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Wednesday 8th - Strange yellow light in the sky

 What a joy it was travelling to Winchcombe in the sunshine, such a change from the last four months.



With the gala rapidly approaching we needed the weather to get on with the water storage tank. Steve made the plates, and cleaned the welding areas. Stick welding proved very successful and is much easier to manoeuvre. We need another good weather day and that should see it finished.


Steve always smiles for a photo, happy in his work. When it's all finished it will be painted with some quality weatherproof paint.



Back indoors on 13326, Simon is working on the south vestibule which is looking fantastic.



On the North end, Steve is discussing No 5 doorfit, we will be sorting it next Wednesday.


1675 guttering, thats a bit of a gap so a small piece was used to bridge the gap and facilitate an easy weld.


Ainsley is cleaning up, and seems surprised.


Rex is finishing off the parts for the battery mount for 1675 ..... it's been a very long and complicated job.


This is the cooling fan attachment, now fully welded with Rex cleaning around the edges ready for painting.


Bob is making spacers for a floor strengthener  to go in 13326.


Chris is making final fitting to 1675 guttering .......


Climbing up and down that tower is no easy job, but safety is paramount.


Phil is working on electrics for 1675s kitchen.


.....And then it was lunchtime, so nice to be outside.


Jenny and John are doing a repair job on the seat for the Winchcombe signal box.


Laura is doing some preliminary work on the next carriage seat set for the Dean Forest Railway.


Eve and Helen doing yet more stripping of seats and seat backs for 4798.


I could not leave out Geoff .......




....... and Colin AKA 'The chuckle brothers. 


Finally Dave in the paintshop. always with a paintbrush in his hand.


Many thanks to Eve and Gerry for the photos.

Tuesday 7th - It's warming up

There were 10 of us attending today and two contractors working in RBr 1675.

We were blessed with another lovely day, so nice that sitting down was fatal because once seated you could easily forget all about work and happily watch trains all day.

The GW ply van is rapidly coming together now and needs to be if it is to join the Gala freight in just over two weeks time. The concentration was again on the doors, with Alex adding screws to secure the panel to this one.

Maurice is tightening the nuts holding this panel.

All the newly tightened nuts are then given a coat of green primer.

Meanwhile Paul is in the Workshop cutting bolts to the correct lengths.

[Photo : Paul]  The first rebuilt door goes on.

[Photo : Paul]  The Cotswold doors in place with just the door furnishings and another coat of paint to add.

After that, over to Alex for the signwriting.

Keith and Roger enjoying the lovely day and watching P&O coming by with Rake 1.

Alan's new plate welded in at the north end of SO 4798, a photo I meant to take after he had done the job on Saturday afternoon.

On my way to the office I could see how much more had been done with the headrests by Laura and John last Saturday. So a quick gathering of all the relevant bits for the photo and then returning everything to where I had found it.

On now to FK 13326 and more painting progress. Most of the windows on both sides have been top coated, but need a second coat. Roger on the Cotswold side tackled several windows, while Keith on the other side adds the first top coat to this particular window.


Alan was back on solebars, but this time on 13326, and also this time straight to gloss black as the previous paint was still in reasonable condition. Other than a wipe down, all that was initially needed was the removal of some of the old signage transfers.

Martin was in again and initially top coated the heavy cover for RBr 1675's generator box.

Work in 1675 was limited with the contractors working on the new flooring in the kitchen and pantry. Martin was however able to fill around the beading over the sheet metal infill where a former doorway had been.

With the Malvern side gutter now fully welded, Richard gradually worked along from the south end, sanding where necessary and then adding etch primer ready for when we can start undercoating this side.

With the contractors gone for the day having completed the first stage of the floor covering, a chance to grab some photos. The floor cross members have been sealed and filled to equalise the floor level.

It has been decided to extend the covering into the serving and storage areas.

The various thin ply floor panels, cut to size and awaiting fitting the next day.

Dave was back out and doing his good work to improve the various stock around the yard. By the time I got out here he had finished for the day and gone home. I also missed Derek working on the repairs to the Monster Van.

