The People's Coach

The working weekend came and went and under clear weather there was a good turnout, Saturday tackled the lineside growth down at Llynclys.  The next big working weekend should be back on the extension at propped gasworks bridge.  See the end paragraph.

More pictures arrived from Glynn of work last Thursday.  Glynn was getting his own back on Andy, one of the other sources of blog photos, by taking pictures of him as he worked on the bodywork. 

First here is Andy seeing that the peep holes are in line to check on who walks past the kettle without offering to make a brew.  Andy had been drilling out rusty bolts to get at the window frame seals.  There are a few still to go.  In the background Alan on the bench and John on the floor carry on with prepping the axlebox covers.

Meanwhile John A continues work on the cleaning up of the bogies and springs, it's a mucky job but we will get there.

We do occasionally allow people out for air, here are Davey, Dave and Noel basking in the Oswestry sunshine planning the next assault.

On Sunday the team were back in action again on the coach and with the almost tropical temperatures it was decided to open the roller doors and let some air through.  In the dappled sunlight Reg is preparing and filling the coach end ready for priming.

Glyn (single N) was attacking the doors to remove loose paint and rust.  Almost all of the main body is now done so the doors are the next on the list.

Chairman Rob was back in more usual clothes after recent fame and a major spread in the local paper.  It's not every day we get £120k so we do need to thank our supporters, past, present and future. With Glyn on the doors Rob was relieving the frames so that the doors shut with that satisfying clunk.  Modern trains with sliding doors just don't have the same effect on me as a good click, click clunk from a wooden door.

Phil having got over the Cambrian Christmas Lottery (did you win?) was back in the guards compartment sanding and scraping after having removed window frames.

Thanks to all who turned up for work inside and out and hope you enjoyed the sunshine that was laid on.  No promises for next time though.

Moving on to future work we have a big weekend coming up on the 10/11th of March.  It will be all hands to the pump with Kevin and helpers as we get ready for the start of heavy earth moving.  The whole work site needs to be got ready so this will mean lifting 4 lengths of rail at the current railhead.  On the other side of the bridge the area needs to be cleared of stored sleepers and other track items.  This will allow the heavy plant access in the following weeks.  The most important item, the mobile brew station, has been placed on red alert.

Until next time.

Sitting Down on the Job

The Thursday gang again concentrated on the coach this week and thanks to Andy G here are pictures of the work in progress.
First is a general view of how the exterior is looking at the moment.  Plenty to be getting on with as we would not to let the crew get cold standing around.  This time jobs seem to have been concentrated on those which can be done from sitting positions.

Next you can see along the solebar and where the 'tin worm' has been cut out.  Rot along these bottom edges is not uncommon on Mk 1's of a certain age as water and muck tend to collect along the bottom edge and corners of the body 

Following cleaning a coat of primer is put on to the bare metal, here the invisible man, hogging the deckchair, has just finished the V hanger whilst the next strap is being worked on from a less comfortable pallet seat.

Attention was also turned to the mechanical condition and axlebox covers removed for an inspection of the journal, again notice the effective us of seating, which is of great use when the inevitable mug of tea appears.

Higher perches are used for work further up the coach body and we have to be inventive.  Being sat comfortably is better than working with arms above shoulder height.

The journals have seen the light of day and there will be some attention needed before these enter service.

With everybody sitting down today we had run out of chairs so the team removing the axlebox covers had to stand or kneel.  You can also see the bottom edge of the body marked up for removal of the corroded section.  That will be for another day.

This weekend the working party will be outside working on vegetation clearance, weather permitting.  The kettle has been placed on high alert and is ready for action.

Until next time.

Coach(ing) Sessions

We now have two working days mid week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Glynn and team on Tuesdays and Dave and team on Thursdays.  Progress has accelerated so many thanks to those who come mid week.  Maybe we need to call them the TT gang as they are certainly cracking on at high speed.

Activities this week have mainly centred on the coach and thanks to Andy G for the pictures.

Work on removing the comfy bits is almost complete, not many more cushions to go.  Now you can see the open nature of the coach construction, the compartments are mostly separated by the seat backs.

Here are the innards, now open for all to see, whilst generally in good condition internally attention will be given to restoring the woodwork and making it a pleasure for our guests on their trip to Weston.

It is an almost unwritten rule that you clear out any space and somebody will find something to put in there, here is proof as the seats are now placed in safe storage whilst the dirty work of stripping, sanding and coating the internal woodwork is being done.

