Tuesday 16th - A good productive day
Both thresholds were taken back out and coated in creocote.
Everything is now in place with the plyboard also given coats of creocote.
The completion of the second top coat on the Malvern side of the coach on Saturday meant that the line tapes could now be removed.
I had removed the bottom tape. Richard now took care of the top line.
Much later in the day the entire top line had the gold band in place. Richard was now taping up the north end lower line ready for painting.
There is still an amount of work required for the centre and south end sections of the servery. Russ lightly sands the ceiling ready for undercoating in white. He then went on to give the shelves a good clean.
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Pam black glossed various parts needed for the south corridor connection.
After a good day of progress on 1876, an updated board.
David continued preparation on the Malvern side of SO 4798 where he had previously been working.
Painting preparation on 4798 has been very much start-stop to say the least, the concentration understandibly tending to be with the coaches in the Paintshop, lately TSO 5023 and now 1876. We really must do more on 4798 and that includes a more focussed approach i.e. we work on and complete an area, and then move on to the next, so that we know how we are doing. At the moment it is impossible to say how the outside preparation is coming along. 4798 will be moving into the Paintshop when 1876 goes out and a better approach will be easier to achieve.
It's a different story internally where rebuilding, and now varnishing and painting are proceeding well. Pam adds a second coat of varnish to the veneer panelling in the Malvern side toilet compartment. When the varnishing has been completed we can get the new ceilings primed and painted.
The bases for the two toilets were also black glossed by Pam.
Completion of the final two ceiling panels in 4798 was held up while we waited for my paint order to arrive. Luckily a tin of white undercoat was found in the Wagons cupboard which enabled me to get them both done. Bob should now be able to get the top coat done on Thursday. There is still an amount of varnishing to freshen up in the passenger compartments but that won't take long to do. Then the refurbished seating can go in.
A DMU seat frame from the NYMR was delivered to the Upholstery workshop by a member of the railway, who is also a member of our railway.
[Photo : Paul E] Good progress with the Mink D van. Maurice works on the north end roof rail to free it for cleaning up and painting.
With the rail now removed, Paul initially removed all the rust and old paint, and then coated it in green primer.
[Photo : Paul E]
[Photo : Paul E] Plank preparation is now well underway with trestles set up both along the Paintshop wall ......
[Photo : Paul E] ........ and on the van itself.
[Photo : Paul E] With all the internal rebuilding of the toilet compartments and replacement floors in the corridor connection and vestibule in 1876, the Paintshop floor in this area needed a major sweep, followed up by a general vac. Phil took care of the former, while I did the latter, and in fact went right round the Paintshop as it all needed a tidy up.
Derek enjoying some decent weather while working on the Monster van doors.
Rose was certainly keeping warm with her fire. Included in the blaze was more old planking from the Mink D.
A Christmas touch for the greenhouse.
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Many thanks to Paul for the extra photos.
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Finally in response to the many comments in the Saturday posting:
AnonymousDecember 14, 2025 at 11:44 PM7
Your diesel shunter reminds me of the tale of the shoemaker's family's shoes. The number, at least, could do with repainting so it doesn't reflect badly on the C&W
A Pettifer
In my time at C & W (18 years) the 03 has been repainted three times. Despite a good coating of varnish the Cotswold side hasn't weathered well and the number transfer has come away. No, we don't like it either, especially when it was used in the Diesel Gala for brakevan rides. It would need repainting in the Barn, but there is simply too much else to do trying to keep our coaches in good order.
The photo on our Mess Room wall.
The custom cart used to move+install vacuum cylinders looks like a very useful piece of kit to have! I gather it's a custom stand mated to a general purpose pallet mover/lifter?
The yellow frame was specially built to enable easier and safer removing and reinstating of the very heavy vacuum cylinders. The frame is simply placed on top of the pallet truck. Over the years we have designed and built (or had built) a number of useful tools.
David PDecember 15, 2025 at 9:13 AM
The person who completed the Gold Award certificate for Jenny's Karcher Training results needs a bit of 'trainig' in spelling.
Elves never were very good at speling. ☺
Could you give us a rough estimate of how much the upholstery team have earned the railway with the outside contracts? I think they deserve special recognition for their work.
It is substantial. The income generated by our Upholstery department has provided, and we hope will continue to provide, GWSR with a beneficial income stream to support railway operating costs.
We are very proud of our Upholstery team and the work that they do. When I take tours around the Works I always begin with Upholstery, and such is the interest taken by our visitors, it can be quite a job getting them away to continue the tour! Upholstery certainly fly the flag for C & W.
AnonymousDecember 16, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Great to see the efforts to restore another bygone age, with the work at the canal, predating the growth of railways by around 100 years. Intrigued by the comment that the final set of gates to the Severn will not be restored, does this mean the Stroudwater will not be connected to the Severn ever again, or will traffic be able to access via Sharpness?. And as always, amazing work in every aspect on the railway.
No, it's not just the gates at Framilode (the lock is now in a private garden) that won't be restored, it's the mile or so of the old Stroudwater Canal that continued from Saul Junction to Framilode. The River Severn from Sharpness to Gloucester took great skill to navigate safely, hence the need for the Sharpness-Gloucester Canal. Anyone boating down the Severn from the north will join the canal at Gloucester and continue south to Saul and the Marina, or eventually on to Sharpness.
The Cotswold Canals Trust have now received further funding of £6,460,000 from the National Lottery for the Cotswold Canals Connected project which will link the restored Brimscombe-Eastington section of the canal with Saul Junction and at last reconnect access to the national network of rivers and canals. The projected completion date for this is now 2029. For more information see the CCT website www.cotswoldcanals.org
Thank you for your kind compliment about the Railway.