Thursday 21st - Lines, lines, and even more lines

A very busy day with a good number attending. Wednesday was incredibly quiet with just 7 in - quite a contrast to its usual attendance.

Thanks to Gerry and Roger B (Toddington Cleaning Team) for the extra photos.

Beginning with Gerry cutting some chequerplate for the service area in RMB 1876.

[Photo : Gerry]  The floor before fitting ........

[Photo : Gerry]    .......... and afterwards.

The servery area is currently the store for the removed light fixtures, which are being replaced with the older style "flying saucer" type as shown below.

A general view of the north end of 1876 showing the metal working completed and remaining to be done.

John was in the process of removing the drawbar hook at the opposite end.

We are keeping the pressure up with the general bodyside preparation on 1876. The more we can get done with the coach in the Barn the better and will reduce the time spent completing the refurbishment in the Paintshop. No guesses as to what the livery will be!

On the Cotswold side of the coach Ainsley works on that triple banded line to remove every trace.  Its replacement will of course be the standard two bands in gold and black.

Maurice on the opposite side tackles the top line area.

Just across from 1876 is the weed spraying wagon where Gerry is removing more corroded metal, prior to attaching another length of angleiron for strengthening.

Alan and Geoff trial fit a replacment back panel to the north end Cotswold side door on TSO 5023.

Roger removes the door pull.

The trial panel was too large so some partial rebuilding soon produced the correct size. Then some minor cutting to make the fit a good as possible. Now up to the Painting team to clean up and varnish the panel.

On now to the continuing process of the repainting of 5023. With lining out completed on the Malvern side, Martin repairs some of the gold band that the masking tape annoyingly removed.

Phil removes one of the demarkation tapes at the south end of the coach.

Jeff on the Cotswold side painting the black band on the upper line.

Martin removes the initial bottom line tape from the same side.

At the north end Phil applies the tapes to enable the black band to be painted.

With the demarkation tape removed at the north end and a new tape protecting the crimson and cream paint in place, Jeff infills the missing black section. 

With the Cotswold side done, over to the opposite side to repeat the process.

The Cotswold side south end. With the tapes in place Martin adds the black paint.

On the Malvern side our contractor Ralph went round snagging. It may seem fussy, but this just finishes off the painting nicely.

Phil now paints the black on the Cotswold side north end.

In the eagerness to get the top coating right occasionally the brush stroke goes a little too far. We all do it. In this case a dash of cream on the crimson. Ralph tidies up a couple of places where this happened.

Alex applies the coach number to the Cotswold side.

[Photo : Gerry]  I was captured cleaning up inside the north end corridor connection ready for some extra painting.

[Photo : Gerry]

[Photo : Roger B]  During Monday's cleaning of Rake 2, Roger discovered two seat arms in SK 25488 that were looking distinctly woebegone. Alan, Roger E. and Geoff took a ride on the train to see what could be done, bearing in mind that the compartments in question may have been occupied.

[Photo : Roger B]   Roger reported that they had managed to repair one, but they weren't sure how long it would last. They checked all the compartments and found that a total of six arms needed repairing. Roger thought that Laura and the Upholstery team could be quite busy.

It was Jeff's birthday the day before and the novelty cake was enjoyed by all. Also of note is that last Saturday Jeff took charge of the evening Fish and Chip train for the final time after almost 10 years.

In the Weds/Thurs post last week I photo'd Phil testing the lighting circuit in SO 4798 and using a piece of equipment that prompted a comment from 

JNC:

Is the tester for the internal electrical circuitry something which one can buy outside, or was it a 'special' produced at the GWSR? (From the look of it, it could be either way.) If the latter, maybe some more could be produced, for sale to other heritage lines, to bring in a bit of cash?

Phil said his tester isn't difficult to make and in effect copies the coach regulator box, catering for the on-off relays for the lighting controls.

The regulator box under SO 4798.

Tuesday 19th - Another dry day

A somewhat frenetic day trying to keep up with a busy schedule. As I was heavily involved with lining out and the usual dashing about, the bias is very much about TSO 5023. Robert kindly provided some extra photos on the work he and Chris were involved with.

[Photo : Robert]  Chris displays the new sapele laminated end panels and roof insert panel for the south end vestibule in RMB 1876 that he and Robert made during the day.

In the Barn both Keith (and Ainsley) worked on the outside of 1876 generally sanding and removing the three-banded lower line. 1876 will soon be transferred to the Paintshop.

We need to get both the Open C and MICA van completed and out as both have been in the Works for a considerable time. Paul continues the journal polishing on the Open C.

A good way to ensure vital nuts (and bolts) don't go missing, especially as they are imperial and expensive (even difficult) to replace. Keith secures the nuts for the missing buffer.

Maurice continues the clean up and repainting of the various bits from the wagon. The large coil spring from the replacement buffer will have a thick coating of grease before installation.

Pam did a wide range of painting during the day. The large gala notice board received its dark grey undercoat as well as the two tops of the new doors for the Queen Mary brake van. This was followed up with top coating various areas of the south end of TSO 5023 that still needed attention.

The Queen Mary in the Rake 3 siding, awaiting the fitting of its replacement doors.

Now a lengthy run of photos covering the repainting of 5023. Ralph, our temporary contractor, begins flatting the lower section of the Cotswold side.

Meanwhile with the final top coating on the Malvern side now completed by Ralph, and the gold lining out completed by Alex and myself, Richard and I got going with the black line.

It's a fiddly job applying the tape on the edge of the line or colour band, keeping it exactly in the right place as far as possible. This particularly applies to both under and above the window frames, the latter frequently taking several attempts to get it right as the tape continually gets caught on the frame.

On the other side Ralph was making excellent progress and had now moved up to the central cream section.

Alex appeared later in the day and applied the coach number to the Malvern side.

With my usual chasing about Richard ended up doing the lion's share of the black lining out and doing a good job of it all. My section unfortunately had a few problems, but Ralph said he would fix these the next day.

The coach number in place with Richard well on the way to completing the final bit of lining out on this side.

To pave the way clear for Alex to apply the number on the Cotswold side, Ralph top coated the end panel, and while at it also the bottom panels of the doors.

The Cotswold side beginning to look good.

Pam and Ralph having a relaxing chat after a busy day.

[Photo : Robert]  An interesting project in its early days is the creation of a garden railway at the station. The lengths of wood were cut to form support posts.

[Photo : Robert]

Diesel haulage continued throughout the day with the dry spell seemingly endless (some very light rain appeared early the next day).