This wonderful Enamel sign

I picked this gem up at a car boot sale in Bude in 2025

It tells of the time in the early 20th century, of the massive migration of families from the UK to seek new and better lives in the New World.

The sign, badly marred by chips and rust, deserved the best of efforts to restore it.

The rust was totally ground out with a small round ended carbide burr, and then the scars were filled with car body filler, sanded flat and then , using an airbrush and Cobalt blue glass paint the background was filled in and the lettering restored.

In the first photo the name of the agent is unreadable, and searching the internet got me nowhere.

I discovered a museum in Callington, and sent off an email, they identified the Agent from the 1912 census, as William Edward Folley an insurance agent who resided in Laburnum row. note no phone number just his address, thank you so much to Callington Museum for their help, in filling the historic missing piece to the puzzle.  

 Wednesday 26th August the warm weather continues with thunderstorms forecast for this morning so start with a view on platform 2 Toddington. 

The museum coach is now ready for a coat of light stone after a lot of preperation.

The Canada emigration sign now has a frame and is looking good a full write up will follow.

But today’s job is try and get the roof on the new shed so it is more water resistant.

First job is 7 bearers on top of last week’s roof.

Then put the insulation in before putting the top boards on.

The thicker of the two stacks of  boards left is laid down, the large sash clamp was needed due to the banana shape of some boards.

Once again the plans do not go as thought so we have used gravel boards on the ends as they fit better.

Now with the threat of rain over the next few days we decided to put the felt on the completed half and put weights on to keep it down so when we do the second half of the boarding we can just roll the loose felt back for access then secure it once boarding is completed.

The felt must be the thinnest lightest grade possible so the south end is tacked on under the facia board but a decision to get a rubber sheeting roof covering has been made as that will last for years, the felt may last until a good wind. 

 Wednesday 19th August after a night of steady rain a nice start to the day.

The cooler temperatures are making the assembly of the new shed easier  although the timber and plans are now wet. So carefully separating the wet pages and look up roof construction all it says is is fit purling dependent on shed size but none are listed  in the parts list.

So sort out 38 x38 timbers into lengths and check lengths against positions on the shed. First idea was wrong long ones with roof on top.

This looked possible but not to plan so off with the beams.

Purling now sorted so ends fitted back and front screwed down then add 5 beams front to rear.

Mike is now busy cutting and installing the insulation r  for boarding the interior.

Now sort out the tongue and groove for the roof and fix down using screws not nails as supplied.

One half completed 

The second half well under way, the insulation will go on top of this as the long beams now sit on this structure which we then board and felt. 

Mike is doing well with the insulation but the booklet states two people should take around ten hours to complete this shed build so we are well slow.

Warped timbers and some flimsy design have meant a redesign to our standards.

 Wednesday 12th August a beautiful summers day at 31C before the heat wave.

The mail coach body screw tightening and repaint is coming along the screws were tight but the hot dry weather has caused shrinkage so some have gone in a couple of turns this means they will be rock solid when the wood expands with moisture again.

The Canadian Pacific sign is taking shape and looks a lot better.

The floorboards are done for the shed base and are secured to all the beams on opposite sides to prevent warping.

There is a lot of parts to sort out and identify so laying them out helps.

All 4 corners up  and 3 sides fully in

A lot of assembly in the blazing sun with a few moments the plan shows two 3ft panels in the rear but we got an extra 4ft and a 2ft and the door frame parts to get the measurements correct are flimsy so some 4” x 4” or 4”x 2” will go in.

The hot weather finally beat us and computing/ phone problems have meant a late up date on the blog..

 

 Wednesday 5th August the first rain for 47 odd days so the soil is now sticky.

                                         

Today is get the new shed base down with the help of Mike so a dry start would have been useful as the loose soil is now sticky and the timbers are wet. We screwed the 38mm sq base timber frame to the 4 x4 post for strength and height doing one half first this was then levelled with bricks and slate then in filled with ash from the steam trains to consolidate it.

                                                  

With section one done we continued with number two and did the same but leaving the excess 4x4 so a locker can be added sometime in the future.

 

once level we put the ash under the main timbers and then added the insulation and started laying the floor boards however the few hundred 30mm nails were mixed in a bag with hundreds of screws so some sorting and picking was required.

                     The enamel sign is coming on well and a separate post will be done on the process.

We have a new collection to clean up as exhibits

We have purchased a small furnace for melting aluminium cans to cast some signs this needs assembling.

The Morris cab has had more paint and the floor is in

Then it was home time.

 Wednesday 29th July a cloudy start then the heatwave started.

    

The Morris seat base needs another de rust and paint after stripping the home made mountings off

A  sanding disc got the rust off the base and it was then treated with a rust inhibitor then some rust preventative paint.

 

It was then refitted into the lorry to check the height required for the seat mounts.

The new shed kit has been laid up for a few weeks but needs assembling so print off some instructions and sort out the timbers for the base that needs assembling first so we can get the site levelled up.

Once screwed together the 2 floor sections were put into place this highlighted more ground clearance was required.

After a long discussion about the best way forwards for longevity it was decided that the 38mm timbers were not really man enough so fixing 4x2 under it would be a good added strength and raise the base.

Greg went off to Gloucester and purchased 9 4x4 posts.

These have been placed in situ ready for screwing together

Whilst Greg was away a walk down to the ash bunker found the tele handler emptying it into a tipper wagon as the railway have to pay for it’s removal. A quick chat with the operator and yes we can have 4 bucket fulls delivered however on checking he was not allowed to drive on the road to our site so buckets, shovels and an estate car got two loads around however the heat wave was making life hard in the full sun.

We had even cleared a route for the tele handler in anticipation of delivery but this proved useful for the car.

Then heat and other work stopped play.

 Cloudy Railway Carriage Windows.

This is a phenonium seen on many heritage railway windows, over the years, iron brake dust has settled on to the glass and moisture has caused the brake dust to adhere and rust, causing occlusion on the glass.

This cannot be cleaned  off , it needs something more specific and more powerful.

This demonstration of  occlusion removal from the side window of the class 47 Diesel cab  at Toddington owned by Jack Boskett shows this.

If you enlarge the photo, You can see I have used rust remover, ( Phosphoric Acid)

to write the word, Jack on the glass,  it has removed the staining, making the glass bright and transparent again.

I would advise all heritage railways with cloudy carriage windows to try this method of removal,

Clear bright carriage windows will add to the visitor experience, and the answer is simple and straight forward.