Thursday 22nd - Almost like old times

With normal train services running again and and plenty of happy passengers, it felt almost like pre-pandemic times. Despite the soaring temperatures in the current heatwave, there was certainly a lot going on at the Works with plenty of variety, again giving that general feeling of well being and a return to normality..

Nick and Gerry were to be found at the base of the hopper in the latest Dogfish ballast wagon under repair.

(photo: Gerry) 

With the new section of sheet metal in place Nick begins the weld.

(photo: Gerry)

Nick's bit completed.. A continuous weld using a plate obviously larger that the hole being covered.

(Photo: Nick) 

Gerry then cleans up the weld to complete the job.

Another job done by David A. the day before was to both undercoat and top coat (the paint drying very quickly in the heat) two new footboards for the Dogfish wagons.

(Photo: Nick) 

One of the jobs today was to trial the new buckeye frame to see if it was fit for purpose. I'm happy to say that it was a resounding success with the buckeye changed safely within 10 minutes! This means that it should now be able to be passed out as safe to use, given it's safe-working-load limit and official identity, and added to our official register of lifting equipment.

Bryan is busy on the milling machine making what is known as a joggler, which will enable overlap welding.

One of our jobs is repairing some lamps which have badly corroded bases. Nick is busy cleaning up one of these.

(Photo: Nick)

One of the badly corroded bases.

Rex is forming a tool to enable perfect circles to be cut out of the sheet metal using the plasma cutter.

(Photo: Nick) 

The new tool in action and a ready supply of new lamp bases to be welded in place.

 Yet more engineering with Phil preparing a new length of copper pipe.

This was destined for the south vestibule toilet tank connection in CK 16221.

Having done the connections, the next job is to check the tank itself. A brilliant facility has been set up in the Barn to enable the testing.

With everything connected up, the water is turned on and the tank filled and then left to ensure that it behaves.  

Out into the heat of the sun to see how the 3rd Rake Maintenance Gang are fairing. With all our 3rd Rake coaches now back after their Covid train adventures over the past year, there will no doubt be plenty of repairs to make. Geoff and Alan are busy refixing this door base which had become very loose. The existing screws were buried under sealant and thus almost impossible to access. I didn't get a photo of Tony but I believe he was inside one of the coaches repairing luggage rack netting.

For Dennis and Paul, with the temperature up to 29C, even with all the windows open it was like working in a sauna. Dennis is slowly working through the rake noting problems to be fixed.

An obvious place to look is the Guard's log in BCK 21092 where all on-train faults are noted ready for our Friday Maintenance Gang to sort out.

Inside a very hot SK 24006, Dave was removing the lights and metal bases - the latter another feature emphasising the age of the coach and that it is a very early MK 1. One of these refuses to budge, so a touch of WD40 was applied and hopefully on Saturday it can be removed. 

Dave's next job was to transfer all the cleaned and revarnished items from the Paintshop back to 24006 for storage, and then bringing into the much cooler Workshop some more beading for cleaning up. These strips require only a light sand unlike the compartment doorway pillars.

There is quite a pile of cleaned up items ready for Pam to varnish on Saturday, including the conduit cover which despite two coats of varnish could do with a third, the wood having really soaked up the varnish. All the items from 24006 that have been varnished will have a final coat applied to produce a really fine finish when they are eventually remounted in their respective places.

Alex spent much of the day working on the station sandwich boards, initially completing the one to his left, and then preparing others ready for the relevant signwriting.

Our Wednesday woodworkers have produced a large number of the various sized footboards to add to our general stock. The last job of the day for Alex and myself was to get these primed. Normally these would then be painted in undercoat Dark Grey and finally a top coat in Gloss Black, but we are still having to watch our funding and as such our existing paint supply, so they will remain just primed until needed.

Another sign of some normality returning was that we were able to provide an impromptu tour of the Works for a group from Didcot Railway Centre, with Alex kindly taking them around.

Monday 19th / Tuesday 20th - Changing back to normal (well almost!)

With more restrictions being eased, Monday 19th was scheduled for the "Big Shunt" to bring back our Main and Second rakes, and from Tuesday the return to normal running.

As described in previous postings, major shunting operations need a plan, and as this was one of the biggest, this was definitely essential.

Shunting Plan for Monday 19th July 2021

Completion Formations:

Choc/Cream (C&C):

    South end - 4763/4772/9000/4790/1672/3132/4986 - North end.

