This is my first blog on anything anywhere, so here goes.... never too old to learn something! Today (31 Jan) was bitterly cold and I spent the day helping barrow the contents of the green shelter across to its new site on the other side of the tracks. This is part of a general clearing of the area around the Oak Tree to enable the fencing with Network Rail to be sorted out (due to start soon) and the gully eventually to be filled in to add space to the sidings area. Another couple of man-days should do it. One of the resident robins kept us company, until snow and the possibility that driving home might get tricky stopped all work for the day. Back in London, continued work on the spreadsheet setting out the RVR work programme for the coming months. Steve
Hey Steve. Dont forget Moses and I helped you on that. We only stopped as it looked at one point that we would have to ditch the wheelbarrow for a sleigh! Trevor
Yes ..I helped, so wasn't alone. Anyway, today it was too snowy and icy to continue barrowing, so helped with removing and refitting vac piping on the brake van to include a T junction, which took most of the (short) day since the old pipe was slow work to remove. Cutting new threads on 2-inch steel pipe is quite slow too but we have an excellent gadget for this, kindly lent by a supporter. Steve
Sunday 8th Feb. a lovely day today, for more barrowing. Re-erected the remains of the green shed on the east side of the tracks and wrestled a large number of signal box and ground frame components etc across with Mo and David (who also tackled the graffiti which had reappeared on the ambulance coach tarps). More tidying. Meanwhile work continues in the workshops on the vac brake pipework; and our buffet enjoyed several parties of hikers who bumped up the day's takings. The stock in the yard has been shunted around a little to allow film-makers to make use of the Mark I coach later in the week.
Weds 11 Feb. Now we are a train driver! As part of the morning's shunting to return the Mark I coach to the middle road after its day filming, I got to drive Dougal under supervision. Also learned about prepping the loco which involves oiling at least 20 different points inside and outside, and which takes about 20 minutes of clambering around and removing/replacing covers. As part of the shunt, the crane was returned to the platform where we can more readily repair the clutch which suffered a major oil leak recently. Then we can get on with the major site-sort out, and with platform edging.
Sunday 15 Feb. Finally cleared all the liftable items away from Oak Tree, leaving a few biggies (eg the groundframe) that only our tractor/loader can lift (a job for Wednesday, if the Beast will start!). I found a number of original Col. Stephens era track chairs, which have been put aside now.
Wednesday 18 Feb. We sorted out 60 fishplates (hopefully the right type) for the work at Bodiam, and loaded them onto the tug (Jenny M). Work continued on the vac brake systems for the brake van and Dougal (D77). A volunteer returned after a couple of months absence and was warmly welcomed - he set to work with an angle-grinder removing a large side panel in the crane cab so that work on the clutch/flywheel can begin. The lighter evenings are a real boon...its not dark til well after 5 now.
Sunday 22 Feb. Grey but mild. Warm enough in fact for the shovel loader (the Beast) to start first time. With some trepidation, we got it to the other end of the carpark and through the gates ok. We spent the day then shifting stuff - bags of sand for the platform concreting (some bags split so plenty of shovelling), and clearing the last three bigger items away from under the Oak Tree, so that's now clear. Not as easy as it sounds as the loader needs lots of room to manouvre and is physically quite tiring to steer at low speeds. Others worked on the vac brakes and on the crane flywheel and drive chain casing. Meanwhile the shop and buffet did the best business for many months.
Weds 25 Feb. The crane problem has been diagnosed and hopefully the flywheel and chain drive can be reassembled and tested over the next week or two. With that, we can continue the platform edging, the tidying/sorting and various other vital tasks. Also on-site today was the welder working on the ballast hopper wagon, fixing the bodywork and fitting the new doors. Continued clearing up around the loading pad, and unloading new (donated) supplies of timber.
