Monday 24th - Where are the Cleaners?

 

Under the platform canopy sheltering from the downpour! Fortunately it was short, the rest of the time was ordinary rain so we carried on! 11 in today. The observant amongst you will see we were able to have the rakes swapped over to clean the sides that have not been dome for some time. And now there are 7 carriages instead of 6.....

Saturday 22nd - Welcome Back

Firstly it was brilliant to see Paul and Dennis back after so long, things are slowly beginning to feel like normal. They wasted no time at all in getting to grips with the state of the carriages in the third rake siding that had been sat there for so long:

Of course the big question now that Paul is back is; When can we go back in the mess room!? Hopefully soon. But we did have doughnuts, so some sense of normality resuming :)

There was a fair amount going on outside managing to dodge the occasional shower, Jenny and John were putting back the seats they'd re-upholstered into TSO 5042:

While Andy and John were busy investigating the 2 dogfish that had been brought down to see what was what:

John hooked up the test pump to see if anything happened on the first one:

And lo! the brakes did come on when vacuum was created and destroyed! and then swiftly came off again, as the vac cylinder didn't fancy holding anything in for more than 10 seconds. Oh well, not bad considering. The second one was then hooked up, but that really was pushing their luck as the big hiss of air suggested the vac hose might as well have been a pair of tights for all the good it was...

Back inside, and Phil was cleaning up some more wooden trim for the BSK:

Meanwhile on the Mink, Paul touched in the last few bits of undercoat:

While I cracked open the tin of topcoat and made a start on that. Hopefully the storage container will arrive next week, then we can order the timber for this, then it should all start coming together pretty quickly.

George was nearby, this time working on the end of the CK with the filler and sandpaper:

We're slowly ticking sections off ready for grey undercoat, this does then reveal further body work required, but that's the whole point of it.

On the paintshop tables Pam got stuck in to the collection of bits and bobs accumulated on Thursday, aided by Dave:

On the double doors for the BSK, Ainsley and Robert continued to puzzle over the exact way forward, but good progress was made:

I noticed the draught excluders had all been put in on this side by the end of the day which makes things look a lot more "finished".

A few regulars missing today so that's all, but it was definitely cheering to see the trains noticeably busier today since allowing passengers to board at Cheltenham and Broadway, The seats allocated for the Cheltenham boarders in particular looked very sold out. Foremarke Hall and Dinmore Manor on duty, both looking rather good adjacent to the crimson and cream:

Thursday 20th - A Quiet Start

 With holidays taking some of our group away, it was a very quiet start to the day. Thankfully the number gradually increased to what has become the new normal.

There was a lot of focus on doors, Thursday being the regular day for the team, though not all were attending having been in for the training session on Tuesday. 

 Ainsley is attaching one of the hinge reinforcing back plates to this door frame from BSK 34929.

 More of these were required.

 So Trevor set about making a new batch and here is checking that this piece has been cut square.

The final stage is tapping the various holes. The batch already completed is on the bench.

Meanwhile Ken, from our Engineering Team, was cleaning up the welds on the door skin for the frame that Ainsley was working on.
 

Later in the Door/Woodwork Shop, the completed door 9 off BSK 34929 was lifted out of the vertical frame and placed flat on the bench to enable Ainsley to apply an initial coating of Light Grey undercoat.

In SK 24006 Geoff was working on the new internal framing for this window. Not all the windows in the coach will be able to be rebuilt without metalwork repairs where corrosion to the base section has occurred.
 

A walk down the yard to RBr 1672 where Richards I and II are installing the electrics for the second fridge.

 Later in the day and working at the ends of the mezzanine bench, our pair were busy with the electrical fittings in these two lamps.

 Back to the BSK with Bob top coating the guards compartment ceiling.

 With that completed he resumed the top coating of the walls and pipework (where appropriate) in the Executive Light Grey paint. This just leaves the various fittings to finish the job.

 Phil busy servicing the various parts of the toilet mechanism from 34929.

