Saturday 13th - All done the day before

Thanks to Alex for the first two photos and the finsl one.

Driving in on Saturday morning my thoughts were on my first job of the day which was to reinstate the commode (grab) handles on TSO 5023 before the coach was shunted out. Maurice and I entered the Paintshop and gasped. 5023 had been replaced by RMB 1876, and the Open C wagon and MICA van had gone. SO 4798 was still in the Workshop, but on the Barn through road was the very faded BSK 35308 and on the jack road the Fruit C van. It had all happened on Friday, being done by Stu and Alex.

Both photos taken by Alex on Friday.

Prior to the shunt Alex had completed the signwriting on 5023.

BSK 35308 is now looking very tired on the outside.

There was no hanging about with 35308. By the time I got around to taking pictures, Clive, Andy Th. and Andy Tu. were well stuck into the south end.

At the north end Alan was cutting away a large rusted section .........

........ while Vic was similarly busy on the other side of the connection.

One of the doors had been removed so that the corroded bottom section could be replaced.

James fashions a replacement piece of sheet metal, here carefully bending the edges.

Loosely placed on the door for now and ready for final cutting, shaping and welding in place next week.

The north end of 35308 at the end of the day, with new sheet metal tack welded in on the right hand side ..........

......... and numerous areas cut out on the opposite side.

Paul and Maurice were inspecting the leakage area in the roof of the Fruit C van.

Ken was reaming out the holes ready for refitting the communication cord assembly at the south end of SO 4798.

In the Paintshop Bob does further sanding on the Malvern side south door on RMB 1876.

Ken also worked on the north end of 1876, fixing the first of the connection supports. This will eventually be removed for painting. The two vertical supports are on the trestles for painting.

With 5023 gone I spent a lot of time having a major clear up of the Paintshop. Pam took over the floor vacuuming using our large cleaner.

Earlier on in the day a walk around outside to see what is where. The MICA practically glowing in its new white paint at the end of a line of brake vans and the 03. Mustn't forget the paint repairs on the Queen Mary where the new doors were fitted. The south end panel and headstock could also do with a fresh coat of red paint.

TSO 5023 and the Open C have been positioned alongside the Works.

Walking past the goods siding display, another job to note. Two of the stanchions on the flatbed need painting.

Over to Platform 1 Bay and into RBr 1675 to capture Jenny and Paul fitting rubber feet to the chair legs. I took the photo and departed - they were so concentrating on what they were doing, I don't think either of them even knew I was briefly there.

Looking down the corridor with the kitchen sliding door closed, which is of course how the passengers will see everything when walking to the servery.

Laura was helping out the owner of this car cover with a repair. Upholstery haven't been featured much lately so I was keen to include her.

We spend all our time working on our coaches, but hardly any time enjoying travelling in them.  With 5023 finished, time to have a trip for a change. For Pam and myself this is only the second trip this year - can we make a third before the main season closes at the end of October?

Bob just went to Cheltenham and back, while Pam and I did the complete round trip so we were away for about two and a half hours.

The Cotswold escarpment from Stanway Viaduct.

The model trains were out again. I missed taking the LMS Garratt owned by Phil.

James' lovely SECR train. He has three SECR locos.

Finally a photo from Alex taken under the MICA van. The draw gear had to be taken apart to inspect.  Both nuts were completely seized and had to be heated to try and free them, and even then they were very stiff. The rubber pads were perished so had to be replaced. Mission success was achieved by 6 pm, somwhat later than hoped.

Weds 10th/Thurs 11th - A new location

Once again, grateful thanks to Gerry for Wednesday's photos.

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Wednesday

Most of the photos are based around the development of the weed spraying wagon where Gerry is working.

Bob and Bryan setting up the first of the corrugated roofing sheets.

 Nick is grinding the top cross bar at the south end.

Looks like the gas axe is needed, though not for cutting.

Tony is working on the drawbar, extracting the various parts for servicing.

Something won't free up so Nick tries some gentle warming up.

Tony with one of the drawhooks that has been extracted - was it this that needed freeing up?

The south end with a roofing sheet clamped in place.