Sunday 29 Feb> Well yes , I know there aren't 29 days in Feb but I have forgotten how to create a new blog to kick off again for March. Anyway, we have got a scap metal skip in and several of us spent the day trying to fill it as much as we could. Apparently the price of scrap has recovered since the autumn so we should make some useful money for RVR for our day's labours. Odd lengths of scrap rail, and several scrap piles onsite were laboriously hauled and carried to the skip - which is about 25 feet long, ie not the normal builders skip but a roll-on roll-off type that takes some filling. Suddenly the site looks considerably tidier (at least to me). We hope to get another skip in soon for the tons of surplus rail chairs we seem to have acquired over the years. Each one weighs about 45 lbs, and there are going to be some aching arms and backs again before we have done tidyin', even with the help of the loader.
Weds 3 march: the skip for cast iron chairs was sitting there when we arrived today, so there was nothing else for it but to start. We need to get some 1600 chairs into it. Today we managed just about 300 which was less than expected due to things like the loader getting bogged down in the mud. The loader can carry about 50 chairs at a time, but they have to be hand loaded. We began by trying to sort out damaged and worn chairs,as we went, which slowed us down too much. In fact there aren't many substandard ones to be found despite the treatment they have had in the past, being shovelled up roughly and dumped into lorries to get here some years ago, then dumped here and shovelled around later when they got in the way. So we decided that so long as we retain enough chairs for the planned sidings, and planned stretches of wooden sleepered track, plus spares, the rest can go. This is saving time and effort so we stand a better chance of getting about 14 tons together by next Monday when the huge skip is collected. Meanwhile, the crane is now almost ready for testing, and there was a delivery of somewhat elderly red moquette covered pullman style chairs destined for the (privately owned) Maunsell coach restoration. A lot of careful upholstery work is going to be needed one day!
Sunday 8 March: all set for more chair loading but the Network Rail car park was being partly resurfaced so we couldnt get the loader across it til lunchtime, whereupon the alternator fell off. We will need to hang onto the skip for a while longer therefore. So while that was being repaired we resumed work on the platform, since the crane was back in action today. The resurfacing contractors sportingly donated several tonnes of road planings, and also leftover Tarmac which they kindly rolled out for us in the roadway between buffet and platform. This greatly improves the appearance of our yard area, and gives us materials for surfacing the platform. Also today the soakaway was pumped out, and we managed to get the new donated small lathe and its heavy steel workbench hauled up (took five men) into the banana van for safekeeping. We were helped by an ingenious old station barrow which includes a device for winching heavy loads up several feet, designed for just such eventualities.
W/end 14 & 15 March: to the Bodiam end on Saturday to work on the extension westwards towards Udiam Farm. Amazing progress been made by p/way volunteers "loaned" by KESR, and today the last keys were put in on the completed trackwork, which now awaits ballasting and levelling. Back at Robertsbridge, did a fencing check (quite a lot to do!)and we got the platform ready to stockpile the bulk of the road planings, the loader having been mended. On Sunday we proceeded to lay a first batch of tactile slabs beside the new platform edging, then backfilled with barrowloads of the new surfacing. We have to use this material before it all sets hard, and it will need tamping down to form a stable platform surface. The crane was greased and oiled, and lifting tackle assembled, ready for the annual safety inspection this week. Soon work on the platform edging can resume, now the freezing weather is safely over.
Sunday 29 March: platform concreting resumed at last, with one unsatisfactory area removed and a whole new 20 feet or so laid. Now over half-way if the mould lifts off OK(once its all set). We have managed to sell another 60 or so old chairs to a Devon fishing boat(s), raising some much needed hard cash. Apparently they make great weights for the nets. We also part-emptied the container, so that this can be repaired and re-doored, and used to store the upholstered seats destined for the Maunsell coach. We also took possession of the BCLV - the SR bogie corridor luggage van. A look inside revealed a scene of considerable chaos - we need a big clear-out and detox job before the van can be used for the May model railway weekend as planned (as well as somehow shifting it from its freestanding track panel onto the running lines and hence into the platform).
