Wednesday, March 27, 2024

 Wednesday 27th March a dry start with a cold wind before the rain set in so outside first.


People were struggling to open the mail coach door as both doors were moving when pulled so a quick look found the bottom lock guide loose so the right door moved when the left was pulled, 2 larger screws solved the problem but there was still a bit of a bind so high spots on the door edges were removed with the sander, now all


Secured and pulled shut securely by the lock


Signs of rubbing on the door edges indicated where to sand down.



Whilst there the rusty and redundant hold open chain was removed


The it was load up with chisel, hammer, cutting disc and ladder to remove the light pointing from the east wall of platform one building ready forsome dark mortar to be mixed and applied.



A while later the light sand coloured  pointing had gone but the top section was found to be a thin layer applied over the grey so a scraper and wire brush got rid of the light sand to reveal a grey pointing.




Just got back to the workshop on time as the heavens opened



The hills started to vanish in the rain.


So the compressor guard work was cancelled and a tidy up of the floor and work benches ensued.


After a sweep  up


The useful stuff off the floor that needs sorting to keep or to dispose of.


That looks better more floor space now.


Then it was attack the middle benches


A cleaner workingarea



                                                   The far end came next with a floor clean


Followed by both benches which now have space to work on


A quick look into Taylors showed the rain still getting in but not a bad so dry weather needed for a permanent repair.



Wednesday, March 20, 2024

 Wednesday the 20th March it had stopped raining by start time and was warm.

The rain had wet the counter and floor in Taylor's office a quick investigation of the roof repair patch found open seams so out with a screwdriver to remove the old stuff


 

The pigeon basket has been pressure washed and looks great with the decoy pigeon inside so now we need to find a few more.


 


The notice board is painted ready for mounting.


Start of the task and a bit low for visibility from cars driving in.


So we moved it up 2 brick courses.


Then Scammell time it has not been touched for a few weeks but priming the carb with the pump and a few turns away it went.


So time to inflate the tyres enough to drive it and reduce degradation even did the trailer.


 


A loom was fitted to the battery with an exterior plug for easier solar charging

 


The rear of platform one building had many 70’s onward wiring clips looking untidy so removal was deemed necessary .


Then it was over to Beckford to start on the 150 year old shed we want to relocate to Toddington.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

 Wednesday 13th March a dry day but windy also a busy day on the trains as it is Cheltenham Festival week.


                               The GWR notice board is rebuilt and filled ready for sanding


Time to go outside for rubbing down and then priming


The three boards were taken over to platform one and refitted in the original position.







we had the musicians setting up ready for the race punters to arrive must say they were very good.

it was then welding time on the steel fence as the top rail was adrift both ends.


The weather has started damaging the AA box and Boxford south facing wall so so rubbing down and priming/repainting took place.




It was then time to make a safety guard for the old compressor in the field, cut down reshaped then some mounting brackets welded on.


during the work Stanway Manor turned on the gravity fountain but a strong wind blew most of the spray away so it got turned off.

The wicker pigeon carrier on platform 1 has been painted at some time so an application of paint stripper has started getting it back to original after it will be treated with oxalic acid to bring out the true colour



                            A busy few hours but good progress made and no race goers were harmed.




































Wednesday, March 6, 2024

 Wednesday 6th March 2024 a cold start with fog then the sun came out so great for outside work.

With the sun peering through the fog Greg has completed the museum coach roof as far as he can go from now on it is a two man job off a ladder.


First job is to strip the station notice board/hoarding frame down to get the metric tongue and groove to fit. the large woodscrews were hidden by a glue and sawdust mix and did not want to play at coming out easily so a small carbide tool was used to  clean out the screw slots.


the groove needed to be 3mm wider so router table out and set up but things did not go to plan the router bit came loose enough to move up into the work and widen the cut. even thought it was tightened as much as possible luckily it did not move up quite enough to come through the work fully.




after abandoning the table and not able to find the router guide the job was abandoned.
so time for other jobs as the railway is now open a tidy up of the Taylor pipe work was in order.

A good sweep up and weed the reorganise the pipe display

A barrel lifting yoke had been left by the display so a quick sanding and loose paint removal

After a treatment with linseed oil it was put on the display.


The original seven wire railway boundary fence needs repair and new posts but in the mean time it was clear the ivy off the posts so it looks better and more inviting for folks to use the footpath.




Greg came back to start on the hoarding board frame and with the router playing up it was easier and safer to plane the back section of the channel off on the other 3 parts so it could be reassembled

the boards were cut to length and fitted, the end which had the rear planed off will need screws to secure the boards.



The board will go up on the end of platform 1 building so 3 battens were cut and painted to screw to the station wall to hang it on.























 Wednesday 27th March a dry start with a cold wind before the rain set in so outside first. People were struggling to open the mail coach do...