Wednesday the 6th November 2024 a cool dry day so lots outside now the railway is closed until the Santa specials.

But the first job was on these rocket bodies made from copper plumbing parts that needed 4 grommets in each

Then it was time to install the boosters or bulb holders and feed the wires up the body.

All three completed

All 4 wires in and connected into a terminal strip to get 8 wires down to 2 then a functional test.

Greg has used a rubber and adhesive band to fix the glass into the brass ring which turns out not to be a true circle.

                                                    A test fit of the bulb holders and looms

       The lights need a clean and paint plus polish the brass fixtures and fittings before fitting in the 100 year old coach where they were gas lamps.

Outside time on Honeybourne signal box and there is putty to be replaced on the windows before painting them with a white undercoat.

                                    The frames and sills are nearly ready for some new paint

The Scammell Iron Horse got treated to a gallon of  E5 petrol in the empty fuel tank and the system primed but it did not fire up as expected although the solar panel had kept the battery good enough for cranking over, a quick screwdriver between the points contacts ensured a  good spark  as it has been stood for a few months. Happy days it fired up smartly then needed reversing to free off a seized rear brake however a short drive showed flats on the tyres and a pressure check showed 7 and 12 psi in the rears and 41 in the front so the battery powered inflator was brought out.

A successful few hours working lights and a driving scammell it was then off to the sidings to see the 100 year old wagon the lights are for and look at solving some sticky sliding doors which are on next weeks to do list

 Sunday 3rd November

The last rusted panel to be repaired on GWR Collett 3rd class coach 4777

With no electricity on site, a battery powered anlge grinder was used to remove the old metal,a new panel was cut to pattern and soldered along the join, the screwed with Brass screws to the frame.

Every panel on this heavily rusted vehicle was repaired by welding in new metal.

Wednesday the 30th October

 A warm clear day so outside work on a busy day with visitors during half term.

Another sweep up day with the falling leaves hopefully the last as the trees are now pretty bare.

Greg has been busy cutting the glass bowls to go om the gas lights, these are glass bowls off the internet as originals are unobtainable so some thinking cap work to be applied.

Ideal weather for sanding down the flaking and peeling paint where water had got in through small cracks on the Honeybourne signal box. A fine wood filler was used to get into the cracks as the coarse grain filler did not go in well.

Loads of scraping, sanding and filling of the 90 yea old wood. The putty has gone hard  on the windows and again water is getting into the cracks so clean the over painted areas of the glass then use some thickened paint on a spatula to fill the gaps in the putty a lot of work and very little to take photos of.

Whilst working some Morgan owner came in for a visit along with a lotus 7 kit car.they parked up by the Scammel

 Wednesday 23rd Oct a heavy dew start but then lovely sun so outside it is the painting jobs are time consuming so not a great variety today.

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Greg has been busy sign writing the Hayles Abbey Halt sign with other stations and stops

                             

Autumn is here and nature is carpeting the ground with leaves but then blows them around with the wind so some sweeping required as it is the last big weekend of the open season before the Christmas trains run.

The museum coach door stop had come adrift so one new screw and wooden dowel cured one fixing the other had sheared off so required drilling to fit a new brass crosshead.

With the Gala weekend coming up the Scammel needed a good clean after months of being stood by the track with steam engines passing regularly, luckily the heavy dew on this nice autumnal morning meant the lorry was very wet so a large bath towel was applied to wipe it clean.

The Honeybourne building painted a few years ago has suffered from nature again with paint cracking and lifting as the rain water was getting in under it, so flaking paint off, damp areas dried, gaps filled  and sanded then primed this time with an aerosol to get a thin penetrating layer on so hopefully it will adhere better than the brush painted a GWR dark stone top coat was applied to dry areas.

 Wednesday 9th October are dry warm start then the light rain came in.

In the last week Greg has added more to the Hayles Abbey Sign and started on a wooden box refurbishment.

The legs on Malvern Well sign have rotted off and the frame needs repair, so unbolt the sign and get repairs started however rust and rot meant the coach bolts needed cutting off and driving out with a punch and trying to lay the frame down rot meant it fell to bits so a major job not the perceived minor one

Laying it down on the ground resulted in one end falling off.

                                                 

Optimistically the wooden parts were all numbered so we could save and reuse good parts.

                                                

This sign was assembled with all new wood five years ago and painted but it has rotted beyond repair

                                            

                                                        So cut it up for fire wood

The enamel panels are in need of repair so a wire wheel to remove the rust and loose pasts then treat with a rust converter but rain stopped play,

Using the wire wheel killed the drill after a few minutes so a strip down and replace brushes

The Morris roof was then porta powered up  and reshaped with the hammer after getting it hot with a blow torch  cooling it instantly with a wet cloth stress relieves it. Forgot to take a photo now the roof is back in shape.

The final 15 minutes or so were used on the unidentified machine possibly a pipe thread cutter which is a solid rusty lump.

A good application of the propane cutting torch got the 2 locking lever handles moving freely  but the clamping screws are solid so a good soak with a penetrating oil will hopefully free things off in the next week or two.