Just thought this photo was rather poignant,the recently repainted, James Taylor Coal wagon,parked outside his original office, rescued from destruction at Winchcombe in 1983.  The wagon was part of the new GWSR freight train, the odds of the two artifacts being next to each other in the same photo, must be high.

Wednesday 30th Nov

 To cold and damp for painting the iron horse so AA box time.

• Greg mixed some primrose yellow so got stuck in and removed flaking paint then a quick rub down then the inside roof, top half and door got painted  in yellow.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Then time to get the cupboard doors to shut so cut the hinges in to get clearance and planed the front edges so now with a single coat of paint.

Got the other wing on the scammell but my fingers are too big to get 4 out if 6 nuts on the bolts between tyre and arch.

Cleaned out all the shot blasting medium out of the oil filter canister and assembled to filter but to cold to apply any lacquer as it will bloom.

The British Railways totem.

This totem was painted on to the roof of the Scammell, 3 years ago with an oil based paint, during that time the red paint had eroded away, not much of a testament to modern paint composition.

As it was a fine day, it did not take much to repaint the totem, only this time it will have a couple of coats of varnish applied over the top.

 

Wednesday 23rd mainly scammel work

 Well despite the forecast the weather was good until around 12 noon.

Greg got the left rear wheel off the Scammell so we could do the hub and areas behind it better. 

The tyre is severely cracked and new ones are unobtainable so an old spare in better condition got pulled out from under the trailer although being flat it pumped up to 60psi and when tested with water no air leaks showed.

The hub , rim, drum and nuts got stripped primed and painted black before reassembly , the wheel and mudguard off allowed access to areas behind to be cleaned up and painted.

The hub with wheel removed 

The best spare tyre

Stripped and primed

Ready for arch to be bolted on followed by the wheel.

Fitted after painting.

Greg removed the engine oil filter cannister for overhaul and knowing some coolant may have got into the oil when the head gasket had failed.

That was a surprise for 1959 we were expecting a paper element not a disposable sealed filter.

painted with primer after cleaning up.

The sealed unit has been left lying on it's side for the old oil to drain out it will then be reusd due to the limited running the engine will do.

Greg also cleaned up the trailer lock release cable attachments and springs so it is looking good as the jobs are completed.

A look in the AA box after the storms and rain found it dry so happy days however one of the glass panels fitted last week has cracked due to stress and changes in the box over the week.

New wedges were made and fitted to hold the wheels on the platform scales but forgot to get a photo..

 The other Scammell windscreen surround.  

As predicted, after removing the passenger windscreen, the metal work resembled a cheese grater

Cutting out and Welding in new strips of metal was fairly straight forward, but the bottom right corner was sealed with lead and the steel under it had rotted away completely.

This area I had to build up with weld.

In the last pic, the welds have been ground, sealed and painted

With the glass removed, it enabled the restoration of the dash board surround, which had been holed by water leaking around the rubber seal

The old flaking paint was ground off , primed and painted, looking much better.

Taking advantage of the fine but unusual weather, I was able to spray the rear mud guards, as well as two wheels and the underside of a wing, off the 1960 Morris Commercial.

.Progress of this type is not usually attempted outside at this time of year.
 

Wednesday 16th Nov be

 An unseasonably warm day and luckily dry whilst we were working

The AA box is getting near completion after Greg cut the 4 pieces of glass for ghe last signs in the roof these were again shot blasted on on side then sprayed white to replicate the originals.

These were again fitted using mirror corner mounts and gad rubber put on the front to rake up and irregularity in the mounting surface.

The glue on one Andover sign had given way due to the weight of the glass so a screw and nut were fitted as a mechanical lock in the bottom rail we now think the other 7 need to be done to prevent any future failure.

The cupboard and lower interior have gad a coat of duck egg blue paint and the top 1/2 is awaiting some matt primrose yellow then it will be fitting out time with the map, phone and other period motoring artefacts

Greg has been busy stripping and spray painting wings off the Austin and scammel  vehicles and also prepping and painting the repaired screen surrounds in the iron horse before repainting the British Railways logo on the roof..

Wed nov 9th

 Greg has been busy in the scammel doing both windscreen surrounds but the metal has gone thin in places making welding awkward even just trying to fill the odd hole

I have been removing old repairs from the Austin and cleaning  areas then applying a self etching or rust treatment primer then applying a coat of green just to seal the primes.

The final top glass was fitted to the AA box leaving just the 4 windows at the base of the signs to be done.

Greg made the last 1.25” of floor board so it met the closed door.

The electrical input cover was rotten so a new panel was made to cover the hole so no furry animals can get in.

4 pieces of glass to fit and a yale lock on the door it is just about finished then needs some internal period props put in.

 The end of a nasty bit of rust.

The Scammell Scarab, had a good weekend, after appearing at the super, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Mixed Traffic Gala.

Photo Dan Wigg

On its return I took the drivers windscreen out to tackle some advanced rust eating away at the dashboard, under the windscreen rubber.

This involved cutting out the rust and rebuilding the screen surround and part of the scuttle.

Not an easy job, in inclement weather.

The progress shown here in my out of focus shots.

Glad that job is done, the other window is probably the same !

Greg

Wednesday the 2nd Nov

 After a clean up in Taylors office a piece of wood under the door bottom strip will stop the leaves blowing under whilst the railway is closed but a permanent job is required in the future. 

Greg cut 4 X 10.25” panes of glass for the AA box which were then shot blasted one side and a thin coat of white paint applied. 3 of these got fitted behind the roof AA signs using mirror mounts on the interior so they can be changed if needed in the future. 

The front needs longer screws brought as the original tin and hardboard is thicker than the other 2mm steel sides.  .Greg has been busy with the platform scales adding gold leaf and repainting so whilst we were there together we tipped them up and reassembled the internal linkages.

 

Greg drove the Iron Horse from the station yard back to storage where the drivers windscreen  got removed as there was water ingress and rust showing which was a hole so he made new corner and bottom panels where the old repair had rotted out.