Sunday 5 April. We decided the only way to get the BCLV over onto the running lines was to install a point, just south of the existing crossover, and by the end of Sunday this was well advanced. With a high turnout of volunteers and fine weather we also laid another section of platform edging, and followed behind with more tactile slabs. Once the concrete has set hard we can resume platform surfacing work, with a view to the forthcoming modellers weekend and the BCLV being moved into the platform to take one of the layouts. The clearout of the van has begun. Also today we had to repair vandal damage to the "B&Q" store by Oak Tree sidings, which was a diversion we could do without. A very satisfying day!
Monday 13 April. It's Easter Monday and with the great weather and more good turnouts we have achieved a lot since my last blog. We sold and loaded up another batch of chairs destined for Brixham. The new point is almost finished - just one rail left to cut and fit, having crowbarred the van far enough to enable the curved track panel to be straightened enough to meet the curve of the point. We can improve the geometry later this week when the van is moved over to the platform. The holes in the container are almost mended and with the platform line back in action the crane was able to get to the platform once more and clear away all the building materials, to enable the surfacing to catch up with the edging work in time for the model railway exhibition. Afterwards we can cast the remaining platform edging sections, and move on to completing the ramp at last.
Weds 15 April. I meant to say that the green shelter we re-erected in February, and which is in the photo above, blew down in the March gales. I assume this is because it now faces into the prevailing winds and acts like a kite. We have decided a shelter for the track components isn't necessary anyway, so will dismantle the thing and use the tin sheets elsewhere at some stage. Worked on the point again today - still some rail cuts and nailing down required, plus the lever to fit. The LNER ballast wagon is now welded up, and new brake rods fitted. The hopper mechanism now works a treat.
Sunday 19 April. We completed the new point late on Saturday evening and hauled out the bogie luggage van and shunted it into the platform. It must be its first move for many years and the staion throat now looks quite bare without it. One big advantage is that a loco driver in the platform, and passengers too, will have a clear view up the line, as will staff on the ground. On Sunday we craned away the surplus track components, laid more slabs and tarmacadam on the platform and in the yard, emptied the Maunsell coach ready for the exhibition, and resumed work on filling in the long ramp to the platform. All this manual labour must be having some beneficial effect on the signatory below!
Wednesday 22 April. More work on the platform ramp. Digger engine mountings rewelded today and the fresh engine carefully craned into position over the engine bay, prior to being manouvered in and connected up before long. Soon the wagon chassis will be welded up too, and work can then resume on the new bodywork.
Sunday 26 April. Yet another warm sunny day. With several more tractor loads of clay, the platform now has two of its three ramp slope sections completed. (The final one must now wait for some drainage work to be done along with building a retaining wall.) We cleared the stockpile of blackstuff from the platform and the yard below is also clear. So it's now beginning to look near-finished at long last.
Weds 29 April. More finishing off - about 10 relatively small jobs were ticked off during the day. Tamped all the blackstuff areas with the hired vibrating plate. It took a while to figure out that it has a safety cut-out for whenever it meets too steep a slope. The welding on the wagon is now underway, along with an additional footstep for the tractor/loader to make it easier to clamber up and down. New lighting has been fitted inside the bogie luggage van ready for the model railway layout to go in.
Weds May. Following up a successful AGM, more tidying amd smartening up ready for the modellers' weekend. Once that event is out of the way, I hope we can get cracking again on getting the track and train ready for service.
Sun 10 May. The modellers' weekend proved to be a success once more, though the Sunday seemed rather quieter than the Saturday. We shall have to see what the figures show in terms of numbers and takings. As before all the regular active volunteers lent a hand, and I reckon the two days showed us at out best in terms of good humour and mucking in as a team.
Weds 13 May. A day of drizzle, in which we fitted a handpump system to the crane engine compartment to allow refuelling without spillages, worked on the loader to prepare it for its new cab, and several other jobs including repairs to the Bance - the specialised tool for screwing track bolts and fishplate bolts.
Apparently, the wind earlier this week had rotated the crane by about 20 degrees - rather spooky.