A nice way to end a busy day. Alex and Maurice watch the last Cheltenham train of the day hauled by, what for many of us, is our favourite diesel. I wish more could be green. The driver gives a cheery wave as Kevin stands in the doorway ready for the token exchange.

**************************

There was a nice comment at the end of my Saturday posting:

Dave, another great report, a couple of nomenclature points if I may, the "corridor" connections between vehicles are actually Gangways (hence codes like BG for Brake Van with Gangways), and the metal chequer plate gubbins are actually called tread plates. I won't bother you with bow girders, coffin rods and truss rods this time.
Malcolm (former Chief Inspector LMR)

Thank you for the kind comment Malcolm. As for "corridor connections", I did know that they are actually called "gangways". I've simply been in the habit of calling them the former for a very long time, probably since we started doing the blog in 2011, so it will be an effort to remember the correct name when writing these up. Ah yes, tread plates, I will do my best to remember to use that term too. Thank you.


Saturday 4th - A lovely late Spring day

Firstly apologies for no Thursday post as I was unable to come in. So to make up for it a hopefully interesting and varied post for Saturday.  Regular readers will know that Alex normally does this day, but he was enjoying a visit to the Churnet Valley Railway. Hope it all went well.

Beginning with FK 13326. Simon levels off the supports for the new south vestibule floor.

With the floor now fitted, he checks the fit of one of the end panels of veneer sheet. This vestibule is really coming together.

The north end corridor connection is now in place.

Something I started a few weeks ago was the cleaning up of the connection chequerplates for 13326. They will soon be required for refitting, so let's get them finished. Nice to work outside in the sun!


It was nice to see Martin back in. Living in Oxted, Surrey he is only able to attend occasionally. Having lightly sanded the cover for 1675's generator box, he is adding dark grey undercoat.


Robert was back on the problematical Cotswold side emergency door.

During the coming week the new flooring is being laid in the kitchen and pantry. The saloon and bar area has also been cleared, presumably to provide space for cutting the flooring.. The heating pipes are gradually being reinstated.

With just Phil occasionally coming inside, it provided an opportunity to do more work on the Cotswold side of the corridor. As such Martin was able to complete the general sanding down and add a coat of etch primer on the new sheet metal panel which fills in the redundant doorway into the kitchen/pantry.


Phil tests the electrical connections at the south end of the coach.




On to SO 4798 where, with the window removed, John has now cut out the corroded section underneath. A new correctly shaped section of sheet metal will be created and welded in. All the windows on 4798 will need to be done.


Alan continues his repair work at the north end, where new base sections of the connection support pillars have been welded in, painted with MIO, and the new sheet metal put on to complete the job.


In Upholstery the trials with these headrests have been successful. Laura begins stripping the old moquette off this one which, as I watched, turned out to be a bit of a battle and was reluctant to be removed.


The chosen moquette for these is the Red Chain Link and very good it looks too. Behind it a second one is ready for re-covering.


John looks to be having a battle stripping this one.


In the Woodshop Chris is reassembling the window frame for one of the Toddington shunter doors.




In the Barn the doors of the ply van are now being reassembled. Clive, having laid out the screws in their approximate positions, uses a tape measure to ensure the row will be straight.


Next pre-drill the holes.


Paul meanwhile is cleaning up some of the bolts. We may as well reuse what we can.


With this door nicely finished Maurice adds a final top coat.


Paul and Dennis taking a well earned break while spending the day preparing Rake 3 for the Steam Gala in a few weeks time.


More checks of the north end of TSO 5023, now looking somewhat faded.




It really was a delightful day to be outside. Warm. Sunny, no cold wind ..........


....... and certainly one to enjoy lunch on Platform 2 with Robert and Chris.


The northbound train pulled in and almost opposite where we were sitting two very well known faces appeared in the doorway. Nick and Eve were enjoying a day on the line, and why not. As often happens, we spend loads of time at the Works but very little time actually enjoying the trains and the results of all our hard work.


Time to enjoy the sun and watch P & O pass by with the Cheltenham train. It was nice to see Tina driving too - looks like she is now a fully qualified driver - excellent!


The end of a long and busy day with Stu, Alan, Maurice and Robert watching the Peak come by on its final run to Toddington.