Author: rloades109

  • 28/01/18 Posters, Postals and Photo-charters!

    28/01/18 Posters, Postals and Photo-charters!

    Just because it has been a Gala weekend, it doesn’t mean we have stopped work! Having two of our number as Travelling Post Office crew does hamper progress a small amount, but it is also very nice to see the van train running up and down. When walking around today, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the van train, with a few people mentioning their new branding posters, fitted on a few vans by Matt on Friday.

    This weekend saw the first run in preservation of B784409, and work continued on the imitation shock gear for B850498. Matt has replicated the brackets he has made for the West side of the wagon and they are now fitted on the East. There is one bracket left on the east side before that is finished.

    Other first run in preservation this weekend is the Esso Tank, 3436. This vehicle ran in the mixed freight. Before it could run this vehicle had the vacuum cylinder configuration changed so that only 1 of the 2 cylinders operate. This had fixed a long standing issue with the vehicle.

    The next outing for the vans is a Photo charter in the coming week.

  • 14/01/18 Bars and ‘End Doors’

    14/01/18 Bars and ‘End Doors’

    This weekend, the group’s efforts have been directed in two directions, on B784409 and on B850498.

    Last week the previous secluded dockside underframe of B784409 was brought out into the open and scraped down ready for paint. Saturday saw the compressor repaired and the underframe spray gun brought out to finish this van off. Today sees the handbrake end picked out in white and the bearing end caps picked out in yellow.

    Saturday’s work on B850498 sees the end panel on the ‘blue end’ of the van removed. This was removed due to having a soggy bottom, and a British Rail bodge panel in the middle which covered over a hole in the sheet. The removed panel was drawn around on a new sheet of plywood, then cut out. it was then offered into the van to check the fitment and then taken out and primed inside the GUV.

    Today the new end panel was fitted to the van, and ended by being painted into undercoat

    Matt has also undertaken the task of producing some ‘shoc’ gear for this vehicle. This is a purely cosmetic item, but is an important part of this van’s profile.