Maroon:

    South end - 25451/4614/35308/4787/1876/5023/16195 - North end.

Ex EE (3rd Rake) siding:

    South end - 25488/25743/24949/25341/21092/13337/13329/24804/4798 - stop block.

Starting Position:

Covid sets 1 & 2 at Toddington.

6 C & C pre-assembled vehicles in ex EE siding, Winchcombe.

4614 and 4787/1876 separately in C & W yard. 4614 alongside shed: 4787/1876 in middle siding.

Park Dogfish/Shark brake van from head shunt outside barn - 03 to take out and run round first thing Monday 19th before Covid set 2 arrives.

4 surplus wagons still alongside shed.

Framework Shunting Plan:

1- Assemble Choc/Cream set:

Train Engine to bring Covid set 2 to Winchcombe first and stable in Platform 1 Train engine uncouple, go to ex EE siding and pull core C & C set into P2.

Uncouple train engine

03 out of C & W yard, detach 24804/4986 from Covid set 2 in P1 and attach 4986 to north end of set in P2.

03 attach 24804 back on set in P1 and pull the set into the C & W yard. Train engine run round, attach to set in P2 and take it to Toddington.

2- Between set re-formations:

03 push remains of Covid set 2 (6 vehicles) into P2, run round and push set into the ex EE siding.

03 back into C & W yard, attach 4614 and stable over pit.

Train engine to do what's necessary to stable the newly re-formed Choc/Cream set at Toddington and get in position to bring Covid set 1 to Winchcombe.

3- Assemble Majority of Maroon set:

Train Engine to bring Covid set 1 to Winchcombe and stable in Platform 1

Train engine uncouple 25743/25451 from set and move to P2.

03 push 4614 into P2 and attach to 25451. 03 back into C & W yard.

Train engine take 25743/25451/4614 into P1 and attach to set.

Train engine uncouple 25743, take coach to ex EE siding and stable.

Train engine back into P2 on completion.

03 out from C & W yard into P1, detach 25488 and attach to Train engine in P2.

03 back to C&W

Train engine stable 25488 in ex EE siding, return to P2 and then stand on main line in front of bracket signal.

4- Take 4 Surplus Wagons to Broadway:

03 get 4 wagons from beside the shed and push into P2.

Train engine attach to 4 wagons and take to Broadway. Return to Winchcombe.

5- Complete Assembly of Maroon Set:

Whilst Train engine is away, 03 stable Dogfish/Shark van alongside shed.

03 detach 5023/13326 from set in P1, take into C & W, stable 13326 alongside shed and leave 5023 over pit.

03 collect 1876/4787 from middle siding and park outside shed, fully attach 5023 to them, then wait on pit siding.

On return from Broadway, Train engine detach 16195 from set in P1 and stand on the main line in front of the bracket signal.

03 attach 4787/1876/5023 to set in P1 and return to C & W.

Train engine reattach 16195 to set in P1 and take set to Toddington.

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All went well and we now have two running rakes with the open coaches very much back in the frame. Currently the limit has been set to 7-coach formations, with the former 8th coaches (the two FKs) stabled at Winchcombe along with nearly all the corridor coaches used for the Covid rakes.

So into Tuesday and a stroll down the yard to view the coaches now stabled in the 3rd Rake siding.

 

The sheer number of coaches has meant that one of the FKs is stabled in the Workshop/Barn siding, while recently refurbished RMB 1808 (the 3rd Rake catering coach) remains where it is in the adjacent siding.

We have now been able to obtain the transfers for 1808, although only the Malvern side has had these attached, the current heat wave preventing the Cotswold side being done.

An unrestored brake van has reappeared from the back of the yard, and tucked in the side this lamp. While the van can be restored, the lamp appears to be a little too far gone!

Hardly surprising that there weren't many of us in with the current heatwave continuing. Thankfully with all the doors open and a good through draught, the Paintshop was relatively comfortable. Richard primes two new footboards destined for one of the Dogfish ballast wagons.

 He then moved on to adding second coats of varnish to the compartment blind covers from SK 24006. 

No guesses as to what Alex would be doing. It takes quite some time to do each sandwich board, and I imagine it can be quite daunting at times. While happy to complete a display, there's always the reminder that there are two sides for each board, and there is still a stack waiting to be done. Alex prepares the next board with a coating of blackboard paint. A short spell outside afterwards ensures a very quick drying time!