One of my jobs for the day was to complete the sanding and cleaning up of the various toilet compartment fittings and the stops for the compartment doors. The wood has been restained. Phil found a better back plate for the fire extinguisher receptacle, so a light sand was all that was required. The whole collection has been placed on the Paintshop trestles ready for Pam to varnish or paint accordingly. The table legs in the background for the disabled compartment also need a second coating of varnish on their reverse sides.

During the afternoon, the passing rumble outside turned out to be the Peak bringing down two Dogfish ballast wagons. I have a vague recollection that there were repairs needed for some of the P'Way ballast train.

As always a Thursday lunchtime means a visitation from Jasper, Trevor's delight cocker spaniel, who doesn't stay still for more than a few seconds.

 Our two trains were in the care of Foremarke Hall and Dinmore Manor

 Captured later in the day, it's good to see two trains crossing over at Winchcombe again now we are running on our new timetable. Meanwhile, a wet day with a black Manor and a carmine & cream coach behind the tender - it could be mid Wales in the early 50s.

Wednesday 19th - 'The things you can do with welding gas'.

 Having obtained a Argolight gas cylinder, things got under way today. Door skins are a challenge, however this one is beginning to look a bit more like it should.

Bob happily scraping away old paint on a Malvern side, door of 16221. Not a glamorous job but nevertheless essential.

Kevin is cleaning a rather rusty tie bar.

John H spent all morning cleaning all manner of rust and old paint from this axle, it will be painted and look like new.

 I would have provided photos from the upholstery team, they were there ..... riding the train! Thoroughly deserved for such a hard working team.

We are well under way with the DMU repair, the owning group asked if we had time to fix a hinge on the guard door. It looked a bit daunting but Rex went in, said the door must come off ..... Phil suggested removing the hinge pins and a few minutes later it was off.

Rex is here just prior to removing the door, he has made a new frame for the hinge which will all go back next week  ...... I will do the photos.

The front of the DMU is a challenging shape, Gerry is using cardboard as a template for the last piece of the jigsaw.

Its coming together, with just one more plate to go in, hand rail back on and some tidying up. Hopefully a coat of red oxide and then back to the owning group for the final bit of TLC.

Not many of us in this week, but we made some excellent progress ...... to be continued.

Tuesday 18th - Clearing up

Initially a small number attending, but later boosted by members of the Woodwork and Door teams who were being trained/retrained in the use of the various machines in their shop.

 Taken through the door window (hence the crossed wires!) so as not to disturb the session. 

Quite a bit of effort was spent progressing BSK 34929. In the guards compartment Maurice initially sanded the ceiling and then applied the white undercoat. This was later followed up by more top coating of the walls.

 The new disabled compartment was vacuumed and tidied up with the newly varnished seat tops put in place ready for attachment. The table legs had already been varnished but were sanded and given a second coat by Richard.

 The undersides of the table tops had only been partially varnished, so the centre bare sections were given an initial coating. 

 One of the early jobs of the day was to clear out the compartments in 34929 as far as possible of all the bits that had been stored in them. Amongst the many things were wall attachments for the toilet compartment as well as the receptacle for the fire extinguisher. All were thoroughly sanded down by Alan ready for revarnishing or coating in Silver Hammerite accordingly. In the Barn, Richard continued the cleaning up of the many doorway capping strips, which I also assisted with (sorry, no photo).

After the course had finished both Rod and Ainsley stayed on to do some more work on the two doors from 34929 that are currently being rebuilt. Rod is securing the drainage channel at the base of one of the doors.

 Ainsley finished the day with a spot of vacuuming in the Door Team area.

 Roger was similarly vacuuming the Malvern side of the Workshop, having had a very good day finishing off the filling and sanding of the south half of this side of 16221. This is now ready for greying up.

More progress with SK 24006 with Phil sanding down some of the beading that had been removed from the south compartments. These will be revarnished.

 In the Upholstery shop, having completed its rebuildm Dave stores another of the seats for TSO 5042.

Today was the start of the new timetable with two trains running and passengers now able to get on at Cheltenham and Broadway, as well as Toddington. Pre-booking is still advisable to secure a seat but restoring the two ends of the line for beginning and ending the journey will allow a lot more flexibility.