Wednesday the 13th and wet weather at Toddington so on advice from Greg on site the guttering install can wait a day or two as we would be working in the mud making more mess, Greg has some other work on and I am stuck awaiting a heavy parcel at 45Kgs from TNT/Fed Ex which I missed Tuesday as it did not show as in transit but sat at the warehouse. Monday is looking favourite for guttering, Scammel starting and Morris cab sealing before the bad weather sets in.

 

Wednesday the 6th December a bittier cold start the windscreen wanted to keep the ice on it so the deicer had to come out so I could get to the railway

Greg has been busy on the locomotive model it is now looking good and it actually works when connected to a power supply

I started on the corridor connection hangers for the museum coach, a quick session on the rotary wire brush got the rust off ready for the red primer

Mean time Greg started levelling a dip in the block path outside the workshop.

The ivy is rampant on the fence posts and untidy so I have cut the stems around the base so it will die and make removal easier, in time this fence will be replaced by GWR wire to the straining posts.

Once the paint was dry it was time for corridor connection fitment to make the carriage look like it is usable

The corridor locking mechanism had been restored a few moths ago and just needed carrying across the car park to the coach where it was balanced on the step.

This angle gave us access to bolt on one old hanger and the new one fabricated in the GWSR repair sheds. then it was a simple stand upright and fit the hanging pins, springs and nuts. This just leaves us the canvas bellows to sort out.

We had to call into the records office where the team are busy digitising thousands of photos, slides and information donated to the trust

It was then onto the shaded side of the workshop to remove the gutter and uneven fascia boards

The guttering was full of frozen leaves and debris.

We squared up the timbers and trimmed a joist to get a straighter edge

We then attached the new boards and had to trim them so the windows would open.

A trip  out to get new gutter hangers is next on the list so we can reinstall the gutter at a later date.

 Despite, the Winter days, Restoration work continues

The back of the Morris Cab is severely rusted at the roofline,

so new patch plates are made out of Scrap galvanised steel, and welded in.

Very pleased with the result

 Today,  angle iron supports were welded into the Morris Subframe, to support the

floor and for a mounting for the Hand brake.

The Steel sheet was then cut to length

and then cut to profile.

Very happy with the result.

November the 22nd another clear dry day  warmer than it should be for Autumn so another outside painting day.

Greg has been getting on with the Morris cab floor channels are in and the rear bulkhead painted and today he has started on the rotten rear roof seam.

The engineering department were given a corridor support mechanism which is for the end of the museum carriage and they made another from scratch for us

original

Newly made and awaiting paint

The 1874 building repaint is on going the light stone is finished and the dark stone application has started.

before and after of the North end

The North West corner is done

the South East corner in process

The West facing rear is nearly done

                                        

The West side roof had a nice collection of moss growth this was removed with a garden rake upside down and the sharp corners were ideal for tilting into the gap between the tiles, need to do the East side next.

                                                                                Before

                                                                                after

                                        

                      Then it was gutter clear time as all the leaves are off the tree by the building and some moss had fallen in during cleaning.

               

The rain when it arrives will wash off the loose moss and clear out the debris left in the gutter but we now need to redo the concrete end stops as the leak.

Time consuming work again but another good clear warmish day should see it completed.

                                                                                  

Wednesday 15th November a clear dry day so outside working

.

First an update on the model train refurb Greg has put new metal in the roof to close it as on the real

 locomotive, with power supplied to the wheel contacts the drive works it is not 100% but this is a display not a working model.

It was then outside with the sander a finger files with medium paper and some tools.

the lights and signs or surrounds were removed from the 1874 pay office all loose and peeling paint was removed and the rest rubbed down

After a dual attack with sanding to get a good area completed I went on sanding down and Greg followed up painting in GWR light stone

Front and one end done with 10 ladybirds moved from behind a sign to another place in Foss Cross to over winter then a Hornet popped out so it also got moved  to safety and painting then continued.

Looking a lot better.

The rear is all rubbed down and the bare areas painted as we ran out of time, this has been a time consuming job but it needed doing to protect the old wood so it reaches the 150 year mark in style next year.

 

Keith reported last week that a drain gully and salt glazed

 section of clay drainage pipe had been laid to improve rainwater drainage around our workshop.

I have been collecting old Clay pipe to include as props for our historical recreation of the James Taylor coal office

After finding that it would cost in access of £100  to buy the plastic equivalent, we saved some money and used some sections from our collection. 

There is still plenty of the old clay pipe around, if readers have any lying about, let us know we would love it to add to our display.