Sun 17 May. More drizzle and some sleet! Cleared away the front of the workshop, to make way for a rack and to leave more space for staff walking beside the track. Laid slabs which will eventually extend down to the end of the working area making it easier to trundle machinery etc around. Not many volunteers today sadly, but a new one, Alan, came and we all hope he enjoyed himself enough to return!
Weds 20 May. a fine day. Welding on the wagon finished, with brake hangers re-attached to the new cross-members. The brake vacuum cylinder was craned on board ready to be lowered into position. More slabs laid outside the workshop; and the green shed panels were dismantled ready to be retrieved from the embankment where the wind had taken them. And the loader now has a cab fitted at last. In the shop the new N-gauge display layout is coming together nicely.
Sun 24 May. Warm. We began the day with a health and safety session and exam. On the new point, we swapped round three point timbers ready to take the lever, installed a gauge plate, and replaced one tie rod with a better one. Now ready to fit the refurbished lever, which lacks only a coat of white paint. The vac tank has been fitted and its valve refurbished, and now awaits connecting to the wagon brake gear. Work started on fixing new smaller doors on the old sea container. These will avoid obstructing the safe walking route when open, unlike the old huge ones which are also difficult to use and no longer creature-proof.
Weds 27 May. Non-stop rain today. A start has been made on the bogie luggage van inside and out, preparing for a repaint. Hopefully its new doors will materialise soon. More work on the container doors. Workshop tidying.
Sun 14 June. After an absence of two weeks, quite a lot has been achieved. The engine is mounted in the digger once more and being reconnected. The ladder/pipe rack is in place outside the workshop. Work is advancing on the three plank wagon chassis in readiness for the bodywork. Banking behind the workshops has been strimmed. We tidied sleepers away from the site of the van body to be shifted there for our p/way equipment store. More paving is down. A place for parking the tractor off the tarmac (and out of the public area) has been created, with a hinged gate fitted. Work to begin fitting the new doors to the luggage van has begun. The shop has been reorganised. I should go away more often!
Sun 21 June. removed one (ie the centre) pair of doors from the GBLV (see above), and as much of the door funiture as I could get free. This sounds easy but took most of the day! Patched up the hole temporarily, and rubbed down some more bodywork, leaving my hair with a sort of punky green-rinse effect. Next job is to try and move the left hand upright inwards to take the smaller new doors (ie the original size doors). Meanwhile work continued on the digger engine and its hydraulics and on the three-planker underframe.
Weds 24 June. Progress on the same three jobs today. The GBLV upright is now ready to be moved, and we will try and re-use as much timber as possible from the old doors as part of our commitment to recycling everything we can! Sadly nuts and bolts are generally too corroded to be reused so the small angle grinder got through three cutting disks today.
Sun 28th June. On the GBLV more bolts and rivets were removed from the door post. This proved to be more troublesome than first envisaged. Having completed all this we found the post at the base has been tack welded and will now have to be carefully cut through. More Painting was done to proof the exterior and we will start to put the top coat on from this coming weekend.
Weds 1 July. Door post on GBLV removed and de-rusted. Hinges shortened (bar one). This all needs priming.Removed some more door furniture.The heat didnt help as sweat keeps getting in my eyes. Must get a sweatband a la macEnroe.Digger engine and wagon proceeding steadily.Some debate about moving the end-doors to the centre as per original design. These have drop light windows. Apparently these door changes were made when the van entered departmental use.
Sun 4 July. Door post on GBLV refixed. More painting, and investigated the wooden strips/rainstrips on the roof which hava rotted. Aim is to mend and repaint roof at least on the most visible side to improve the overall appearance and make the vehicle rain-tight again. Lettering stencils made on computer work well with the gold paint used by SR on these vans.
