Tuesday 17th - Autumn can be great

Just 8 of us in today as the autumn holiday season is now well underway with a number of our regulars absent.

The promise of a good day sometimes begins with a thick fog, especially on an almost windless day in autumn. I needed to get BCK 21272 opened up early as two door edges needed painting and allowed to dry before the end of the day. In the half hour while I was doing the job the fog became even thicker.

That's better! Two end of day photos of the paint repaired guards and north connection doors and doorways.

All of the inside of the north connection could really do with a repaint. It all depends on whether we have the time before 21272 goes into service. No doubt the south end will be the same.

More good progress with the MICA van as Maurice further cleans up the metal frame on the Cotswold side .............

[Photo : Paul E.]   ........ and later coats the metal in Red Oxide.

More cleaned door hinges are being taken apart by Paul.

They were later etch primed by Maurice. The previous batch in the foreground were undercoated by Keith.

Maurice surveys what has been done.

The Malvern side of the van is looking good with most of the planking now in place. The door backs will be next for priming.

The screw indentations have been filled.

More priming and painting. In front are new planks for the south end; behind are the door locking bars now fully painted.

The slight curvature at the ends of the van make the plank fitting a tough job. To make this easier Robert is cutting bunches of grooves at intervals along the inside faces of the planks. They should now bend a lot more easily.

Moving along to SO 4790 where a number of smaller jobs were undertaken, ⁸and good to get done and out of the way before the major varnishing takes place.

Ian finished cleaning the north end headstock area and then painted on the Black Gloss. He then did the Malvern side solebar. The latter will now be ready for Alex to signwrite.

Another catch-up was doing the remaining bit of lining out at the north end of the coach. Richard adds the Gold coloured paint to the top line ......

........ and then moves on to tidying up various bits of lining out elsewhere. Door and doorframe edges are notorious for lining out tape not to adhere fully, in turn leading to paint runs.

More door handles, stops and droplight top bars were black glossed.

Another job for me was to revarnish the door backs after having removed scratches with wood dye on Saturday. The doors where Richard had black glossed the fittings were obviously left.

The north corner on the Malvern side is almost complete. Just the lining out to finish and the edges of the end panels to paint black now that the demarcation tape has been removed.

The connection rain cover at the south end needed several canvas patches. The photo shows the final coat of matt black paint being applied. The area above the connection was also completed.

Being a lovely day, lunch on the platform was a must. The lunchtime train drifts in behind 2807.

I had intended capturing the first train of the day with 2807 at about 1030 when the fog was still thick. Emerging out of the fog round Chicken Curve it would have made a very atmospheric photo. However being preoccupied in the Works at the time I missed it by seconds.

Sitting on the Baguley Drewery railcar trailer is a nice place to have lunch, especially with this lovely nearby view of the Usk Goods office and Toad brakevan.

The warning whistle before Chicken Curve gave me time to get to the Barn entrance to capture 3850 heading south (or being pedantic actually northwest as the line curves sharpely at Winchcombe and does a loop to avoid most of Langley Hill).

Derek making the most of the lovely autumn day to continue with the Monster van repairs. 

A quick visit to Upholstery to put away the two seat cushions from BCK 21272. Pam has made an excellent job of re-covering these. With the repainting in the coach almost finished, we should soon be able to refit them.

A casualty from RBr 1672 in Rake 1 awaits repair in the Woodwork shop.

Keith was kept busy again with numerous items to paint on the trestles and hooks.

The cupboard from Ross-on-Wye signalbox was next on his list with the inner panels given a top coat of Cream.

A different view of the Paintshop trestles from the scaffold tower.

Paul had escorted a family over the station foot crossing. As they had appeared to be very interested in the Railway, he went back and asked them if they would like a tour round the Works, which I was more than happy to provide.

Robert had a cousin and his family visiting the Railway, so he also provided a tour for them. It was a busy day for him as he had been involved in more school wartime evacuation experience during the morning. These are run in conjuction with Cheltenham Museum and are very popular, all available slots being taken up every year. A class from my village school was here a few months ago.

The final passing of the day with tokens about to be exchanged.

3850, looking great in wartime livery and complete with plated side windows, eases out with the penultimate train of the day.

What a contrast to my early morning photo. A really gorgeous calm autumn day. We could do with a lot more of these.

Will they ever get to Toddington to their final display siding? (Emails have been flying around to make this happen soon! -Ed.) At least our passengers can view them at Winchcombe as long as our Rake 3 coaches aren't in the way.