Tuesday 1st - Production line

After Saturday's very large attendance the Works seemed almost deserted at times with just 11 of us in. Today it was RBr 1675 and the Open C wagon receiving attention, with Derek working on the Monster van.

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Briefly referring back to the comments in Saturday's post, many thanks to Dan Zutgewski for the very comprehensive explanation as to why loose chairs were used in Mk1 restaurant buffet cars. Reference the mention of our problems being your problems with a 70 year old fleet, I can well imagine it. 

John Dickerson mentioned the frequently raised question about when we will have cover for our rolling stock. Over the years successive infrastructure problems have swallowed up enormous sums of money, and continue to do so with the ongoing repairs to the viaduct. And now we work under tight budgets following the pandemic and cost of living crisis. The Paintshop was for many years a dream, and then look what happened. It just proves that you never know what is round the corner.

Thank you both for your kind compliments.

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Moving on to today's activities, with grateful thanks to Paul for the extra photos.

It's back to plank cutting for Chris and Robert, with another length of cedar going through the Wadkin saw ...........

........ but this time with a difference. This one has one side cut at an angle.

The reason? One of the Open C doors is now under construction.

Is the angle correct to cater for the bend in the door? Yes, perfect!

Keith joins the team with what is now a very large paint job. Both he and Maurice are going to be putting on a good deal of Dark Grey undercoat on all those primed planks.

The white centre gap allows the plank to be picked up and placed against the wall. Once positioned the gap is painted over.

The diagonal cross members have now been bolted tight. Paul coats the bolts and nuts with red oxide.

The door planks are now in full production as Paul sands yet another using a handy space at the front of the Barn.

Now on to 1675 where line snagging is well underway with David first off with this job.

Lining out of the remaining sections of the top black band on both sides was done by Richard.

Roger arrives and immediately gets stuck into the snagging. No matter how carefully the masking tape is applied, there will always be tiny gaps through which the yellow and black paint will seep. The worst places are inside the door frames where years of sanding and repainting make the sides uneven and the tape becomes difficult to press tightly into the angles.

Following the removal of the formica on the counter, the underlying wood surface needed some areas filled and the remainder sanded. To keep the dust to a minimum Ian just hand sands, initially with 80 paper, then 120 and finally 240. A good vac round afterwards soon cleared the dust.  Some of the surface still has a very slight groove feel, so we are checking with Phil S. as to how far we need to go. At the moment I'm not sure what is going back on.

With the festoon of used yellow tape rapidly growing Richard has almost completed the Cotswold side lining out. Then over to the Malvern side to complete that.

David has progressed to the top line to tidy up any stray bits of black or yellow.

Lunch time was enjoyed on the picnic tables in the station garden, which being just beyond the shelter of the Discovery Coach, kept us out of quite a strong breeze.

This also meant we could see the arrival and departure of P&O with Rake 1 (eventually we will be back to calling it the "Chocolate & Cream Rake" - it may take a while but we will get there. And we are really looking forward to the "Crimson & Cream" rake).

Chris and Robert braved the breeze and stayed on the platform.

[Photo : Paul]  The production line really in full swing. Keith places his latest plank against the Workshop wall - the white handling section will now be infilled with undercoat. Maurice has painted two lines to remind himself to leave the space - it's too easy to paint away happily and forget it.

It back to more Creosolve priming as Paul caters for another base section that will fit inside the metal frame.

[Photo : Paul] A veritable wall of undercoated planks. The wagon will begin to look really good once these start to go on.

The end of the day and that wall is even bigger.

[Photo : Paul]  More basic priming, this time on the set of door planks. Robert has now joined in.

David was the last to do the snagging on 1675. Still a few little bits left but essentially the job is done.

Time to catch the last crossover of the day with P&O heading the final train to Cheltenham.

With tokens exchanged the Bubblecar passes, next stop Toddington on its final run to Broadway.

[Photo : Paul]   After the usual day of running around, some painting at last. Paul captured me painting a group of door stops and handles. It's always very satisfying doing these because it means you are on the home straight.

The Cotswold side almost completed. The demarcation lines at both ends to finish in gloss black, the letters and numbers to black line, the sole bar information to write, and the BR roundel to apply. Then two coats of varnish, clean the windows and we're done. The Malvern side the same, and then the coach data at each end. 

[Photo : Paul]  Paul catches me resetting the control panel after the weekly fire alarm test. Finally write up the test record in the log book and then ring the Monitoring Station to have the system reset from Test to Live mode. Job done.