Tuesday 18th - Quite an attendance

We had quite an attendance in the Works with 17 of us in, somewhat different from last Tuesday's 4! I wasn't able to capture everyone, but two of our attendees were a complete surprise to see.

Another absolutely gorgeous Spring day, with our feathered friends in the rookery making themselves known all day long. No doubt they are still squawking away as I write this!

Yes, Richards I and II in on a Tuesday! It was quite a surprise when they walked into the Mess Room while we were having our early tea. They had specially come in to do some load testing of the combined generator and batteries in 1675.

 

Another new stage beginning with RBr 1675 in that with the Cotswold side top coating completed we could remove the line tapes. Thankfully the tape removal was not as bad as we had expected - it had been on for quite a long time and as a result can sometimes be a real trial to remove.

 

We couldn't begin lining out straight away as we discovered some door and doorframe edges were still in undercoat,

On the Malvern side we still had some cream top coating (second coat) to do, so both Richard and Roger got cracking and almost completed it - the windows take up the time, but we are nearly there and should be able to get this completed and begin the bottom brown section on Thursday. The brown panels are already lightly sanded ready for the second coat.

Two of the door bottom panels look as though they had already received a second coat, though if so was it done last week when the top band was painted? If they were it was out of sequence,. We will still prep and paint them along with the rest of the brown section.

Back to the Cotswold side where David has started on the missed out door/frame edges, beginning with the emergency door. As these doors can only be opened from inside the coach, it's no surprise we missed this one!

Our Works Manager Stu had previously pointed out that some of the bogie painting had incorrect colours. We rarely get the opportunity to paint bogies as they are generally too filthy to even attempt cleaning up, never mind painting. However if the underneath of the coach and bogies have been gritblasted and as such really cleaned up, then we have the opportunity to paint. Ian begins removing dust before beginning to correct the colours.

The vertical dampers should be black (not blue), some other parts had been painted red and should have also been black, and the helicle springs on the south bogie should be blue (not red) as this is the heaviest end of the coach.

Keith later joined in and the job was completed. They also painted white the catches on the battery box and gas bottle box covers - this is to make checking that they are properly closed a lot easier. Ian also gave all the footboards a fresh coat of black.

In the Woodwork shop Chris and Robert are preparing the edge pieces for the Open C wagon, using the prods to guide each one through the saw to cut them to the correct size.

These were then taken through to the Barn.and temporarily fitted.

In turn this enabled a trial fit of two of the cedar planks.

The planks would need to be cut to the correct width to enable the correct four to a side, though if this were done it would be very wasteful. Cedar also needs special treatment. However we have loads of cedar planking, a gift and so in effect costing nothing. The alternative would be a special purchase of suitable wood which could prove to be very expensive. The jury is currently out!

We want to remove all the cedar from the china clay wagon at the top of the yard, where it has been stored for a considerable time, so need to sort out the wagons wood store. Paul and Maurice get going with the job.

[Photo : Paul]  That's better! Some more to sort out on the right, but it's a good start.

A well earned break in the sun and out of the chilly breeze. I sat here for a while while sending some emails on my phone and didn't want to move!

 [Photo : Paul]  Maurice adds creocote to more of the Open C wagon floor planks.

Derek was also able to enjoy the lovely day working on the Monster van. New sealant was applied around this window and some new wood inserted above.

 

Finally Dave, also enjoying the sun, was applying more grey undercoat to FO 3127, this time on the Cotswold side. As previously explained this is simply applying a protective layer of paint, with the added bonus that it makes the coaches treated as such a whole lot better to view, especially when visible to our passing passengers.

One of the bonuses with a Woodshop clear up is the provision of nice thin offcuts, which when cut to length make great paint stirrers.