This is my first blog on anything anywhere, so here goes.... never too old to learn something! Today (31 Jan) was bitterly cold and I spent the day helping barrow the contents of the green shelter across to its new site on the other side of the tracks. This is part of a general clearing of the area around the Oak Tree to enable the fencing with Network Rail to be sorted out (due to start soon) and the gully eventually to be filled in to add space to the sidings area. Another couple of man-days should do it. One of the resident robins kept us company, until snow and the possibility that driving home might get tricky stopped all work for the day. Back in London, continued work on the spreadsheet setting out the RVR work programme for the coming months. Steve
ReplyDeleteGood Idea - Keep it going
ReplyDeleteHey Steve. Dont forget Moses and I helped you on that. We only stopped as it looked at one point that we would have to ditch the wheelbarrow for a sleigh! Trevor
ReplyDeleteYes ..I helped, so wasn't alone. Anyway, today it was too snowy and icy to continue barrowing, so helped with removing and refitting vac piping on the brake van to include a T junction, which took most of the (short) day since the old pipe was slow work to remove. Cutting new threads on 2-inch steel pipe is quite slow too but we have an excellent gadget for this, kindly lent by a supporter. Steve
ReplyDeleteSunday 8th Feb. a lovely day today, for more barrowing. Re-erected the remains of the green shed on the east side of the tracks and wrestled a large number of signal box and ground frame components etc across with Mo and David (who also tackled the graffiti which had reappeared on the ambulance coach tarps). More tidying. Meanwhile work continues in the workshops on the vac brake pipework; and our buffet enjoyed several parties of hikers who bumped up the day's takings. The stock in the yard has been shunted around a little to allow film-makers to make use of the Mark I coach later in the week.
ReplyDeleteWeds 11 Feb. Now we are a train driver! As part of the morning's shunting to return the Mark I coach to the middle road after its day filming, I got to drive Dougal under supervision. Also learned about prepping the loco which involves oiling at least 20 different points inside and outside, and which takes about 20 minutes of clambering around and removing/replacing covers. As part of the shunt, the crane was returned to the platform where we can more readily repair the clutch which suffered a major oil leak recently. Then we can get on with the major site-sort out, and with platform edging.
ReplyDeleteSunday 15 Feb. Finally cleared all the liftable items away from Oak Tree, leaving a few biggies (eg the groundframe) that only our tractor/loader can lift (a job for Wednesday, if the Beast will start!). I found a number of original Col. Stephens era track chairs, which have been put aside now.
ReplyDeleteWednesday 18 Feb. We sorted out 60 fishplates (hopefully the right type) for the work at Bodiam, and loaded them onto the tug (Jenny M). Work continued on the vac brake systems for the brake van and Dougal (D77). A volunteer returned after a couple of months absence and was warmly welcomed - he set to work with an angle-grinder removing a large side panel in the crane cab so that work on the clutch/flywheel can begin. The lighter evenings are a real boon...its not dark til well after 5 now.
ReplyDeleteSunday 22 Feb. Grey but mild. Warm enough in fact for the shovel loader (the Beast) to start first time. With some trepidation, we got it to the other end of the carpark and through the gates ok. We spent the day then shifting stuff - bags of sand for the platform concreting (some bags split so plenty of shovelling), and clearing the last three bigger items away from under the Oak Tree, so that's now clear. Not as easy as it sounds as the loader needs lots of room to manouvre and is physically quite tiring to steer at low speeds. Others worked on the vac brakes and on the crane flywheel and drive chain casing. Meanwhile the shop and buffet did the best business for many months.
ReplyDeleteWeds 25 Feb. The crane problem has been diagnosed and hopefully the flywheel and chain drive can be reassembled and tested over the next week or two. With that, we can continue the platform edging, the tidying/sorting and various other vital tasks. Also on-site today was the welder working on the ballast hopper wagon, fixing the bodywork and fitting the new doors. Continued clearing up around the loading pad, and unloading new (donated) supplies of timber.
