Tuesday 23rd - The good old days are back

A good number in today and a chance to get back to what we used to do - big time! With so much major refurbishment going on, there hasn't been space in the Works for quick repaints for quite some time.

The sound of mass pad sanders in the Barn was music for the ears as no less than five were working around SO 4790, preparing the coach for its quick repaint.

Stu was the first off, sanding the lower panel along the Cotswold side.

Ian got going in the centre of the Malvern side, .....

......... while Pat started at the north end and gradually worked round to do either side of the corridor connection.

Bob and Tony arrived and soon got cracking, joining Stu on the Cotswold side.

It was a really great effort, started by Alex last week. Lots of places for filler, one of the jobs to begin for the members of the Painting and Prep team in on Wednesday.

SO 4790 has a spacious area for wheelchairs, so when this goes out, then so can BCK 21272 which doesn't.

Meanwhile in the luggage area of 21272 Dave was well on the way to finishing the cream painting. Some of the panelling will have a second coat, and then we can get the skirting and black trim below the ceiling repainted. Then to finish off we need to repaint the floor.

While Dave was busy here, I cleaned the guard's compartment and sanded where needed; the back of the main door was very rough. Painting this out will nicely round off this end of the coach. The ceiling looks fine and won't need doing.

The five-man sanding team take a break now that the sun has broken through and watch Dinmore Manor returning north.

This was quite a contrast to the earlier part of the day which was damp and very humid. P&O passes with the first train of the day.

In the Workshop Richard completes the black glossing around the north corridor connection on FK 13326. This will enable Ken to mount the rain cover above the connection.

Annoyingly I didn't take a photo of Richard's next job which was to paint the back of RBr 1675's servery door in Executive Light Grey. This completes the servery painting.

Robert and Chris were back in 1675's corridor and working on the panelling.

Paul's first job was to survey the list of jobs on the MICA B board - Alex please note! 

Alex is currently in North Wales enjoying the little trains. Having myself done the VOR, WHR, and a number of times the FR, I know he will be having a great time. I wonder if he will include Snowdon?

Paul coated the repaired metal areas in red oxide before moving on to other work on the van.

Keith was kept very busy with a host of trestle jobs, which included what may be the final top coat of the bench planks, painting various endology items for Ken, and grab rails from the Monster van for Derek.

Mentioning the Monster van, Derek was able to avoid the rain and work on the repairs on the Malvern side.

Finally while walking through Upholstery to the office I just had to capture the striking piles of cushions in matched pairs. I guess these are destined for our shops where they continue to sell well, particularly as there is a reduction when bought in pairs. They can also be bought online if you are interested, but are unable to visit the Railway.