Nick welds one of the strengthening bars to the frame at the south end ........

...... and then cleans up the weld with a grinder.

In RMB 1876's south vestibule Phil is setting up one of the tripod lamps. It is quite noticeable how lighting that is adequate for the passengers can be pretty useless when trying to do jobs, something Pam and I found when painting the north end vestibule and toilet compartments in TSO 5023. A headtorch can be very useful in this situation.

Now investigating the tank above the north end vestibule.

In SO 4798's south vestibule Simon is working on the ceiling.

A photo taken by me the next day of some newly made cushions. Last week Glyn, in charge of our shops, had cleared out the supply on these shelves. It looks like Upholstery have been busy producing more. The sales of their efforts continue to do well.

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Thursday

It's back to the weed spraying wagon and Maurice continuing his cleaning up and priming of the sole bar and underframe. Firstly some vacuuming to remove all the residue from the cleaning .......

....... and then back to the powered wire brush.

Gerry is in the process of installing the coach grab handles on both sides of the van.

These are being placed either side of the steps. The two remaining handles allocated are hanging from the hooks at the end of the Paintshop. Both were black glossed by me during the late afternoon.

The sanding down of the old paintwork on RMB 1876 is going to go on for sometime yet if we want to achieve the excellent finish achieved with TSO 5023. Ainsley uses the powered wire brush to removed cracked sections of the rivet line.

Jeff is sanding the window frames. This has to be done by hand to enable all the nooks and crannies to be properly treated.

Getting door frames and door edges well sanded down is a pet theme of mine. This is an essential aspect as we do not want doors sticking with too much paint.

Alan grinds his welds on the final bit of the rebuild at the north end.

Everything primed. Ken should now be able to reinstate the corridor connection when that is ready.

On the counter inside 1876, next to the spare fan,  the large lights ready for Phil to reinstate in the customer area ceiling .......... and below, job done!

Paul returning from more floor cleaning in Rake 3. It's just over two weeks to the Rail 200 Weekend, so we need to crack on with all the preparations as it will be on us before we know it.

More vacuum cylinder rebuilding following the refurbishment. 

What those instruction plates at both ends of the MICA van actually say. It will be so good to see both this and the Open C wagon move out of the Works on Saturday.

We have got Ralph back for the final time to do his magic on TSO 5023. Both he and Bob are going to add the second coat of varnish on both sides. Ralph initially goes over the first coat of varnish with a scotch brite pad on the Cotswold side, while Bob does the same on the Malvern side.

Varnishing now well underway on the Cotswold side.

The second coat completed with my barrier items in place to keep everyone away from the side of the coach. Even with this there were still some near misses. I should have moved that tower! However all was well and first thing on Saturday I will remove the barrier items and reinstate the grab handles.

Now starting on the Malvern side. This also went well. 

Overall it has been a cracking job and it has set a new level for us to achieve when we get RMB 1876 into the Paintshop on Saturday.

Overall it was a good day with everything so much fresher outside following the heavy bouts of rain after that overlong dry spell.

The "Cheltenham Fryer" headboard proudly stating "World's Fastest Chips" - a striking parody of the famous Cheltenham Flyer headboard! This train had the lunchtime Fish and Chips where you are sat in "Mary". Having enjoyed this myself I can thoroughly recommend it. All dates for this were soon stating "Sold Out", so if you are interested in trying this, then book early when next year's events appear on the website.

Looking very striking in its new paint, Class 26 26043  comes past on the northbound train.

Now for some shunting. With Stu driving the 03 and the special towing bar mounted, the shunter heads off down the Works siding to collect the bogies currently stored there.

With the bogies collected and stored elsewhere in the yard, and the towing bar removed, Ian now drives the 03 with the Fruit C van and Santa coach collected from Platform 1 Bay at the far end of the Works siding.

Stu now guides Ian as the two vehicles are slowly propelled along the nearby yard siding.

The whole object of the moves is to position RBr 1675 in Platform 1 Bay to enable easy access for all the catering staff who will be undergoing the necessary training.

Now nicely positioned in the station and something very different for our visitors to see.

Phil, Paul and Bob enjoying an ice cream after a busy day.