equipment will be thoroughly checked and our catering staff will be trained in its use. I think there would be many volunteers very happy to participate in bacon bap testing!

Now on to today's efforts.

With the very successful cleaning of the Malvern side of BCK 21272, Tony began the operation on the Cotswold side. The results were as before, making the coach look as bright as a repaint. Ian watches the progress.

Inside the BCK Dave was continuing the cleaning and undercoating of the luggage compartment and corridor. It is a considerable improvement and will look great when fully top coated.

At the south end of FK 13326 John was in the process of installing a new vacuum pipe. The small section at the base was a little too short to enable the pipe to be positioned vertically.

However with Phil providing support John was able to mark the pipe where the top bend was needed and the cut made.

With the pipe supported by John, Phil works the bending machine until the correct angle is achieved.

Returning later to capture the completed job.

In the north end vestibule of 13326 Simon is inspecting the layout with respect to the internal rebuild.

Pam has arrived and made herself a reviving cup of fruit tea after the long drive from Brackley. Despite the tea bell ringing she got straight down to work.

The first job was another coat of varnish for the gauge mountings for the Dinmore Manor Group. This is a slow job as only one side at a time is done, following a light sand with 240 paper.

The various bits for painting continue to pile up on the trestles. Keith will have a lot to do on Tuesday. The curtain in the midde has been erected to help keep any stray bits of wood primer off the gauge mountings.

Later in the day Tony was back in the Workshop windows area, servicing and cleaning up more spare quarterlights.

Maurice was back on the MICA van, wire brushing the sole bar.

Chris and Robert are sizing up existing planking from the van against some new lengths.

As can be imagined, there was a lot of activity on RBr 1675. Dave D. was fitting the copper drainage pipes at the base of the saloon windows. The props were pushed in tight to ensure the pipes were firmly glued in.

The backing plyboard continues to be added by Dave E. behind the heating pipes.

There was good progress with the doors on the Cotswold side. A very welcome note on the emergency door, which means that painting can now resume here.

Ben does more work on the central door leading from the servery and storage closet ...........

......... where Pam carries on from where she left off on Tuesday. Later in the day I was back on the shelves behind the counter, preparing them ready for more painting.

The kitchen doorway threshold on this side of the coach needed some more work. Using a lovely chisel from a set very kindly donated by a good friend of mine, Robert carefully removes some excess wood.

When entering Upholstery I found that there was a wrestling match taking place.

Laura and John were having quite a battle getting an armrest covered in the new Snapdragon moquette.

Then I noticed that John was using a special tool which enabled him to grab the material and force it over the end of the arm. 

I saw the leaflet for this when in the office earlier in the day and wondered then what it was for. The torque when using this tool must be considerable and makes possible jobs that would be very difficult to do using just fingers.

Success! And a historic moment! This is the first bit of the new upholstery for SO 4798 which we are converting to GWR First Class, and doesn't it look nice. No wonder they are smiling!

Finally a late afternoon interlude up at the station. Both "Betton Grange" and "Lady of Legend" had been running the trains today. It was warm and sunny out, and the gentle hiss of steam, all making it very desirable to be on the platform to catch the Grange on her last run of the day.

Ray looks over as I take the photo.

Then a quick dash to Platform 2 and, with kind permission from Ray, a chance to get some photos from the footplate. I don't think I ever cabbed a Grange in my trainspotting days.

Well, if I did get on to a Grange in my youth, it wouldn't have looked as good as this. What a lovely engine - it would be great if it ended up based here.

Tony took two photos of me on the footplate, one of which included Robert also busy capturing the scene.