ReplyDeleteSunday 29 Feb> Well yes , I know there aren't 29 days in Feb but I have forgotten how to create a new blog to kick off again for March. Anyway, we have got a scap metal skip in and several of us spent the day trying to fill it as much as we could. Apparently the price of scrap has recovered since the autumn so we should make some useful money for RVR for our day's labours. Odd lengths of scrap rail, and several scrap piles onsite were laboriously hauled and carried to the skip - which is about 25 feet long, ie not the normal builders skip but a roll-on roll-off type that takes some filling. Suddenly the site looks considerably tidier (at least to me). We hope to get another skip in soon for the tons of surplus rail chairs we seem to have acquired over the years. Each one weighs about 45 lbs, and there are going to be some aching arms and backs again before we have done tidyin', even with the help of the loader.
ReplyDeleteWeds 3 march: the skip for cast iron chairs was sitting there when we arrived today, so there was nothing else for it but to start. We need to get some 1600 chairs into it. Today we managed just about 300 which was less than expected due to things like the loader getting bogged down in the mud. The loader can carry about 50 chairs at a time, but they have to be hand loaded. We began by trying to sort out damaged and worn chairs,as we went, which slowed us down too much. In fact there aren't many substandard ones to be found despite the treatment they have had in the past, being shovelled up roughly and dumped into lorries to get here some years ago, then dumped here and shovelled around later when they got in the way. So we decided that so long as we retain enough chairs for the planned sidings, and planned stretches of wooden sleepered track, plus spares, the rest can go. This is saving time and effort so we stand a better chance of getting about 14 tons together by next Monday when the huge skip is collected. Meanwhile, the crane is now almost ready for testing, and there was a delivery of somewhat elderly red moquette covered pullman style chairs destined for the (privately owned) Maunsell coach restoration. A lot of careful upholstery work is going to be needed one day!
ReplyDeleteSunday 8 March: all set for more chair loading but the Network Rail car park was being partly resurfaced so we couldnt get the loader across it til lunchtime, whereupon the alternator fell off. We will need to hang onto the skip for a while longer therefore.
ReplyDeleteSo while that was being repaired we resumed work on the platform, since the crane was back in action today. The resurfacing contractors sportingly donated several tonnes of road planings, and also leftover Tarmac which they kindly rolled out for us in the roadway between buffet and platform. This greatly improves the appearance of our yard area, and gives us materials for surfacing the platform. Also today the soakaway was pumped out, and we managed to get the new donated small lathe and its heavy steel workbench hauled up (took five men) into the banana van for safekeeping. We were helped by an ingenious old station barrow which includes a device for winching heavy loads up several feet, designed for just such eventualities.
W/end 14 & 15 March: to the Bodiam end on Saturday to work on the extension westwards towards Udiam Farm. Amazing progress been made by p/way volunteers "loaned" by KESR, and today the last keys were put in on the completed trackwork, which now awaits ballasting and levelling. Back at Robertsbridge, did a fencing check (quite a lot to do!)and we got the platform ready to stockpile the bulk of the road planings, the loader having been mended. On Sunday we proceeded to lay a first batch of tactile slabs beside the new platform edging, then backfilled with barrowloads of the new surfacing. We have to use this material before it all sets hard, and it will need tamping down to form a stable platform surface. The crane was greased and oiled, and lifting tackle assembled, ready for the annual safety inspection this week. Soon work on the platform edging can resume, now the freezing weather is safely over.
ReplyDeleteSunday 29 March: platform concreting resumed at last, with one unsatisfactory area removed and a whole new 20 feet or so laid. Now over half-way if the mould lifts off OK(once its all set). We have managed to sell another 60 or so old chairs to a Devon fishing boat(s), raising some much needed hard cash. Apparently they make great weights for the nets. We also part-emptied the container, so that this can be repaired and re-doored, and used to store the upholstered seats destined for the Maunsell coach. We also took possession of the BCLV - the SR bogie corridor luggage van. A look inside revealed a scene of considerable chaos - we need a big clear-out and detox job before the van can be used for the May model railway weekend as planned (as well as somehow shifting it from its freestanding track panel onto the running lines and hence into the platform).
