Wednesday 29th Jan a cold clear start that got up to about 6C so loads outside.

The paint is peeling on Taylors office building so time to knock of the curled up paint and smooth it down for priming and touching up

                                            

                                            After sanding the bare areas were primed

  Some light brown paint was then tweaked with additions of yellow and red to get close to the faded light stone colour, the dark stone and sign writing is a job for another day.

                                             

The Barrel truck from last week has been completed by Greg with the splits welded, right handle and barrel bars straightened before a treatment of lanolin infused with graphite this is now ready for display it just needs a wooden barrel.

A purchase from Lidl of stowage brackets was more work but at  least we now have space for timber strips in the dry as they were alongside the paint store shed below

3 hooks on the outside and 2 inside the workshop

The weather has degraded the oil lights outside the buildings so again lanolin infused with graphite was applied

There was still some oil spare so it got used on the water pump around the corner

It was then line side wagon time the 2 leather window strap were rigid so a good multiple coating of oil to feed it got them flexible and in time it will soak all the way in.

THe replacement victorian window glass has improved visibility even with the manufacturing marks in it and the cleaned up frames look better.

The right door outer surface was heavily marked with orbital grinding marks and was fouling when opened so it got a cleaned with the belt and orbital sanders before priming along with the other bare wood outside

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The roof lights also got a second coat of white primer

 Wednesday the 22nd Jan 2025 a cold start with patchy fog.

A walk down to the line wagon where Greg has fitted a brass plate to the end door as it has had a few repairs over the years and looks a mess but making a new door removes history and is not in keeping with the body.

                                    

It was then inside to paint the roof lights with undercoat and fill some of the timber joints before top coating

                                Before  filling                                                                     After

It was then onto the left door where Greg has removed the windows for some new glass as the originals were heavily marked. The support strips were refitted and the top timber refitted.

Cutting Victorian glass saved from a builders skip so the glass going in is period correct.

We have an oil light filler can that was in the museum this is going in with the oil lamp cupboard both items need ork first though.

The Salter scales had started rusting at the weld repair and where we used heat to straighten the lock rod so a touch up was needed but with nothing like the original colour, a rag was sprayed with apple green and hammerite green metallic this was then wiped onto the areas to blend them in.

The areas will be treated with lanolin when dry.

I have been contacting Salters Scales about the 20 stone display dial as there is not enough black markings on it to repaint and the printers could not use the only photo I could find on the web due to missing parts and a damaged face that was used.

We spotted an old barrel truck with a wheel off near the waste skips by the engine workshop and asking around it was not wanted so it has been saved.

A jubilee clip was used to refit the wheel so it could be walked back to base.

The load plate was bent up and pulled off the rivets so a clamp on both sides pulled it back down to enable welding.

                                                


 The sheard and seized cotter pin on the left stub axle was drilled out and the wheel secured with a new pin. It now need the right handle warming and straightening then a paint to keep it period.

            We also need to find a wooden cask or barrel to suit the curves in the cross rods

Whilst the welder was out the fence needed so tlc  as previous welds had failed so the disc cutter removed all the old weld lumps to enable a neater job.

It was then back down the line wagon as it was decided replacement glass would be better than the again heavily marked originals in the units that had been refitted last week.

 Wednesday the 15th Jan 2025 a clear day warmer than it should be so great for outside work.

                                    A nice view of the morning from the workshop door.

                                            

We have acquired a railway lamp cupboard this is not a GWR one but a rarity so it will be saved, it has been painted a few times and is now black so some careful paint stripping revealed the original brown colour. This is a future project for the museum.

        the lid opens and the oil tray is in good condition but we need to secure the loose fixed top.

                                            

                            It was then onto the Salter Scales out in the sun.

            Tipping them over allowed access to lubricate all the rusty joints and pivots.

                                

some carefull drilling from the rear got the heads off the seized screws holding the face on then heat and levering got the needle off to expose the seized mechanism

the drilled screws needed to sleeve left in the threads removed with a slightly larger drill to enable tapping for some new brass screws

                        The broken lock mechanism handle needed welding it lined up nicely

A quick dress of the mating surfaces it was then clamped together so we could weld it together again the little £39 parkside inverter welder came into it's own.

After a good oil and grease of the internal mechanism it was a surprise to find it worked and returned so the dial was refitted loosely to keep things together. The needle was shot blasted and repainted with the brass centre being polished

It was then down to the line wagon where the refurbished end door catches were refitted

                                                           The side door windows were refitted

The new roof lights were painted grey on build so they need to go white in the wagon

This is a line storage wagon that needs some TLC but it shows the condition the one we are working on was in.