Wednesday 23rd July a nice summers day and slightly cooler for working.

The 1938 water fire extinguisher has been tidied up and is going into one of the carriages on the railway as a period piece.

But it has thrown up a surprise the glass containing sulphuric acid is in tact so a good job the plunger to break it is missing, they operated with water containing baking soda that reacts with the acid and causes the water to expel under pressure. For safety it will need removing before exhibiting although it has survived 85 years.

               

The old ticket sign is now ready to go and be mounted in Broadway ticket office.

The guard mannequin has been removed from the passage in the museum coach freeing up the north end for displays. 

This also opened up an opportunity to get a large display cabinet out and wheeled over to the Honeybourne signal box where it will replace two smaller wall mounted displays.

Most of the time was spent on the museum coach screw replacement job all the steel cross heads are coming out and cross head brass ones fitted but rot and damage in the frame has necessitated a few yards of dowel and wood being put in with glue so the new screws go tight and hold before filling over and sanding in excess of 50 were changed today but it is a slow job..  

That was enough for the day.

 Wednesday 16th July a nice summers day.

There has been extensive work on the Morris cab with much sheet metal replacement now the rear body sides are off for ease of access, the work is still on going.

            

The plastic on the skittle alley in Honeybourne has gone brittle and is failing so the top has been patched with the curtain and a new plasticard curtain will be made.

                                        

We have been given a stamping machine to make labels and markers this uses a thin aluminium tape that letters are punched into, it looks ok but needs a suitable tape so may be a working exhibit that we can use for tags.

                     

The museum coach screw replacement goes on and on it is time consuming but there is no way around it to preserve the wooden frame from water ingress.          

                          The previous weeks work rubbed down and painted

The top rail is now center of attention requiring even more dowelling fitted for the new screws to grip.

                screws exposed                                              holes filled with dowels

         

                                       The work of filling and rubbing down goes on.

There are loads to do

 The Midland Railway Lamp hut

This building was recovered from Brookethorpe, with Whaddon, Church yard, south of Gloucester a few years ago.

Moved there, from the nearby, main Gloucester Bristol main line, for use as a Churchyard tool shed.

It has been sitting in the Garden of 1 Station Cottages Toddington awaiting a future.

Our Trustee Mike Dodd, has arranged its restoration and a move to Toddington yard as an example of a typical lamp room , complete with an interior filled with the artefacts you would expect to find in such.

The Tewkesbury YMCA railway group have undertaken its restoration, and have removed the last 120 years of paint, giving the building an, as new, look. 

Many thanks to the volunteers

 GWR Ocean Mails Coach 185

Repair work is underway on this vehicle after discovering the filler over the screwheads holding the metal cladding in place is coming away.

This is the downside to the  exceptionally hot weather which causes the panels to move causing any loose screws to pull out of the wood.

The protective varnish has fractured and crazed on the side facing the sun.

We remove the loose screws, then insert wooden doweling and glue, and use brass screws to replace rusted away steel ones.

Keith noticed a brass door handle falling off, the woodwork in the door had to be repaired to mount it successfully again.





 

The next photos shows a bodged attempt to repair a split in the door stile.

Car Body filler has been used to hide the split and as ever this achieves little.

So out it came, the crack thoroughly cleaned out, then glued, and clamped.

 

The door is now structurally stronger now the vertical split has been glued  

Wednesday 25th June nother lovely warm summers day.

The constant battle against nature goes on the block paving area needed another clean up and another application of weed killer in areas as we are trying to get it to look used not abandoned.

                                         

The buildings with windows needed a duster around the panes of glass to remove spiders webs and insect carcases.

                                                         

The Station workers jacket has been in one window for years this was covered in cobwebs and dust so needed a gentle beating and hoovering but the back has faded in the sun so it needs a proper clean and dying before putting back on display..

                                                 

The plinth under the AA box got pushed apart when it was sited so a gravel out job realign and rescrew the timbers was called for plus reaffix the surround under one of the Andoversford windows.

                                               

The weather has ravaged the museum coach with water and temperature having a detrimental effect.

The gutters move and water gets in behind the sides resulting in the timber frame moving and steel screws fitted over the 103 year this coach has survived rotting in the wood, the constant expansion and contraction pushes the filler covering the screw heads out into blisters.

Removing any screws that will not tighten or are not crosshead brass is a big job but then the oversize holes can be filled with wooden cocktail sticks and chop sticks secured with glue before brass crossheads are fitted..

Once all the screws are in and tight the heads are covered over with car body filler the areas can then be sanded down and patch painted

 

 A Stitch in Time saves nine !

Repair that one loose stitch when  it happens, you will save nine stitches when it starts  to fall apart.

The same could be said this evening when i noticed the deteriorating paint work at the southern end of Collet museum coach at Toddington.

We had some epic paint peel, so a quick sand with 180 grit and a new coat of Yacht varnish that will stabilise   the surface for another couple of years, if it had been left any longer  a total new repaint would have been necessary, it took just 40 minutes











 

Wednesday the 18th of June a lovely hot summers day 

Nature has been busy with weeds growing and the trees shedding leaves due to the hot dry spell so a clean out in Foss Cross and remove weed growth from the paved areas we had cleaned and regrouted just a few months ago. We also cut down some shrubs that obscured our area from the station and train carriages so exhibits can be seen easier and visits prompted by visual interest..

                                  And after a trim and tidy around it looks more inviting.

                      

The job of emptying the scammel box body continues this week it was lights, candles and oil cans out for a clean repair and display we also got another hessian sack for the transport display.

               

After a session on the wire wheel most were ready for a coat of preservative but a GWR boiler inspection lamp needed it's spout soldering back on.

                         

                      The freshly filled sack ready for the museum coach transport display.

                                                        

A southern Railway level crossing light was also washed off with soap, water and stiff brush before a coat of lanolin was applied,  this also had wood cut and bolted on like a crossing gate so it stands up.

                      

                           

                                                                               The lamp ready for display
                                                                

We had a slight delay in delivering the items to their new locations due to the arrival of the Cheltenham bound train so had to ask if we could cross the line

                                                

A cast iron post top from the original GWR station square gate posts was rescued from the ground at Toddington station this has had a clean with a rotary wire brush and had a white undercoat applied.

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The Tewkesbury Group have been busy on Tuesday evenings stripping the paint off the line side hut which when sited and painted will house the lamp and oil displays.

The Temperature was now mid to high 20's