Wednesday 7th October the heat has gone and steady rain appeared with a cold front as I pulled in today I spotted two visitors sat quietly in the car park.

                                          

The new forge has been put to use with clean aluminium to cast the first GWR warning sign, There is a bit of flashing to remove and tidying to be done but not bad for casting novices..

After an attack with a hacksaw, file, dremmel grinder and a large flap wheel it looks fine.

The wire brush finished the job off removing any residue before using and etching primer and black paint.

Mother nature has been flourishing there are brambles growing into the buildings and the ivy is on growth overtime.

After a few hours in the rain using the hedge cutter, secateurs and scrapers we have a tidier area with 2 rotten fence posts removed.

The Beckford building paint is showing it's age so a sand down and repaint is in progress.

A sweep around the workshop floor resulted in a rather large pile of debris to sort through as sometime important little things get dropped on the floor and lost.

Last week Mike dug up a rusty tap holder this has been shot blasted and painted to go on display in the tool shed.

At the end of the day it now looks more presentable and welcoming for visitors and we are hoping the plant growth will slow until the spring.

Wednesday 30th September a warm day but with a heavy shower before the sun came out.

                                             

Time to get the woodwork on the new shed finished off  so the last 8 boards inside, fit the remaining screws to the door hinges, panel the top front and make a timber to go above the doors to stop weather ingress.

                                             

Then it was time to clear out the tools and consumables along with the left over timbers followed by a good sweep up. It is now ready for a vinyl floor to be laid before the archives start moving in to free up space in the main building and house as they are crammed with books, photo libraries and written  records of railways.

The lamp hut near the toy museum has been abandoned recently and need painting so today the walls got a coating of brick cleaner/ fungicidal cleaner in preparation for some light and dark stone paint. We need a ladder to clean the roof though.

On the way back to base a quick look in the museum coach found the video not working and when the laptop fired up the tv said out of range but fiddling with buttons and connections it now works.

One chair from the office required gluing to make it safe to sit on.

Whilst Mike was leveling the soil from siting the shed he dug this up so a job for another day in the shot blaster.

The railway was busy today so a great deal of time has been used talking to visitors the Californians being the furthest traveled to get here.

 Wednesday 23rd September a lovely Autumn day with the threat of rain later which never appeared.

                                                  

Onwards with the shed build not much left to do now and some new tongue and groove from Nicks Timber will make it easier as it fits together. Fist job get the front completed to make it weather proof before the weather turns, so new wood above the door and full length boards will be stronger than the two supplied that butted up.

                               

Due to the original design having the T&G under the canopy the fitted boards stand proud of the front stopping the front boards sitting vertical so some sawing and snapping followed by a chisel to remove any bits still protruding means boards can be cut and secured to cover the gaps and insulation.

                                                    The far end is done only 2 more to cuts to do.                                                                                                 So time for the interior paneling.

                                                                        

                      The completed emigration board now has a home to protect it from the weather.

                            

The exterior now looks a lot better and should be water tight, the floor needs a covering which will be a wooden board pattern vinyl. The new timber needs a coating of linseed oil to protect it.

Whilst the sun is out the passenger step on the Morris 2T 5cwt is getting some love.

The railway was quite busy today so quite a few visitors looking around and chatting delaying progress.

Wednesday 16th September a nice clear start but with the threat of showers.  A quiet start in the car park.

More shed time today this 10 hours for 2 people to build is way out as everything needs cutting to fit.

We have longer felt tacks as the ones supplied at 8mm long are near impossible to hammer in and hardly grip. some 12mm ones were in the Trust shop for sales so these are being used.

secure the rubber under the lip and trim off the excess so the wind will not effect it.

The door lock and furniture has been fitted

We are not happy with all the short wood joins above the door it is flimsy so a redesign is in progress with longer timbers and boards.

Some thicker timbers have been put above the opening windows these have been sanded down to clearance the hinges and eliminate any rain getting in.

The sealing strips around the fixed windows have been reworked and are tidier.

Yet more tongue and groove on order from Nicks Timber to finish paneling the inside and do above the doors in a long strip not 2 parts.

 Wednesday 9th April a lovely September morning and a dry day so shed time again.

                                            

As a reminder it is Autumn mother nature has been depositing dead leaves in the buildings so some sweeping up is required.

                                                     

The Trusts shop is doing a steady trade and the stock is slowly turning over but it all add to the trusts coffers.

Mike has been busy paneling the inside after the electrician installed the wiring light  and sockets.

Shed wise first job is to reposition the lower windows flush with the front and then router time on the top window to sink the hinges in, our main object today is to get the shed water tight before the weather changes.

Window 2 completed but yet again one needed thinning down a couple of mm as it was too wide for the frame the lower one fitted in.

Onto window number 3 both are fixed solid so an easy job but no as one again is wider than the other and the top is not level yet all windows are the same part number.

with the windows in the outer joint covers were fitted this is when you find one piece of tongue and groove is not in the slot so the wood sits proud still it is covered and another day will see it taken off and fitted correctly.

It is looking better from the outside and is weather proof apart from the doors.

Right hang doors and easy job but not really as the 4" x 4" post have moved and are not vertical and pushing the top of the shed to the right 1" is impossible now most of the boards inner and outer are in the boards are in, thinking caps on and lets cut the post vertical and make a rebate for the rear of the doors.

Running up a 40mm cut with the circular saw and some chisel work meant one door was in. The cut line for vertical is visible in the left photo.

onto door two this was clear at the top but the bottom would not go in so more thinking and this time not rebate cut we need to add some material at the top and a light cut at the bottom.

The next problem arose when thinking a quick fit of the door lock could be done however the morticed hole is not wide enough and there is no wood left to screw the lock into position so that is a look at next week but the interior is now protected from the rain.