Here Big John and Alan close the doors on the seats 'See you very soon in the restored interior'

Already cracking on with restoration Big John sands down picture/mirror frames of which there are quite a few, six to each compartment, That's a job that will go on for a while.

Meanwhile Colin and John are working in the guard's compartment. Now you can see the benefits of being under cover, imagine working like this with the doors open outside in February. We are not sure if John was about to jump or just being camera shy.

 Actually no, John was busy working and has been preparing the inside to assess it's condition.

Not only the inside was worked on, underneath was given some attention as well.  Here is Noel de-rusting and scraping the bogies. 

There is lots of work still to do but the tea and banter are flowing well.  The kettle is now at arms length and rarely gets cold. 

Elsewhere work continues around the work sites preparing for the next tracklaying push and tidying up to get ready for the operating season.

The two days planned for this weekend have been pushed back by one week due to the weather, same plan to get lineside clearance done before we have to stop for nesting season.  Work needs doing alongside the running line at various places so this is where the effort will be concentrated.

Until next time.

Beams in Place

The delivery last weekend has already been put to good use.  After unloading the beams were very soon put in place across the gaping chasm of the cattle creep. With that we now have a sound continuous base from just south of the propped bridge until Weston.  Here are the beams in all their glory spanning the gap.

Thanks to the CHR Facebook page for the picture
Included with the beams were additional stiffeners and location beams that hold everything together.  It will be a few months before we can run trains again over the bridge, there is plenty of track to (re)lay and ballast to screen before then.

Elsewhere work continued on other parts of the project, with Tuesday now being added to the working calendar.  Glynn and helpers have been carrying on with more work on the coach.

Until next time

Another Arrival

The first weekend of February saw another truck delivering material for the Weston project.  It's getting to be a bit of a habit now and apologies for anyone who was delayed in the tailbacks.

The arrival over the weekend was the steelwork for the cattle creep.  This is the result of the successful appeal and many thanks to those who contributed.  Don't worry if you did not contribute to this appeal as there will be further chances for other projects!

Thanks to the CHR Facebook page for the picture

Included with the beams are additional pieces of steelwork to hold everything together.  As we currently have the trackbed clear of rails the lorry, with built in crane for unloading, was able to back right up to the cattle creep and unload the steelwork directly on site, that has saved a bit of time.

There is some more preparatory work to do before the beams can be positioned in the gap but it won't be long before they are installed.

With the work soon to start on re-grading of the line under the gasworks bridge and the continued ballast screening things are looking good for a further push on the way to Weston.

Elsewhere around the sites work has continued with vegetation clearance, tidying up, sleeper preparation and coach restoration.

Let's see what the next truck brings....

Start As You Mean To Go On

Well the first day of February saw another delivery for CHR, not quite as exciting as a coach or a GWR Manor but equally necessary for the Weston extension!

Photo: CHR Facebook page

This is the latest lot of around 300 sleepers which will be sorted, inspected and made ready for use going towards Weston.  These are reclaimed from relaying exercises on the national network and are a mixture, some are the through bolted pattern which need the bolts freeing off and made ready.  Others are the screwed pattern,  Where the ferrules need replacing these are also attended to as well. 

On inspection these sleepers are sorted in to various categories and used as appropriate, These are generally main line, siding, storage and burn.  As the mother of Forrest Gump would (almost) say 'sleepers are like a box of chocolates, you never know what's inside until you unload the truck'.

So far we have about 1200 ready to lay and about another 1000 are needed, so another few trucks and weeks of sorting to go yet.  This is one of those activities which goes on almost continually so rarely makes news headlines, many thanks to all of the teams that put the effort in to prepare them.

A small but significant fact is that these have been delivered to Weston.  At the start of the push to Weston all sleepers came to the north end of Oswestry station, in the view below you can just about see the stack being worked on last year.

Now that area has been liberated of sleepers and is used by our brake van services.   In that view you can also see the space available for the two extra lines which is the subject of an appeal for funds to relay track and rebuild the down platform.

Oswestry Station Appeal

You can see why we think that Oswestry station is a real gem in the preservation world, a headquarters building of a railway company, a 12 coach platform and three running roads in between the platforms.

There is now a rough timing for work to start on the lowering of the trackbed under the propped bridge and as soon as the dates can be confirmed I will post details.

So until next time