ReplyDeleteSunday 5 April. We decided the only way to get the BCLV over onto the running lines was to install a point, just south of the existing crossover, and by the end of Sunday this was well advanced. With a high turnout of volunteers and fine weather we also laid another section of platform edging, and followed behind with more tactile slabs. Once the concrete has set hard we can resume platform surfacing work, with a view to the forthcoming modellers weekend and the BCLV being moved into the platform to take one of the layouts. The clearout of the van has begun. Also today we had to repair vandal damage to the "B&Q" store by Oak Tree sidings, which was a diversion we could do without. A very satisfying day!
ReplyDeleteMonday 13 April. It's Easter Monday and with the great weather and more good turnouts we have achieved a lot since my last blog. We sold and loaded up another batch of chairs destined for Brixham. The new point is almost finished - just one rail left to cut and fit, having crowbarred the van far enough to enable the curved track panel to be straightened enough to meet the curve of the point. We can improve the geometry later this week when the van is moved over to the platform. The holes in the container are almost mended and with the platform line back in action the crane was able to get to the platform once more and clear away all the building materials, to enable the surfacing to catch up with the edging work in time for the model railway exhibition. Afterwards we can cast the remaining platform edging sections, and move on to completing the ramp at last.
ReplyDeleteWeds 15 April. I meant to say that the green shelter we re-erected in February, and which is in the photo above, blew down in the March gales. I assume this is because it now faces into the prevailing winds and acts like a kite. We have decided a shelter for the track components isn't necessary anyway, so will dismantle the thing and use the tin sheets elsewhere at some stage. Worked on the point again today - still some rail cuts and nailing down required, plus the lever to fit. The LNER ballast wagon is now welded up, and new brake rods fitted. The hopper mechanism now works a treat.
ReplyDeleteSunday 19 April. We completed the new point late on Saturday evening and hauled out the bogie luggage van and shunted it into the platform. It must be its first move for many years and the staion throat now looks quite bare without it. One big advantage is that a loco driver in the platform, and passengers too, will have a clear view up the line, as will staff on the ground. On Sunday we craned away the surplus track components, laid more slabs and tarmacadam on the platform and in the yard, emptied the Maunsell coach ready for the exhibition, and resumed work on filling in the long ramp to the platform. All this manual labour must be having some beneficial effect on the signatory below!
ReplyDeleteWednesday 22 April. More work on the platform ramp. Digger engine mountings rewelded today and the fresh engine carefully craned into position over the engine bay, prior to being manouvered in and connected up before long. Soon the wagon chassis will be welded up too, and work can then resume on the new bodywork.
ReplyDeleteSunday 26 April. Yet another warm sunny day. With several more tractor loads of clay, the platform now has two of its three ramp slope sections completed. (The final one must now wait for some drainage work to be done along with building a retaining wall.) We cleared the stockpile of blackstuff from the platform and the yard below is also clear. So it's now beginning to look near-finished at long last.
ReplyDeleteWeds 29 April. More finishing off - about 10 relatively small jobs were ticked off during the day. Tamped all the blackstuff areas with the hired vibrating plate. It took a while to figure out that it has a safety cut-out for whenever it meets too steep a slope. The welding on the wagon is now underway, along with an additional footstep for the tractor/loader to make it easier to clamber up and down. New lighting has been fitted inside the bogie luggage van ready for the model railway layout to go in.
ReplyDeleteWeds May. Following up a successful AGM, more tidying amd smartening up ready for the modellers' weekend. Once that event is out of the way, I hope we can get cracking again on getting the track and train ready for service.
ReplyDeleteSun 10 May. The modellers' weekend proved to be a success once more, though the Sunday seemed rather quieter than the Saturday. We shall have to see what the figures show in terms of numbers and takings. As before all the regular active volunteers lent a hand, and I reckon the two days showed us at out best in terms of good humour and mucking in as a team.
ReplyDeleteWeds 13 May. A day of drizzle, in which we fitted a handpump system to the crane engine compartment to allow refuelling without spillages, worked on the loader to prepare it for its new cab, and several other jobs including repairs to the Bance - the specialised tool for screwing track bolts and fishplate bolts.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the wind earlier this week had rotated the crane by about 20 degrees - rather spooky.