The Workshop has the large wall fans - one to bring in cool air, the other to extract - and in this weather they create a very comfortable environment. Despite a second greying up, we are determined to remove or ease out the many lumps and bumps on the Cotswold side of CK 16221. Roger, joined by Maurice, Alan and myself, achieved a lot during the time we were working on this.

Derek was back inside the south end of the coach and working on the internal vestibule access doors.

Our 40th Anniversary celebrations have begun and aptly displayed on one of the two loco headboards painted by Alex. This is the initial passenger train of the day, a change to the timetable meaning that the first train travels empty down to Cheltenham to pick up the first passengers. Hopefully, if passenger numbers eventually return to pre-pandemic levels, this will ease the overcrowding experienced on this particular train.

The new timetable is in place and once again trains regularly cross at Winchcombe. Dinmore Manor proudly displays the second headboard.

The Tim Mitchell Building hosted the presentation made to those members of the Railway who had been in right at the start, and one of those is our Dave H., seen with his wife Carol. Included in the celebration for the 40 years group was a round trip of the line and a buffet.

Having heard how good the photographic display was, we all went along to the TMB to see for ourselves. Included was C&W with some very early photos of the old Goods Shed before we moved in and made it our Workshop.

On a very hot day there's always time to relax and enjoy an ice cream (thank you Alan!). We did eventually return to work, but with lots of visitors on the platform there was very much a holiday atmosphere and it really did feel like a return to pre-pandenic days.

The Dinmore Manor crew had the better of it in this heat with the open cab. Working on 4270 was like working on P&O - very hot!

Sometime later the sound of a diesel horn had us looking out of the Works. Another sign that normality was returning with the last train of the day back to diesel haulage. So a quick photo on its return, with the anniversary headboard proudly displayed.

Meet The Teams - The Caretakers

This Meet The Teams posting describes two of our staff who do a really stirling job to keep C&W running.

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Paul W.

Paul looks after our mess room and the Tea Club, bringing in the regular supplies of tea, coffee, sugar, doughnuts, paper plates, napkins, etc. No such thing as diets in C&W!

 Taken in our original tiny mess room in November 2011

In 2012 we moved into redundant RBr 1675 for our mess facilities while the Bill Ellesmere building was under construction.

 

How things have changed since the creation of the Bill Ellesmere Building. The Burco boiler is bubbling, the giant tea pot and cups are ready, the cakes are appearing from the cupboard, and it won't be long before the bell is being rung for the 11-o-clock tea break.

A typical Thursday with goodies brought in by both Paul and other members of the Works 

 Taken in November 2014, again on a Thursday with almost a full house

 

Paul also takes on a caretaker role with respect to the cleaning and vacuuming of the mess room, landing, stairs, lobby and our changing/store room. This extends even further with the acquisition of all the cleaning materials required, both for the mess room and coach cleaning whether external or internal.. The latter aspects include the supply of the oxalic acid wash for the 3rd Rake Maintenance team, of which he is a key member, and the Monday Cleaning Team, who look after the two main rakes at Toddington. The supply of dust bags for all the Henry vacuum cleaners throughout the Works and various aspects of PPE such as gloves, dust masks, ear defenders, and safety goggles are also acquired by Paul.

More supplies arriving.  

Sorting out the clock allocation throughout the new building

 The early morning gang enjoying that first cuppa

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Kevin

A good title for the excellent work done by Kevin would be "Stores and Spares".

Sorting out and labelling up.

Every tray in the carousel has been labelled to indicate clearly the various screws, nails, washers, and a multitude of different items. The same applies to the many trays of various sized bolts, nuts, and washers. In the storage racks all sorts of items have been separated and clearly labelled. Overall a fantastic effort that not many would eagerly take on. But, oh the joy now of being to find something quickly!

Kevin has extended his sorting out to our supplies of both small coach parts and the larger items such as doors, window frames, and indeed anything that needs to be kept as replacements whenever needed. 

 All sorts of hardware here, all neatly labelled.

One of the problems with storing items in vehicles is that they are not always watertight and dampness can creep in. An inspired idea of Kevin's was to store spare seat cushions in heavy clingfilm. 

And not just the small ones.

 A trolley load of covered cushions off to be stored.

And if there's nothing to sort out, he happily joins in with help where needed, in this case as a temporary member of the Dirty Gang.

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Keep up the good work chaps. Everything you do for us is very much appreciated and makes our time at C&W very much easier.