Had a weekend at Thorpe on the Hill Lincolnshire staying at the Railway Inn but opposite is a Midland Railway cottage dated 1845 over looking the level crossing. The end facing the track uses curved bricks to make a  semi circular end to the room most unusyal never seen one like it before.

 Wednesday 21st August a dry partly sunny day with a cool start so outside it is.

Greg has been continuing with the GWR travel security box reassembly and it is looking good.

     It was then dock crane painting time the post and parts had been painted some more since last week.

                                                            the start of the day.

             

                  during painting and after it just leaves a few hard to access areas to finish off.

It was then Morris 2T 3cwt time the cab floor frame has been completed but needs more paint and preservation before the floor panel goes in.

                                             

the floor plate has been cut to shape with battery access hole, the panel was then marked above the members for drilling and securing.

                                                 

The seats were removed from the base frame so we could drop it into position and mark securing holes

 Wednesday 14th August summer is on vacation drizzle and rain are here and the Cotswolds cannot be seen due to the mist so painting the crane is off.

                         However a fitting of the weight plate to get the screw length required was an easy task.

Natures debris required a sweep out of the buildings

Greg has been painting the 2T 3cwt Morris bonnets

Getting back to the Morris cab rebuild is important whilst the summer is still here so a de-rust and clean up of the repaired under frame is deemed a good task. The wire wheels in the drill causing enough heat from the friction to dry it out for priming.

The starting point

after a good clean up a light coat of primer

Then onto the passenger side

after wire brushing it is nearly ready for painting but two wire wheels are now bare.

The final clean up and a coat of grey primer

The first coat of red oxide applied

Greg is cutting a battery access hole in the new floor panel

The area is getting over grown with the hot weather so a quick trim and tidy up of the access area so it looks more welcoming for visitors.

After

Then it was skip checking for some angle iron but we came away with goodies for the trust shop including an oil spray can, paint spray gun, tilley oil lamp minus glass  and a good pair of mole grips now all priced up and on sale. 

 Wednesday 7Th August summer has gone an overcast day with sporadic showers but still ok for some outside work.

The GWR notice board we obtained from the Narrow Gauge Railway now stored in the dry awaiting work

                                  

         Crane time again Greg has started the re paint to dark rey the original colour

                                        

                    A few hours of cleaning off and painting it is looking a lot better.

While up on te access platform you get different views like the mornings steam service engines arriving to get coupled to the carriages.

                           

                                              Looking better as more turns dark grey

                                        

Greg has finished the grain work on the GWR security box and dropped the lid frame and handles back on.

                                                 

When the rain arrived it was time to go into the museum coach and start fitting the restored metalwork to it a long job with over 180 wood screws to put in by hand after sorting out how the plates went to align the holes correctly as they are not uniformly spaced.

 Wednesday the 31st July and the heatwave continues for another day.

Greg has got the red on the Morris grill

Then  it was crane time in the sun with rotary brushes, wire wheels, degreaser and the water spray to was it down.

                                

                                                     A few before and after shits

 

With some slack in the chain and applied lifting and pulling we managed to get the hoist chain out.

The museum coach doors needed tidying up and the veneer in the corridor had started to peel off .

Wood glue and a nailed on press solved

Doing it in stages down tbe panel

Nailed on press is lowered to the next session

Time for some darker graining on the GWR security box close to the original colour

Then time to start painting the exterior metal frames so reassembly can startèd

 Full time Railway films live, in the Museum Coach and

Honeybourne North Junction Signal Box Museum.

Using two old laptops, showing digital recordings on a loop,

Visitors are now able to watch British Transport, and Railway Roundabout  films during their visit. 

These documentaries were recorded on television and film cameras, are of high quality and are

coupled with an informative narrative.

Historic scenes from the 1950's and 60's We hope to add more digital displays to further add value to the experience of our much valued visitors.