Sun 17 May. More drizzle and some sleet! Cleared away the front of the workshop, to make way for a rack and to leave more space for staff walking beside the track. Laid slabs which will eventually extend down to the end of the working area making it easier to trundle machinery etc around. Not many volunteers today sadly, but a new one, Alan, came and we all hope he enjoyed himself enough to return!
ReplyDeleteWeds 20 May. a fine day. Welding on the wagon finished, with brake hangers re-attached to the new cross-members. The brake vacuum cylinder was craned on board ready to be lowered into position. More slabs laid outside the workshop; and the green shed panels were dismantled ready to be retrieved from the embankment where the wind had taken them. And the loader now has a cab fitted at last. In the shop the new N-gauge display layout is coming together nicely.
ReplyDeleteSun 24 May. Warm. We began the day with a health and safety session and exam. On the new point, we swapped round three point timbers ready to take the lever, installed a gauge plate, and replaced one tie rod with a better one. Now ready to fit the refurbished lever, which lacks only a coat of white paint. The vac tank has been fitted and its valve refurbished, and now awaits connecting to the wagon brake gear. Work started on fixing new smaller doors on the old sea container. These will avoid obstructing the safe walking route when open, unlike the old huge ones which are also difficult to use and no longer creature-proof.
ReplyDeleteWeds 27 May. Non-stop rain today. A start has been made on the bogie luggage van inside and out, preparing for a repaint. Hopefully its new doors will materialise soon. More work on the container doors. Workshop tidying.
ReplyDeleteSun 14 June. After an absence of two weeks, quite a lot has been achieved. The engine is mounted in the digger once more and being reconnected. The ladder/pipe rack is in place outside the workshop. Work is advancing on the three plank wagon chassis in readiness for the bodywork. Banking behind the workshops has been strimmed. We tidied sleepers away from the site of the van body to be shifted there for our p/way equipment store. More paving is down. A place for parking the tractor off the tarmac (and out of the public area) has been created, with a hinged gate fitted. Work to begin fitting the new doors to the luggage van has begun. The shop has been reorganised. I should go away more often!
ReplyDeleteSun 21 June. removed one (ie the centre) pair of doors from the GBLV (see above), and as much of the door funiture as I could get free. This sounds easy but took most of the day! Patched up the hole temporarily, and rubbed down some more bodywork, leaving my hair with a sort of punky green-rinse effect. Next job is to try and move the left hand upright inwards to take the smaller new doors (ie the original size doors). Meanwhile work continued on the digger engine and its hydraulics and on the three-planker underframe.
ReplyDeleteWeds 24 June. Progress on the same three jobs today. The GBLV upright is now ready to be moved, and we will try and re-use as much timber as possible from the old doors as part of our commitment to recycling everything we can! Sadly nuts and bolts are generally too corroded to be reused so the small angle grinder got through three cutting disks today.
ReplyDeleteSun 28th June. On the GBLV more bolts and rivets were removed from the door post. This proved to be more troublesome than first envisaged. Having completed all this we found the post at the base has been tack welded and will now have to be carefully cut through. More Painting was done to proof the exterior and we will start to put the top coat on from this coming weekend.
ReplyDeleteWeds 1 July. Door post on GBLV removed and de-rusted. Hinges shortened (bar one). This all needs priming.Removed some more door furniture.The heat didnt help as sweat keeps getting in my eyes. Must get a sweatband a la macEnroe.Digger engine and wagon proceeding steadily.Some debate about moving the end-doors to the centre as per original design. These have drop light windows. Apparently these door changes were made when the van entered departmental use.
ReplyDeleteSun 4 July. Door post on GBLV refixed. More painting, and investigated the wooden strips/rainstrips on the roof which hava rotted. Aim is to mend and repaint roof at least on the most visible side to improve the overall appearance and make the vehicle rain-tight again. Lettering stencils made on computer work well with the gold paint used by SR on these vans.
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